2 Stupid Dogs
2 Stupid Dogs was a US
animated series produced by
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons that ran from September
1993 to January
1995 on
TBS Superstation. After it was cancelled,
reruns continued to air on
Cartoon Network and later
Boomerang.
The main segments of the show featured two very stupid dogs, both of whom went unnamed. The big dog was voiced by
Brad Garrett, later of US TV's
Everybody Loves Raymond, and the little dog was voiced by
Mark Schiff. A back-up segment,
Super Secret Secret Squirrel, featured a modernized take on the classic Hanna-Barbera character
Secret Squirrel.
2 Stupid Dogs was the beginning of the successful revival of Hanna-Barbera's fortunes, since the studio had not launched a bona fide hit since
The Smurfs in 1981. Turner Entertainment president installed
MTV and
Nickelodeon branding veteran
Fred Seibert as the head of production. Seibert's plan to reinvent the studio was to put his faith in the talent community, a first for television animation, and HB in particular. His first pitch and first series put into production in 1992 was
2 Stupid Dogs, by recent
California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) graduate Donovan Cook.
The show was considered by some to be Hanna-Barbera's attempt to cash in on the popularity of
Ren and Stimpy, which was at the height of its popularity when
2 Stupid Dogs hit the air.
Ren and Stimpy was a cartoon about an insane chiuhauha and a stupid cat, with off-beat, weird gross-out jokes with a
Bob Clampett-like animation style.
2 Stupid Dogs, similarly, was a cartoon about a stupid dog and another stupid dog, with similar jokes and an animation style that was unusual (at the time), although very different from the animation style of
Ren and Stimpy.
Several artists and directors from the show became the first creators in Seibert's innovative
What-A-Cartoon! program, 48 theatrical length, original character cartoons, made expressly for the Cartoon Network, and designed to find the talent and hits of the new generations.
2 Stupid Dogs spawned creators
Genndy Tartakovsky (
Dexter's Laboratory),
Craig McCracken (
The Powerpuff Girls), Miles Thompson, Paul Rudish, and Zac Moncrief. Many of their shorts were imparted with the same strikingly two-dimensional, purposefully cartoony animation style.
It seemed that the big dog is a bit stronger and more clever than the small dog. In several episodes the big dog succeeds in playing tricks on the small dog or figuring out the correct way to do something..
Other characters include:
* A big, fat man calling himself
Mr. H (but credited as "Hollywood"), who likes to point out others' mistakes in a pseudo-alternative way:
"Isn't that cute... BUT IT'S WROOOOOONG" ('wrong' is always accompanied by the sound of a foghorn.)
* The short-sighted Little Red, a Little Red Riding Hood clone (sort of) whose bad eyesight causes many mishaps on the way to her grandmother's house, as well as other adventures.
* A stupid boy named Kenny Fowler who fell in love with a beautiful girl in his class, but is often misguided by the "doggies!", and is followed by the catch-line "Kenny Fowler... what a fouler!" by the class bully, usually after he faints because of the stress.
* A pretty girl named Buffy Ziegenhagen, the girl that Kenny is in love with.
* A fat man called Cubby, usually appearing as a clerk at several stores during the show.
* Tiny cute cats, whose appearance causes the little dog to scream "CAAAAAAT!" and run for cover, and the big dog to just simply say "WOOF!", in most cases causing the cat to fall over stunned.
* TV Tome Entry
* IMDB Entry
* Toon Tracker: 2 Stupid Dogs
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