T.U.F.F. Puppy is an American action animated children's television series created by Butch Hartman. It premiered on October 2, 2010, along with Planet Sheen, which premiered a half hour earlier. T.U.F.F. Puppy is Hartman's third animated show for Nickelodeon, after The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom and before Bunsen Is a Beast. The show was canceled after three seasons and its final episode aired on April 4, 2015.
Contents
Plot
The show is about a dog named Dudley Puppy, who works as a spy for T.U.F.F. HQ. His partner is Kitty Katswell, a cat. Other helpers are The Chief and Keswick. The setting is the fictional city of Petropolis (distinct from Petrópolis, Brazil), populated by anthropomorphic animals. As a member of T.U.F.F. HQ, Dudley helps Kitty protect Petropolis from villains including Verminious Snaptrap, The Chameleon, Bird Brain, Larry, Ollie, Francisco, Zippy, Owl, Bad Dog, and Skunk.
Characters
T.U.F.F.
The Turbo Undercover Fighting Force (T.U.F.F.) headquarters (HQ) is an organization which protects Petropolis from crime.
Dudley Puppy (voiced by Jerry Trainor) is a white mixed-breed dog who wears a black t-shirt.
Kitty Katswell (voiced by Grey DeLisle) is a tan cat who is Dudley Puppy's partner.
The Chief (voiced by Daran Norris) is a good-natured flea who leads T.U.F.F. HQ.
Keswick (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is a prairie dog who's a scientist wearing glasses.
Other T.U.F.F. personnel (various background characters) include agents, office workers, and/or scientists. Some of the minor members of T.U.F.F. that have been identified or mentioned include:
Agent Groundhog (voiced by Bennett) is a T.U.F.F. agent who first made a cameo in "Hot Dog". He resides under an office printer and is the one who tells about the end of winter.
Agent Jumbo (voiced by DeLisle) is an elephant T.U.F.F. agent who has a fear of mice. This results in her jumping up when she sees them and accidentally crushing others.
Agent Moby (voiced by Maddie Taylor) is a whale T.U.F.F. agent. Like Jumbo, Moby has a tendency to accidentally crush the Chief.
Agent Nutz (voiced by Bennett) is a squirrel T.U.F.F. agent who has a tendency to blast anything that scares him with his laser gun.
Tammy (voiced by DeLisle) is a rabbit who works as a secretary at T.U.F.F. HQ.
Villains
D.O.O.M. (short for Diabolical Order of Mayhem) is an evil organization which is the main enemy of T.U.F.F.
Verminious Snaptrap (voiced by Maddie Taylor) is an evil rat who is the leader of the Diabolical Order of Mayhem.
Larry (voiced by Bennett) is a shrew and Snaptrap's brother-in-law who is often mistreated by him.
Ollie (voiced by Bennett) is a sensible and smart British possum who is one of Snaptrap's henchmen.
Francisco (voiced by Norris) is a green alligator with red and yellow eyes who is one of Snaptrap's henchmen.
Bad Dog (voiced by Bennett in the first appearance, Norris in later appearances) is a pit bull who is one of Snaptrap's henchmen. The character does not appear after the first season.
Leather Teddy (voiced by Eric Bauza) is a leather clad blue bear and one of Snaptrap's henchmen. He wears an eyepatch despite having a working eye. The character does not appear after the first season.
The Mole (voiced by Maddie Taylor) is a literal mole who is a spy for Snaptrap. The character does not appear after the first season.
The Chameleon (voiced by Norris impersonating Peter Lorre) is an evil green chameleon who is one of the main antagonists of the series. He wear a molecular transformation suit which allows him to blend in with walls and disguise himself as anything or anyone.
Bird Brain (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is an evil blue-bottomed booby bird criminal genius who cannot fly naturally.
Zippy (voiced by DeLisle) is Bird Brain's scatterbrained hummingbird sidekick/partner.
Recurring characters
Peg Puppy (voiced by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph) is Dudley's overprotective mother.
Mrs. Katswell (voiced by DeLisle) is Kitty and Katty Katswell's mother.
Wolf Spitzer (voiced by Norris) is a wolf who is Petropolis local news reporter for KPET News.
Eric (voiced by Norris) is a buff cat who delivers the water to T.U.F.F.
Bob Barky (voiced by Norris) is a dog game show host who hosts various game shows in Petropolis..
Phil (voiced by Maddie Taylor) is a bulldog who is Dudley's friend.
Mr. Wong (voiced by Maddie Taylor) is a duck who is the owner of a buffet restaurant.
Production
Butch Hartman began conceiving a show for Nickelodeon in the fall of 2006, after production on the fifth season of The Fairly OddParents was completed. Around 2008–2009, Hartman began production of his third show for Nickelodeon, which became T.U.F.F. Puppy. He said that he had created the central character wanting to make a crime-fighting show based on Dudley Puppy. Because a previous animated series of his, Danny Phantom, has superheroes, Hartman decided that he would focus on making Dudley a secret agent. He pitched the series to Nickelodeon as "Get Smart with a dog." The show premiered in 2010 alongside the Jimmy Neutron spin-off, Planet Sheen. The show ended in 2015 on Nickelodeon's spinoff network, Nicktoons.
Eric Bauza (who voices Foop in The Fairly OddParents and Leather Teddy in T.U.F.F. Puppy), was originally chosen to be the voice of Dudley Puppy, but the creators did not feel that he was right for the character and Jerry Trainor was chosen instead. The original title of the show was Stud Puppy.
Home media
Note: The episode "A Doomed Christmas" along with Christmas episodes of The Fairly OddParents and Fanboy & Chum Chum were supposed to be on the It's a SpongeBob Christmas! DVD, but they were dropped from the actual release. However, the Target exclusive of It's A SpongeBob Christmas! included the Christmas episodes of those shows on a bonus disc.
Reception
Critical
Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the series 2 out of 5 stars; criticizing the “iffy messages” the show sends to kids and the frequent use of name calling, but adding, “Kitty's attractive appearance and overly emotional response to Dudley's successes are memorable.”
Ratings
The series premiere of T.U.F.F. Puppy drew 3.6 million viewers.