Wowser (TV series)

Wowser (どんどんドメルとロン, Don-Don Domeru/Dommel to Ron) is an anime based on the Belgian cartoon comic strip Cubitus. It consisted of 52 two-part episodes the running time of 20 minutes in total, and it originally aired from 5 April 1988 to 27 March 1989. The show aired in the United States on the The Family Channel in 1989.[1]

Not to be confused with Towser.

Wowser
Screenshot from Wowser
どんどんドメルとロン
(Don-Don Domeru/Dommel to Ron)
GenreComedy
Anime television series
Directed byKeiichiro Mochizuki
Written byKaoru Toshima
StudioTelescreen Japan Inc
J.C.Staff
Original networkTV Tokyo
English network
Original run 5 April 1988 – 27 March 1989
Episodes52 (104 segments)

Plot
Statue of Cubitus in Limal.

Wowser is a large white bear/dog who has a big appetite and lives with his owner Professor Dinghy, a genius inventor. They live next door to Beatrice, an old lady with brown hair and an apron; Linda Lovely and her brother Bob; and Ratso Catso, a black-and-white cat who often ruins Wowser's day or sabotages Professor Dinghy's inventions.

Characters
  • Wowser (Cubitus in French and German, Dommel (ドメル Domeru) in Japanese, Dutch, Polish and Spanish, Teodoro in Italian and Kaaboul in Arabic) is the main character. A large, tall, white bear, he has a good-natured personality but a humongous appetite who often tries to have a good day, only to get annoyed by Ratso or Beatrice. He often tests out Dinghy's inventions. Japanese voice actor: Naoki Tatsuta. English voice actor: Jeff Winkless.[2]
  • Professor Dinghy (Sémaphore in French, Ron (ロン) in Japanese and Polish, Semafoor in Dutch, Professore in Italian and Abqarino in Arabic) is Wowser's owner who has a big white moustache and wears a pink sweater. He is a genius inventor, although his eccentric creations usually backfire on him due to people using the wrong way or Ratso interfering with them. He mostly likes to use Wowser to check his inventions. Japanese voice actor: Kaneta Kimotsuki. English voice actor: Simon Prescott.[2]
  • Ratso Catso (Sénéchal in French, Blackie (ブラッキー Burakkī) in Japanese and Polish, Balthazar in Dutch and Spanish, Gatto in Italian and Mushakess in Arabic) is an annoying black-and-white neighbourhood cat who appears to be Wowser's rival or sometimes his friend, and often pretends to be nice and sabotages the Professor's inventions. Japanese voice actress: Rika Matsumoto. English voice actor: Robert Axelrod.[2]
  • Linda Lovely (Cherry (チェリー Cherī) in Japanese, Dutch and Polish, and Nadine in Arabic; her name is also Linda in Italian version) is a teenager who seems to take quite a fancy interest towards Wowser. Wowser and Dinghy also seem to have a crush on her. Japanese voice actress: Mīna Tominaga. English voice actress: Wendee Swan.[2]
  • Bob Lovely is Linda's young little brother. Japanese voice actress: Tarako. English voice actress: Barbara Goodson.
  • Beatrice (Beatrix (ベアトリクス Beatorikusu) in Japanese, Dutch and Polish, Bea in Italian) is a rather plump, tall, bossy, middle-aged woman who is often very rude to Wowser. She also seems to have secret crush on Dinghy. Japanese voice actress: Kazuko Sugiyama. English voice actress: Wendee Swan.
  • Officer Whistle is a policeman who keeps a whistle in his mouth which is used to tell people off when there is trouble about. Japanese voice actor: Kōichi Yamadera. English voice actor: Mike Reynolds.

Foreign versions

The English-language version was produced by Saban Entertainment. Retitled Wowser, the series aired in 1989 on The Family Channel. The English dub changed the names of the characters and replaced the original music. Some scenes were removed or edited due to their violent or sexual manner: one scene in "The Hip Hippos" was removed, where Professor Dinghy beats Wowser on the head; another in "Slap Happy Birthday" was removed, where a chicken attacks Beatrice, causing her to crash and rip and ruin her dress; in "Self-Cleaning Machine", when Dinghy's vacuum backfires, Linda's clothes fly out the window and land in parts of town. A bra lands on a male statue's chest and he covers himself - this entire scene was censored.

In the UK, Wowser aired on ITV and later on Channel 4 in the early and mid-1990s. Two videos of the series were released in two volumes by Stylus Video. In the United States, in 1990 and 1991, Wowser was released on video in four volumes in episodes with running times of 30 minutes and 60 minutes. In Canada, it aired on YTV between 1990 and 1993.

Elsewhere, the series was dubbed in Arabic in Jordan, and released throughout the Arab world; this version was named Ka'abool (Arabic: كعبول). It was also dubbed into Euskera, and re-titled as Dommel Artzain Txakurra ('Dommel the Shepherd Dog'); and into Dutch, titled as Dommel and aired by BRT, VARA and Kindernet from 1989 to 2003. The latter channel relaunched as Nickelodeon Kindernet on Comedy Central (Netherlands), and the series aired from May 2011 until 31 October 2013. Since 2015, it has aired on Pebble TV. The Italian version of Wowser was titled Teodoro e L'Nnvenzione Che Non Va ('Theodore and the Wrong Invention'). The Chinese version of "Wowser" was titled IQ 零蛋多毛狗 ('IQ Zero Egg Hairy Dog').

Songs

Japanese version

Opening song:

"Fly away - Yume no Hikouki" Sung by Mitsuko Horie

Lyrics by Arisu Satou

Composed by Takanori Arisawa

Arranged by Seichi Kyouda


Ending song:

"GO! GO! My Friend" Sung by Mitsuko Horie

Lyrics by Arisu Satou

Composed by Takanori Arisawa

Arranged by Seichi Kyouda

Theme Song Production by Nippon Columbia

References
  1. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 920–921. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  2. "Wowser (european)". CrystalAcid.com. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.