Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds

Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds
	; Title screen
Genre	Animation, Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Created by	BRB Internacional; Claudio Biern Boyd
Voices of	Cam Clarke; Steve Kramer; Dan Woren; Michael Reynolds; Tom Wyner; Dave Mallow; Rebecca Forstadt; Simon Prescott; Michael Sorich; Doug Stone; Eddie Frierson; Kerry Mahan; Elizabeth Hanna; ; Satomi Majima; Akio Nojima; Tesshō Genda; Mugihito; Eiko Masuyama; Keiko Han; Teiji Ōmiya; Noriko Tsukase; Akkio Tsuboi; Minoru Yada
Narrated by	Tom Wyner (Series 1); Michael McConnohie (Series 2)
Country of origin	Japan Spain (Series 1), Spain, United Kingdom, Taiwan (series 2)
No. of episodes	52 (Both series); only 24 episodes of Series 1 in Japan
Production
Running time	26 mins
Broadcast
Original channel	MBS (Japan series 1 only); TVE (Spain)
Audio format	Mono
Original run	9 October 1981 (series 1) – 26 March 1982 (series 1)

Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds is an animated cartoon adaptation of the classic Alexandre Dumas story of d'Artagnan and The Three Musketeers. Most of the characters are anthropomorphizations of dogs, hence the title of the cartoon; although there are a few exceptions, most notably Dogtanian's two sidekicks Pip the mouse and Planchet the bear, among several others.

Production [edit]

The 1st series of the show was created by the joint production of BRB Internacional of Spain and Japanese studio Nippon Animation.

It was first broadcast in Japan (ワンワン三銃士) (Wanwan Sanjushi) and Spain (D'Artacan y los tres mosqueperros) in 1981 (while the show aired in Japan first, the initial dub was Spanish). In Taiwan, it was known as 湯恩與三劍客. In Japan, only 24 out of the 26 produced episodes were aired. The series was dubbed into English by Intersound USA in 1985. As well as dubbing the TV series, BRB also produced a TV movie, which was again dubbed by Intersound USA.

The partnership between BRB and Nippon Animation worked so well, that they collaborated in another successful animated series two years after Dogtanian called Around the World with Willy Fog in 1983.

In 1989 BRB produced a second series/sequel (The Return of Dogtanian) consisting of 26 episodes with the co-operation of Taiwanese studio Wang Film Productions and British television company, Thames Television.

Other dubbed versions [edit]

There was an Afrikaans adaptation broadcast on SABC during 1985 and the early 1990s. The title was changed to "Brakanjan", which has become a popular name for dogs in South Africa. The voice for Brakanjan in his earliest years, was done by Gerben Kamper during his time of working for SABC.

Plot [edit]

The story, set in the 17th century, follows a young Dogtanian (D'Artacan in the original Spanish version and voiced by Cam Clarke in the English version, and Darutaniyan in the Japanese version and voiced by Satomi Majima) who travels to Paris in order to become one of the King Louis XIII of France's musketeers. (Note; that they are referred to as musketeers throughout the cartoon and only the title calls them muskehounds). He quickly befriends three musketeers (Porthos, Athos and Aramis) and falls in love with Juliette, a maid-in-waiting for Queen Anne of Austria.

Episode list [edit]

Series 1 [edit]

"Dogtanian's Journey"
"Dogtanian meets the Black Moustache"
"Paris, the City of Dreams"
"The Three Invincible Musketeers"
"Monsieur Treville, Captain of the Musketeers"
"Dogtanian Meets His Match"
"Dogtanian Meets the King"
"Juliette's Secret"
"Juliette Kidnapped"
"The Great Getaway"
"Dogtanian's Trance"
"Dogtanian to the Rescue"
"Dogtanian Meets Monsieur Pip"
"In Search of Juliette"
"Dogtanian Saves the Day"
"Daggers and Diamonds"
"The Journey to England"
"The Chase"
"Dogtanian Is Put to the Test"
"Dogtanian and the Blue Falcon"
"The Shipwreck"
"The Jungle Adventure"
"Marco's Mission"
"The Impostor"
"Milady's Revenge"
"Dogtanian's Dream Comes True"

Series 2 [edit]

DVD releases [edit]

UK DVD Sleeve Dogtanian The Complete Series One

The series has now been released on DVD in the UK by Revelation Films in Region 0 format:

Episodes 1–9: 28 April 2003
Episodes 10–15: 25 August 2003
Episodes 16–20: 22 March 2004
Episodes 21–26: 25 May 2004
Dogtanian- The Complete Series Boxset 20 September 2004
The Movie One For All And All For One and the Dogtanian TV Special 26 July 2004.
Dogtanian - The Complete Second Series Boxset 4 July 2005.

(Note: The second series was only released as a box-set and not as individual volumes. There are 4 disks in the set. Unlike the first series which is in Region 0 format, the second series was released in Region 2 format. The DVD of the TV movies was also released in Region 0.)

In November 2010, a version was released that contains series 1, 2 and the movie. This was put together exclusively for HMV. Now the complete boxset has since been made available at other retailers.

The complete first series was released on DVD in the U.S. in 2012 by Oasis DVDs.

Japanese version [edit]

The opening title was remade with a new anime segment of Dogtanian, Juliette and the Three Muskehounds as well as a new Japanese title theme sung by Maron Kusaka and the Suginami Children's Choir. The ending title was the same as the Spanish show set to the song "Sou Iu Onushi Wa" also by Maron Kusaka.

Sequel [edit]

In 1990 The Return of Dogtanian was released by BRB Internacional, Thames Television and Wang Film Productions. It picks up ten years after the original story ends, with Dogtanian and Juliette now living together on the outskirts of Paris with their two children, Philippe and Fleur. The Muskehounds are reunited by the Queen when her husband starts acting suspiciously. Cardinal Richelieu is still featured, along with Milady, and Widimer still loyal to him.

The story is loosely based on the novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne also by Alexandre Dumas, itself building on the myth of The Man in the Iron Mask.

Dave Mallow, who adapted the original to English, takes over as the voice of Dogtanian. As it was produced in Taiwan by Wang Film Productions, Nippon Animation, the Japanese studio which produced the first series, was not involved in the sequel.

Like the first series, 26 episodes were produced. Later in 1995, a TV movie was made of the second series entitled One For All and All For One, with completely different voice actors and a few name changes from the original series.

Soundtrack [edit]

The original version of the soundtrack to Dogtanian (called Dartacan Soundtrack), can be downloaded from Amazon's UK website in MP3 format. It includes an English version of the theme song that uses the second series opening lyrics, but the music is similar to the original opening, in this version Dogtanian however is referred to as Dartacan, his Spanish name, and the theme is sung with very high voices, similar to the original opening. An insert song in Spanish which has been replicated twice (Richelieu and Bulibu, probably an error on Amazon's part or that of the record company) and a few instrumental tracks that are heard in the show itself and one unused instrumental track.^[1]

Cast [edit]