2 Stupid Dogs

*2 Stupid Dogs*
2 Stupid Dogs
Created by	Donovan Cook
Starring	Brad Garrett ; Mark Schiff ; Jess Harnell ; Jim Cummings ; Tony Jay ; among several guest voices.
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	39
Production
Running time	30 Minutes
Original release
Network	TBS Superstation
Release	September 18, 1993 –; January 21, 1995

2 Stupid Dogs was an American animated television series created by Donovan Cook and 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 until June 14, 2003 and currently airs on Boomerang.

The main segments of the show featured two dogs, both of whom went unnamed (though the big dog was called 'Jonathan' in one episode and 'Johnny' in another). The big dog was voiced by Brad Garrett, and the little dog was voiced by Mark Schiff. A back-up segment, Super Secret Secret Squirrel, featured a modernized take on the Hanna-Barbera character Secret Squirrel.

Plot

2 Stupid Dogs was a cartoon about a stupid dog and another stupid dog, with an animation style that was unusual (at the time); a very flat, simplistic style similar to early Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the 1950s and 60s, with early 1990s humor and sensibility.

Production

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 creator John Kricfalusi was credited to adding "tidbits of poor taste" to the three Little Red Riding Hood episodes, and a few other Spumco artists also contributed to selected episodes during the course of the show.

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 and Samurai Jack), Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), Miles Thompson, Paul Rudish, and Zac Moncrief. Many of their shorts were imparted with the same strikingly two-dimensional, purposefully cartoony animation style.

Running Gags

Running gags on the series include:

Whenever the big dog throws up or coughs something up, it is usually followed by an apparently undigested corn on the cob. Corn also has other appearances elsewhere in other episodes.
When the little dog gets excited a signature tune plays, and he jumps around dancing half-singing an improvised song with a poorly thought rhyme.
When the little dog eats something disgusting, he says "This tastes like ca-ca!'. 'Ca-ca', 'caca', 'kaka' is a Spanish, Portuguese, French, Turkish, Romanian and Hungarian informal word for excrement.
The little dog usually is scared by a cat, and the big dog scares the cat. The little dog and the cat both freeze or faint. The cat (and at times the little dog) makes a girlish scream upon hearing the big dog give an unenthusiastic bark (or simply the word "woof") before freezing in place. The cat will make a sound similar to tapping on glass when it falls.
When the little dog is singing and dancing or is on some sort of roll, the big dog instantly changes his mood by simply saying "Where's the food"?
Hollywood says "Ain't that cute? BUT IT'S WRONG!" in his appearances
The little dog's catch phrase was "When Do We Eat?"

Characters

The title characters were never named. They were referred to as simply "The Big Dog" and "The Little Dog" in the end credits. It seemed that the big dog is a bit stronger and more clever than the little dog. (The big dog most of the time seemed more aloof and unconcerned about his surroundings than actually stupid). In several episodes the big dog succeeds in playing tricks on the little dog or figuring out the correct way to do something.

A big loud, fat man calling himself Mr. H (but credited as "Hollywood"), who likes to point out others' mistakes in a pseudo-alternative way: "Well isn't that cute... BUT IT'S WROOOOOONG!!" ('wrong' is always accompanied by the sound of a foghorn.) The credited name "Hollywood" may be a reference to his numerous appearances in various roles and occupations, including a construction foreman, actor, casino manager, and so forth.
The short-sighted Red (voiced by Nancy Cartwright), 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 (which are always parodies of other fairy tales). She had a habit of loudly exclaiming seemingly random words in her sentences while speaking. An interesting aspect is the Star Wars inspired use of the titles of the two "sequels" to "Red", the first being "Red Strikes Back" (The Empire Strikes Back) and the second being "Return of Red" (Return of the Jedi). In all of the "Red" episodes of 2 Stupid Dogs, "Red" "la-la's" the Tchaikovsky`s 1812 Overture on the way to "Grandma's house".
A geeky 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 "What a fouler!" by the class bully, usually after he faints because of the stress.
A pretty girl named Buffy Ziegenhagen, whom Kenny is in love with.
A fat geeky adolescent named Cubby (voiced by Rob Paulsen), usually appearing as a clerk at several stores during the show.
Tiny cute cat, 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 shriek, and fall over stunned, making the sound of tapping glass when it falls over.

External links