Dynomutt, Dog Wonder

infobox television
show_name = Dynomutt, Dog Wonder


caption = Syndication "Dynomutt, Dog Wonder" title card.
format = Animation
runtime = approx. 22 minutes
(per episode)
rating = TV-G
creator = Joe Ruby
Ken Spears
starring = Frank Welker as Dynomutt
Gary Owens as Blue Falcon
country = United States
network = ABC
first_aired = September 11, 1976
last_aired = October 22, 1977
num_episodes = 20 (16 half-hour episodes and eight 11-minute two-part episodes)
imdb_id = 0177438
tv_com_id = 18723

"Dynomutt, Dog Wonder" is an American animated television series produced for Saturday mornings by Hanna-Barbera about a Batman-esque super hero, the Blue Falcon and his assistant, a bumbling yet generally effective robot dog Dynomutt, who could produce a seemingly infinite number of mechanical devices from his body. As with many other animated super-heroes of the era, no origin for the characters was ever provided.

Recently, between January 2 and March 9, 2008, repeats of "Dynomutt, Dog Wonder" were shown on Boomerang.

History

The show was created for ABC in 1976 as a companion show for "Scooby-Doo", resulting in "The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour".

In his secret identity, Blue Falcon—in many ways a parody of Batman, right down to his nearly endless gadgets, his millionaire secret identity, his stylized "Falconcar," and (reminiscent of the 1960s "Batman" TV series) his utterly serious demeanor —is millionaire Radley Crown, proprietor of Crown Art Gallery, and Dynomutt is his loyal pet, smartly dressed in a sweater and ascot (although his "civilian" name, if any, is never revealed). But when called to action in their base of operations, Big City, the duo quickly change into their superhero guises. Unlike "Scooby-Doo", "Dynomutt" featured spies and super-villains in place of assumedly supernatural villains, although the "Scooby" gang made three guest appearances on the show. Astute watchers will note that in almost every case, Blue Falcon and Dynomutt and the episode's villain imply at least one previous clash. However, like the heroes themselves, the villains' origins are rarely included in these discussions, unless the main conflict of the episode is based on the villain's on-screen debut.

In 1977, "Dynomutt, Dog Wonder" became part of the package show "Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics". Four new episodes, presented as two-part cliffhangers, were produced for the 1977-78 season under the title "The Blue Falcon & Dynomutt". Reruns from the first season of "Dynomutt" were also broadcast during the "Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics" block. The "Dynomutt" segments from both package shows were later rerun on their own during the summer of 1978. Between 1984 and 1992 it reappeared on cable on USA Cartoon Express (some of the original bridging sequences from "The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour" had been restored for this purpose and were sometimes seen; other times, the syndicated titles were shown). Cartoon Network and its sister channel Boomerang has repeated the syndicated "Dynomutt Dog Wonder" since then (without its omnipresent laugh track).

Episode guide ("The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour")

eason one (1976 – 1977)

"The episode titles given reflect Hanna-Barbera studio records. No on-screen titles were given for this series.

*¹ These episodes guest-star Scooby-Doo and the Mystery, Inc. gang.
*² Episode 1.12, "There's a Demon Shark in the Foggy Dark/The Awful Ordeal With the Head of Steel", was originally broadcast not on a Saturday morning, but on Thanksgiving Day 1976 (November 25), during ABC's "Thanksgiving Funshine Festival."
*³ These episodes, and all first-season repeats, were broadcast as part of "The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Show", which included an additional half-hour featuring a "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" rerun.

Episode guide ("Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics")

eason two (1977 – 1978)

These 4 new episodes were aired under the new title "The Blue Falcon & Dynomutt".

Production credits

*EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
*DIRECTOR: Charles A. Nichols
*CREATIVE PRODUCER: Iwao Takamoto
*CREATED BY: Joe Ruby and Ken Spears
*ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Alex Lovy
*STORYBOARD DIRECTION: David Hannan, Tom Knowles, Michael O'Connor, Paul Sommer, Wendell Washer, Kay Wright
*RECORDING DIRECTOR: Wally Burr
*STORY EDITOR: Norman Maurer
*STORY: Earl Doud, Jeff Maurer, Lee Orgel, Haskell Barkin, Donald Glut, Orville Hampton, Michael Maurer, Dalton Sandifer, Deidre Starlight
*VOICES: Regis Cordic, Joan Gerber, Bob Holt, Ralph James, Gary Owens, Henry Corden, Ron Feinberg, Casey Kasem, Larry McCormick, Julie McWhirter, Don Messick, Heather North, John Stephenson, Pat Stevens, Lennie Weinrib, Frank Welker, Allan Melvin
*PRODUCTION DESIGN: Bob Singer
*CHARACTER DESIGN: Alex Toth, Steve Nakagawa
*PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR: Victor O. Schipek
*GRAPHICS: Iraj Paran
*MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Hoyt Curtin
*MUSICAL SUPERVISOR: Paul DeKorte
*UNIT DIRECTOR: Bill Keil
*LAYOUT: Mike Arens, Jack Huber, Larry Huber, Dale Barnhart, Owen Fitzgerald, Alex Ignatiev, Ziggy Jablecki, Bill Lignante, Warren Marshall, Dan Noonan, Linda Rowley, Terry Slade, Adam Szwejkowski, George Wheeler
*ANIMATION: Ed Barge, Steve Clark, Maria Dail, Jim Davis, Bob Goe, Bill Hutten, Tony Love, Rod Parkes, Veve Risto, Jay Sarbry, Bob Bemiller, Robert Bransford, O.E. Callahan, Lars Calonius, Rudy Cataldi, Marcia Fertig, Mark Glamack, Terry Harrison, Margaret Nichols, Ed Soloman, Dave Tendlar
*BACKGROUNDS: Bob Gentle, Al Gmuer, Richard Khim, Marilyn Shimokochi
*TECHNICAL SUPERVISOR: Frank Paiker
*CHECKING AND SCENE PLANNING: Evelyn Sherwood
*INK AND PAINT SUPERVISOR: Billie Kerns
*XEROGRAPHY: Star Wirth
*SOUND DIRECTION: Richard Olson, Bill Getty
*SUPERVISING FILM EDITOR: Chip Yaras
*MUSIC EDITORS: Larry Cowan, Pat Foley, Joe Sandusky
*NEGATIVE CONSULTANT: William E. DeBoer
*POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR: Joed Eaton
*CAMERA: George Epperson, Curt Hall, Ron Jackson, Norman Stainback, Roy Wade
*PRODUCTION MANAGER: Jayne Barbera

Voices

* Frank Welker - Dynomutt
* Gary Owens - Radley Crowne/Blue Falcon
* Larry McCormick - Mayor Gaunt
* Ron Feinberg - Narrator, F.O.C.U.S. One

Other appearances

Gary Owens and Frank Welker reprise their roles of Blue Falcon and Dynomutt in guest appearances in the "Dexter's Laboratory" episode "Dyno-Might."

Blue Falcon also appeared, without Dynomutt, on an episode of "Johnny Bravo", in which he, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and Don Knotts redesign Johnny's show in a parody of overdone cartoon makeovers that are often despised by audiences. Gary Owens also reprises his role here.

Blue Falcon appears as a recurring character in the "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" TV series as a Spanish lawyer named Azul Falcone (voiced by Maurice LaMarche). Dynomutt has also appeared in the two-part episode "Deadomutt" voiced by André Sogliuzzo with a Spanish accent.

Dynomutt and Blue Falcon appeared in the "Robot Chicken" episode "Ban on the Fun" with Dynomutt voiced by Victor Yerrid and Blue Falcon voiced by Kevin Shinick.

External links

*imdb title|id=0177438|title=Dynomutt, Dog Wonder
* [http://www.angelfire.com/la/aaronh3d/ THE FALCON'S LAIR: The Unofficial Guide To Dynomutt Dog Wonder]
* [http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/d/dynomutt.htm InternationalHero: Dynomutt]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20000302005949/www.cartoonnetwork.com/doc/dynomutt/ Cartoon Network: Dept. of Cartoons: Dynomutt] - cached copy from Internet Archives