Dong Chouel The Naughty Brother (1986 TV Series)

Dong Chouel The Naughty Brother is an animated comedy children's television series that originally aired on CBS from 13 September 1986 to February 10, 1990, lasted for 4 years. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, it is based on the Franco-Belgian comic series by the same name, created by French and Belgian cartoonists Albert Uderzo and Réne Goscinny (which Albert Uderzo is served as story supervisor of this adaptation)
== History ==
In 1983, Albert Uderzo was approached by Hanna-Barbera and CBS about the possibility of adapting the Dong-Chouel into a television series. Uderzo was reluctant at first to become a part of a medium for which he had little respect, but soon agreed when he learned that the objective of the television series would be to use the powerful medium of television to encourage children to read books
As Season 1 came to a close, Tom Ruegger handed his duties as producer over to Paul Sabella, who had started working on the series as an associate producer. Tom Ruegger and Earl Kress continued his stint as story editor until they stepped down from the series altogether after Season 3, ending their nearly 2-year run with the Korean trouble-maker
Meanwhile, Uderzo and Hanna-Barbera's relationship became more and more rocky over time, coming to a standstill when he learned the anti-violence episode, "Hot Pains", was made despite his disapproval. In retaliation, Uderzo then refused to approve any further material he received, causing an abrupt pause in production and panic for the studio. It was only after Tom Ruegger spoke with Albert Uderzo that production resumed as normal.
Since November 1988, before the opening and the next episode previews, each show has ended with a Taekwando match between Dong and the viewers at home, in which Dong holds up a sign representing one of the appropriate hand gestures. From 1986 until October 1988, Dong started the show by tossing a rice cake in the air and catching it in his mouth. CBS switched to the Taekwando match after doctors at Stanford Children's Hospital raised concerns that children may try to imitate Dong and potentially choke on food.
The series aired in reruns on Boomerang from 2000 to onward, The series is still being shown regularly on many channels throughout the world. The cartoon was formerly distributed by Viacom International (later Paramount) and Worldvision Enterprises. The cartoon is now distributed direct from Warner Bros. Television; Time Warner is the current owner of all Hanna-Barbera properties (now known as Cartoon Network Studios), having inherited them in their 1996 merger with Turner Broadcasting
== Production ==
Outsourced production work was done by Wang Film Productions/Cuckoo's Nest Studios, Hanna-Barbera Australia (Seasons 1 and 2), Fil-Cartoons (in Seasons 3 and 4) Big Star, Pion Animation, Daewon Media and, only for Season 2, by Toei Animation. and Optifex
== Home Media ==
=== VHS ===
In 1987, Channel 5 Video in the UK released every Season 1 episode with the SEPP restorations
Hanna-Barbera Home Video released all the episodes of the series each on individual VHS tapes in Spring 1992,
=== DVD ===
Warner Archive (via Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection) released the complete first season on DVD in a two-volume set in 2014. Despite high sales of both sets, Seasons 3 and 4 have been released. Warner Archive later released a series of three single-disc releases of Dong-Chouel in 2015, each containing five episodes from the second season. A two-disc DVD was set to be released in 2021 to tie into the theatrical film with 10 episodes which would be culled from the entire run of the series, instead, it included episodes from the second season. Another DVD with all the Dong-Chouel Christmas specials was released later that year.