Tooniversary: Pound Puppies (1986)

In the mid-80's, Hanna-Barbera entered into a licensing agreement with Tonka Toys (now a component of Hasbro), which led to a pair of series debuting in 1986. One was the weekday series, Challenge of the Go-Bots, Tonka's answer to the more popular Transformers, now even more ironic by the fact that Tonka is part of the Hasbro family. The other was Pound Puppies, which had actually been introduced to audiences in a syndicated special a year earlier. Here's the open, uploaded by GreatOldCartoons to YouTube:



Last year, Hasbro revived the brand and commissioned a new series to air on their network, The Hub. The new version has radically different animation, not quite as pleasing to fans of the original series. The H-B version lasted two seasons on ABC, and reruns have popped up occasionally on Boomerang. Not sure if Hasbro will pick up the rights and move the original series to The Hub, but it wouldn't be a bad idea.

Rating: B.