Who is this superhero?
Sarge?
No!
Rosemary, the telephone operator?
No way, man!
Penry, the mild-mannered janitor?
Could be!
Hong Kong Phooey, the number-one super guy
Hong Kong Phooey, quicker than the human eye.
Oh, he’s got style, a groovy smile, a bod that just won’t stop
When the going gets rough, he’s super tough
With the Hong Kong Phooey chop
Hong Kong Phooey, the number-one super guy
Hong Kong Phooey, oh, he’s quicker than the human eye
Cho chicly lo chicly bow wow wow
Dong diggity dong diggity dong dong dong
(pick it up, pick it up, pick it up)
Hong Kong Phooey theme tune lyrics.
Introduction
First aired on ABC in 1974, Hong Kong Phooey was a must-see cartoon for children. It is a cartoon based around Penrod Pooch, a janitor who used to change clothes in a filing cabinet, who reappears as Hong Kong Phooey, a Kung Fu crime-fighting detective. That’s after he gets trapped in the cabinet, and Spot the Cat releases him. Amazingly, the programme only ran for a year until 1975, and only sixteen episodes were made. Accompanied by his faithful sidekick, Spot the Cat, he works with a telephonist, Rosemary, who has a crush on Penrod but no clue about his alter ego. There is also Sergeant Flint. This Hanna-Barbers creation travels around in the Phooeymobile. A car that can transform into a boat, a plane or a telephone booth, depending on his circumstances.
Kung Fu Style
A Superhero who is clumsy in his actions despite using his trusted book, The Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu. Spot rescues most of his scrapes with the other side of the law. A cat who is a mastermind at solving crimes. This bufoon of a dog hero is the reoccurring theme of each episode, with scenes that make many children laugh. With voices provided by The Shining actor Scatman Crothers as Penrod and Hong Kong Phooey, Kathi Gorey as Diane, Joe E. Ross as Sergeant Flint and Don Messick as Spot, The Narrator and additional voices. Lorraine Andrina and Richard Khim designed the backgrounds.
Fond Memories
This cartoon was a repeat by the time I saw it as I was born in 1972 and many of these cartoons were must-see reruns on BBC1 children’s television. The customary laugh track is ever pressure in this series and was originally going to use Huckleberry Hound as the character but the producers decided to make it more original. Joe E. Ross is best known for playing Officer Gunther Toody in the early 1960s television series Car 54, Where Are You? As Flint, Ross revived Toody’s famous “Ooh! Ooh!” exclamation, which he had also used when playing mess sergeant Rupert Ritzik in The Phil Silvers Show. The theme tune was written and composed by Hoyt Curtin, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and sung by Crothers.
