Foofur


Foofur is an American animated children's television series from Kissyfur creator Phil Mendez that was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions with SEPP International S.A. Airing on NBC from 1986 to 1987, the show was about the everyday misadventures of the skinny blue protagonist dog in Willowby. A comic book series based on the cartoon was produced by and released from Star Comics.

Plot

In the town of Willowby, a tall skinny blue bloodhound named Foofur has taken refuge in a mansion, in 32 Maple Street, which is also his birthplace. In Foofur's group is his niece Rocki, Fencer the Cat, a bulldog named Louis with his girlfriend, an Old English Sheepdog named Annabell, and a cocker spaniel named Hazel with her husband, a miniature schnauzer named Fritz-Carlos.
Foofur and his friends, however, have an enemy in a woman named Mrs. Amelia Escrow and her pet Chihuahua named Pepe, who tries to expose Foofur's illegal roommates, but always to no avail. Mrs. Escrow has tried many times to sell the estate, but unbeknownst to her, Foofur and his friends keep the house from being bought, as they also protect their home from rodents like the Rat Brothers who tend to mess with Fencer, other cats like Vinnie and his Cat Pack, and greedy humans.
While trying to stop Mrs. Escrow, Foofur tries to avoid having his friends captured by the Bowser Busters' dog catchers Mel and Harvey. In addition, an Afghan Hound named Burt also antagonizes Foofur and competes with him to win the affection of a basset hound named Dolly.

Characters

Main characters

Season 1 (1986)

Season 2 (1987)

Home media

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of episodes of the series were released on VHS in the United States by Celebrity Home Entertainment's Just for Kids label.

Legal activity

Foofur played a role in the case Nationwide Insurance v. Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 116 F.3d 1154. The case dealt with an insurer's duty to defend an insured party in light of the insured's intentional acts of property damage. The insured, a drunken college student, spelled out "FOO"—meaning "foo", a word derived from Foofur—on the artificial turf football field of Memorial Stadium with lighter fluid burning the letters into the turf. He caused $600,000 damage to the AstroTurf. The court held that such an act was not within the insurance policy's liability coverage.

Reception

In 2014, listing it among twelve 1980s animated series that supposedly did not deserve remembrance, io9 criticized the series, perceiving its premise to be contrived and remarking that "someone had the gall to think this was 'cool'".