Touché Turtle and Dum Dum

Touché Turtle and Dum Dum is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that originally aired as one of the three segments on the anthology show The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series from September 3, 1962 to August 26, 1963.^[1]

Touché Turtle and Dum Dum
Genre	Comedy
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Voices of	Bill Thompson Alan Reed
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	52 (list of episodes)
Production
Producers	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Running time	7 minutes (per short)
Production company	Hanna-Barbera Productions
Original release
Network	First-run syndication
Release	September 3, 1962 (1962-09-03) – August 26, 1963 (1963-08-26)

Following its first airing, Touché Turtle and Dum Dum was later repeated several times on the BBC in the United Kingdom as a standalone show during the 1970s and 1980s, and then part of the Children's BBC service in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Overview

The show’s leads Touché Turtle (left) and Dum Dum (right)

Touché Turtle (voiced by Bill Thompson, known for voicing Droopy) and his dim-witted sheepdog sidekick Dum Dum (voiced by Alan Reed, known for voicing Fred Flintstone) were a pair of heroic fencers who battle villains and heroically save kings, queens, and others in distress.^[2] Touché was the brave (if not entirely competent) leader brandishing his trusty sword and exclaiming his catchphrase "Touché away!"^[3] He wore a plumed musketeer-type hat. Dum Dum was more of a simple-minded follower in a smaller plumed hat and a scarf.

During the run of the show, Touché Turtle used a standard fencing foil as a weapon. Though not particularly bright, he was an accomplished fencer and could hold his own against other sword-fighting opponents. 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 "suh-wohrd."

The series did not follow any lasting timeline or continuity. Touché had adventures in the Old West and in the Middle Ages, as well as battling villains during the modern era of the 1960s.

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.

List of episodes

Main article: The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series § List of episodes

Home media

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.

Other appearances

• Touché Turtle and Dum Dum appeared in Yogi's Ark Lark and its sequel 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.
• 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 where Dum Dum is voiced again by LaMarche.
• Touché Turtle and Dum Dum both appeared in DC Comics Deathstroke/Yogi Bear Special #1 as captured animals alongside other Hanna-Barbera characters.
• Touché Turtle appears in the Wacky Races episode "Slow and Steady", voiced by Billy West.
• Touché Turtle and Dum Dum both appear in the HBO Max original series Jellystone!.^[4] In the show, Touché Turtle works in the Jellystone Police Department as the chief of police, voiced by Dana Snyder.