Notes: Hong Kong Phooey is the alter ego of mild mannered janitor clumsy Penry. Accompanied by his faithful sidekick, Spot, the crime fighting canine uses his martial arts training to thwart evil villains. Penry receives his inside information by working at the Police Department HQ with Sergeant Flint and Rosemary the telephone operator. A fairly incompetent hero, he is seemingly unaware that it is in fact Spot who saves the day as Phooey finds himself tied up in his own traps. Hong Kong Phooey first aired in 1974, and 16 episodes were produced. Chiefly inspired by the martial arts fad of the 1970s, Hanna Barbera's very own crime fighting superhero melded elements of Bruce Lee martial arts films, top rated TV series Kung Fu, and the continued success of cop programmes (Kojak, Starsky and Hutch et al). Marvel Comics superhero Shang-Chi Master of Kung Fu, with his red garb, strongly resembles the masked crime fighter. To quote Carl Douglas' monster hit single, Kung Fu Fighting: "Everybody was Kung fu fighting, it was a little bit frightening..." Casting Scatman Crothers as the voice in the main role indicates that HB were certainly aware of their increasingly multi-racial audience.
Comments: A special orange colored Hong Kong Phooey was available at the 2005 San Diego Comic-Con as part of Funko's Proto Series.
