Pound Puppies is a toyline sold by Tonka in the 1980s. It later inspired an animated TV special, an animated TV series, and a feature film. Shipments of the toys over five years generated sales of $300 million in 35 countries.[citation needed]
The puppies have a variety of plush stuffed dog dolls with floppy ears and droopy eyes. They came in a variety of colors, some with spots. Each one comes in a carrying case with an adoption certificate. Smaller versions were also created (approximately 5 inches (13 cm) long), and a line of cats called Pound Pur-r-ries was also released. Each authentic puppy had a heart shaped emblem near its tail that sported a "PP" logo with either a dog (Puppies) or cat (Purries) peeking around it. In 1987, Hardee's restaurants also offered a series of Pound Puppies with their Children's Meals. Also, Pound Puppies continued to be popular in the early 1990s.
The "Pound Puppies" trademark is held by "Pound Puppies Inc".
In 1985, Hanna-Barbera made an animated television special, which aired in syndication that October, paired with Star Fairies. Characters in the television special included the Fonzie-styled leader Cooler (voiced by Dan Gilvezan), the cheerleader Bright Eyes (voiced by Adrienne Alexander), and a dog with a very nasal like New York accent known only as "The Nose" (voiced by Jo Anne Worley), and the goofy inventor aptly named Howler (voiced by Frank Welker), who can only howl.
A female dog from a wealthy aristocratic family named Violet Vanderbuck (voiced by Gail Matthius) is being pursued by dognappers when she is picked up and taken to the city pound. There, she meets the gang and discovers their mission to find homes for themselves. The film plot centers on Violet (whom Cooler insists on referring to as "Sam") attempting to reunite with her family, ultimately succeeding. Two other dogs appeared in the special. They were the upperclass snob Barkerville (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer) and the garbage-can-digging Scrounger (voiced by Ron Palillo), who later appeared in the season 2 episode Garbage Night: The Musical. The three of them appeared briefly in a flashback in the episode Wagga Wagga. The Mayor (voiced by Sorrell Booke) made a cameo appearance in Bright Lights, Bright Eyes as one of the judges of the pet talent show, Mayor Fist.
This special was released on VHS in 1986 by Family Home Entertainment and is available on a DVD which comes with certain Pound Puppies toys.
The characters Bright Eyes (voiced by Adrienne Alexander), Howler (voiced by Frank Welker), and The Nose/Nose Marie (voiced by Jo Anne Worley) would be voiced by different actors in the regular series, although Adreinne Alexander and Frank Welker would return as Brattina and Catgut respectively.
After the success of the special, Hanna-Barbera gained the rights to create an animated TV series in 1986. Loosely based on the special, the series was broadcast on ABC between September 1986 and February 1989. In this series no mention is made of Violet's whereabouts. This series found itself under a lot of competition from competitors such as Fluppy Dogs (Disney), which was also adapted into a TV special, but was not made into a regular series.
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