Hong Kong Phooey

Real Name: Penrod Pooch

Identity/Class: "Normal" anthropomorphic dog

Occupation: Police station janitor

Affiliations: Sgt.Flint, Rosemary, Spot, Honcho, the Mystery Maverick, Posse Impossible

Enemies: Grandma Goody, Batty Bank Mob, Candy Bandit, Gumdrop Kid, Professor Presto, Tin Nose

Known Relatives:  None

Aliases: Number One Superguy

Base of Operations: The police station

First Appearance: Hong Kong Phooey #1 "Car Thieves" (Hanna-Barbera for ABC, 7th September 1974)

Powers/Abilities: Skilled martial artist, but somewhat clumsy. He was also somewhat inexperienced, and often had to refer to a training manual, the Hong Kong Book of Kung-Fu, to find the moves he felt could win the day. Penry can only use his martial arts in his heroic identity, and can only change into HKP by using the filing cabinet, which often meant poor Spot would have to go and fetch it from the police station in the middle of a case. HKP also had a tendency to get stuck in the cabinet, needing Spot outside to hit on it and release the drawers so the hero could emerge. HKP drives the Phooeymobile, which resembles a small pagoda on wheels. Normally hidden in a dumpster outside the station when not in use, it was capable of transforming into any item or vehicle HKP needed at the strike of a gong - unfortunately his control of exactly what he got compared to what he wanted is hit and miss.

By the time of the online cartoon, their is a visible difference between HKP's two identities - the superpowered version is notably larger and more muscular, and is able to gather some sort of "chi" energy strike which can be fired at opponents. Both versions are much more agile than the original cartoon version (Penry backward somersaults into the filing cabinet to change).

History: Who is this super hero? Sarge? ...No.

Rosemary, the telephone operator? ...No.

Penry, the mild-mannered janitor? ...Could be!

Penry Pooch, janitor at the local police station, has a secret known only to Spot, the station's extremely intelligent cat: when danger threatens or criminals are too tough for the police, Penry nips into the filing cabinet and emerges as the masked martial artist, Hong Kong Phooey. Though he was very willing, he wasn't always the most capable of heroes, relying on the "Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu" and his trusty sidekick Spot on many occasions. In fact Spot's brains were often really responsible for the capture of the villains, not that he ever got the credit, much to his annoyance.

Comments: Voiced by Scatman Crothers.

Hong Kong Phooey only lasted 16 episodes (but 31 stories, as all but the final episode were split into two tales):

  1. Car Thieves / Zoo Story

  2. Iron Head, The Robot / Cotton Pickin' Pocket Picker

  3. Grandma Goody (Cat Burglar) / Candle Power

  4. The Penthouse Burglaries / Batty Bank Mob

  5. The Voltage Villain / The Giggler

  6. The Gumdrop Kid / Professor Presto (The Malevolent Magician)

  7. TV Or Not TV / Stop Horsing Around

  8. Mirror, Mirror On The Wall / Great Movie Mystery

  9. The Claw / Hong Kong Phooey Vs. Hong Kong Phooey

  10. The Abominable Snowman / Professor Crosshatch

  11. Goldfisher / Green Thumb

  12. From Bad To Verse (Rotten Rhymer) / Kong And The Counterfeiters

  13. The Great Choo Choo Robbery / Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Bakery Man

  14. Mr. Tornado / The Little Crook Who Wasn't There

  15. Dr. Disguiso / The Incredible Mr. Shrink

  16. Comedy Cowboys

In typical cartoon logic, Penry was a humanoid dog surrounded by normal looking humans - and yet no one realised the only other humanoid dog around, Hong Kong Phooey, was secretly Penry. Penry was treated by everyone just as if he was a normal human, but Spot, who was equally if not more intelligent, was treated by everyone as if he was a normal cat.

More recently, in early 2000, Cartoon Network premiered a new Hong Kong Phooey online short feature - there's not much of a story, more a case of an updated (and much more muscular and competent) HKP having a prolonged fight against several anthropomorphic foes. You can watch it here:

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/watch/web_shows/hkp/

Thanks to "Ms. Toni" for providing HKP's full name, and Tim Lillich for corrections.

CLARIFICATIONS: None.

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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