Wowser (original Japanese name: Don-Don-Dommel to Ron) was a Japanese anime series based on the Belgian comic book Cubitus, directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa (Speed Racer) and aired from 1988 to 1989 on TV Tokyonote . The series was distributed by Saban Entertainment in the US and aired on The Family Channel in 1989.
The series followed the adventures of the titular character, Wowser, a large anthropomorphic white dog with an enormous appetite who lives with his owner, Professor Dingy, an eccentric inventor. Other characters of the series include Ratso Catso (Blacky), a black and white cat who always causes trouble for Wowser, Linda Lovely (Cherry) and her younger brother Bob, and Beatrice, a woman who is always rude and condescending to Wowser.
Tropes:
- Absent-Minded Professor: Professor Dingy
- Alliterative Name: Linda Lovely
- Alternative Foreign Theme Song: Mitsuko Horie sang the original Japanese themes.
- Belly Dancer: From "I'll See You In A Dream".
- Big Eater: Wowser, obviously.
- Birthday Episode: The episode "Slap Happy Birthday" focused on Wowser's birthday, which involves him throwing a party for all of his friends. Unfortunately, thanks to Ratso adding extra spices to the cake that Wowser was making, this results in everyone who's had a taste of the cake to act berserk.
- Butt-Monkey: Usually Wowser himself, and mostly people around him.
- Canine Confusion: Wowser has a visible navel even though dogs' belly buttons aren't that noticeable in real life.
- Cartoon Bomb: Ratso uses one of these in the episode "Motor Maze To The Market" on Wowser and Bob. Unfortunately for him, it backfires on him.
- Diet Episode: The episode "The Weight Loser" focused on Wowser being put on a diet after Professor Dingy reprimands him for eating a lot more than he normally does.
- Dogs Are Dumb: Wowser would be a subversion of the trope.
- Dub Name Change:
- Most of the main characters' names were changed for the English dub. In Japan, Wowser is Dommel (his Name from the dutch version), Prof. Dingy is Ron, Ratso is Blacky, and Linda is Cherry.
- The original Japanese version itself is an example, as it changed several names from the original comic (i.e. Cubitus to Dommel, Prof. Semaphore to Ron). The characters regained their original names in the French dub.
- Enemy Eats Your Lunch: Ratso does this literally in one episode. He greedily devours Wowser's lunchtime sausage while the big dog is testing one of the professor's new inventions.
- Explosive Results: Professor Dingy's inventions have a high risk of exploding, either due to construction errors, sabotage or other unforeseen circumstances.
- Exposed Animal Bellybutton: Wowser and Ratso both have bellybuttons.
- Fire-Breathing Diner: Happens to Wowser in the episode "Automatic Eater", as a result of the hot pepper and mustard that Ratso put on his sandwich.
- Growling Gut: Happens to Wowser in the episode "Just An Old Cut-Up".
- Humanlike Foot Anatomy / Humanlike Hand Anatomy: Wowser and Ratso both have no problems walking upright on two legs and they are also capable of using their front paws as hands.
- I Broke a Nail: Beatrice says the name of this trope word for word in the episode "The Weight Loser".
- Jerkass: Ratso again.
- Karma Houdini: Ratso gets away with tricking Wowser and Dinghy that are really in a Time Machine.
- Matryoshka Object: Used in the episode "Slap Happy Birthday" when Wowser finds a birthday present from Ratso on his doorstep, which turns out to be one of these, only for Wowser to find an itty-bitty (explosive) bone after taking all of the boxes out of the other.
- Meaningful Name: Wowser gets his name from the fact that he often exclaims "Wow" a lot, while Ratso's name is taken from the fact that he is naughty and acts like a rat. The meaning behind Professor Dingy's name is obvious.
- Pain-Powered Leap: Happened more than once to Wowser.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Professor Dingy wears a pink sweater.
- The Rival: Ratso, to Wowser.
- Road-Sign Reversal: Used twice in the episode "Motor Maze To The Market" by Ratso, in order to lead Wowser and Bob on a high speed chase in an underground railroad shaft.
- Stock Sound Effects: For being a Japanese anime, this series is notorious for its wide use of Hanna-Barbera sound effects, as well as other sound effects commonly used in other anime series.
- Talking Animal: Wowser and Ratso.
- Time Travel Episode: One episode has Professor Dingy building a time machine; it doesn't actually work, but both Wowser and the professor think otherwise due to Ratso tampering with a nearby clock while they're inside the machine.
- The Unintelligible: Officer Whistle, a police officer who only communicates by use of a whistle in his mouth.
- Verbal Tic: Wowser says "Wow" a lot in almost all of his sentences.
