Touché Turtle and Dum Dum

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Touché Turtle and Dum Dum
TT&DD title card.png
On-screen title card.
Network Syndication
Production company Hanna-Barbera
Original release September 3, 1962August 26, 1963
Run time 5 minutes
Starring Bill Thompson
Alan Reed
Producer(s) William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Music composed by Hoyt Curtin
Director(s) William Hanna
Joseph Barbera

Touché Turtle and Dum Dum is a series of animated segments as part of The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Airing in syndication, it ran from 1962 to 1963, airing 52 episodes that spanned two seasons.

When the series started airing as reruns on Boomerang, the original film masters were in noticeably poor condition and also had notable film damages.

So far, the Warner Archive Collection has made no announcements of releasing the entire series onto DVD, likely due to those same film damages and poor maintenance, although the Warner Archive account on Facebook confirmed that the series was included in a poll back in 2012.[1] Touché was later expected to be released on DVD with Wally and Lippy back in 2020, but Warner Archive was unsure on whether to release the series as it had severe film damages.

Production

Development

Early in development, the character of Touché was originally going to be a swashbuckling rabbit named "Hairbrain Hare" (or "Harbreath Hare" in one of the illustrations). A design of a turtle resembling Touché was also created around this time, likely as a sidekick to "Hairbrain" or a third character, but it was later proposed that Touché would be made as a turtle instead. According to writer Tony Benedict, the concept of "Hairbrain Hare" was repurposed years later for the western-themed Ricochet Rabbit.[2]

The cartoon was first publicly mentioned (as "Hairbrain Hare") in a story by Variety magazine on October 20, 1960, along with Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har. It was then mentioned again (as Touché Turtle and Dum Dum) by Variety in an October 31, 1961 story, in addition to Wally Gator, with the proposal of 156 five-minute segments in total.[2]

A longer theme song was initially proposed with lyrics written by Michael Maltese, but a much shorter theme was instead used in the final product.[3] As a development gag, Touché and Dum Dum sing a snippet of the longer theme song in the episode "The Shoe Must Go On."

Music

Opening theme song lyrics

Touché away!

Touché away!

Touché away!

It's Touché Turtle!


Unused theme song lyrics

When there is trouble

Who comes on the double

And saves you in the nick of time....

It's not a masked avenger

Not a lonesome stranger

It's TOUCHÉ TURTLE every time!

When there's as much as

Twenty villain clutches

Turning villainy to crime

Who will make them pale

And send them all to jail

It's TOUCHÉ TURTLE every time

TOUCHÉ......AWAY!

To save the day......so...

Who's the greatest hero?

Who comes from far and near, oh!....

It's TOUCHÉ TURTLE every time!

Episodes

Episode Original air date
1x01 September 3, 1962
1x02 September 10, 1962
1x03 September 17, 1962
1x04 September 24, 1962
1x05 October 1, 1962
1x06 October 8, 1962
1x07 October 15, 1962
1x08 October 22, 1962
1x09 October 29, 1962
1x10 November 5, 1962
1x11 November 12, 1962
1x12 November 19, 1962
1x13 November 26, 1962
1x14 December 3, 1962
1x15 December 10, 1962
1x16 December 17, 1962
1x17 December 24, 1962
1x18 December 31, 1962
1x19 January 7, 1963
1x20 January 14, 1963
1x21 January 21, 1963
1x22 January 28, 1963
1x23 February 4, 1963
1x24 February 11, 1963
1x25 February 18, 1963
1x26 February 25, 1963
2x01 March 4, 1963
2x02 March 11, 1963
2x03 March 18, 1963
2x04 March 25, 1963
2x05 April 1, 1963
2x06 April 8, 1963
2x07 April 15, 1963
2x08 April 22, 1963
2x09 April 29, 1963
2x10 May 6, 1963
2x11 May 13, 1963
2x12 May 20, 1963
2x13 May 27, 1963
2x14 June 3, 1963
2x15 June 10, 1963
2x16 June 17, 1963
2x17 June 24, 1963
2x18 July 1, 1963
2x19 July 8, 1963
2x20 July 15, 1963
2x21 July 22, 1963
2x22 July 29, 1963
2x23 August 5, 1963
2x24 August 12, 1963
2x25 August 19, 1963
2x26 August 26, 1963

Cast

Legacy

In the next two decades, Touché and Dum Dum went on to make cameos in Yogi's Gang and Yogi's Treasure Hunt.

In 2021, Touché—without Dum Dum—appears as the head of the Jellystone Police Department in the HBO Max original series Jellystone!

Merchandise

Reading material

Board game

In 1962, a board game was released by Transogram based on the cartoon.

In other languages

Language Name
Brazilian Tartaruga Touché e Dum Dum
French Touché la Tortue
Italian Luca Tortuga
Japanese 突貫カメ君 (Tokkan Kame-kun)
Spanish Tortuga D' Artagnan

References