Touché Turtle and Dum Dum

*Touché Turtle and Dum Dum*
Touché Turtle and Dum Dum
Genre	Animated; Comedy
Directed by	William Hanna; Joseph Barbera
Voices of	Bill Thompson; Alan Reed
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	52 (list of episodes)
Production
Producers	William Hanna; Joseph Barbera
Running time	7 minutes (per short)
Production company	Hanna-Barbera Productions
Original release
Network	Syndication
Release	September 3, 1962 –; August 26, 1963

Touché Turtle and Dum Dum is one of the segments from The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series, produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1962.

This show was originally on The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series along with Wally Gator and Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har. It has also aired twice on the BBC in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s.

History

Touché Turtle (voiced by Bill Thompson, best remembered as the voice of Droopy) and his sheepdog sidekick Dum Dum (voiced by Alan Reed, better known as Fred Flintstone) were a pair of heroic fencers who battle villains and heroically save Kings, Queens, and others in distress. Touché was the brave (if not entirely competent) leader brandishing his trusty sword and exclaiming his catchphrase "Touché away!" He wore a plumed musketeer type hat. Dum Dum was more of a simple minded follower in a smaller plumed hat and a scarf.

During the run of the show, Touché Turtle used a standard fencing foil as a weapon. But in the opening title sequence, Touché Turtle uses a firehose against a firebreathing dragon, ties up an octopus with its own tentacles and pits his foil against a lightning bolt. Though not especially bright, he was an accomplished fencer and could hold his own against other sword-fighting opponents.

Despite his expertise at fencing, Touché always mispronounced the word "sword" when speaking. He always pronounced the "w" rather than leaving it silent.

The series did not follow any lasting timeline or continuity. Touché would have adventures in the Old West and in medieval eras, as well as battling villains during the modern era of the 1960s.

A running gag in nearly every episode showed him keeping a telephone inside his shell, and it would ring at inopportune moments when someone called for help. Touché would politely excuse himself, duck into his shell, and take the call regardless of where he was at the time.

Episode list

DVD release

The first episode "Whale of a Tale" is available on the DVD Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960's Vol. 2. “Rapid Rabbit” is available on DVD on disc 2 of The Best of Warner Bros.: Hanna-Barbera 25 Cartoon Collection.

Touché Turtle and Dum Dum in other languages

Portuguese language: Tartaruga Touché
Brazilian Portuguese: Tartaruga Touché
Croatian language: Korni Kornjača
Spanish: La Tortuga D'Artagnan y Dum Dum
Italian: Luca Tortuga e Dum Dum
Japanese: 突貫カメ君 (Tokkan Kame-kun)
Serbian: Vitez Koja (Витез Која)
Polish: Tuptusiu w drogę (fon. - Tooptooshyu fdrokeae)
French language: Touché la Tortue et Dum Dum
Finnish: Kalpakonna
Hebrew: טושה הצב (Touche Ha'Tzav)
Thai language: ตูเช่ประจัญบาน (touché bpra-jan-baan)

Other appearances

Touché Turtle and Dum Dum appeared in Yogi's Ark Lark and its spin-off series Yogi's Gang. In those appearances, Touché Turtle was voiced by Don Messick due to the death of Bill Thompson in 1971 while Dum Dum had no dialogue.
Don Messick also voiced Touché Turtle in Yogi's Treasure Hunt.
Dum Dum makes an appearance in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Mindless" voiced by Maurice LaMarche. He and Touché Turtle also make cameos in the video game adaption.

References

Browne, Dan. "Touche Turtle According to Wingnut." WingutToons. 30 March 2006 [1]
"Touche Turtle." Cartoon Legends. Pure Imagination. 30 March 2006 [2]

External links