“Who is the superhero? Sarge? No!
Rosemary the telephone operator? No way, Man!
Penry, the mild-mannered janitor? Could be!”
Infamous 1970s TV character Hong Kong Phooey was a vaguely masked cartoon dog who fought crime by utilising his skills in martial arts - a response to the cultural trend of martial arts throughout the western world at the time. Sixteen episodes spanning half an hour each were produced, each following the stories of Hong Kong Phooey and his feline sidekick Spot travelling in the shape changing Phooeymobile vehicle, beating crime through the liberal use of well-timed martial arts moves.
Our canine hero’s secret identity is that of Penrod ‘Penry’ Pooch, who works as a janitor for the city’s police force. Together with officer Sgt Flint and despatcher Rosemary, Penry believes that he’s the true force behind the police’s success with his special martial arts powers… but really, it’s Spot who solves the problems and largely goes uncredited.
Of course, as janitor, Penry is also on hand to clean up the crime scene: he probably used specialist cleaning products, keeping everything organised with colour-coded spray solutions. To ensure he didn’t contaminate forensics, he possibly relied on disposable gloves.
Iconic episodes include Hong Kong Phooey tackling a gang of car thieves who stole a whole host of vehicles from the car salesroom opposite the very police station he works in; after consulting his martial arts books for some tips and tricks, of course.
Each episode begins with Penry entering the bottom drawer of the police station’s filing cabinet in his janitorial uniform, before embarking on a quick change and popping from the top drawer (with Spot’s help as the mechanism repeatedly gets stuck) in his hero gear as Hong Kong Phooey: ready to fight crime and crack the case before his cover is blown. He’s invariably able to return to cleaning up the police station!
Unfortunately for Spot, this filing cabinet manoeuvre is the only way that Hong Kong Phooey is able to change from his undercover disguise to reach his full potential… which does often mean his sidekick is left to fetch the cabinet from the station in the middle of a live case.
Considered a family favourite from 1970s children’s television but also somewhat of a relic of times gone by, Hong Kong Phooey only lasted a single series and was only repeated in reruns twice. However, in early 2000, Cartoon Network reimagined the stories and released a short online series which saw a larger and moderately more competent Hong Kong Phooey crack some new cases and fight some fresh foes.
A movie of the series was planned – and even partially created, with Eddie Murphy playing the lead – for release in 2019 but after repeated delays and a content leak, the film was cancelled.
Today, it’s unlikely that this character will be resurrected, as it presents some cultural issues that don’t translate brilliantly to life in the 2020s, but it remains a treasured cartoon from days gone by. He may not have been the greatest janitor around, but he was a champion – and he demonstrated brilliantly that unsung heroes really can come from all walks of life!