Touché Turtle and Dum Dum
Touché Turtle and Dum Dum (pronounced too-shay turtle) is one of the segments from The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series, produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1962.
This show was originally on the The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series along with Wally Gator and Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har. It has also aired twice on the BBC in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s.
History
Touché Turtle (voiced by Bill Thompson) and his sheepdog sidekick Dum Dum (voiced by Alan Reed) were a pair of heroic fencers who battle villains and heroically saves Kings, Queens, maidens and others in distress. Touché was the brave and dashing leader, whereas Dum Dum was more of a simple minded follower. Brandishing his trusty sword and exclaiming his catchphrase "Touché away!"
During the run of the show, Touché Turtle used a standard fencing foil as a weapon. But in the opening title sequence, Touché Turtle uses a firehose against a firebreathing dragon, ties up an octopus with its own tentacles and uses a fencing foil made of a nonconductive material against a sentient lightning bolt. Though not especially bright, he was an accomplished fencer and could hold his own against other sword-fighting opponents. In one episode, he faced a floating and animated sword called "The Haunted Sword," and he managed to defend himself from its constant attacks; until Dum-Dum discovered the sword was controlled remotely by a machine, and turned the machine off.
Despite his expertise at fencing, Touché always mispronounced the word "sword" when speaking. He always pronounced the "w" rather than leaving it silent, resulting in his constantly pronouncing the word as similar to "swing."
The series did not follow any lasting timeline or continuity. Touché would have adventures in the Old West and even in medieval eras, as well as battling villains during the modern era of the 1960s. One episode featured Touché ad Dum-Dum attempting to assist Napoleon Bonaparte after his defeat at Waterloo, but ultimately he was unsuccessful.
A running gag in nearly every episode showed him keeping a telephone inside his shell, and it would ring at inopportune moments when someone called for help. Touché would politely excuse himself, duck into his shell, and take the call regardless of where he was at the time.
Episode list
DVD release
The first episode "Whale of a Tale" is available on the DVD Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960's Vol. 2. “Rapid Rabbit” is available on DVD on disc 2 of The Best of Warner Bros.: Hanna-Barbera 25 Cartoon Collection.
Touché Turtle and Dum Dum in other languages
- Portuguese language: Tartaruga Touché
- Brazilian Portuguese: Tartaruga Touché
- Croatian language: Korni Kornjača
- Spanish: La Tortuga D'Artagnan
- Italian: Luca Tortuga
- Japanese: 突貫カメ君 (Tokkan Kame-kun)
- Serbian: Vitez Koja (Витез Која)
- Polish: Tuptusiu w drogę (fon. - Tooptooshyu fdrokeae)
- French language: Touché la Tortue
- Finnish: Kalpakonna
- Hebrew: טושה הצב (Touche Ha'Tzav)
- Thai language: ตูเช่ประจัญบาน (touché bpra-jan-baan)
Other appearances
- Touché Turtle and Dum Dum appeared in Yogi's Ark Lark and its spin-off series Yogi's Gang. In those appearances, Touché Turtle was voiced by Don Messick due to the death of Bill Thompson in 1971 while Dum Dum had no dialogue.
- Don Messick also voiced Touché Turtle in Yogi's Treasure Hunt.
- Dum Dum makes an appearance in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Mindless" voiced by Maurice LaMarche. He and Touché Turtle also make cameos in the video game adaption.
References
- Browne, Dan. "Touche Turtle According to Wingnut." WingutToons. 30 March 2006
- "Touche Turtle." Cartoon Legends. Pure Imagination. 30 March 2006