2 Stupid Dogs
2 Stupid Dogs (title card).jpg
GenreComedy
Created byDonovan Cook
Directed byDonovan Cook
Voices of
Theme music composer
  • Chris Desmond
  • Tom Seufert
Opening theme"2 Stupid Dogs Title Theme"
Ending theme"2 Stupid Dogs Ending Theme"
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes26[d] (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerBuzz Potamkin
Producers
Running time22 minutes[f]
Production companyHanna-Barbera Cartoons
Release
Original networkTBS
Audio formatStereo
Original releaseSeptember 5, 1993 (1993-09-05) –
February 13, 1995 (1995-02-13)

2 Stupid Dogs is an American animated television series created and designed by Donovan Cook and produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. It originally ran from September 5, 1993, to May 15, 1995, on TBS as a part of their Sunday Morning in Front of the TV block and in syndication. The show's main segments feature two unnamed dogs, called "The Big Dog" and "The Little Dog" in the credits (voiced by Brad Garrett and Mark Schiff, respectively).[1]

The show has been described as "Hanna-Barbera's answer to Ren and Stimpy",[2] a hit show that premiered two years earlier in 1991 on Nickelodeon. Like Ren & Stimpy, the Dogs characters are not very bright, the show is scored with jazz music, and the comedy style leans on gross-out body-secretion humor. Asked about the comparison, Hanna-Barbera CEO Fred Seibert was unconcerned, saying that it was "like Pearl Jam worrying about being compared to Nirvana."[2] Ironically, following his dismissal from Nickelodeon, Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi was credited as contributing "bad taste" gags to a few episodes of Dogs.

A backup segment, Super Secret Secret Squirrel (a sequel series to Secret Squirrel), is shown in between the main 2 Stupid Dogs cartoons in the first season's episodes, similar to early Hanna-Barbera cartoons from the 1960s.

The show entirely used digital ink and paint in every episode.

Plot

The show is about two unnamed dogs—neither of whom, as the title states, is very intelligent—and their everyday misadventures. The Big Dog tends to talk much less than the Little Dog. When the Big Dog talks, he usually talks about food. The animation style in the first season is unusual for the time: a very flat and simplistic style similar to the early Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the 1950s and 1960s, but with early 1990s humor and sensibility. The wilder, more absurd second season has more fluid and exaggerated character animation.

Characters

Episodes

Main article: List of 2 Stupid Dogs episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
113September 5, 1993 (1993-09-05)November 28, 1993 (1993-11-28)
213September 5, 1994 (1994-09-05)February 13, 1995 (1995-02-13)

Home media

On August 14, 2018, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (via the Warner Archive Collection) released the first season of the series as 2 Stupid Dogs/Secret Squirrel Show Volume One on DVD.[3]

Reception

Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman of Animation World Magazine described 2 Stupid Dogs as one of two "clones" of The Ren & Stimpy Show, the other one being The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show.[4] The series was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award but lost to Rugrats.

Accolades

Date Award Category Nominee(s) Result
1994 Annie Awards Best Individual Achievement for Artistic Excellence in the Field of Animation Paul Rudish Nominated
Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Film Sound Mixing Rex Slinkard and James L Aicholtz Nominated
1995 Outstanding Achievement in Animation Todd Frederiksen, Miles Thompson, Tony Craig, Mark Saraceni, Rob Renzetti, and Donovan Cook Nominated

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Episodes 1–4
  2. ^ Episodes 5–26
  3. ^ Additional music
  4. ^ 39 segments
  5. ^ Season 1, supervising producer, season 2
  6. ^ 7 minutes per segment

References

  1. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 667. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  2. ^ a b Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 876–878. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  3. ^ 2 Stupid Dogs/Secret Squirrel Show, Volume One, ASIN B07FQ1B9Z8
  4. ^ Goodman, Martin (March 2001). "Cartoons Aren't Real! Ren and Stimpy in Review". Animation World Magazine. No. 5.12. Archived from the original on 2001-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-05.