The Dogfather

The Dogfather is an American series of 17 theatrical cartoon shorts produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and distributed by United Artists between 1974 and 1976.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is the final theatrical cartoon series made by DePatie–Freleng.

Premise

The Dogfather is a loose parody of The Godfather that follows the daily criminal activities of an Italian American Mafia-like syndicate in 1940s New York City composed of anthropomorphic dogs led by the titular Dogfather, a Cocker Spaniel based on Godfather character Vito Corleone. Most stories center on the Dogfather sending his henchmen, including his brawny but slow-witted right-hand man Pugg (sometimes spelled "Pug") as well as Louie the Labrador, who constantly tries to get on his boss's good side, to accomplish various tasks, often with comically unsuccessful results.<ref name=beck>Template:Cite book</ref>

The opening credits feature the song "I'm Gonna Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse", with lyrics by John Bradford and music by Dean Elliot, named after a line spoken by Vito Corleone in The Godfather and sung by the Dogfather (except for the first short, where he speaks the lyrics).

The Dogfather was later broadcast as part of the NBC Saturday morning cartoon series The Pink Panther and Friends.<ref name=beck/>

Remakes

Much like a number of DFE-produced cartoon shorts, 9 of the 17 Dogfather cartoons were remakes of Looney Tunes cartoons from 1948-57 that were directed by Freleng, which are listed below:

• The pilot episode (The Dogfather) was a remake of Tree For Two (1952).
• The Goose that Laid a Golden Egg was a remake of Golden Yeggs (1950).
• Heist and Seek was a remake of Bugsy and Mugsy (1957).
• Mother Dogfather was a remake of Stork Naked (1955).
• Devilled Yeggs was a remake of Satan's Waitin' (1954).
• Watch the Birdie was a remake of Dr. Jerkyll's Hide (1954) and Hyde And Go Tweet (1960).
• Saltwater Tuffy was a remake of Tugboat Granny (1956).
• M-O-N-E-Y Spells Love was a remake of Hare Trimmed (1953)
• Eagle Beagles was a remake of Hare Lift (1952).

Home media

Kino Lorber (under licensed from MGM) released all 17 shorts on DVD and Blu-ray in April 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Revival

In 1993, the Dogfather, Pugg, and Louie were included as recurring antagonists for The Pink Panther, but they were radically reinterpreted as more original characters with a modern uncouth gangster motif. Furthermore, whereas Louie was originally the shortest of the three, the new Dogfather, now a bulldog, is the shortest; and Louie is the only member of the trio to speak with a Californian accent instead of a New York one. The Dogfather is voiced by Joe Piscopo (except for "It's Just a Gypsy in My Soup" where he is voiced by Jim Cummings), while Pugg and Louie are voiced by Brian George and Jess Harnell.

These versions of the characters are also the main antagonists for the 1996 computer game The Pink Panther: Passport to Peril, with the Dogfather voiced by Barry Carrollo, Pugg voiced by Jonathan Fedinatz, and Louie voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas. In the game, the Dogfather schemes to ruin the reputation of the prestigious summer camp Chilly Wa-Wa so he can open a "Dogburger" fast food restaurant in its place, while Pugg and Louie unsuccessfully attempt to thwart the Pink Panther's efforts to stop them.

Images of Pugg and Louie as infants appear during a musical number about the myth of Pegasus to represent two of Poseidon's children in Passport to Peril's 1997 sequel, The Pink Panther: Hokus Pokus Pink.

External links

• Big Cartoon Database
• Mofolândia Template:Webarchive Template:In lang