2 Stupid Dogs

2 Stupid Dogs
Created by	Donovan Cook
Starring	Brad Garrett Mark Schiff Jess Harnell Jim Cummings Tony Jay Ben Stiller among several guest voices.
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	45 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 Minutes
Production companies	Hanna-Barbera Cartoons Turner Program Services
Original release
Network	TBS Superstation
Release	September 11, 1993 – January 21, 1995

2 Stupid Dogs is an American animated television series created by Donovan Cook and produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and Turner Program Services that originally ran from September 11, 1993 to January 21, 1995 on TBS Superstation.

The main segments of the show featured two dogs, "Big Dog" and "Little Dog." The big dog was voiced by Brad Garrett, and the little dog was voiced by Mark Schiff. A backup segment, a remake of Hanna-Barbera's Secret Squirrel (entitled Super Secret Secret Squirrel), was shown in between the main "2 Stupid Dogs" cartoons in many of the 13 episodes, similarly to early Hanna-Barbera cartoons in the 1960s, but in 1994 it was changed to the 1960s Secret Squirrel segment, also in between the later "2 Stupid Dogs" cartoons. This show also aired on Cartoon Network from 1994 to 2003 and Boomerang from 2005 until 2007.

Plot

2 Stupid Dogs is about a big dog and a little dog and their everyday misadventures, with an animation style unusual for the time: a very flat, simplistic style similar to early Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the 1950s and 1960s, but with early 1990s humor and sensibility. It also did not have a series structure, similar to many humorous cartoons and sitcoms. The show did not follow a continuous storyline — what happens in one episode has little to no effect on another.

Episodes

Main article: List of 2 Stupid Dogs episodes

Production

2 Stupid Dogs was the beginning of the successful revival of Hanna-Barbera's fortunes, since the studio had not launched a bona fide hit since The Smurfs in 1981. The Turner Entertainment president installed MTV and Nickelodeon branding veteran Fred Seibert as the head of production. Seibert's plan to reinvent the studio was to put his faith in the talent community, a first for television animation, and Hanna-Barbera in particular. His first pitch and first series put into production in 1992 was 2 Stupid Dogs, by recent California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) graduate Donovan Cook. Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi was credited to adding "tidbits of poor taste" to the three Little Red Riding Hood episodes, and a few other Spümcø artists also contributed to selected episodes during the course of the show.

Several artists and directors from the show became the first creators in Seibert's What-A-Cartoon! program; 48 theatrical length, original character cartoons, made expressly for the Cartoon Network, and designed to find the talent and hits of the new generations. 2 Stupid Dogs spawned creators Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars), Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), Miles Thompson, Paul Rudish, and Zac Moncrief.

Characters

The title characters were never named. They were referred to as simply "The Big Dog" and "The Little Dog" in the end credits (although one skit had the Big Dog named Jonathan).

• Big Dog - is a large grey sheep dog (in a episode where they were in a farm, he was even able to herd sheep). He is much stronger than the Little Dog. The Big Dog is generally too lazy to bother with anything, and most of the time seemed more aloof and unconcerned about his surroundings than actually stupid. In some episodes, he surprisingly revealed deep philosophical intelligence. A running gag about the Big Dog is he would spit out a whole cob of corn he ate.
• Little Dog - is a small orange Dachshund. Little Dog is much more energetic and hyperactive than Big Dog. Little Dog is completely scared by cats, and when a cat appeared, it was Big Dog that had to scare the cat away. He does know a little about history (such as when in an Abraham Lincoln parody, when the Lincoln actor dies from a sword strike, the little dog remarks "I thought Lincoln was shot").
• Kenny Fouler - A small skinny kid with nerdy glasses, who is often pushed around by other kids, and often asks the dogs for help, in a certain episode where he tries to talk to a girl and gets nervous. He has a bully who often says "What a Fouler!" as in his last name.
• Hollywood - A large man who likes to point out others' mistakes, always in the same unnecessary fashion; he will begin by saying, in an admiring tone "Well isn't that cute?" and then shout at the top of his lungs "But it's wrong!". Whenever the dogs bump into Mr. H he has a completely new appearance and on one occasion is a woman. He has also had many occupations such as a teacher, farmer, Noah, casino manager and pet shop owner. In "Pie in the sky" he assumes multiple shop owners of a retail store.
• Cubby - A fat spotty teenager with big glasses, blonde hair and blue lips. In the episodes he appears in he assumes the role of a different job, like Mr. Hollywood, such as in the episode "Far-Out Friday" he is a clerk at the supermarket. In the episode "At The Drive Through" he is the attendant at the snack bar. He has a squeaky voice and often lets of gas when excited i.e. "Post Office". He helps the stupid dogs with questions and problems they have which mainly involves food.
• Buffy - A girl that Kenny has a crush on, who is in his class.

Reception

Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman of Animation World Magazine described 2 Stupid Dogs as one of two "clones" of The Ren and Stimpy Show.

External links

• Toon Tracker: 2 Stupid Dogs
• 2 Stupid Dogs at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com