''Fat Dog Mendoza'' is a children's animated series produced by Sunbow Entertainment, Sony Wonder Television and TMO-Loonland loosely based on a

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

one-off comic book of the same name. It is the first Cartoon Network Europe co-production and originally premiered on Cartoon Network UK on February 28, 2000.

Premise

The show centers a smart-mouthed dog who is incredibly obese, so much to the point that he is ball-shaped with small, stubby legs. Other characters include Little Costumed Buddy, Piranha Mae, and Onion Boy. The group try to fight crime in the fictional neighbourhood "Neighbourhood X" and they try to find for justice but often fail humorously.

Main characters

* Fat Dog Mendoza (Voiced by Mark Acheson) – The main protagonist. He is a massively obese dog who is smart, and willing to solve problems with Buddy. * Little Costumed Buddy (voiced by Kathleen Barr) – Fat Dog's best friend who is a young boy. He loves pretending to be a hero but would wish to be a real one someday. In one instance when Fat Dog teaches him how to bowl, he accidentally calls him "Little Costumed Danny") * Piranha Mae (voiced by Erin Fitzgerald) – Buddy's best friend. * Cruddy McFearson (voiced by Brian Drummond) – The bully to Buddy. * Onion Boy (voiced by Ian James Corlett) – A friend and classmate of Buddy. * Doctor Rectangle (voiced by Peter Kelamis) – Buddy's Dad. * Polly-Esther (voiced by Teryl Rothery and Pauline Newstone, respectively) – Buddy's Teacher and Neighbour who is double-faced. Despite having a single body, her two heads are separate in personality and opinions.

Voice cast

* Mark Acheson as Fat Dog Mendoza * Kathleen Barr as Little Costumed Buddy/Gigantic Robot/Union Leader/Spanish Senorita/A recorded operator/Old Woman Operator/ * Erin Fitzgerald as Piranha Mae/a Woman in line/On-Screen Date * Brian Drummond as Cruddy McFearson/Pimple faced worker/Ham Sandwich/Shephard * Norma MacMillan as Mom Rectangle * Peter Kelamis as Doc Rectangle/Jimmy * Ian James Corlett as Onion Boy/Agreeable Lad/The Elder/Architect/Turkey/Ranch Hand/Waiter/Eskimo/a Monkey/Tortilla Baby/Veterarian Doc/Yogi/Toad * Pauline Newstone as Esther * Teryl Rothery as Polly * Phil Hayes as Hamperman/Right Sock Puppet/Paco/The Musgrovite/The Elder/Recorded Promo Voice *

French Tickner French Alexis Tickner (August 26, 1930 – August 26, 2021) was an American–born Canadian voice, film and television actor, known for his work in Ocean Productions. Filmography Anime/Animation * ''Death Note'' - Quillish “Watari” Wammy * ...

as Old Grandpappy Buddy * Paul Dobson as Brett/Brett Sock Puppet/a Brethren/Sal Big Fish/Super Salesman * Nicole Oliver as Laura Sock Puppet/Brenda/Marry/A female reporter/Robot Baby/An Alien * Dale Wilson as Power Plus Man/Recorded Message voice/Gladiator Foreman/The Swoosh/Pops/a Man/The Toad * Garry Chalk as Brutus/a Painter/Interpreter X/ * Don Brown as Ceasar/a Narrator/Henchman *

Long John Baldry John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including ...

as the Golden Volcano God * Scott McNeil as Bus Driver/Golphing Buddy/Handyman/Old Man/Pee Wee "Chili" Bottoms/Matthews/Lab Guy * David Kaye as a Spokesperson/Matt/Big Al/A Pterodactyl/An Announcer/P.A./Stan "The Hand" Tubbs * Terry Klassen as Texas Harry/Mike/Monkey/Old Monkey/Precious/Swarmy Reporter/Pilot/An Ambulance Medic/Mr. Omnipotent/a Man/Ham Man/Young Nerd * Jay Brazeau as Boss/Gus * Brent Miller as a Man *

Gerard Plunkett Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...

as Nelson * Chantal Strand as Uncas *

Lee Tockar Lee William Tockar (born 1969) is a Canadian voice actor and visual artist who works for several studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is also a writer of children's literature, a musician, sculptor, illustrator and collected painter ...

as Curator/A Triceratops/Car Thief/a Clerk/An Alien/ * Colin Murdock as a T-Rex * John Payne as Aviminus/Buck Mulligan * Sam Vincent as Cruddy McPhearson (in one episode) * Wally Marsh as Professor Quadraped * Andrea Libman as Mavis * Jay Brazeau as Old Man X * Shirley Milliner as Mrs. Big Feet * Christopher Gaze as Skinny Boyle Esquire * Cameron Lane as Mr. Johnson * Jim Byrnes as Dan Fantastic *

Jason Gray-Stanford Jason Gray-Stanford (born May 19, 1970) is a Canadian film, television and voice actor. He is best known for playing Lieutenant Randy Disher in the Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe-winning TV program ''Monk'' and for voicing the role of Raditz in '' ...

as Teen Robot Guy * Michael Dobson as a Host * Doug Parker as Dave the Dung Beetle/Carl Nussbalm/Patron Arnie/ *

Babz Chula Babz Chula (born Barbara Ellen Zuckerman; circa 1946 – May 7, 2010) was an American-born Canadian actress. Chula spent her early childhood in the working-class neighbourhood of Jamaica, N.Y., but her widowed mother, Abby Zuckerman, a booking ...

as Thelma Fine *

Tabitha St. Germain Tabitha St. Germain, formerly known as Paulina Gillis Germain and also known as Tabitha or Kitanou St. Germain, is a Canadian actress and comedian. She is known for a variety of roles across many different shows. She has been actively doing voi ...

as Drama Girl/an Operator/Tough Chick/a Woman *

Maxine Miller Maxine Miller (born June 18, 1928) is a Canadian actress who appeared in the first three seasons of '' Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''. In the 1980s, she voiced True Heart Bear in '' The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation'' (1986) and appeare ...

as Lady Liberty *

Fran Dowie Fran may refer to: People and fictional characters * Fran (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Fran (footballer, born 1969) or Francisco Javier González Pérez * Fran (footballer, born 1972), Spanish retired football ...

as The Balloonist * Don McKay as Steamed Man * Collin Murdoch as Secret Government Man * Saffron Henderson as Gothic Girl/Cissy Poole

Development

Development for the series began in March 1994, when Sunbow explored producing a show based on the one-shot comic. For many years, it remained on Sunbow's development slate as the studio classified it as a "Raw" property due to it only existing as a one-shot comic. In December 1997, production for the series started with the completion of the preliminary bible for the series to convert the adult nature of the comic into a kids property, and to retain the qualities of the characters. Sunbow began to ship the show off to other companies as a co-production deal, who were mainly impressed with the Little Costume Buddy character. In March 1998, Sunbow began to find a European partner for the series, which they found Cartoon Network Europe as broadcaster and TMO-Loonland as co-producer. The former noticing the show could appeal to the European audience, and the latter being that their unique animation style would work for a series like Fat Dog Mendoza. By September, both companies signed in September 1998, with TMO-Loonland's signing allowing the series to fulfill European content requirements. The funding for the series was split for 50% by Sunbow, 35% by TMO-Loonland, and 10%–15% by Cartoon Network Europe. It also allowed Cartoon Network Europe to fulfill their two-production deal with Sunbow, with fellow show '' The Cramp Twins'' filling the other half. By 1999, the production was confirmed for an Early-2000 delivery from Cartoon Network Europe, who would hold first-run rights to the series.

List of episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Television airing

The series originally premiered on Cartoon Network UK in February 2000, and remained on the channel until 2005 (mainly being repeated late-at-night). Channel 5 later acquired free-TV rights and began airing the show in 2001 as part of their ''The Core'' teen block, and later transitioned to ''Milkshake FM''. The show also aired on several other Cartoon Network feeds, including Cartoon Network MENA. Over the next few years, the show was pre-sold by TV-Loonland to other broadcasters and companies, like Nox Music in Russia, Retelsat in Spain, and ZigZag in Poland. In Australia, the series aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

. The show also re-ran on KidsCo in a small number of countries. The series never aired in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Home Media

In 2000, home video distributor Maverick announced they had acquired the British home video rights to Sony Wonder's catalogue in the United Kingdom. The company released single VHS volume of the series in October 2000, containing the first three episodes in production order: "Other Side of the Moon", "Forgotten Fat Dog", and "Power Play".

References

External links

Fat Dog Mendoza at retrojunk.com
* {{Cartoon Network co-productions 2000 American television series debuts 2001 American television series endings 1990s American animated television series 2000s American animated television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated fantasy television series 2000 British television series debuts 2001 British television series endings 1990s British animated television series 2000s British animated television series British children's animated comedy television series British children's animated fantasy television series 2000 German television series debuts 2001 German television series endings 1990s German animated television series German children's animated comedy television series German children's animated fantasy television series English-language television shows Cartoon Network original programming Television series by Sunbow Entertainment Television series by Sony Pictures Television Animated television series about dogs Fictional popes