(Amblin Television, Inc. / Universal City Studios, Inc. / CBS-TV 1993)
Brad Bird created Family Dog back in his California Institute of the Arts days. In 1986, Bird was able to interest Steven Spielberg in the premise. In 1987, Family Dog appeared as an animated episode of Spielberg's Amazing Stories anthology series on NBC-TV. Stan Freberg provided the voice of the father in this one-shot cartoon about a mischievous family dog and his unloving family.
Later, in the early 90's
after the success of the prime-time Simpsons cartoon, plans were made to make
Family Dog into a series. Steven Spielberg and Tim (Beetlejuice)
Burton were the executive producers and ten
episodes were made by Wang Film Productions.
Brad Bird's original concept of family life through the eyes of the dog
remained, but Bird was involved in other cartoon work and unable to contribute
further to the series so Spielberg took an active role.
An unknown, Doug Coffin, had been cast in the role of the Family Dog's adult owner Mr. Binford.
Coffin did an excellent job, but was replaced by comic actor Martin Mull in an
effort to give the series more "big name" recognition. Comedy writer Dennis
Klein, who knew nothing about animated cartoons, was brought in. Several episodes
were produced, but Burton
and Spielberg weren't happy with the finished product and shelved it for
retooling. Spielberg spent a small fortune to beef up the quality of the series,
even hiring Nelvana to come in and reanimate large parts of it. Eventually five
of the ten episodes produced in 1992 were aired. They were scheduled on CBS-TV
from June 23, 1993 through July 21, 1993 as
a summer replacement series.
VOICES:
Executive Producers - Tim Burton, Steven Spielberg, and Dennis Klein
Family Dog Episode Guide:
Since June 4, 2003
TOON TRACKER © 2003
Martin Mull - Skip Binford
Molly Cheek - Beverly Binford
Danny Mann - Family Dog
Zak Huxtable Epstein - Billy Binford
Cassie Cole - Buffy Binford
Occasional characters (guest stars):
Bruce McGill - Martin Mahoney
Deanna Oliver - Trish Mahoney
Producer - Chuck Richardson
Directed by Chris Buck
Casting: Robert Litvak
Family Dog created by Brad Bird
Family Dog theme composed and conducted by Danny Elfman
Additional music composed by Steve Bartek
Supervising Producer: Stephen Hodgins
Line Producer: Heather Walker
Production Managers: Peggy Regan, Steve Chadwick, Carolyn Walters
Administrative Executive: Thad Weinlein
Art Directors: David Cutler, Kim Cleary
Models: Vicky Scott, Matthew Bates, Sandy Kopitopoulos, Trish Burgio, Christi West
Color Models: Bridget Stother, Jill Sturdivant
Backgrounds: Al Budnick, Larry Grossman, Jeff Riche, Don Watson
Layout Supervisors: Guy Vasilovich, Dave Pemberton
Layout: Gay Lawrence - Ventura, Valerio Lawrence - Ventura
Supervising Animators: Klay R. Hall, Ron Hughart, Becky Bristow
Supervising Post Production Editor: Rob Kirkpatrick
Post Production Manager: Lan Lamon
Picture Editor: Evan Landis
Supervising Sound Editor: Mac Holyoke
Assistant Picture Editor: Mhairi Kerr
Pre-production Editor: Darrell MacDonald
Breakdown Editors: Rick Dubiel, Ken Hurlbut, Terry Capter, Fred Spek, Steve Schnier
Dialogue Editors: Keith Traver, Annellie Samuel, Mark Grosicki, Chris Harris
Sound Effects Editors: John Baktis, Glenn Barna, Eric Mattar-Hurlbut
Music Editors: Stephen Hudecki, Peter Branton
Re-recording Engineer: Tony van den Akker
Negative Cutting Services: Catherine Rankin Productions
Laboratory Services: Interlock, Magnetic North, Multitrack Digital Inc., The Filmhouse Group
Additional Production Facility: Wang Film Production Co. Inc.
Show Dog
Hot Dog at the Zoo
Doggone Girl is Mine
Enemy Dog
Eye on the Sparrow
Call of the Mild
Dog Days of Summer
Party Animal
Family Dog Gets Good and Sick
Family Dog Goes Homeless
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