Foofur was an animated series created by Hanna-Barbera that debuted on NBC in 1986.
The series followed the titular character, a skinny blue dog who lived in the house of his late owner, along with his canine friends: his niece Rocki; Louis, a bulldog; Annabell, a sheepdog and Louis's mate; Fritz-Carlos, a tiny mustachioed dog with a French accent; Hazel, a cocker spaniel and Fritz-Carlos's mate; Dolly, a basset hound; Burt, a wolfhound, and Fencer, the only cat of the group. They all worked together to keep their beloved home from being sold by the real estate agent Mrs. Escrow, and her pet Chihuahua, Pepe, who constantly tries to expose Foofur's pals, without any success.
Tropes:
- A Cappella: Four felines sing to a female feline at a hotel. When Fencer joins in, the four give him a Death Glare and toss Fencer away. When Fencer cuts in again, the felines are about to attack but Foofur gets them to back off.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Foofur has blue fur, which is unusual for a dog of his breed (assuming it's not Hair Color Dissonance). His niece Rocki has blue-purple fur.
- Animation Bump: In most of Season 2's episodes, the few changes are that Annabell's irises are blue, and Fencer's scalp is all black.
- Arch-Enemy: Foofur and the others have quite a Rogues Gallery.
- The Rat Brothers for their malicious pranks, mostly directed at Fencer.
- Pepe the Chihuahua for trying to expose Foofur and the others to his owner, Mrs. Escrow.
- Mel and Harvey, the dogcatchers who try to make money in dishonest ways.
- Vinnie and the Cat Pack, who aren't afraid of dogs.
- Burt the Afghan Hound, who tries to one-up Foofur for Dolly's love.
- Ass in a Lion Skin: The episode "The Dog's Meow" had Louis get hypnotized into thinking he's a cat, courtesy of a professional hypnotist on TV.
- Birthday Episode: For Rocki, as her uncle and friends set up a party in "Bon Voyage, Rocki". Of course, when Rocki's dad comes by...
- Bloodless Carnage: Happened when Pepe noticed Fencer (with a collar restraining his arms) and tried to get him, but a man tripped on his leash, causing a chain reaction of chaos. No one was seriously injured.
- Bully Bulldog: Louis would be a subversion.
- Casino Episode: Foofur and the others come to Las Vegas. Everyone enjoys the place except Hazel, who gets conned by another dog running crooked Rat Races.
- Catchphrase: Pepe's, "You are my prisoner!"
- Fencer always belts out a "Chiyap" when leaping into action.
- A Cat in a Gang of Dogs: Fencer is the sole cat in an all-dog gang.
- Cats Are Mean: Averted with Fencer, but played straight with the Cat Pack, led by Vinnie, who always antagonize Foofur and the gang.
- Circus Episode
- Coconut Meets Cranium: Happens to Fritz-Carlos when Foofur and the others are stranded on an island. Rocki and Hazel nearly meet the same fate.
- Comic-Book Adaptation: Foofur had a six-issue comic book released in 1987.
- Downer Ending: To a lesser extent in "You Dirty Rat", the Rat Brothers didn't mind keeping their word of not harming Rocki, absconding with Louis' food, and chewing up Annabell's bed comforter, but they still proceeded to bully Fencer.
- Dreadful Musician: Fencer's singing in "Foofur Falls in Love", "My Pharaoh Lady", and "Fencer Gets Soul". in the third one, he sings — well, meows — so horribly he makes a TV explode, dishes fall from the kitchen cabinets, and a train shake.
- Eat the Camera: This happens when Vinnie and his Cat Pack were scared out of their wits when they heard barking inside an aquarium they infiltrated.
- Enemy Mine: The episode "Pepe's Pet Peeve" had Foofur and the others team up with Pepe in order to help him get rid of a so-called monstrous dog named Killer that Mrs. Escrow brought home. Killer actually turns out to be a Big Friendly Dog.
- Evil Duo: Mel and Harvey, the two dogcatchers who are regular foes of the gang.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Pepe never manages to expose Foofur and his friends to his owner.
- Four-Fingered Hands: All the dogs, cats, and other animals in the cartoon.
- Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better: While Foofur and the rest of the gang mostly walk around on all fours like real dogs do, Rocki, Fencer, and Fritz-Carlos usually walk upright.
- Gratuitous French: Fritz-Carlos.
- Informed Species: Louis is supposed to be a bulldog, but while his face and ears are like those of a real bulldog, his big bulky body would suggest otherwise.
- I Resemble That Remark!: Louis says that when he attempts to leave through the cruise ship's ventilation shaft while Foofur and Fencer push him in, Foofur remarks that Louis is too fat to fit through.
- Iris Out: This trope happened only two times, once at the end of "Weekend in the Condo" and another on the midpoint of "Annabell Punks Out".
- Ironic Name: Killer, the dog that Mrs. Escrow brings home and whom Pepe fears, is actually a good-natured St. Bernard who just wants to play.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Louis again.
- Jive Turkey: Fencer the black cat.
- Karma Houdini: The Rat Brothers mostly.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: In "A Royal Pain", Abigail, who treats her cats like royalty.
- Missing Mom: In "A Moving Experience", Rocki's mother is mentioned but never seen.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Fencer always thinks that he is a master at karate, yet he is always at the mercy of the rat trio that constantly bully him.
- Love at First Sight: When Foofur sees Dolly at the café in "Foofur Falls in Love", and again for Pepe when he sees a white poodle belonging to his owner's cousin in "Clothes make the Dog." Rocki has a moment when she sees Norris in "Puppy Love".
- Love Before First Sight: In "My Pharaoh Lady", Fencer goes head over heels for a purple cat named Cleo, but he doesn't actually meet her until Cleo's owner, an archaeologist, throws a bar of soap at him.
- Napoleon Complex: Pepe, who is always a nuisance to Foofur and the others.
- Neat Freak: Hazel was this in "A Clean Sweep".
- Nephewism: Rocki is under her uncle's Foofur care.
- Opposites Attract: Louis, an easy-to-anger bulldog, and Annabell, an even-tempered sheepdog.
- Punny Name: The real estate agent is named Mrs. Escrow.
- Rain, Rain, Go Away: In "Look Homeward, Foofur", when a rainstorm interrupts who was going to be Willowby's Top Dog, Foofur explains to Rocki of how he met his new friends.
- Rodents of Unusual Size: Big Boombah, seen in "You Dirty Rat" and "Rocki's Big Fib". Big Boombah is nastier than the Rat Brothers, and he is as big as a puppy.
- Running on All Fours: Foofur's group does it.
- Save the Villain: Even though Mrs. Escrow isn't exactly a villain, Foofur and the others helped her by exposing a con artist who intended to frame her for his dog's injuries and sue her.
- Shout-Out: When Fencer and Foofur go to a club in New Orleans, they see a lavender cat looking a lot like Scat Cat from The Aristocats, playing the kazoo.
- Sick Episode: In "Nothing to Sneeze at", after the canines (except Foofur) notice Fencer smells like fish, they give him a bath in cold water. Fencer (understandably) gets ill, which promptly spreads to the rest of the gang when circumstances douse them in cold water too.
- Smoochof Victory: Rocki does this after being rescued by a dog food mascot.
- Sneeze of Doom: When Fencer gets a nasty cold, his sneeze breaks a stepladder support.
- Swarm of Rats: In "You Dirty Rat", Mrs. Escrow tries to get rid of the rats in the mansion, but runs for it when she realizes how badly she's outnumbered.
- Terrible Trio: The Rat Brothers in most cases.
- The Uptown club — three pedigreed puppies; Pekingese, Poodle, and Yorkshire Terrier — in "Scary Harry"
- Another is the Scat Cats: a jazz-singing group who were looking for a fourth member in "Fencer gets Soul"
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Fritz-Carlos and Hazel, respectively.
- Token Enemy Minority: Fencer the cat.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Sammy, since Rocki saved him from a circus Tiger, so Sammy helped Foofur's group by recuing Rocki from a circus worker.
- Two Shorts: Twenty of the half-hours each have two 11-minute stories, and the remaining six are half-hour stories.
- Verbal Tic: Louis often ends his sentences with the word there.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Fritz-Carlos' accent seems to shift between French, Spanish and Italian.
- You Dirty Rat!: The rat trio that constantly accost Fencer.
