Disney's Fluppy Dogs
Encyclopedia
Disney's Fluppy Dogs is a one-hour animated
television special
which aired on November 27, 1986 on ABC, and was intended to be a pilot
for the third Walt Disney Television
animated series. The series did not move forward due to poor ratings.
It featured five pastel-colored talking (fluppy) dogs that came through a fluppy interdimensional doorway
and into the lives of 10-year-old Jamie, with his slightly older neighbor, Claire. The dogs were the intended prey of the evil miser Wagstaff.
, was the story of a band of adventurous, cuddly, dog-like creatures who utilized a fluppy crystal key to open inter-dimensional doorways. They became lost between worlds while trying to find their way home and end up on Earth.
Mistaken for regular dogs, they are captured and placed in the pound. As their only means of escape, Stanley, the leader manages to get a human woman to pick him as a pet for her son, Jamie with plans of returning to the pound to free the others. Jamie is disappointed at this new dog of seemingly unimpressive breed, but takes him for a walk. Taking the opportunity, Stanley escapes his leash and makes a break for it, but Jamie pursues him so as to not anger his mother for losing the new pet so soon. Unfortunately, the chase leads to a construction site and Jamie finds himself in danger, forcing Stanley to reveal his intelligence and humanoid nature to save him. Unfortunately, Wagstaff, a rich collector of exotic animals recognizes the animals and vows to capture them.
Now, with the secret out, Stanley explains the situation and Jamie offers to help. Unfortunately, the boy only has enough money to purchase one of Stanley's compatriots, Tippi and his mother won't let him keep her. Fortunately, Jaimie's neighbor and nemesis, Claire, eagerly agrees to take her in. That night, as Jamie and Stanley sleep, the boy reflexively scratches the Fluppy's head which causes their bed to fly. Once they awaken and learn how to control the flying effect, Stanley resolves to break his compatriots out that night and pick up Tippi to do so, inadvertently revealing their nature to Claire in the process. At the pound, Stanley and Tippi manage to free their company and barely avoid Wagstaff who had the pound opened to seize them.
The next day, the Fluppies depart to find another dimensional portal, but are forced to ask Jaimie to cut school to help them access it. This portal turns out to be to a water world and the company are flooded out and have to return to Jamie's home to dry out. Hiding in the basement, the Fluppies discover another portal in that very room, but opening it releases a large rambunctious creature into the home and it runs about throwing Jamie's home into a shambles before they can bring it under control. Although the gang manage to put the house in order before Jamie's mother returns, she's upset at Jamie playing hooky and asks questions Jamie struggles to answer without betraying his friends.
Hoping to avoid ruining Jamie's life any more, the Fluppies continue their search on their own while the two youngest keep the alien creature hidden in the basement. Unfortunately, Wagstaff captures one of them, forcing Stanley and Tippi to ask for Claire's help. Jamie seems them depart in Clair's car and he and the youngest Fluppies ride on the creature in pursuit. Unfortunately, Wagstaff was expecting this and captures all the Fluppies in his home while threatening to call the police on the children for breaking and entering.
With a desperate plan, the Fluppies convince Wagstaff to let the children bid them goodbye and signals them to scratch on all their heads. The combined strength of this magic tears the entire section of Wagstaff's house into the air. As the occupants struggle to keep their footing with the violent jostling, the Fluppies sense another portal at the front of a public building and they crash land the building in front of it. As they struggle to open this portal, which happens to enter into the Fluppies' home dimension, Wagstaff and his butler find themselves knocked inside by the other creature while Stanley's company bolts to safety. Before, Wagstaff and his butler can exit, the door closes permanently, leaving Jaimie and Clair alone in their own reality.
Months later, Jamie and Claire have grown to be close friends with this extraordinary adventure, but they miss the Fluppies dearly. However, Stanley and his companions return to Jaimie's dimension and reveal that not only have they reopened the portal, but now hundreds of other Fluppies are using it as well to cross over, inspired by the travelers' example to explore the human world themselves.
In the book, the Fluppy Dogs are as follows: Fanci Flup (pink/white with a pink hairbow), Cuddle Flup (purple/white with two purple hairbows), Brave Flup (blue/white with a plaid bandana), Cool Flup (green/white with sunglasses), Shy Flup (peach/white with a flowered hat), and Silly Flup (yellow/white with two yellow hairbows).
on November 27, 1986, pre-empting Our World. It scored a Nielsen rating of 5.3/10; placing 70th among network programming, it was the week's lowest-ranked program.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
television special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
which aired on November 27, 1986 on ABC, and was intended to be a pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for the third Walt Disney Television
Walt Disney Television
Walt Disney Television was the former name of the television production division of The Walt Disney Company.-History:It was formed in 1983, as the Walt Disney Pictures Television Division, the name was later shortened to Walt Disney Television in the mid-1980s...
animated series. The series did not move forward due to poor ratings.
It featured five pastel-colored talking (fluppy) dogs that came through a fluppy interdimensional doorway
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
and into the lives of 10-year-old Jamie, with his slightly older neighbor, Claire. The dogs were the intended prey of the evil miser Wagstaff.
Plotline
The basic premise for the series, akin to the live-action sci-fi show called SlidersSliders
Sliders is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast for five seasons, beginning in 1995 and ending in 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. The show was created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé...
, was the story of a band of adventurous, cuddly, dog-like creatures who utilized a fluppy crystal key to open inter-dimensional doorways. They became lost between worlds while trying to find their way home and end up on Earth.
Mistaken for regular dogs, they are captured and placed in the pound. As their only means of escape, Stanley, the leader manages to get a human woman to pick him as a pet for her son, Jamie with plans of returning to the pound to free the others. Jamie is disappointed at this new dog of seemingly unimpressive breed, but takes him for a walk. Taking the opportunity, Stanley escapes his leash and makes a break for it, but Jamie pursues him so as to not anger his mother for losing the new pet so soon. Unfortunately, the chase leads to a construction site and Jamie finds himself in danger, forcing Stanley to reveal his intelligence and humanoid nature to save him. Unfortunately, Wagstaff, a rich collector of exotic animals recognizes the animals and vows to capture them.
Now, with the secret out, Stanley explains the situation and Jamie offers to help. Unfortunately, the boy only has enough money to purchase one of Stanley's compatriots, Tippi and his mother won't let him keep her. Fortunately, Jaimie's neighbor and nemesis, Claire, eagerly agrees to take her in. That night, as Jamie and Stanley sleep, the boy reflexively scratches the Fluppy's head which causes their bed to fly. Once they awaken and learn how to control the flying effect, Stanley resolves to break his compatriots out that night and pick up Tippi to do so, inadvertently revealing their nature to Claire in the process. At the pound, Stanley and Tippi manage to free their company and barely avoid Wagstaff who had the pound opened to seize them.
The next day, the Fluppies depart to find another dimensional portal, but are forced to ask Jaimie to cut school to help them access it. This portal turns out to be to a water world and the company are flooded out and have to return to Jamie's home to dry out. Hiding in the basement, the Fluppies discover another portal in that very room, but opening it releases a large rambunctious creature into the home and it runs about throwing Jamie's home into a shambles before they can bring it under control. Although the gang manage to put the house in order before Jamie's mother returns, she's upset at Jamie playing hooky and asks questions Jamie struggles to answer without betraying his friends.
Hoping to avoid ruining Jamie's life any more, the Fluppies continue their search on their own while the two youngest keep the alien creature hidden in the basement. Unfortunately, Wagstaff captures one of them, forcing Stanley and Tippi to ask for Claire's help. Jamie seems them depart in Clair's car and he and the youngest Fluppies ride on the creature in pursuit. Unfortunately, Wagstaff was expecting this and captures all the Fluppies in his home while threatening to call the police on the children for breaking and entering.
With a desperate plan, the Fluppies convince Wagstaff to let the children bid them goodbye and signals them to scratch on all their heads. The combined strength of this magic tears the entire section of Wagstaff's house into the air. As the occupants struggle to keep their footing with the violent jostling, the Fluppies sense another portal at the front of a public building and they crash land the building in front of it. As they struggle to open this portal, which happens to enter into the Fluppies' home dimension, Wagstaff and his butler find themselves knocked inside by the other creature while Stanley's company bolts to safety. Before, Wagstaff and his butler can exit, the door closes permanently, leaving Jaimie and Clair alone in their own reality.
Months later, Jamie and Claire have grown to be close friends with this extraordinary adventure, but they miss the Fluppies dearly. However, Stanley and his companions return to Jaimie's dimension and reveal that not only have they reopened the portal, but now hundreds of other Fluppies are using it as well to cross over, inspired by the travelers' example to explore the human world themselves.
Cast
Some of the characters in the Fluppy Dogs and the voice actors that played them were:- Jamie Bingham - Carl Stevens
- Claire the Neighbor - Jessica Pennington
- Stanley the Blue - Loyal Fluppy - Marshall EfronMarshall EfronMarshall Efron is an American humorist originally known for his work on the listener-sponsored Pacifica radio stations WBAI New York and KPFK Los Angeles, and later for the PBS television show The Great American Dream Machine...
- Ozzie the Green - Cool Fluppy - Lorenzo MusicLorenzo MusicLorenzo Music was an American actor, voice actor, writer, television producer and musician. His best-known roles include voicing the animated cartoon cat Garfield, and Carlton the doorman on the CBS sitcom Rhoda...
- Tippi the Pink - Loving Fluppy - Susan BluSusan BluSusan Maria Blu , sometimes credited as Sue Blu, is an American voice actress, voice director, and casting director in American and Canadian cinema and television...
- Dink the Red - Playful Fluppy - Hal SmithHal Smith (actor)Harold John "Hal" Smith was an American character actor and voice actor. Smith is best known as Otis Campbell, the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show, and was the voice of many characters on various animated cartoon shorts...
- Bink the Yellow/Peach - Shy Fluppy - Susan Blu
- Mrs. Bingham - Cloyce Morrow
- J. J. Wagstaff - Michael RyeMichael RyeMichael Rye is a US voice actor. He is also known as Mike Rye and sometimes used his surname at birth, Rye Billsbury...
- Mr. Hamish - Hal Smith
Differences between the pilot and the book
While she may have been intended for the series, Fanci, an additional pink Fluppy Dog, was not featured in the pilot. Images, dolls, coloring books and puzzles supplied in the 1980s are from a children's book which included Fanci, and were apparently based on preliminary designs for the Fluppies. These are slightly different from the designs that appeared in the actual pilot film. Based on these designs it would appear that the Fluppy Dogs were originally targeted to young girls, and by the time it reached post-production, the focus was changed dramatically, but it was not enough to form a concrete target audience, which might explain its failure to become a regular series.In the book, the Fluppy Dogs are as follows: Fanci Flup (pink/white with a pink hairbow), Cuddle Flup (purple/white with two purple hairbows), Brave Flup (blue/white with a plaid bandana), Cool Flup (green/white with sunglasses), Shy Flup (peach/white with a flowered hat), and Silly Flup (yellow/white with two yellow hairbows).
Reception
The Fluppy Dogs special aired on the U.S. television network ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
on November 27, 1986, pre-empting Our World. It scored a Nielsen rating of 5.3/10; placing 70th among network programming, it was the week's lowest-ranked program.