Fangface, known as Fangface and Fangpuss in the second season, is an animated series that originally aired on ABC for two seasons between September 9, 1978 and September 27, 1980.
Overview
Highly derivative of Scooby-Doo (which was also created by Ruby and Spears) with a bit of the Tasmanian Devil and I Was a Teenage Werewolf thrown in, Fangface features four teenagers — buff and handsome leader Biff, his brainy and beautiful dusky-skinned girlfriend Kim, short, stocky and pugnacious Puggsy and tall, skinny simpleton Sherman "Fangs" Fangsworth (Puggsy and Fangs being based on Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall of The Bowery Boys fame), the latter of whom transforms into a wildly whirling werewolf named Fangface whenever he looks at the full moon, a picture of the moon, or anything resembling the moon. Fangface has one large fang in the middle of his upper jaw which protrudes over his lower lip, and he has brown fur with tan paws, muzzle, and lupine tail tip. The four kids drive around in a sleek convertible dune buggy called the Wolf-Buggy and catch crooks and solve crimes involving monsters and evil masterminds. Fangs sits in the backseat next to Puggsy, while Fangface rides on Puggsy's shoulders.
Despite the temporary difficulty of Fangface always attacking Puggsy after he first transforms, the gang never hesitates to initiate the transformation to take advantage of the werewolf's power to cope with any danger. Indeed, they often refer to Fangface as their "secret weapon", even though very few people are afraid of him. Fangface and Fangs are unaware of each other, but Fangface lives in the moment, so he never seems to question why he's suddenly in a new place, whereas Fangs is always bewildered upon reversion.
Oddly if perhaps not surprisingly considering how much Puggsy bullies the cowardly Fangs in his weak-willed human form, whenever Fangface sees food or hears a food word like "turkey", he eats Puggsy whole, although he doesn't chew or swallow him and just contentedly leaves him trapped in his hugely bulging chipmunk-like cheeks. The only way to get Puggsy out of Fangface's jaws is for either Biff or Kim to rub Fangface's foot, thereby calming him down and releasing Puggsy.
Another bizarre personality trait is that whenever Fangface sees his reflection in a mirror, he goes completely wild and starts to howl uncontrollably. In this feral state he only relies on instinct, usually to the detriment of Puggsy or whoever else is with him, although even this can sometimes be used to the good guys' advantage, sometimes with an addition of an order given to him, as demonstrated near the ending of A Heap of Trouble, as well as Dr. Lupiter and the Thing from Jupiter, A Creep from the Deep, and Westward Ho to the UFO.
Even though Fangs and Fangface are completely different in their personalities, they have similarities to one another. Fangs and Fangface both wear a backwards-facing orange cap, although the rest of Fangs' clothes disappear when he transforms, and both are loyal friends of Kim, Biff, and Puggsy. Fangs and Fangface also say the phrase "Ooh! Ooh!" (the trademark exclamation of Joe E. Ross) before expressing an idea, as heard in the episode The Evil Design Of Vulture-Man's Mind. Fangs is basically comic relief on the show having no real use as Fangs and getting changed into Fangface when he's needed, although Fangs does show a spark of use whenever he's super scared. When he's super scared, he loses his normal dimwittedness and comes up with a super good idea to save his super scared neck.
Another interesting occurrence are the barrage of invented words that the character Puggsy says, such as 'scramify' and 'rescuefy' in the episode The Ill-Will Of Dr. Chill, which can be heard throughout the entire series.
In the episode Don't Abra When You Cadabra, it is revealed that Fangs has an uncle named Arnie (rumored to be possibly the baby werewolf Fangpuss's father) and that he runs a video arcade in New York City called Arnie's Arcade.
During Season 1, Fangface would see the sun, or any representation thereof, and transform back to Fangs at inconvenient times (without remembering anything), as shown in the episode Space Monster Mishap, long before the gangs' case would be over. As a result, the gang would have to transform him back into Fangface in order to complete their case.
In 1979, the second season titled Fangface and Fangpuss aired as a segment on The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show and introduced a new character: Baby Fangs, Fangs' infant cousin who turns into a baby werewolf called Fangpuss (which contradicts the opening narration stating that only one werewolf is born into the family every 400 years, but, of course, that werewolf could be born through another family which may be married to the Fangsworth family). The show remained in the same mystery-adventure style as the first season, but episodes were now shortened to 15-minute segments. Sixteen episodes of Fangface and Fangpuss were produced for the 1979–80 season.
The episodes The Creepy Goon from the Spooky Lagoon and Dr. Lupiter and the Thing from Jupiter are the only season two episodes in which Baby Fangs/Fangpuss did not make an appearance.
Just as Fangs is unaware that he is Fangface, Fangs is also unaware that his cousin, Baby Fangs, is Fangpuss. When Fangs sees Fangpuss, in the episode There Is Nothing Worse Than A Stony Curse, he becomes scared and runs off.
During Season 2, Fangface and Fangpuss would never see the sun, or a representation, as shown in the episode There Is Nothing Worse Than A Stony Curse, and transform back to normal before the gangs' case would be over.
Fangface and Fangpuss ran from September 22, 1979, to September 27, 1980; it then became a separate series in 1981 and, like the original Fangface, ran for just one season. After this series, Fangface and company faded into obscurity until reruns began to air on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
Episodes
Season 1
- A Heap of Trouble
- A Creep from the Deep
- The Shocking Creature Feature
- Westward Ho to the UFO
- The Great Ape Escape
- Dinosaur Daze
- Don't Abra When You Cadabra
- Space Monster Mishap
- The Invisible Menace Mix-up
- The Cuckoo Carnival Calamity
- Begone, You Amazon
- Snow Job Jitters
- The Goofy Gargoyle Goof-Up
- A Toothy Shark Is No Lark
- Where's the Wolf That's the Werewolf?
- Don't Get Mean with the Cobra Queen
Season 2
- There Is Nothing Worse Than a Stony Curse
- Evil Guider of the Giant Spider
- Dr. Lupiter and the Thing from Jupiter
- Who Do the Voodoo
- The Creepy Goon from the Spooky Lagoon
- A Scary Affair in the Skullman's Lair
- A Time-Machine Trip to the Pirate's Ship
- The Ill-Will of Dr. Chill
- The Romantic Plot of the She-Wolf Robot
- The Sinister Plan of Lizard Man
- Royal Trouble with the King's Double
- The Stone-Cold Dragon of Gold
- The Evil Design of Vulture-Man's Mind
- The Defiant Casablanca Giant
- The Film Fiasco of Director Disastro
- A Goofy Bungle in the Filipino Jungle