By Mark Pollard | Published July 13, 2009

A live-action/animated version of Hanna-Barbara’s cartoon series HONG KONG PHOOEY, which first aired on ABC’s Saturday morning line-up in 1974, is on the fast track to production with Alex Zamm (INSPECTOR GADGET 2) set to direct a script by FAMILY GUY executive producer David Goodman.

The original, short-lived comic series follows the misadventures of a slightly addled canine janitor at a police station who transforms into a bungling, kung fu-fighting crime fighter who is aided by his feline sidekick Spot.

HONG KONG PHOOEY was Hanna-Barbara’s attempt at exploiting the popularity of kung fu movies in the 1970s with additional nods to the Batman franchise. The title character was voiced by Scatman Crothers, an actor, musician and prolific voice actor who also played “Scat Cat” in Disney’s THE ARISTOCATS and “Meadowlark Lemon” in the HARLEM GLOBE TROTTERS animated series.

Alcon Entertainment, the company behind MY DOG SKIP and DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR? is producing the live-action film along with Jay Stern and RUSH HOUR director Brett Ratner.

I’m curious about where live-action will meet animation and if the producers intend to update the series’ original, silly martial arts action with something more substantial along the lines of KUNG FU PANDA or SAMURAI JACK. If the intention is to put a CG Hong Kong Phooey into the real world, I’m afraid we’ll end up with another live-action GARFIELD that pleases no one over the age of eight.

Honestly, I don’t think there’s much to work with here. HONG KONG PHOOEY was little more than a byproduct of a ’70s-era fad. I cannot fathom why anyone would bother with an update to this cast off series which only lasted 16 episodes, except for Hollywood’s lazy obsession with cashing in on every intellectual property known to man. At the very least, they should keep this project completely animated.

Source: Variety

Related Topics:
Animation  •  Hong Kong Phooey  •  upcoming