Sometimes a show comes out of the left field and innocently proves itself far more entertaining than its makers ever intended. Occasionally the BBC’s commitment to buying a certain amount of children’s programs from Europe will serve up an eccentric gem. In the seventies it was The Flashing Blade and for the eighties generation there was another set sword-wielding heroes – Dogtanian and the Three Muskerhounds!
Originally made in Spain in 1981, this cartoon adaptation of Alexander Dumas’ classic novel stayed remarkably faithful to the plot, even if it repopulated it with animals. It had charm and was often unintentionally very funny. In its own little way it was as subversive as Dangermouse and easily as watchable. At a time when most cartoons were little more than extended toy adverts, the show’s resolutely uncommercial approach was refreshing. What is more it also featured a long, ongoing story rather than the unsatisfying twenty minute plots, a rarity for its time.
Week by week we followed Dogtanian’s twin quests: to become a King’s Musketeer and to foil the evil Cardinal Richelieu’s plan to disgrace the noble Queen and rule France through her weak husband King Louis XIII. Along the way he hamfistedly romances the lovely Juliet, the Queen’s handmaiden. Because the series stayed close to the source material, some of its contents were fairly grown-up for a children’s series. The glamorous assassin Milady’s seductive ways were kept in, as was King Louis’ weak, capricious nature and the pride which often motivated Dogtanian. The only significant concessions to its target audience were: that the Queen’s extra-marital affair with the Duke of Buckingham was softened into the idea that the pair were secretly plotting against Richelieu, and the villainous Milady was merely banished rather than beheaded. Understandably the violence was also toned down so that the losers in sword duels were disarmed or knocked down rather than killed. The writers only big mistake was the introduction of a comic relief smart-alec friend for Dogtanian, a mouse called Pip whose surname was Squeak (sic). Pip was annoying because he is meant to be funny but the show was already amusing enough and his kind of low-grade slapstick tended to hold up the action.Most of the characters were, you will unsurprised to hear, played by dogs, although a few bears, rabbits and pigs appeared in lowly serf roles. Plus one cat called Milady, but more about her later. Poor horses unfortunately remained beasts of burden and still could not speak which struck me as rather unfair at the time. Not only that but some stereotyping crept in, with the villainous Cardinal being played by a sinister jackal-like hound and his guards being played by big dopey looking breeds whilst the heroes tended to be represented by the more intelligent appearing dogs. Thankfully the puns were stopped at Dogtanian’s name. His friends were always referred to as musketeers, despite the title and kept their famous names, Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Yet curiously the roles of Athos and Porthos were switched around, so that Porthos was the intelligent leader, whilst Athos was the big greedy one. Aramis remained an elegant, ladiesman, albeit a slightly camp one.
The series was made in 1981 by BRB Internacional, a Spanish television company who are still going strong today. It was the brainchild of Claudio Biern Boyd who wrote and produced the original. Twenty six episodes were made. BRB later gave us cartoons such as Around the World with Willy Fogg and The Wisdom of the Gnomes but it somehow only Dogtanian which had zany charm to make it a nostalgia hit. The English version appeared in 1985 and was adapted by Dave Mallow and Doug Stone who in addition provided some of the voices, alongside Cam Clarke, Mark Richards, Mike Sorich and Rebecca Forstadt. Interestingly only the English title really conveys the punning Spanish original title: D'Artacan y los tres Mosqueperros.
Dogtanian’s dialogue had a unique style to it but one which only came about by accident. Since it was originally made in Spanish, the mouths of the characters flapped open and shut at a fair pace, since that language is naturally fast. Consequently the English voice-over artists had to talk in an urgent, breathless manner in order to match the onscreen animation. This happy accident leant an extra, subliminal excitement to the story. Even in fairly sedate scenes the characters rattle off the plot to each other as if their lives depended on it. All the characters in the series have a seriousness, a kind of genuineness about their actions which raised them above the bland good and evil personalities of shows like He-Man. Even its makers could not repeat their success and their later serials made in the style, such as Willy Fogg, are fun but somehow lack the moreish quality of their first big success.
As a hero, Dogtanian was an engaging mixture of bravery and goofiness. He was likeable because he was heroic but some times we could feel superior to him as he made crushingly obvious mistakes. Short and looking like one of Snoopy’s cousins, he was a natural swordsman but frequently made a mess of things because of his easily roused temper. Then his nose would flash red and he leapt into action, memorably slicing up apples and beating up guards with equal relish. His true love Juliet, by contrast suffers the fate of female co-stars everywhere and is much less well defined. Brave and sweet just about somes her up. Porthos was the natural leader of the three musketeers, he was thoughtful, a good stratergist and often acted as the moral centre of the good guys. Aramis was probably the most fun because of his foppishness and romantic pretensions. Athos was essentially a French Little John, big, always up for a fight and possessing a huge appetite for food and beer. Dogtanian’s servent Planchet was a loyal but humble bear who looked like the less famous brother of Barney Bear. He was generally written as being a bit dopey but at times it was clear he had a much more astute understanding of the situation than his master. Dogtanian’s other companion also gave the impression of having rather more sense than he did, his faithful horse Sandy. Sandy was one of the great horses of animation, expressive and frequently quite funny. He was Gromit to Dogtanian’s Wallace.
Cardinal Richelieu clearly modelled himself on Fu Manchu and was usually to found, arms crossed within his huge sleeves, staring off into space through narrowed eyes. He also adopted that clipped yet silky manner of speaking which clearly showed he was a far from holy man. It’s a credit to the actor voicing him that most of his scenes have a certain gravitas about them, even though they are largely plot exposition. As per usual for villains he inexplicably chose a complete fool for his henchman, in this case Captain Widermere of the Cardinal’s guards. Thankfully his blundering are compensated for by the Cardinal’s other two allies. Count Rochefort was one of France’s greatest swordsmen and Dogtanian’s personal enemy, ever since they had first met in a wayside tavern and the snobbish Rochefort had insulted the youngster for being poor and uncouth. For the first few episodes he was known only as "The Black Mustache" and it is Dogtanian’s pursuit of him which really drives into the main adventure. Milady was undoubtedly the star of the bad guys. Genuinely ruthless and brilliant, it was often only good luck that saved the Musketeers from her plans. Strangely all the dog characters were initially thoroughly smitten by her, rather than instantly wanting to chase her up a tree as you might have thought.
As well as the series proper, a feature length episode called "One for All and All for One" was produced.
Probably the element that most people remember first about Dogtanian was its theme song. Sung slightly off-key by high pitched voice, possibly meant to be Dogtanian himself, it was the kind of tune which burrowed mercilessly into the viewers’ consciousness. Who can forget lyrics with such non-sequiter as: "One for all and all for one, kids are really corny" or "If you’ve got a problem chum, think how it could be!" You couldn’t help feeling that something had got lost in the translation. Just to emphasise the canine element of the whole proceedings, synthesised barks accompanied the music as well. Nevertheless it was catchy in a "Birdie Song" kind of way and the Beeb bravely issued it as a single. The rarity of this item speaks volumes for its success.
At the time of its first showing Philip Schofield was linking Children’s BBC from his ‘broom cupboard’ and his own enthusiasm for the cartoon helped make it as popular as it was over here. He sang along with the end music sometimes and even copied out the lyrics of the song and sent them to viewers who wanted them. Many a drawing of Dogtanian could be seen on the broom cupboard wall over the days and weeks as the saga rolled on.
A few years later the memory of Dogtanian and the Three Muskerhounds was sullied by a second series which was a pale shadow of the original. Dogtanian was now a musketeer, even though he still dressed the same and Richelieu was largely displaced as the chief villain in favour of the King’s evil twin brother. Although loosely inspired by Dumas’ The Man in the Iron Mask, the plots were truly mediocre, usually the kind of capture and escape nonsense which made up the majority of US imports’ scripts. The three musketeers had become buffoonish versions of themselves and even the famous theme song had been remixed into an inferior racket. Despite the show being set a few years after the first one, neither Dogtanian nor Juliet looked any older, even though they now had children of their own. That was typical of the laziness of the cartoon as a whole. Despite another twenty six episodes being produced, it is not surprising that this follow-up is barely remembered now.
In recent years the series has been adopted by furry fandom as well as nostalgic kids of the eighties. Its anthromorphism and its plot line involving romance and adventure make it naturally appealing to furries and several web sites have sprung up to celebrate it. The series was released across four DVD's in 2003. The show continues to get namechecked in the strangest places, such as the Muskerhounds Motorcycle Touring Club or The Adam and Joe Show. Dumas’ famous novel has been adapted for stage and screen countless times, including musical and kung-fu versions, yet Dogtanian will remain the quirkiest and one of the most fondly remembered by all who saw it.
Gareth Preston
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Originally printed in Stone Circle #8 2002