Hong Kong Phooey - Number one super guy
Quicker than the human eye
Hong Kong Phooey was an American animated television series produced by Hanna Barbera studio, famous for such cartoons as Scooby-Doo and Captain Caveman and was initially broadcast on ABC.
The original episodes aired from September 7 to December 21, 1974. The Show was repeated until 1976 and brought back for more reruns in 1978 and 1981. It didn’t stop there and was included in USA Network’s Cartoon Express block in the 1980s.
Characters
The main character, Hong Kong Phooey, is the secret identity of Penrod "Penry" Pooch, working at a police station as a "mild-mannered" janitor under the ever-constant watchful eye of Sergeant Flint- The Sarge.
Penry disguises himself as Hong Kong Phooey by leaping into a filing cabinet, where he gets stuck but is released by the striped cat Spot. As soon as he is released, he gets into action in the "Phooey Mobile,” which can transform into a boat, plane or telephone booth, depending on what’s needed.
As a crime fighter, Hong Kong Phooey relies on his edition of The Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu. This is a correspondence-course martial arts instruction handbook. However, his successes are only thanks to Spot, who provides a solution or the result of a funny, unintended side effect of his efforts. The humour of the incompetence of Hong Kong Phooey is a recurring theme in each episode.
Episodes
Lorraine Andrina and Richard Khim designed the storyboard backgrounds for the show and worked on Super Globe Trotters and Captain Caveman.
Each episode begins with Rosemary, the ditzy, ‘air-headed’ telephone operator (who has a crush on our hero), getting a call about a crime which she explains to Sergeant Flint. Penry, the janitor, typically overhears the conversation and goes to transform himself into the crime-fighting pooch.
He then transforms by slipping into a hidden room behind a vending machine, jumping into the bottom drawer of his filing cabinet, getting trapped, and, with some help from Spot, jumping out of the top drawer. When the show was ending, it used the episode "Comedy Cowboys" as a pilot for a new series. This double episode saw new cartoon characters, Honcho, The Mystery Maverick, and the Posse Impossible, who appear and help clear Hong Kong Phooey of a crime. Later they all appear in their own segment, "Posse Impossible".
Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970 and 1980s, the show uses the laughter track used by Hanna-Barbera at that time.
The legendary music was composed by Hanna, Barbera, and Hoyt Curtin, who provided the vocals. If you need to become more familiar with t, please feel free to listen here.
Spin-offs
In August 2006, Warner Bros released the complete series on DVD. The DVD set includes commentary on select episodes and a documentary of the show’s development through its legacy. This includes production designs, unseen original artwork, interviews, and the special featuring Kong Phooey—The Batty Bank Gang: The Complete Storyboard.
In July 2009, it was announced that a screenplay for a Hong Kong Phooey film was to be released by Warner Bros. Hong Kong Phooey was to be voiced by Eddie Murphy. However, sadly by 2022, there still needed to be news on this happening.
Over the years, our superhero has appeared as cameos in several cartoons, and for any child of the 70s and 80s, he will always be the number one super guy.
Amazingly three children’s novellas were published from 1975-1977, all by Tempo Books and containing new stories on the pooch hero.
Fun Facts
Hong Kong Phooey was a janitor at his day job.
His real name was Penry, not Henry (short for Penrod, which he is never called in the cartoon)
Spot the cat could be seen as the brains of the bunch.
In January 2015, a street art ceramic mosaic of Hong Kong Phooey was sold at Sotheby’s for HK$2 million. This was a re-creation by the artist Invader after the original piece was removed from a city wall by the Hong Kong authorities.
Charlton Comics published seven Hong Kong Phooey comic book issues during the show's run, complementing the cartoon. These comics are now in short supply.
In 2018, a reimagined version of Hong Kong Phooey appeared in Black Lightning, the DC comic book Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special #1.
Thanks for that. It was great to research and re-live. :)
Great post! I love your “fun facts” section :) it sounds like this was a funny and popular cartoon x