Dynomutt, Dog Wonder
Dynomutt, Dog Wonder is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired on ABC from 1976 to 1977. The show centers on a Batman-esque superhero, the Blue Falcon, and his assistant, Dynomutt, a bumbling, yet effective robotic dog who can produce a seemingly infinite number of mechanical devices from his body. As with many other animated superheroes of the era, no origins for the characters are ever provided.
Dynomutt was originally broadcast as a half-hour segment of The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour, and a quarter-hour segment of its later expanded form Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics ; it would later be rerun and syndicated on its own from 1978 on. The cast of The Scooby-Doo Show appeared as recurring characters on Dynomutt, assisting the Daring Duo in cracking their crimes. Originally distributed by Hanna-Barbera's then-parent company Taft Broadcasting, Warner Bros. Television currently holds the distribution rights to the series.
Overview
Millionaire socialite art dealer Radley Crown and his mechanical dog Dynomutt enjoy leisure time in their base of operations in Big City, until alerted by the Falcon Flash. They then immediately dash to the Falcon's Lair, where they switch to their secret identities, the Blue Falcon and Dog Wonder, respectively. The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt receive the report via TV screen from the secret GHQ of secret agent F.O.C.U.S. One, jump into the Falconcar and speed into the fray against assorted evildoers.In a coup similar to the 1960s Batman TV series, the first 10 minutes of Dynomutt ends with a cliffhanger wherein the Daring Duo, in the clutches of their foes, are subjected to a perilous fate which is resolved immediately after the commercial. Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contains laugh track created by the studio.
The metallic mutt employs a system of miniaturized transistors which allow him to extend his limbs or neck and use them to perform extraordinary feats; however, none of them ever work properly. "B.F." is more Dynomutt's victim than his master, forever being hamstrung by the latter's insufferably clumsy mechanized mishaps, which often results in the Blue Falcon calling Dynomutt "Dog Blunder". Nevertheless, Dynomutt and the Blue Falcon, who is equipped with his own arsenal of supergadgetry, manage to get the situation well in hand.
Episode guide
''The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour'' (1976)
The episode titles given reflect Hanna-Barbera studio records. No on-screen titles were given for this series.Title | Original air date |
- 1 These episodes guest-star Scooby-Doo and the Mystery, Inc. gang.
- 2 Episode 1.12, "There's a Demon Shark in the Foggy Dark/The Awful Ordeal with the Head of Steel", was originally broadcast not on a Saturday morning, but on Thanksgiving Day 1976, during ABC's Thanksgiving Funshine Festival.
- 3 These episodes, and all first-season repeats, were broadcast as part of The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Show, which included an additional half-hour featuring a Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! rerun.
''Scooby's and Dynmout hour season 2'' (1977)
Voice cast
- Gary Owens – Blue Falcon
- Frank Welker – Dynomutt, Fred Jones, Bugsy Busby
- Ron Feinberg - F.O.C.U.S. One, Narrator, Mudmouth, Worm
- Larry McCormick as the Mayor of Big City
Additional voices
- Henry Corden – Mr. Hyde/Willie the Weasel, Prophet
- Regis Cordic –
- Joan Gerber –
- Bob Holt –
- Ralph James –
- Casey Kasem – Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, Fishface, Swamp Rat, Lowbrow's Henchman, Professor Orville
- Julie McWhirter – Queen Hornet
- Allan Melvin – Superthug, Grub
- Don Messick – Scooby-Doo, Mumbly, Gimmick, Lowbrow, Lowbrow's Henchman, Manyfaces, Manyfaces' Henchmen, Gimmick's Henchmen, Jeweler
- Heather North – Daphne Blake
- John Stephenson – Chief Grisby, Chief Wiggins, Blimp, Eric von Flick, Shadowman/Herman Twitch, Red Vulture, Glob's Henchmen, Fishface's Henchmen, Gimmick's Henchmen
- Pat Stevens – Velma Dinkley
- Lennie Weinrib – Superthug, Roto-Chopper, Gimmick's Henchmen
Broadcast history
- The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour
- The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Show
- Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics
- Dynomutt, Dog Wonder
- The Godzilla/Dynomutt Hour
Between January 2 and March 9, 2008, repeats of Dynomutt, Dog Wonder were shown on Boomerang. On June 4, 2009, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder returned to Boomerang and aired Thursdays through Sundays at 10am Eastern. But the show stopped airing on Boomerang due to the re-branding that happened on January 19, 2015, that also removed many other older shows.
Home media
All 16 episodes of the first season were released to DVD in the Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour DVD set from Warner Home Video.In other media
- Gary Owens and Frank Welker reprise their roles of Blue Falcon and Dynomutt in guest appearances in the Dexter's Laboratory episode "Dyno-Might". Blue Falcon comes to Dexter when Dynomutt is heavily damaged during their fight with the supervillain, Buzzord. Though Dexter obliges, Dynomutt destroys his laboratory, leading to Dexter deactivating Dynomutt and creating Dynomutt X-90, who becomes a fanatical vigilante using excessive and lethal force to deal with minor crimes such as parking violations, jaywalking, and littering. Dexter tries to help Blue Falcon stop Dynomutt X-90, but after being cornered, Dexter reveals he built Dynomutt X-90 because he deemed the original a goofy idiot sidekick. Blue Falcon reactivates the original Dynomutt, who arrives and distracts Dynomutt X-90 enough for Dexter to deactivate him.
- Dynomutt's picture made a cameo in an episode of the 2 Stupid Dogs segment, Super Secret Secret Squirrel.
- Owens reprises his role as Blue Falcon in the Johnny Bravo episode "Johnny Makeover" wherein he, "Weird Al" Yankovic and Don Knotts redesign Johnny's show in a parody of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
- Blue Falcon appears as a recurring character in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law TV series and once in the as a Spanish lawyer named Antonio de Rivera Garcia Azul Falcón. A similarly Spanish accented Dynomutt also appeared in the two-part episode "Deadomutt", voiced by André Sogliuzzo.
- Dynomutt and Blue Falcon appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "Ban on the Fun", voiced by Victor Yerrid and Kevin Shinick respectively.
- Dynomutt and Blue Falcon appeared in the Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated episode "Heart of Evil", with Welker reprising his role of Dynomutt while Blue Falcon was voiced by Troy Baker. This series depicts an origin where Radley Crown and his dog Reggie were security guards at Quest Labs. After a robot dragon attacks and injures Reggie's organic body, Dr. Benton Quest rebuilds him as a cyborg dog. While Dynomutt retains his personality from the original series, Blue Falcon is depicted as a gritty and violent vigilante reminiscent of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.
- Dynomutt and Blue Falcon appear in the Scooby-Doo crossover direct-to-DVD movie, Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon, with Welker reprising his role of Dynomutt once more. The duo was redesigned to be a film-within-a-film with two different iterations of the Blue Falcon. Owen Garrison was the star of the original TV series who became embittered by Hollywood for rebooting his show as a dark and gritty movie with actor Brad Adams in the lead role as a technology-based Blue Falcon while Dynomutt was reworked into a destructive robot dog. The film's main antagonist, Jack Rabble, used the identity of Blue Falcon's arch-enemy, Mr. Hyde, to commit a daring heist and frame Garrison for it. However, he was foiled by Garrison and Scooby-Doo.
- Blue Falcon and Dynomutt appear in a second Scooby-Doo crossover theatrical movie, Scoob!, with Blue Falcon voiced by Mark Wahlberg and Dynomutt voiced by Ken Jeong. This Blue Falcon is portrayed as Radley Crown's son, Brian, who took up the mantle after Radley retired to Palm Beach, Florida. As a result, Dynomutt had his intelligence increased to make him more mature and competent, which initially made him resentful of Brian. They were also joined by assistant Dee Dee Skyes and butler Keith. During the movie's credits, Blue Falcon founded the Falcon Force alongside Atom Ant, Captain Caveman, Jabberjaw, and Grape Ape.
Comics
- Ongoing series Cartoon Network Presents #21 featured a story starring Dynomutt and Blue Falcon. It was written by Dan Slott with art by Many Galan and Mike DeCarlo.
- As part of a series of crossovers featuring DC and Hanna-Barbera characters together, DC launched Super-Sons/Dynomutt Special #1 in May 2018. The issue was written by Peter Tomasi with art by Fernando Pasarin.