''Family Dog'' is a Canadian-American adult animated series that's based on a 1987 episode of ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...

'', created by

Brad Bird Phillip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American film director, animator, screenwriter, producer, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning forty years in both animation and live-action. Bird was born in Montana and grew up in ...

and an

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

from June 23 to July 28, 1993. It was about an average suburban family, the Binsfords, as told through the eyes of their dog named Jonah. The series was the first collaboration between executive producers

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

and

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

. Delayed for years and panned by critics, the latter show has been called "one of the biggest fiascos in television animation history, on both a creative and commercial level, in spite (but, in many ways, because of) the high-powered talent behind the project." One critic observed that the main problem with the show was that "the Binsford family was so repulsively selfish that audience interest in their adventures was nil."

Cast and characters

1987 short

Stan Freberg Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was an American actor, author, comedian, musician, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director. His best-known works include " St. George and the Dragonet ...

as Skip Binsford, the father *

Annie Potts Anne Hampton Potts (born October 28, 1952) is an American actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for ''Corvette Summer'' (1978) and won a Genie Award for '' Heartaches'' (1981), before appearing in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984), ''Pretty i ...

as Bev Binsford, the mother *

as Jonah, a

Bull Terrier The Bull Terrier is a breed of dog in the terrier family. There is also a miniature version of this breed which is officially known as the Miniature Bull Terrier. Appearance The Bull Terrier's most recognizable feature is its head, described ...

and the family dog *

Scott Menville Scott David Menville (born February 12, 1971) is an American actor who is known for his voice work in animated films, television series and video games. Life and career Menville was born on February 12, 1971, to television animator and writer C ...

as Billy Binsford, the son *Brooke Ashley as Buffy Binsford, the daughter *

Mercedes McCambridge Carlotta Mercedes Agnes McCambridge (March 16, 1916 – March 2, 2004) was an American actress of radio, stage, film, and television. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress." She won an Academy Award for Best Support ...

as Miss Lestrange *

Marshall Efron Marshall Efron (February 3, 1938 – September 30, 2019) was an American actor and 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 ...

as Burglar *

Stanley Ralph Ross Stanley Ralph Ross (July 22, 1935 – March 16, 2000) was an American writer and actor. He was raised in Brooklyn, New York, starting his career in advertising with Chudacoff and Margulis Advertising in West Los Angeles, then soon going to ...

as Burglar *

Jack Angel Jack Angel (October 24, 1930 – October 18, 2021) was an American voice actor, comedian, and radio personality. He provided voice-overs for animation and video games. Angel had voiced characters in shows by Hasbro and Hanna-Barbera such as ''Su ...

as Security Guard

1993 series

Martin Mull Martin Eugene Mull (born August 18, 1943) is an American actor, comedian and musician who has appeared in many television and film roles. He is also a painter and recording artist. As an actor, he first became known in his role on ''Mary Hartman, ...

as Skip Binsford, the father *

Molly Cheek Molly Cheek (born March 2, 1950) is an American actress. A Connecticut College graduate she worked in ‘dinner-theater productions and summer stock’ before finding television and film work. Cheek is best known for her roles in the televisio ...

as Bev Binsford, the mother * Danny Mann as Jonah, a

and the family dog * Zak Huxtable Epstein as Billy Binsford, the son * Cassie Cole as Buffy Binsford, the daughter

Recurring

Bruce McGill Bruce Travis McGill (born July 11, 1950) is an American actor. He worked with director Michael Mann in the movies '' The Insider'' (1999), ''Ali'' (2001), and ''Collateral'' (2004). McGill's other notable film roles include Daniel Simpson "D-Day" ...

as Martin Mahoney *

Deanna Oliver Deanna Oliver (born September 27, 1952) is an American actress and writer. She hails from Spokane, Washington. Oliver performed the voice of Toaster in the film ''The Brave Little Toaster'' (1987) and its sequels. In addition, she was a writer o ...

as Trish Mahoney *

Mary Kay Bergman Mary Kay Bergman (June 5, 1961 – November 11, 1999), also credited as Shannen Cassidy, was an American voice actress and voice-over teacher. She was the lead female voice actress on ''South Park'' from the show's 1997 debut until her death. Thr ...

as Katie, a female Chihuahua and neighbor's dog

Episodes

Production

Background

In the original ''Amazing Stories'' episode, which aired in the show's second season in 1987, a dog named Jonah (a

simply called "the dog" who is voiced by Brad Bird) is the main character, portrayed in three stories: The first story involves general misadventures around the house, with Jonah ignored and somewhat mistreated by his owners, originally named the Binfords (voiced by

, and Brooke Ashley). The second part is a Christmas "

home movie A home movie is a short amateur film or video typically made just to preserve a visual record of family activities, a vacation, or a special event, and intended for viewing at home by family and friends. Originally, home movies were made on ph ...

", narrated by the family, that culminates with Jonah eating the ham. In the final and longest segment, a couple of burglars (voiced by

and

) break into the house while the family is out seeing a movie. When Jonah fails to protect the house from the thieves a second time, the father sends him to Gerta LeStrange's Dog

Obedience School An obedience school is an institution that trains pets (particularly dogs) how to behave properly. When puppies are young and in the first stages of training, they are often taken by their owners to obedience schools. Training usually takes place ...

run by Gerta LeStrange (voiced by

), so he can learn how to become a "quivering, snarling, white-hot ball of canine terror." The burglars hit the house yet again and flee from the now-aggressive dog, but return to their hideout to discover him still clamped to one thief's arm with his teeth. A police officer (voiced by

) investigating the robberies raids the house and is immediately attacked by the dog. The burglars decide to use Jonah in their heists, earning them (and the dog) fame as the "Dog Gang." Jonah finally turns on the criminals, causing an auto accident in which they hit a police car and are busted. Jonah is returned to the Binford family, who now consider him their hero. In a final gag, the father, locked out of the house, sneaks into the backyard, where he's attacked by the dog, duly defending the property. Written and directed by

, with music by

Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internation ...

and Steve Bartek, it was one of the most popular episodes of the

Amblin Television Amblin Television is the television production division of Amblin Partners. It was established in 1984 by Amblin Entertainment as a small-screen production arm for Steven Spielberg's ''Amazing Stories'' anthology series for NBC. The company ha ...

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...

weekly

anthology television series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...

, ''

''. The story was animated by Dan Jeup,

Ralph Eggleston Ralph Eggleston (October 18, 1965 – August 28, 2022). was an American animator, art director, storyboard artist, and production designer at Pixar Animation Studios. He won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for '' For the Birds''. ...

Chris Buck Christopher James Buck (born February 24, 1958) is an American film director, animator, and screenwriter known for co-directing ''Tarzan'' (1999), '' Surf's Up'' (2007) (which was nominated for the 2007 Oscar for Best Animated Feature), '' Fr ...

, Sue Kroyer,

Gregg Vanzo Gregg Vanzo is an American animator. He has worked on several shows, including ''The Simpsons'' and ''Futurama''. He is also the founder of Rough Draft Studios. Career in television Gregg Vanzo began his career as an animator on Bill Kroyer's ...

, David Cutler,

Rob Minkoff Robert Ralph Minkoff (born August 11, 1962) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for co-directing ''The Lion King'' (along with Roger Allers), and live-action films including ''Stuart Little'' (1999), '' Stuart Little 2'' (2002), ''The Haun ...

Alan Smart Alan Smart is a retired animator and an animation director best known for his work as the supervising director on ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', which he has been involved with since the pilot, and as assistant director and layout artist on ''The Sim ...

, and

Darrell Rooney Darrell Rooney (born 1959) is a Canadian animator, storyboard artist, and director for The Walt Disney Company, best known for directing '' The Lion King II: Simba's Pride'' (1998) and ''Mulan II'' (2004) at Disneytoon Studios. He started at Disne ...

from an animation production design by

. The animation production was outsourced to

Hyperion Pictures Hyperion may refer to: Greek mythology * Hyperion (Titan), one of the twelve Titans * ''Hyperion'', a byname of the Sun, Helios * Hyperion of Troy or Yperion, son of King Priam Science * Hyperion (moon), a moon of the planet Saturn * ''Hyp ...

(then under

The Kushner-Locke Company The Kushner-Locke Company was an American independent motion picture/television production founded on March 12, 1983 by Donald Kushner and Peter Locke. It is known for films such as ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', '' Liberace: Behind the Music ...

), and was shot in Sydney, Australia by Cinemagic Animated Films under animation director Cam Ford, with Kim Humphries as camera operator. Spielberg's choice to make the episode using animation – especially combining the expense of high-quality animation with well-known voice actors – was considered risky and bold at the time. The special was later attached to the theatrical release of another Spielberg-produced project, ''

The Land Before Time ''The Land Before Time'' is an American animated film series and media franchise created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss, distributed by Universal Pictures and centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with the eponymous '' The Land Bef ...

'', because of the film's short length of just over an hour. This short was the first time the

Easter Egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...

A113 A113 (sometimes A-113, A-1-13, A1-13 or A11-3) is an inside joke and Easter egg in media developed by alumni of California Institute of the Arts, referring to the classroom used by graphic design and character animation students. History Student ...

was ever used.

used it on the license plate on the van and has since hidden it in every film he has directed. The

has been popularized by

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...

films.

Development

Six years after the original ''Amazing Stories'' episode, a

series based on the episode was produced by

and

(who contributed to the production and character designs). It was written by Dennis Klein,

Sherri Stoner Sherri Lynn Stoner is an American actress, animator, and writer. She also voiced Slappy in the children’s television series '' Animaniacs''. Biography She has worked extensively in animation. She was a writer and producer for such 1990s anima ...

and

Paul Dini Paul McClaran Dini (; born August 7, 1957) is an American screenwriter and comic creator. He has been a producer and writer for several Warner Bros. Animation/DC Comics animated series, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995) ...

, and animated by

Nelvana Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...

, but notably lacked the involvement of the original writer and director,

, because he did not believe the short's premise would work as a television show. Largely hyped due to Spielberg's involvement, the series was plagued by production delays. It did not get past its original network order of 13 episodes. Ten episodes were finished by the

Wang Film Productions Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. (also known as Hong Guang Animation (宏廣) and Cuckoos' Nest Studio) is one of the oldest and most prolific Taiwanese-American animation studios since 1978. The company, based in Xindian, Taipei and Los Angeles, ...

animation house in Taiwan but the producers were dissatisfied with the results, so they halted production on the final three episodes and outsourced the ten episodes to

for "fixes and completions". The series was scheduled to debut on March 20, 1991 (and it was heavily promoted during the February 1991 broadcast of the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

), but the animation was not completed in time for this premiere, so the series was ultimately pushed back until 1993.

Frederick Coffin Frederick D. Coffin (January 16, 1943 – July 31, 2003) was an American film actor, singer, songwriter, and musician. Early life Coffin was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1943 to actress Winifred Deforest Coffin and writer Dean Coffin, and was ...

was originally cast as the voice of Skip Binsford, but Spielberg decided to replace him with

, after animation was completed on the first three episodes.The budget for each episode rose from $650,000 to $1 million. Despite the ''Amazing Stories'' short airing two months before the launch of the new

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

network and the original ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' shorts as part of ''

The Tracy Ullman Show ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' is an American television variety show starring Tracey Ullman. It debuted on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox on April 5, 1987, the network's second original primetime series to air following ''Married... with Children'' ...

'', ''Family Dog'' eventually was lumped into a category of failed primetime animated series produced for the "Big Three" networks to compete with ''The Simpsons'', alongside

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

Capitol Critters ''Capitol Critters'' is an American animated sitcom about the lives of mice, rats and roaches who reside in the basement and walls of the White House in Washington, D.C. The series was produced by Steven Bochco Productions and Hanna-Barbera in ...

'' and CBS's own ''

Fish Police ''Fish Police'' is a comic book series by American cartoonist Steve Moncuse. The plot centers on law and crime in a fictional underwater metropolis with the protagonist, Inspector Gill, trying to solve various crimes, often Mafia-related, while a ...

''. Every program was canceled after only a few weeks. CBS burned off ''Family Dog'' in six weeks in the summer of 1993.

Home media

The entire series was released as a

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...

box set, and various episodes of the show were released on VHS around the same time.

Reception

The original short has been praised by critics alongside the likes of veteran animators

Bill Melendez José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Melendez (November 15, 1916 – September 2, 2008) was an American character animator, voice actor, film director and producer. Melendez is known for working on the Peanuts animated specials, ''Peanuts'' animated specials ...

and Bob Kurtz. When the show debuted, it was roundly panned for its crude scripts and cheap production values, both of drastically lesser quality than the episode which had spawned the series. It became a cult disaster.

Video game

The show was adapted into a

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...

video game about the life of an everyday family dog. The player has to go three places such as the home where the dog lives, a

dog pound An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would ...

and the woods to defeat stereotypical obstacles and enemies like a

dog catcher An animal control service or animal control agency is an entity charged with responding to requests for help with animals ranging from wild animals, dangerous animals, or animals in distress. An individual who works for such an entity was once kno ...

and a

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

References

External links

*
The original 1987 episode on Vimeo

Original short on IMDb
{{Brad Bird 1993 American television series debuts 1993 American television series endings 1990s American adult animated television series 1990s American animated comedy television series 1993 Canadian television series debuts 1993 Canadian television series endings 1990s Canadian adult animated television series 1990s Canadian animated comedy television series American adult animated television spin-offs American adult animated comedy television series Canadian animated television spin-offs Canadian adult animated comedy television series English-language television shows CBS original programming Animated television series about dogs Animated television series about dysfunctional families Television series by Amblin Entertainment Television series by Nelvana Television series by Universal Television Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in Texas