Hector's House (French: La Maison de Toutou Translation ) is a 1965 French/British animation. There were 78 episodes that aired throughout five years and each were five minutes long.
It starred a dog named Hector (Toutou in France) and a cat named ZsaZsa (Zouzou in France), who live together in a small cottage with a large, beautiful garden that the two of them tend to frequently. One day, they are visited by a curious frog named Kiki who is fascinated by their garden, and after a moment of sudden danger involving Hector and a hunting rifle, she becomes fast friends with them. Once getting to know her, ZsaZsa and Hector discover that Kiki works as a weather forecaster in London and often talks about how she can tell what weather will come in the next few hours.
Hector is very protective of his garden and is the most dominant in the group, not allowing anyone but him to look after his vegetable patch or to go into his carpentry workshop in fear that everything will be "messed up". This often leads to Kiki and ZsaZsa teaming up to knock him down a peg or two, such as making him reluctantly do things that he doesn't want to do, provoking him when he isn't doing anything bothersome until he screeches at them, and torturing him until he breaks, leading to him saying his famous Mad Libs Catchphrase "I'm a very [adjective] old Hector," closing out the episode.
The English dub is the most well-known version to many. It followed the way of The Magic Roundabout (another show that the British dubbed from a French production) by being named as better than the French version. Nowadays, it's mostly a Cult Classic and a Nostalgia Filter for adults that were the young audience at the time. A few episodes were released in collections on both DVD and VHS throughout the years. Famously, it was the star of many commercials for the British bank The One Account in the early-2000s, and the characters have made frequent Shout-Out cameos on British television.
Tropes
- Accentuate the Negative: In many situations, Hector always thinks of the worst outcome. ZsaZsa tries to calm him down.
- Berserk Button: Hector doesn't like ZsaZsa insulting his carpentry workshop.Hector: [Kiki's] taking an awfully long time.ZsaZsa: She must've got lost under all that old junk.Hector: [as-a-matter-of-factly] It isn't "old junk"!
- Big Brother Instinct: Hector's interactions with Kiki. Perhaps he feels guilty that he nearly shot her for intruding.
- Bilingual Bonus: When it comes to the English dub, the dialogue's in English but any writing we see is in French. This often leads to characters reading out the translations of what they've written so that the non-French speakers know what's being said.
- British Stuffiness: Hector in the English dub.
- Butt-Monkey: Hector.
- Fatal Flaw: Hector's is chivalry and kindness. In one of his final words of the episodes, he says, "I'm great big kind old Hector ... too kind."
- Female Feline, Male Mutt: ZsaZsa the cat, and Hector the dog.
- Feminine Women Can Cook: ZsaZsa is seen sewing, knitting and serving homemade food.
- Gentleman Snarker: Hector is this, occasionally.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Hector always says his catchphrase by looking at the audience.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Hector and ZsaZsa often have a lesser impression of being friends and more of an impression of being in a dysfunctional marriage.
- Mad Libs Catchphrase: "I'm a great, big [adjective] old Hector." Hector often says this when he realises that his chivalry has gotten the better of him or has ironically fallen into his friends' trap.
- Manipulative Bitch: ZsaZsa and Kiki, to Hector. They often act helpless and slow, knowing that Hector with his chivalry will give in to their demands. It works every time.
- Muppet: There is no confirmation of what kind of puppets the characters are. They are more likely finger puppets.
- Nosy Neighbor: Kiki. If she hadn't lost her hat in the garden, she would've nearly got shot by Hector.
- Old-School Chivalry: Hector is full of this.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Hector is always seen in blue dungarees, whereas ZsaZsa often wears bright red or pink dresses.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Many of Hector and ZsaZsa's arguments are this, with Kiki being forced to side with someone.
- Sophisticated as Hell: Hector. It's implied that Kiki and ZsaZsa find it very pretentious, which is probably the reason why they mock him behind his back.
- Theme Naming: In the French version, both syllables of the characters' names are identical: Kiki, ZouZou, and TouTou. In the English version, Hector subverts this.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Kiki (tomboy) to ZsaZsa (girly girl). ZsaZsa knits and cooks in a housewife role, and Kiki is an independent girl who has a job as a weather correspondent (or, so she says).
- Two Girls and a Guy: Kiki, ZsaZsa, and Hector.
- Wham Line: In the episode The Well, the group's ball falls into a well. After debating over who should go and get it, Hector is chosen to get in the bucket. After getting the ball, Kiki drops it and it falls back into the well. Unsurprisingly passive-aggressive, Hector says his catchphrase as "I'm a great big kind old Hector," and then adds as he's lowered into the well, "but... don't you push me too far."
