This may sound strange, but as a first-grader watching this cartoon series back in the late '80s, I was profoundly affected by entertainment and quickly learned how resonant an emotional chord it could strike in my heart. Most of what I watched was either mindless slapstick or too bizarre to be relatable. But POUND PUPPIES was quite different.
The canine protagonists were characters I could really get behind. As goofy as they could often be, they constantly had to face what were serious problems for a children's show. They were also some of the most altruistic cartoon heroes I can remember, always showing kindness and tenderness to anyone who was an outcast like them. Add to this their courage in facing hard times and their eternal hope that things would get better, and it's not hard to see why I counted them among my friends.
A relatively minor but still notable element of the show that left its mark on me was the characterization of the show's villainess, the rich businesswoman Katrina Stoneheart. She was not without redeeming qualities, which was very rare for a kids' show at that time. This was never more conspicuous than it was in a terrifying episode I remember in which a magic spell turns Katrina into a grotesque doglike humanoid, and she experiences some of the persecution that dogs suffer in human cities. By the end of the episode, she is feeling at least some affection for those she had tormented.
I know the above may all sound extremely schmaltzy...but what can I say? I was six years old, and schmaltziness was my thing - and, in fact, more than three decades later, it still sometimes is. I don't think I ever watched a cartoon that so effectively communicated messages of friendship and compassion as did POUND PUPPIES.
The canine protagonists were characters I could really get behind. As goofy as they could often be, they constantly had to face what were serious problems for a children's show. They were also some of the most altruistic cartoon heroes I can remember, always showing kindness and tenderness to anyone who was an outcast like them. Add to this their courage in facing hard times and their eternal hope that things would get better, and it's not hard to see why I counted them among my friends.
A relatively minor but still notable element of the show that left its mark on me was the characterization of the show's villainess, the rich businesswoman Katrina Stoneheart. She was not without redeeming qualities, which was very rare for a kids' show at that time. This was never more conspicuous than it was in a terrifying episode I remember in which a magic spell turns Katrina into a grotesque doglike humanoid, and she experiences some of the persecution that dogs suffer in human cities. By the end of the episode, she is feeling at least some affection for those she had tormented.
I know the above may all sound extremely schmaltzy...but what can I say? I was six years old, and schmaltziness was my thing - and, in fact, more than three decades later, it still sometimes is. I don't think I ever watched a cartoon that so effectively communicated messages of friendship and compassion as did POUND PUPPIES.
