Let's Watch This: "A Hollywood Hounds Christmas" (1994)

Who the heck are the Hollywood Hounds? I have absolutely no idea. When I Googled them, the only things I could find that weren't related to this special were DVD collections of various movies starring dogs. My initial guess was that they were characters created for this one Christmas special, perhaps with the hope of there being a whole line of specials or a TV show based on them, only for that not to happen. Y'know, like the Zoomer Crew or the Soulmates. But I also found these:

Plush toys labeled "Hollywood Hounds"-related, one of which is very clearly supposed to be one of the dogs on the VHS over! Somehow, I doubt they made plush toys of characters just from a one-off special (unless there were a lot of Zoomer Crew plush toys in stores when that special first aired). So here's my new theory: "Hollywood Hounds" was a toy line, perhaps an attempt to cash in on the success of Pound Puppies, and this special was made in an attempt to promote the toyline and maybe get a Hollywood Hounds cartoon show started up. If I'm wrong about this, somebody please let me know (the Christmas Specials Wiki claims that it was "based on the Hollywood Hounds storyline created by Jacob R. Miles III of Cultural Exchange Corporation". Make of that what you will).

Well, however this special came to be, you might recognize the name of the director, Kent Butterworth. He's also directed episodes of The Simpsons, Tiny Toon Adventures, and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. A Hollywood Hounds Christmas aired on December 16th, 1994. You can currently find the special on YouTube, Tubi, and Pluto TV. Is it any good? Let's find out, shall we?

The special starts off with an intro like you'd expect a TV series to have, consisting of various clips from the special accompanied by a song about Christmas and these Hollywood Hounds characters they're hyping up so much. After that, we see the cowboy clothes-clad Hollywood Hound, Dude (voiced by Jeff Bennett, I believe?), arriving in Los Angeles on the back of a truck a few days before Christmas. My guess is that he came to LA because he wants to be a famous country singer... but don't most folks who want to be famous country singers go to NASHVILLE?

Then again, if he went to Nashville he wouldn't be a HOLLYWOOD Hound...

As soon as Dude gets off the truck, he is approached by a nasty-looking dog named Vic Vicious (voiced by Jess Harnell), who demands that he pay him for taxes - because this guy is clearly a trustworthy tax collector, right? I don't even know what dogs do with money, or how they get money, but Vic doesn't seem too phased by Dude telling him that he doesn't have any money, instead telling him to hand over the guitar.

Just go all El Kabong on him and smack Vic on the head with your guitar.

Dude refuses to give Vic his guitar, so Vic calls upon his bulldog pal Muttski (Frank Welker, if I'm not mistaken) to take the guitar by force. One chase scene later, Dude is saved by a dog who looks like Carlton Banks - and apparently has his clothes designed by C-Bear. His name is Cuz.

I'm sure this dog was designed to resemble SOME musician who was popular in the 1990s, but
I can't put my finger on who... maybe Prince? Was he popular in the 1990s?

Dude explains to Carlton... I mean, Cuz that he hails from Nashville - and apparently couldn't find any success there? I guess we can't all be Blake Shelton. Cuz says that his owner, Michael, would be happy to take him in, even though he already has at least two pets - in addition to Cuz, he's also the owner of the third, and only female, Hollywood Hound, Rosie (Candi Milo)... who, according to the description on the back of the VHS, is actually a cat, not a dog. Which makes the name of the group being "the Hollywood HOUNDS" kind of weird in hindsight...

This is Michael. I do not think he's meant to be a young Michael Jordan (otherwise this special
would likely be about dogs playing basketball instead of dogs forming a band).

Okay, so obviously Dude's skilled in country western music. What are the other two's talents? Cuz plays the blues, and Rosie likes salsa music. When they combine their talents together, the resulting cover of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" makes One Direction sound like a flock of screeching seagulls. But Dude doesn't want to be part of a trio: "I'm a solo act! A lone wolf," he says.

Suddenly, who should drive up to Michael's house but a... I feel like I should know this already, but what kind of car is that?

I want to say a sedan, but I'm not sure...

I initially thought some big music producer would step out of the car and immediately offer to be the Hollywood Hounds' manager, because that's usually how it goes in cartoons, but instead it's Michael's father. He says that the school where he works had to cut the music program, which means that he's out of a job. That means they won't be able to afford Christmas presents. Maybe they could take Maxine's advice and make the presents themselves - who doesn't love painted rocks?

Michael says it doesn't matter if they can't afford presents so long as they're together. Dude disagrees, saying, "Togetherness is one thing, but whoever heard of a Christmas without presents?" Cuz says that they should just be happy they have food and a roof over their heads, but Dude claims that's not what Christmas is about. SOMEBODY needs to learn the true meaning of Christmas. Could we get Linus Van Pelt in here?

"So, you think Ross and Rachel are ever gonna hook up?"

"Nah, she's got more chemistry than Joey..."

While watching TV, the Hollywood Hounds (plus one... let's call her a "California Cat") see a commercial for a pet food called Mushy Chow. The commercial announcer says that Mushy Chow is looking for dogs and cats who have musical talent to star in their annual Christmas commercial. Auditions will be held Saturday at the Pet TV studio in Hollywood, and the grand prize is a recording contract, a shopping spree in the pet store of your choice, a year's supply of Mushy Chow, and one thousand dollars in cash, hintidy-hint-hint-hint.

"Hey, are you a dog whose owner's father just got fired and desperately needs some money? Hi,
I'm the solution to your problem!"

The next morning, Dude sneaks off to the Pet TV studio, intending to audition by himself... but Cuz and Rosie wind up tagging along anyway. Suddenly, a truck with "CITY POUND" written on it shows up and snatches Cuz and Rosie in a net. This raises the question of how exactly city pounds work in this world. Dude, Cuz and Rosie, even if they're pets, are anthropomorphic - they wear clothes, they talk, they walk on two legs. So why is the dogcatcher allowed to just drive up and capture Cuz and Rosie in a net? Isn't this basically kidnapping? Would the folks running the city pound be willing to put down two animals who talk and wear clothes? Do talking animals just not have legal rights or something?

And why is the dogcatcher also nabbing a CAT? Did he mistake Rosie for a Shiba Inu?

Dude is subjected to WHACKY SHENANIGANS as he chases the truck, complete with another appearance from Vic and Muttski. He offers them a deal - if they help him save Cuz and Rosie, he'll give them his guitar. Vic agrees. Say, how come Dude, Cuz and Rosie wear clothes but Vic and Muttski just walk around naked? Are they nudists?

If they are, I'm not judging them, it's just a headscratcher...

After saving Cuz and Rosie and giving Vic his guitar, Dude and his amigos head for the Pet TV studio, where they find a bunch of other pets - and their owners, all of whom look eerily similar to them - waiting to audition as well. Vic is nice enough to give Dude his guitar back (he and Muttski were originally going to audition as well, but they're not very good singers) and suggest that they call themselves "the Hollywood Hounds", even though Rosie as she points out is not a hound. He even offers to be their manager!

There's just one problem - also auditioning for the commercial is a bratty girl (Jania Foxworth) and her poodles who can yip "The Twelve Days of Christmas", and she's determined to make sure SHE wins the prizes, not those Hollywood Hounds. Uh oh, I smell an antagonist!

An antagonist who looks like she just stepped out of a Dr. Seuss book at that!

So what is her evil plan? She sneaks into the audio room while the Hollywood Hounds are auditioning and somehow replaces their music with the sound you make when you wave your arms over a bunch of glasses filled with water. You know that sound, right? I don't know what black magic she's using to pull this off, but the judges tell the pets that they don't need to hear anything else. Then when the poodles audition, the judges make them the winners, even though their act made them fall asleep. The girl's mission was a success!

But is that enough for her dad (Frank Welker)? Oh, no - he also ambushes the Hollywood Hounds, puts them on leashes, and gives them to his daughter as new pets. Fortunately, Michael and his father show up and are all "I don't think so!" The girl's dad tries to bribe Michael's dad with some of that sweet sweet moolah, but Michael's dad will not be bribed. Especially not by the fathers of Offbrand Veruca Salts.

"By the way, Mr. Snooty Fat Guy?! The Mask called, he wants his suit back!"

The girl throws a tantrum over not getting more pets, and then she, her father, and their poodles are pummeled by bags of Mushy Chow. And then doused with water from a fire hydrant. Dude has now learned the True Meaning of Christmas - it's not about money or presents, it's about being together and being grateful for what you have. Michael's father also invited the dogcatcher over for Christmas dinner, understandably freaking out the pets, but he assures them that he takes Christmas off (plus, I don't think dogcatchers are allowed to capture pets in their own homes). We end with a musical performance from the Hollywood Hounds.

WARNING: if you watch this special yourself, you are going to have this song stuck in
your head for a while.

What's the Verdict?

I'm going to divide this into two sections. What I liked about it, and what I didn't like...

What I liked:
- The animation is good.
- The characters are likeable (if a bit underdeveloped).
- The voice cast consists of talented people like Jess Harnell, Jeff Bennett, Candi Milo, and Frank Welker. That's always a plus.
- I give them credit for not going the obvious route and having the dad get his job back somehow at the end. Although that does make me a bit worried about what he's gonna do to pay the bills.
- I also give them credit for NOT shoehorning in a bunch of pop culture references and "racy" humor like so many other 1990s Christmas specials. This was the time period where the Animaniacs style of comedy was in full swing (the special came out just ONE YEAR before Jingle Bell Rock, for crying out loud). They could've thrown in a bunch of references to famous musicians or had the dogs make jokes about how horny they are or whatever, but they didn't. How refreshing.

What I didn't like:
- The villains were lame. They show up near the end, do nothing particularly interesting, and are generally more of a nuisance than anything else. What did they add to the story other than to make the Hollywood Hounds fail their audition?
- Where did Vic and Muttski go after the villains showed up?
- Much like with Grojband, since this is a special about a trio of musicians, I would've liked some more music. They didn't even have to be original songs, they could've just had the dogs sing covers of iconic Christmas tunes. Ah well...

So all in all, I thought this special was pretty good. Unless you really hate dogs for some reason (maybe you're a Cruella DeVille sympathizer?), I recommend giving it a watch. Like I said, it's pretty easy to find for something so obscure. It also recently aired on MeTV Toons, so maybe that'll help spread more awareness of it.

This review is brought to you by Mushy Chow. Don't let the fact that it has "mushy" in its name fool you, your dog or cat will love it!

DISCLAIMER: Animation and All Things Related does not actually have a sponsor, nor is Mushy Chow an actual brand of pet food. Do not go into your local PetCo expecting to actually find bags of Mushy Chow on the shelves.