Dog City ( special ) Dog City originally aired as part of of " The Jim Henson Hour " on May 5 , 1989 and was later shown on the Odyssey Channel as a stand - alone special without the MuppeTelevision framing segments . It was in this form that it was released on DVD as " " , in the UK in 2005 and in the US in 2010 . The special was filmed in Toronto , Canada between November 1 and 18 , 1988 . The special inspired an animated spin - off series , " Jim Henson ' s Dog City " . Jim Henson cited " Dog City " as his favorite of all the shows he ' d ever done , with " " as his second favorite . Story . The story , inspired by a series of paintings by C . M . Coolidge , and adapted to the film noir genre , follows the exploits of a cast of Muppet dogs featuring Rowlf as the only character to break the fourth wall to speak to the audience directly . It is set in the 1930 ' s . . . that ' s 13 , 510 in dog years . Ace Yu , the protagonist in the film , arrives at " The Dog House " , a restaurant in Dog City , to inquire about the death of his Uncle Harry , from whom Ace has inherited the restaurant . He is told by the bartender , Bubba , that Harry was killed by local gangster Bugsy Them , who rules the city . When Them finds out that Ace now owns the Dog House , he brings his gang , Scruffy , Laughing Boy , Mad Dog and Miss Belle to the Dog House and attempts to convince Ace to give the restaurant ' s money to him . When Ace insults Bugsy ' s tail , Them vows that he ' ll get back at Ace . In the evening , Ace is awakened by a noise in the alley . On investigating , he finds Colleen Barker searching the trash cans for food . He offers to let Colleen eat some food he has in the Dog House , only to find someone has started a fire using a garbage can full of burning charcoal . After they put out the fire , Colleen accidentally knocks down a vase , which contains a duck puppet named Quackers , a toy that appears in Ace ' s earliest memory . With Quackers is a note that reveals that Ace ' s Uncle Harry was Ace ' s real father who had left him years before . Ace realizes that Bugsy Them killed his real father ( " Dun Dun Dun Dun " ) . The next day , while Ace and Colleen stroll down the dock , Bugsy spies on them and orders Mad Dog to kill them . Mad Dog ' s obedience training gets the better of him , as Ace and Colleen repeatedly use words like " stay " and " roll over " in their conversation , and Mad Dog follows their commands , ultimately ending up in the harbor . Later , Ace and Colleen return to the Dog House , where Colleen sings " A Dog ' s Best Friend " to a mesmerized audience of male dogs , with a final note that breaks all of the glass in the building . During the ensuing ruckus , Colleen is kidnapped by Them . Ace asks for help from the patrons at the Dog House , but almost every single dog in the building leaves when he suggests that Them can ' t kill all of them . Ace is given a note by Bugsy , asking for 10 , 000 dog bones in exchange for Colleen . Ace confronts Them , but when Them tries to kill Ace , Colleen escapes her gags and rope , and drives a car into the gangsters . A chase through the city ensues ( accompanied by dramatic piano music provided by Rowlf , who always wanted to take his act on the road ) . In the chase , Scruffy , Laughing Boy and Mad Dog are launched into a billboard ( Rowlf : " How come all the losers wind up in advertising ? " ) . Miss Belle attempts to tell Bugsy they ' ve lost , but Them doesn ' t know the meaning of the word lost ( though Mad Dog does ) . At the docks , a final battle ensues , which includes Quackers ' head being shot off when Ace puts it on Bugsy ' s tail as a distraction . When Bugsy makes a frantic effort to shoot Ace and Colleen , he and Miss Belle wind up dumped in the harbor . As the police arrive , Ace proposes to Colleen , who accepts ( having always dreamed of the day " When I ' m Colleen Yu " ) . Rowlf ends the special by announcing that they got married and lived happily ever after . . . at least until their place was ransacked and burned to the ground by a marauding band of renegade sheep . " You know I knew once a dog named Jeff ; hated sheep so much that he used to hunt ' em down and eat ' em . Folks called him ' Mutton Jeff ' . Now that ' s a dog joke . . . " Throughout the special , there are several instances of breaking the 4th wall , such as Ace and Colleen noting that saying " Dun Dun Dun Dun " brings out a musical cue , or Rowlf hitting dramatic chords on his piano . Cast and characters . Main Cast Background Muppets Sources . _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _