Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw | |
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Directed by | Pierre DeCelles |
Written by | |
Based on | Pound Puppies by Tonka |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Edited by | John Blizek |
Music by | |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Tri-Star Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 77 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $6 million [1] |
Box office | $586,938 [2] |
Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw is a 1988 American animated musical adventure film based on the Tonka toy line and the Hanna-Barbera television series of the same name, which aired around the same time. [3] It was directed by Pierre DeCelles, and stars the voices of Brennan Howard, B.J. Ward and Tony Longo. This was the only animated feature film produced by Carolco Pictures as well as the first animated film distributed by TriStar Pictures.
The Legend of Big Paw was the final theatrically released animated feature from the late 1980s to promote a major toy line, a common trend in the American cartoon industry of the time. The film received negative reviews from critics and audiences alike and was a major box office bomb, grossing only $586,938 against a $6 million budget.
On the way to the museum with his niece and nephew, Whopper tells them about the origin of Puppy Power, the ability of humankind to communicate with the Pound Puppies and Purries.
In the Dark Ages (specifically the 950s AD), a boy named Arthur and his dog Digalot came across a stone which contained both the mythical sword Excalibur and the magical Bone of Scone. While Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, Digalot pulled the Bone of Scone from the stone, and soon afterward Arthur and Digalot discovered that they could now understand one another. Sir McNasty, the Black Knight, who had witnessed the withdrawals and Arthur's coronation as King of England, planned to conquer the world by retrieving the Bone. However, it was kept hidden by the giant guardian, Big Paw.
In the 1950s, the Bone of Scone is in a museum in an unnamed American city. Pound owners Tammy and Jeff hold a press conference to announce that the pound will be holding an adoption bazaar in commemoration of the Bone's thousand-year anniversary. Marvin McNasty, a descendant of Sir McNasty, arrives at the pound, wishing to adopt some puppies. Whopper discovers McNasty's true intentions: McNasty will use his Mean Machine to transform the puppies into vicious guard dogs, steal the Bone of Scone, and use its power and his canine army to conquer the world. Whopper attempts to warn his friends, but their leader, Cooler, a descendant of Digalot, does not believe him. Whopper then follows McNasty's henchmen as they attempt to steal the Bone of Scone, but they accidentally break it in two; this results in the loss of Puppy Power. Whopper takes one half of the Bone with him back to the pound, only for the henchmen to kidnap him and Collette and take the half of the Bone. Cooler and the rest of the Pound Puppies head out to rescue them and retrieve the stolen half.
Collette and Whopper escape from McNasty's lab, and briefly reunite with the rest of the Puppies. However, McNasty's henchmen recapture them. The Puppies give chase, but nearly all of them end up in a rat-infested cave, hanging on a rope, before the Purries pull them up to safety. The Puppies and Purries continue looking for their friends. When they get caught in a patch of mire, they are saved by the legendary Big Paw, who agrees to help them.
When the Puppies try to enter McNasty's house, they are captured and transformed into guard dogs, save for Cooler, who escapes by posing as a Purry, as McNasty is allergic to cats. Big Paw brings him and the Purries back to town to stop the evil trio, who have taken over the pound and dug their way into the museum where the villains glue the Bone back together, restoring Puppy Power. Big Paw and Cooler arrive, and the rest of the Puppies are turned back to normal when they hear the words "I love you". McNasty and his henchmen try to escape with the Bone, but Big Paw and Cooler chase them back to the museum, where the Mean Machine turns the villains into good men. Big Paw and Nose Marie retrieve the Bone of Scone.
Whopper and his niece and nephew find themselves in the museum. The Bone of Scone has returned for another visit, and Whopper introduces Big Paw as a surprise for the young ones, who did not believe before that he was real.
The film's music was directed by Steve Tyrell, with an original score by Richard Kosinski, Sam Winans, Bill Reichenbach Jr., Ashley Hall and Bob Mann. The six musical numbers, influenced by popular songs and standards from the 1950s and after, [4] : 209 were composed by Ashley Hall and Tyrell, written by Stephanie Tyrell, and recorded at the Tyrell-Mann and Tempo Recording Studios in Los Angeles.
Title | Based on | Performer(s) |
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"At the Pound" | "At the Hop" | Ashley Hall |
"Now That You're Here" | — | Cathy Cavadini |
"The King of Everything" | "Riot in Cell Block Number 9" | George Rose |
"All in Your Mind" | "Who Do You Love?" | Ashley Hall |
"I'm a Puppy Too" | "Duke of Earl" | Mark Vieha |
"Puppy Power's Back" | "Jailhouse Rock" | Cast |
Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw was produced by Carolco Pictures and Atlantic/Kushner-Locke along with The Maltese Companies, financed by Tonka, the original owners of the Pound Puppies franchise, and distributed by TriStar Pictures. [5] The film's director, Pierre DeCelles, was also an art director and directing storyboard artist.
According to DeCelles, production took five and a half months, starting in the fall of 1987. [6] The first two and a half months were spent on preparing its layouts and storyboards, and the remaining time on the animation, backgrounds and shooting. The overseas work was done by Wang Film Productions and Cuckoo's Nest Studio, two Taiwanese companies known for their contributions to children's animated television series.
The film's animation and character design were different from the Hanna-Barbera series, and did not contribute to the latter's continuity. A new set of characters were introduced for the film: Pound Puppies Collette, Beamer and Reflex, and the Pound Purries Hairball and Charlamange, along with two teenagers, Tammy and Jeff, that replaced the 11-year-old Holly.
During its short theatrical run, The Legend of Big Paw played mainly in matinees [7] and only grossed US$586,938. [8] The film was Carolco's sole family feature, and distributor TriStar's only animated feature until The Trumpet of the Swan (2001). It was among the last in a line of 1980s animated productions for the big screen which featured established toy properties as their main characters. Previous examples included films based on the Care Bears , My Little Pony and Transformers . [4] : xv–xx
Critical response was negative during its initial run. The Hollywood trade magazine, Variety , called it "uninvolving and endlessly derivative". [4] : 209 The Sacramento Bee deemed it "miserably drawn" in comparison to what Disney was offering at the time, [9] and the San Francisco Chronicle gave it an "empty chair" rating. [10] A reviewer in the Detroit Free Press found it "dull and unoriginal", but praised the songs that were written for it. [11]
Martha Baker of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch also denounced it and began her review thus:
If you're in your 40th year and not your fourth, Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw requires the extra dosage of insulin reserved for such treks into celluloid and commercial [sweetness]. But even 4-year-olds have trouble swallowing this cartoon whole. [5]
Writing for The Animated Movie Guide by animation expert Jerry Beck, Stuart Fisher gave one star out of four, and saw the film's artistic quality as "a mixed bag". He continued: "[While] the backgrounds are somewhat imaginative and colorful, the character animation is flat and lifeless. Rapid cuts to new angles of the same shot seem to try to cover up limitations of the animation technique". [4] : 209 Moreover, Fisher and The Philadelphia Inquirer took note of its purpose as a toy commercial, [12] a trend that was prevalent in the animation industry during the late 1980s.
Family Home Entertainment, a division of International Video Entertainment, distributor of Carolco's library, released Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw on the VHS format on September 14, 1989.[ citation needed ] Its successor, Lionsgate, released a region 1 DVD on October 24, 2006. [13] Like the Hanna-Barbera TV series before it, the film also enjoyed airplay on the Disney Channel during the early to mid-1990s. [14]
Donald Earle Messick was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
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Quest for Camelot is a 1998 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and directed by Frederik Du Chau and very loosely based on the 1976 novel The King's Damosel by Vera Chapman. It features the voices of Jessalyn Gilsig, Cary Elwes, Gary Oldman, Eric Idle, Don Rickles, Jaleel White, Jane Seymour, Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne, John Gielgud, Frank Welker, and Sarah Rayne. Andrea Corr, Bryan White, Celine Dion, and Steve Perry perform the singing voices for Gilsig, Elwes, Seymour, and Brosnan. The story follows Kayley (Gilsig), the adventurous daughter of a Knight of the Round Table killed by the power-hungry Lord Ruber (Oldman). When Ruber's renewed attempt to usurp Camelot from King Arthur (Brosnan) by stealing Excalibur goes awry, Kayley enlists the help of the blind recluse Garrett (Elwes) and a two-headed dragon, Devon and Cornwall, to help her retrieve the sword and save the kingdom.
Pound Puppies is a toy line that was created by Tonka in the 1980s. It later inspired an animated TV special, two animated TV series, and a feature film. Shipments of the toys over five years generated sales of $300 million in 35 countries.
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is an American animated mystery comedy series produced by Hanna-Barbera. It is the eighth incarnation of the studio's Scooby-Doo franchise and depicts younger versions of the title character and his human companions as they solve mysteries, similar to the original television series. The series was developed by Tom Ruegger and premiered on September 10, 1988, airing for three seasons on ABC as well as during the syndicated block The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera until August 17, 1991.
Paw Paws is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that first aired in 1985 and 1986. It debuted as part of the weekday/weekend morning programming block The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera.
The Mask: Animated Series is an American animated television series based on the 1994 film of the same title. The series ran for a total of three seasons and fifty-four episodes from August 12, 1995, to August 30, 1997. It spawned its own short-run comic book series, Adventures of The Mask. John Arcudi, former writer of the original comics, wrote two episodes of the series.
Hal Rayle is an American voice actor. He has done many roles for both animated series and live action movies.
Anthony Longo was an American actor. Longo appeared in numerous television series, including Family Matters, The Facts of Life, Laverne & Shirley, Simon & Simon, Alice, Perfect Strangers, High Tide, Renegade, Sydney, Las Vegas, Six Feet Under and Monk. His film credits include Sixteen Candles, Mulholland Drive, Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw, The Last Boy Scout, the 1994 version of Angels in the Outfield, The Cooler, Eraser, Suburban Commando, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, and Drake & Josh.
Pierre DeCelles is a Canadian animator who is recognized for his contributions to the animation industry. He directed the film Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw in 1988 and served as the supervising director for the animated series Spiral Zone. Additionally, he lent his voice to the character Ren Höek's screaming and cackling in the pilot episode of The Ren & Stimpy Show, which aired in the 1990s.
Terrence McDonnell is an American television screenwriter and producer, best known for his collaboration with Jim Carlson in the first Battlestar Galactica series. The two of them also wrote the 1988 animated feature film Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw.
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Pound Puppies was a toyline.
Events in 1988 in animation.
Events in 1962 in animation.
Pound Puppies is an American animated series made by Hanna-Barbera Productions and based on the toy line by Tonka as the sequel to the 1985 television special. Broadcast on ABC from September 13, 1986 until December 19, 1987, it is the first cartoon adaptation based on the franchise, the second being the 2010 series. 26 episodes were produced.
The Pound Puppies is an animated television special, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, based on the popular toy line from Tonka, which aired in syndication on October 26, 1985, paired with Star Fairies. The story is a spoof of the 1963 film The Great Escape.
James Francis Ryan was an American screenwriter in the DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, also the Filmation studios and Hanna–Barbera.
This is a list of events in animation in 2020.