# The Dogfather

The Dogfather is an American series of 17 theatrical cartoon shorts produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and distributed by United Artists between 1974 and 1976. It is the final theatrical cartoon series made by DePatie–Freleng.

## Plot

The Dogfather is a loose parody of The Godfather, but with canines as part of the Italian American organized crime syndicate. It consists of the Dogfather (voiced by Bob Holt impersonating Marlon Brando) and his henchmen: the brawny Pug (also Bob Holt) and the diminutive Louie (voiced by Daws Butler).
The opening credits featured the Dogfather, speaking (and later singing) to the lyrics of a song entitled "I'm Gonna Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse".
The Dogfather was later broadcast as part of the NBC Saturday morning cartoon series The Pink Panther and Friends.

## Filmography

| No. | Title | Directed by: | Story: | Released: |
| 1 | "The Dogfather" | Hawley Pratt | Bob Ogle | June 27, 1974 |
| 2 | "The Goose That Laid a Golden Egg" | Hawley Pratt | Friz Freleng | October 4, 1974 |
| 3 | "Heist and Seek" | Gerry Chiniquy | Don Christensen | October 4, 1974 |
| 4 | "The Big House Ain't a Home" | Gerry Chiniquy | Dave Detiege | October 31, 1974 |
| 5 | "Mother Dogfather" | Arthur Leonardi | Dave Detiege | October 31, 1974 |
| 6 | "Bows and Errors" | Gerry Chiniquy | John W. Dunn | December 29, 1974 |
| 7 | "Deviled Yeggs" | Gerry Chiniquy | John W. Dunn | December 29, 1974 |
| 8 | "Watch the Birdie" | Gerry Chiniquy | John W. Dunn | March 20, 1975 |
| 9 | "Saltwater Tuffy" | Arthur Leonardi | John W. Dunn | March 20, 1975 |
| 10 | "M-O-N-E-Y Spells Love" | Arthur Leonardi | Dave Detiege | April 23, 1975 |
| 11 | "Rock-A-Bye Maybe" | Gerry Chiniquy | John W. Dunn | April 23, 1975 |
| 12 | "Haunting Dog" | Gerry Chiniquy | John W. Dunn | May 2, 1975 |
| 13 | "Eagle Beagles" | Gerry Chiniquy | John W. Dunn | May 5, 1975 |
| 14 | "From Nags to Riches" | Gerry Chiniquy | John W. Dunn | May 5, 1975 |
| 15 | "Goldilox & the Three Hoods" | Gerry Chiniquy | John W. Dunn | August 28, 1975 |
| 16 | "Rockhounds" | Arthur Leonardi | John W. Dunn | November 20, 1975 |
| 17 | "Medicur" | Gerry Chiniquy | John W. Dunn | April 30, 1976 |

## Revival

In 1993, The Dogfather was revived as a recurring antagonist for The Pink Panther, with him and his henchmen redesigned as modern gangsters wearing plainclothes rather than traditional suits and hats. Furthermore, whereas Louie was originally the shortest of the three, the new Dogfather is the shortest. The Dogfather is voiced by Joe Piscopo (except for "It's Just a Gypsy in My Soup" where he is voiced by Jim Cummings), while Pug and Louie are voiced by Brian George and Jess Harnell. These versions of the characters are also the main antagonists for the video game The Pink Panther: Passport to Peril, with the Dogfather voiced by Barry Carrollo, Pugg voiced by Jonathan Fedinatz, and Louie voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas. Pugg and Louie make silent cameos during a musical number in The Pink Panther: Hokus Pokus Pink.

## Remakes

Much like a number of DFE-produced cartoon shorts, 10 of the 17 Dogfather cartoons were remakes of Looney Tunes cartoons from the 1950s that were directed by Freleng, which are listed below:
* The pilot episode (The Dogfather) was a remake of Tree For Two (1952).
* The Goose that Laid a Golden Egg was a remake of Golden Yeggs (1950).
* Heist and Seek was a remake of Bugsy and Mugsy (1957).
* Mother Dogfather was a remake of Stork Naked (1955).
* Saltwater Tuffy was a remake of Tugboat Granny (1956)
* Devilled Yeggs was a remake of Satan's Waitin' (1954).
* Watch the Birdie was a remake of Dr. Jerkyll's Hide (1954).
* M-O-N-E-Y Spells Love was a remake of Hare Trimmed (1953).
* Rock-a-Bye Maybe was a remake of Kit for Cat (1948).
* Eagle Beagles was a remake of Hare Lift (1952).
However, this was criticized by Charles Brubaker, the author of the website Cartoon Research, who pointed out that this made the series almost completely unoriginal and resulted in inferior versions of those Looney Tunes shorts.

## Crew

* Produced by: David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng
* Directors: Hawley Pratt, Gerry Chiniquy, Arthur Leonardi
* Story: Bob Ogle, Don Christiansen, John W. Dunn, Friz Freleng, Dave Detiege
* Title Designer: Arthur Leonardi
* Animation: John V. Gibbs, Bob Matz, Norm McCabe, Bob Richardson, Warren Batchelder, Don Williams, Bob Bransford, Nelson Shin
* Layout: Dick Ung, Richard H. Thomas, Roy Morita
* Background: Richard H. Thomas
* Music by: Dean Elliott
* Lyrics: John Bradford
* Camera: John Burton Jr.
* Executive in Charge: Lee Gunther

## Home media

Kino Lorber released all 17 shorts on DVD and Blu-ray in April 2018.