Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds
| Industry | Animation, Television production |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1950s |
| Founder | Claudio Biern Boyd |
| Headquarters | Spain , Spain |
Key people | Claudio Biern Boyd (Executive producer) |
| Products | Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds, The Return of Dogtanian, Around the World with Willy Fog |
Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds is a children's animated adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel The Three Musketeers, produced by the Spanish company BRB Internacional with animation work carried out by Japan's Nippon Animation. The show originally broadcast on Japan's MBS network during the 1981–82 period.
The series showcases anthropomorphic dog characters, including the protagonist Dogtanian, alongside unique exceptions such as Milady portrayed as a cat and Dogtanian’s companions Pip, a mouse, and Planchet, a bear.
In 1985, BRB Internacional released a television movie titled Dogtanian: Special, which was compiled from the original series. A follow-up series called The Return of Dogtanian was co-produced in 1989 with Televisión Española and Thames Television. Subsequently, in 1995, another TV film entitled Dogtanian: One For All and All For One was launched, derived from the sequel series. More recently, in 2021, Apolo Films (the cinematic branch of BRB Internacional) collaborated with Cosmos Maya to produce a CGI feature film named Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds, which was released theatrically.
All 26 episodes from the original series can be streamed on BRB Internacional’s official YouTube channel.
Plot
Set against the backdrop of 17th-century France, the narrative follows a young Dogtanian (D'Artagnan) who journeys from Béarn to Paris with aspirations of joining King Louis XIII of France's musketeers—referred to as "Muskehounds" in the cartoon. Along his adventure, he befriends three musketeers named Porthos, Athos, and Aramis and rescues Juliette, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne of Austria. It is notable that in English-language dubs, Athos and Porthos’ personalities were switched; Athos became the outgoing character while Porthos was portrayed as reserved and aristocratic.
English version
- Aramis – Eddie Frierson
- Juliette – Rebecca Forstadt
- Pip Squeak – Steve Kramer
- Widimer – Mike Reynolds
- Cardinal Richelieu – Kerrigan Mahan
- Queen Anne – Robin Levenson
- King Louis – Simon Prescott
- Narrator – Tom Wyner
- Dogtanian – Cam Clarke
- Porthos – Dan Woren
- Athos – Michael Sorich
- Blue Falcon – Robert Axelrod
- Planchet – Milton James
- Pig Guard – Richard Epcar
- Count Rochefort – Dave Mallow
- Monsieur Treville – Michael Forest
- Milady – Edie Mirman
- Rochefort's henchman – Theodore Lehmann
- Duke of Buckingham – Tom Wyner
Production
The inception of Dogtanian stemmed from Claudio Biern Boyd’s enthusiasm for classic literature. Prior to television’s arrival in Spain in 1956, he was an avid reader of authors such as Alexandre Dumas, which greatly influenced his creative ambitions. After obtaining essential broadcast and merchandising agreements through BRB Internacional, Claudio crafted an original animated series inspired by his cherished childhood novels.
Following the success of Ruy el pequeño Cid, he adapted Dumas’ The Three Musketeers by reimagining its characters as dogs. The choice of animal species was driven by his personal creativity: Milady took the form of a cat (an animal Claudio personally disliked), Richelieu was depicted as a fox drawing from local legends, and Dogtanian was modeled after a beagle as a tribute to Charles M. Schulz’s Snoopy. Additionally, Claudio’s own bulldog served as inspiration for Richelieu’s guard character.
Pre-production activities were conducted in Spain while post-production occurred at Nippon Animation’s studios in Tokyo. Spanish directors Luis Ballester and Claudio Biern Boyd oversaw scripting and directing duties; meanwhile, Shigeo Koshi directed the Japanese team with character designs crafted by Shuuichi Seki.
Adapting the original novel presented difficulties due to its length and mature content. BRB’s scriptwriters developed a "clean and polished" adaptation by eliminating darker aspects: character flaws such as Athos’ alcoholism and D’Artagnan’s romantic indiscretions were excluded. The use of anthropomorphic figures also served to tone down violence and make the story more appealing to children—heroes featured softer designs while villains like Richelieu appeared more menacing; Milady’s feline form symbolized cunning stealth.
Produced jointly in 1981 by BRB International and Nippon Animation, the series premiered on Japan’s Mainichi Broadcasting System on 9 October 1981. A year later, it debuted in Spain on Televisión Española's Primera Cadena. The fruitful collaboration between BRB and Nippon Animation led to another successful project two years later: Around the World with Willy Fog.
Spanish team
- Production company: BRB Internacional S.A
- Executive producer: Claudio Biern Boyd
- Director: Luis Ballester
- Dialogue adaptation: Manuel Peiro
- Music editing: Cabum Magister
- Sound technicians: Eduardo Fernández, Alfonso Pino, José María San Mateo, José Esquirol
- Sound studio: Estudios Exa, S.A.
- Laboratory: Fotofilm Madrid, S.A.
- Editing supervisor: Soledad López
- Assistant editor: Alicia Saavedra
- Special effects: Luis Castro
Japanese team
- Production company: Nippon Animation
- Executive producers: Endo Shigeo, Junzo Nakajima
- Directors: Taku Sugiyama, Shigeo Koshi
- Screenwriters: Akira Nakahara, Taku Sugiyama, Yoshihiro Kimura
- Composer: Katsuhisa Hattori
- Character designer: Shuuichi Seki
- Storyboard artists: Taku Sugiyama, Shigeo Koshi, Fumio Kurokawa, Suzuki, Baba Ken, Saito Shuhokaku
- Layout supervisor: Koji Mori
- Animation director: Takao Ogawa
- Art direction: Kobayashi Shichiro, Kazue Ito
- Colorist: Takasago Yoshiko
- Animators: Sakai Shunichi, Kimura Keiichiro
- Additional animation by: Anime R
English adaptation
- Directors: Tom Wyner, Robert Barron, Byrd Ehlmann, Dave Mallow & Doug Stone
- Scriptwriters: Tom Wyner, Jason Klassi, Garry Morris, Melesio Rosales, Dayna Barron, Byrd Ehlmann
Spanish opening and closing themes
- Composers: Guido and Maurizio de Angelis
- Performers: Popitos
Japanese opening theme: ワンワン三銃士 (Wanwan Sanjūshi)
- Lyrics and arrangement by Kayama Yoshiko and Katsuhisa Hattori
- Vocals by Kusaka Marron with the Suginami Children Choir
Japanese ending theme: そういうお主は？ (Sōyū onushi wa?)
- Lyrics and arrangement by Kayama Yoshiko and Katsuhisa Hattori
- Performed by Kusaka Marron
English opening and closing themes
- Edited by Cabum Magister
- Sub-published by Southern Pictures Music Inc.
- Sung by Hilary Mather, Elissa Mather, Ted Mather
- Recorded and remixed at Fizz Sound Creation and Intersound Inc.
Episode list
- "Dogtanians Journey"
- "Dogtanian Meets The Black Moustache"
- "Paris, The City Of Dreams"
- "The Three Invincible Musketeers"
- "Monsieur Treville, Captain Of The Musketeers"
- "Dogtanian Meets His Match"
- "Dogtanian Meets The King"
- "Juliette's Secret"
- "Juliette Kidnapped"
- "The Great Getaway"
- "Dogtanian's Trance"
- "Dogtanian To The Rescue"
- "Dogtanian Meets Monsieur Pip"
- "The Search For Juliette"
- "Dogtanian Saves the Day"
- "Daggers And Diamonds"
- "The Journey To England"
- "The Chase"
- "Dogtanian Is Put To The Test"
- "Dogtanian And The Blue Falcon"
- "The Shipwreck"
- "The Jungle Adventure"
- "Marco's Mission"
- "The Impostor"
- "Milady's Revenge"
- "Dogtanian's Dream Comes True"
Accolades
- Awarded bronze medal at the 1982 International Film & TV Festival of New York.
- Received honorable mention at the 7th International 'Child of Our Time' festival held in Milan.
- Won the TP de Oro for the most popular children's television series.
- Granted a special prize at the International Contest for Children & Youth in Gijón.
Broadcast
This series initially premiered in Japan across 20 stations within the Japan News Network (TBS) during a Friday 7 pm slot. It was co-produced with Mainichi Broadcasting System. Despite airing simultaneously on major affiliates, viewership ratings remained low—only about 4% in the Kanto region. As a result of underperformance, MBS discontinued producing animated content for that timeslot and sponsor Calpis withdrew support. The show was replaced by Jarinko Chie, which moved from a less advantageous timeslot. Although competing against Ninja Hattori-kun, the series still generated merchandise sales in Japan.
In 1982, the program made its European debut on Spain’s TVE1, despite facing some scheduling challenges. Following this, it was licensed to numerous international networks such as RTP, RAI (Italy), the BBC (United Kingdom), and TF1 (France), where it achieved strong audience ratings. In Brazil, it aired on Rede Manchete from 1984 through 1986 as part of children’s programming hosted by Xuxa Meneghel. Its success prompted Editora Riográfica (later known as Editora Globo) to import related comic book adaptations from Spain. During the mid-2000s, the compilation film version was broadcast on TV Brasília while it operated independently.
An English-language dub was produced by Intersound USA in 1985 alongside a television film created by BRB. The English version premiered on BBC in the UK on January 3, 1985, and later aired on The Disney Channel in the United States between 1986 and 1988.
UK VHS releases
During the late 1980s, Video Collection International Ltd. issued several Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds episodes on VHS, following their original broadcasts on the BBC (1985–1987) and subsequent reruns on ITV (1988–1990).
| Title | Release date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds (VC 1101) | 3 October 1988 |
|
| Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds: Episodes 3 & 4 (VC1109) |
3 October 1988 |
|
| Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds: Episode 5 (WP 0008) |
7 November 1988 |
|
| Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds: Episodes 6 & 7 (VC1118) |
6 February 1989 |
|
| Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds: Episodes 8 & 9 (LL 0005) |
1 May 1989 |
|
| Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds: Episodes 10 & 11 (LL 0006) |
1 May 1989 |
|
| The Complete Adventures of Dogtanian (VC1174) | 10 September 1990 | |
| Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds (KK 0003) | 22 July 1991 |
|
DVD releases
In the United Kingdom, Revelation Films issued the series on DVD in Region 0 format as follows:
- Episodes 1 through 9: released on 28 April 2003
- Episodes 10 through 15: released on 25 August 2003
- Episodes 16 through 20: released on 22 March 2004
- Episodes 21 through 26: released on 25 May 2004
- Dogtanian - The Complete Series Boxset: released on 20 September 2004
- Television movies Dogtanian: Special and Dogtanian: One For All And All For One: released on 26 July 2004
A comprehensive edition encompassing both series and films was launched exclusively at HMV in November 2010, before becoming available at other retailers. Additionally, Oasis DVDs distributed the complete series on DVD in the United States in 2012.
Streaming
Viewers in the UK can stream the series on services such as YouTube, Netflix, and ITVX.
Soundtrack
The original music collection, named Dartacan Soundtrack, can be purchased as an MP3 download from Amazon UK. This album features an English rendition of the theme song with lyrics from the second series, maintaining a musical style close to the original, while referring to Dogtanian by his Spanish name, Dartacan. It also contains Spanish-language insert songs—some repeated—and various instrumental pieces from the show.
Television film
In 1985, BRB Internacional produced a television movie compiled from episodes of the series, titled Dogtanian: Special.
Sequel
A follow-up series named The Return of Dogtanian was created in 1989 through a collaboration between BRB Internacional, Televisión Española, and Thames Television. Animation duties were handled by Wang Film Productions and Morning Sun Animation, as production was moved away from Nippon Animation due to rising costs. This sequel also consisted of 26 episodes, mirroring the original series' length.
In 1995, BRB Internacional released a television film derived from this sequel series, entitled Dogtanian: One For All and All For One.
Film
BRB Internacional initially announced a CGI feature film with a planned release in 2016; however, the project experienced delays for undisclosed reasons. In April 2019, production responsibilities were assumed by Apolo Films, the company’s newly established cinema division. The screenplay was written by Doug Langdale and direction was led by Toni Garcia. The movie debuted in theaters under the title Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds and was subsequently made available on subscription video-on-demand services.
The film incorporates the original series’ iconic theme composed by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis, who also contributed fresh musical pieces for this adaptation. Its UK premiere took place on 25 June 2021.