Dynomutt, Dog Wonder

Dynomutt, Dog Wonder
Also known as 'The Blue Falcon & Dynomutt'
Created by Joe Ruby
Ken Spears
Directed by Charles A. Nichols
Voices of Frank Welker
Gary Owens
Larry McCormick
Ron Feinberg
Narrated by Ron Feinberg
Composer(s) Hoyt Curtin
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 20
Production
Executive producer(s) William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Running time 22 minutes
Production company(s) Hanna-Barbera Productions
Distributor Taft Broadcasting
Release
Original network ABC
Original release September 11, 1976 (1976-09-11) – October 29, 1977 (1977-10-29)
Chronology
Related shows The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour
Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics

Dynomutt, Dog Wonder is a Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The show centers on a Batman-esque super hero, the Blue Falcon, and his assistant, bumbling yet generally effective robot dog Dynomutt, a robotic dog who can produce a seemingly infinite number of mechanical devices from his body. As with many other animated super-heroes 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 (1976–77) and its later expanded form Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics (1977–78); 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 television distribution to the series.

Overview

Millionaire socialite art dealer Radley Crown (voiced by Gary Owens) and his mechanical mongrel Dynomutt (voiced by Frank Welker who got the inspiration for the voice from the Gertrude and Heathcliff characters of Red Skelton) enjoy leisure time in their base of operations Big City, until alerted by the Falcon Flash. They immediately dash for the Falcon's Lair (situated in Crown's penthouse apartment), where they switch to their secret identities, the Blue Falcon and Dog Wonder, respectively. Blue Falcon and Dynomutt receive the report via TV screen from the secret GHQ of secret agent F.O.C.U.S. One (voiced by Ron Feinberg) and 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 no 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. (as D.W. lovingly refers to him) is more Dynomutt's victim than his master, forever being hamstrung by the latter's insufferably clumsy mechanized mishaps, which often results in 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.

Nº Title Original air date
1.1"Everyone Hyde!"1September 11, 1976 (1976-09-11)
Willie the Weasel has created a formula that turns him into Mr. Hyde. While Blue Falcon and Dynomutt are on the trail of the mysterious Mr. Hyde, they encounter the Mystery Inc. gang and Scooby-Doo (who are unaware that Mr. Hyde is a supervillain and not one of their typical "spooks"). In The New Scooby-Doo Movies-fashion, they team-up with Blue Falcon and Dynomutt (who happens to be Scooby's hero) to stop Mr. Hyde, who has threatened to turn the population of the entire city into "Mr. Hydes" unless he is proclaimed mayor. Fred and the others find a clue (which turns out to be Willie the Weasel's glove), and Blue Falcon deduces that Willie is Mr. Hyde. Blue Falcon and Dynomutt have Mr. Hyde proclaimed mayor and pretend to turn themselves in so Mr. Hyde will lead them to his secret lair and trick him into showing them the antidote to the Hyde formula. Willie the Weasel and his canine partner-in-crime "Snitch" manage to escape. Blue Falcon and Dynomutt head to the Mayor's Mansion to stop Hyde from retrieving his stolen loot. The Mystery Inc. gang set up one of their infamous "Scooby Traps" while Blue Falcon and Dynomutt confront Mr. Hyde and Snitch. Dynomutt captures Snitch while Blue Falcon and the Mystery Inc. crew capture Willie the Weasel/Mr. Hyde.
NOTE: This episode is a crossover between Dynomutt, Dog Wonder and Scooby-Doo.
1.2"What Now, Lowbrow?"1September 18, 1976 (1976-09-18)
A caveman-like criminal named Lowbrow wants to become the King of Crime and steals some books that will help him in his quest. Blue Falcon and Dynomutt end up assisted by Mystery Inc. into stopping Lowbrow.
NOTE: This episode is another crossover between Dynomutt, Dog Wonder and Scooby-Doo.
1.3"The Great Brain... Train Robbery"September 25, 1976 (1976-09-25)
The Gimmick is a criminal mastermind who uses his prowess of gadgets to create havoc in the city and dares the police to stop him from stealing a train car with a prince inside.
NOTE: Mumbly makes a cameo at the end of the episode.
1.4"The Day and Night Crawler"October 2, 1976 (1976-10-02)
A talking worm called Worm and his henchman Grub use a digging machine to spring Bugsy Busby and Roto Chopper from prison in a plot to steal a super-computer.
1.5"The Harbor Robber"October 9, 1976 (1976-10-09)
An ocean-themed villain named Fishface plans to steal Big City's oil and hold it for ransom.
1.6"Sinister Symphony"October 16, 1976 (1976-10-16)
Manyfaces uses his talent for disguises to trick Dynomutt into arresting Blue Falcon, Mayor Gaunt, and the Chief of Police.
1.7"Don't Bug Superthug"October 23, 1976 (1976-10-23)
Superthug and his henchman Zorkon have created a super-dynamic steel skeleton and plans to use it to steal the city's steel supply to mass-produce an army of steel skeletons.
1.8"Factory Recall"October 30, 1976 (1976-10-30)
Blue Falcon loses his Falcon Communicator while he and Dynomutt are fighting Mr. Cool. Mr. Cool then makes Blue Falcon think that he is F.O.C.U.S. One claiming that Dynomutt needs to recalled to where he was made. With Dynomutt under his control, Mr. Cool has Dynomutt dispose of Blue Falcon while he initiates a plot to freeze Big City.
1.9"The Queen Hornet"November 6, 1976 (1976-11-06)
Blue Falcon and Dynomutt attempt to get evidence that will put Queen Hornet in prison.
1.10"The Wizard of Ooze"1November 13, 1976 (1976-11-13)
Swamp Rat and his henchman Mudmouth plan to flood Big City by using stolen pumps to send half the water in Bogmyer Swamp into Big City to start a crime spree. Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, team-up once again with Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc. to stop the villains before Big City becomes Bog City.
NOTE: This episode is another crossover between Dynomutt, Dog Wonder and Scooby-Doo.
1.11"Tin Kong"November 20, 1976 (1976-11-20)
A hack movie director named Eric von Flick plans to make a movie called "The Total Destruction of Big City" starring his robotic creation Tin Kong.
1.12"The Awful Ordeal with the Head of Steel"2November 25, 1976 (1976-11-25)
A mysterious criminal named Ironface seeks revenge on Big City by capturing the District Attorney, the Warden of Rockatraz, Detective Malloy, Mayor Gaunt, Judge Grater, Chief of Police Grisby, and the Chief Prosecutor as well as Blue Falcon and Dynomutt. Now Blue Falcon and Dynomutt must defeat Ironface and find out Ironface's true identity.
1.13"The Blue Falcon vs. The Red Vulture"November 27, 1976 (1976-11-27)
The Red Vulture steals 2 of the world's most powerful super-jet engines, with plans to use them for his nefarious Vulturejet and in turn dominate the airways.
1.14"The Injustice League of America"3December 4, 1976 (1976-12-04)
Fishface, Gimmick, Lowbrow, Queen Hornet, Superthug, and Worm have escaped from Big City Prison and had formed the Injustice League of America. They plan to commit a major crime spree and dispose of Blue Falcon and Dynomutt.
NOTE: The titular villain group has no connection to the DC Comics villain group of the same name.
1.15"Lighter Than Air Raid"3December 11, 1976 (1976-12-11)
An evil genius of the airways named Blimp is stealing Big City's supply of helium.
1.16"The Prophet Profits"3December 18, 1976 (1976-12-18)
The Prophet sets up his own disasters which he can predict for Mayor Gaunt and charge him $500,000 for every prediction he wants to know.
  • 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 (November 25), 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 All-Star Laff-A-Lympics (1977)

Nº Title Original air date
2.1a"Beastwoman, Part 1"September 10, 1977 (1977-09-10)
2.1b"Beastwoman, Part 2"September 17, 1977 (1977-09-17)
A wild-woman-themed villain named Beastwoman uses her multi-frequency Beast Whistle to have the animals at Big City Zoo break out of their cages and drive the people out of Big City. When Dynomutt falls victim to the Beast Whistle, it's up to Blue Falcon to stop Beastwoman.
2.2a"The Glob, Part 1"September 24, 1977 (1977-09-24)
2.2b"The Glob, Part 2"October 1, 1977 (1977-10-01)
Norbert Prindle (a.k.a. Glob) and his gang plan to steal the Baltese Falcon.
2.3a"Madame Ape Face, Part 1"October 8, 1977 (1977-10-08)
2.3b"Madame Ape Face, Part 2"October 15, 1977 (1977-10-15)
Madame Ape Face is using a device to help her steal the faces of beautiful starlets of Big City.
2.4a"Shadowman, Part 1"October 22, 1977 (1977-10-22)
2.4b"Shadowman, Part 2"October 29, 1977 (1977-10-29)
Shadowman mysteriously knows all of the plans of the Crime Commission and plans to commit a crime spree where one of them frames Mayor Gaunt.

These four new episodes were aired under the new title The Blue Falcon & Dynomutt.

Voices

Additional voices

Broadcast history

Dynomutt, Dog Wonder originally aired in these following formats on ABC and NBC:

  • The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (September 11, 1976 – November 27, 1976, ABC)
  • The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Show (December 4, 1976 – September 3, 1977, ABC)
  • Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics (as The Blue Falcon & Dynomutt) (September 10, 1977 – March 11, 1978, ABC)
  • Dynomutt, Dog Wonder (June 3, 1978 – September 2, 1978, ABC) (rerun)
  • The Godzilla/Dynomutt Hour (September 27, 1980 – November 15, 1980, NBC) (rerun)

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.

DVD release

All 16 episodes of the first season were released to DVD in the Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour DVD set from Warner Home Video. The 4 episodes from The Blue Falcon & Dynomutt that were broadcast as a part of the Scooby-Doo's All Star Laff-A-Lympics are currently unavailable on DVD.

  • Gary Owens and Frank Welker reprise their roles of Blue Falcon and Dynomutt in guest appearances in the Dexter's Laboratory episode "Dyno-Might" (which was considered to be the darkest of the duo's adventures). Blue Falcon comes to Dexter when Dynomutt is heavily damaged during their fight with Buzzord (voiced by Rob Paulsen). Though Dynomutt is rebuilt by Dexter, Dynomutt ends up trashing his laboratory, causing Dexter to deactivate Dynomutt and create Dynomutt X-90 (also voiced by Frank Welker), who becomes a fanatical vigilante, using excessive and lethal force to deal with minor crimes such as jaywalking and littering. Dexter becomes Dexstar to help Blue Falcon stop Dynomutt X-90. When Dynomutt X-90 ends up trapping Dexter and Blue Falcon, Dexter stated that he created Dynomutt X-90 because the other Dynomutt was a goofy idiot sidekick. This causes Blue Falcon to reactivate the real Dynomutt while telling Dexter that "He wasn't just a goofy idiot sidekick! He was a... go-go dog person!". Dynomutt arrives and distracts Dynomutt X-90 enough for Dexter to deactivate him, with Dexter apologizing for underestimating Dynomutt. Blue Falcon and Dynomutt then thank Dexter for their help, with the former noting to Dexter that "It's a goofy idiot sidekick that's makes a superhero super!".
  • Dynomutt as a picture made a cameo in the "Agent Penny" episode of the Super Secret Secret Squirrel segment of 2 Stupid Dogs.
  • Gary Owens reprises his role of Blue Falcon in the Johnny Bravo episode "Johnny Makeover". 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 video game of the same title as a Spanish lawyer named Antonio de Rivera Garcia Azul Falcón (voiced by Maurice LaMarche). Dynomutt has also appeared in the two-part episode "Deadomutt" voiced by André Sogliuzzo with a Spanish accent.
  • Dynomutt and Blue Falcon appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "Ban on the Fun", with Dynomutt voiced by Victor Yerrid and Blue Falcon voiced by Kevin Shinick.
  • Dynomutt and Blue Falcon appear in the Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated episode "Heart of Evil" with Frank Welker reprising his role of Dynomutt while Blue Falcon was voiced by Troy Baker. This 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, the Blue Falcon is depicted as a gritty and violent vigilante (reminiscent of Frank Miller's "Dark Knight" version of Batman). Mystery Incorporated ends up aiding Dynomutt and Blue Falcon when the robot dragon has attacked Crystal Cove City Hall. It then turns out that the dragon robot is a Dragon Battle Suit that was built by Dr. Zin in his plot to obtain the Quest-X Power Source and that his daughter Jenny was in a catatonic state in the Dragon Battle Suit since its last attack on Quest Labs. Dr. Zin wanted the Quest-X Power Source in order to heal Jenny. After Blue Falcon and Mystery Inc.'s fight with Dr. Zin's men, Dynomutt used some of the Quest-X Power Source to heal Jenny. Despite Jenny being healed, Dr. Zin and Jenny managed to get away and set their island base to self-destruct. After Blue Falcon, Dynomutt and Mystery, Inc. escape before the base exploded, Blue Falcon vows to catch Dr. Zin someday. Of course since this is Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, these stories are non-canon.
  • Dynomutt and Blue Falcon are referenced in another Scooby-Doo crossover, Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon, with Frank Welker reprising his role of Dynomutt. This is the nineteenth film in the Scooby-Doo franchise that is a direct-to-video film. The duo was redesigned in a movie within the film where the second Blue Falcon named Brad Adams (voiced by Diedrich Bader) has a much darker, technologically advanced costume and Dynomutt was stripped down into a destructive, dark-looking robotic dog. The film also featured Owen Garrison (voiced by Jeff Bennett) who was an actor that played Blue Falcon in the original TV series that he starred in and was bitter at the fact that Brad Adams was cast as the new Blue Falcon. Mr. Hyde (voiced by John DiMaggio) was the villain of the film and was the disguise of Jack Rabble (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) in a plot to steal the receipts from an armored car and frame Owen Garrison. By the end of the film, Owen Garrison was signed on to appear as the father of the second Blue Falcon for the film's sequel and Scooby-Doo is cast to play the role of the original Dynomutt.

In other media

Comics

  • Ongoing series Cartoon Network Presents #21 (May 1999) featured a story starring Dynomutt and Blue Falcon. It was written by Dan Slott with art by Many Galan and Mike DeCarlo.[1]
  • 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.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Cartoon Network Presents #21 at the GCD
  2. ↑ Tomasi Announces Super Sons Crossover with Dynomutt & Blue Falcon by Jason Cohen on CBR.com, 22 Feb 2018
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