D'Artacan y los tres mosqueperros

In the late '70s, up to the mid '80s, there were a lot of awesome shows being made in Europe. This is just one of them, coming specifically from Spain, with some great help from the Japanese.

The classic Alexandre Dumas' novels get a respectful adaptation in a world of anthropomorphic dogs, and children everywhere went crazy over it.

The character design, the action scenes, and the song, were all perfect, but what made this series special was its message and its heart. Dogtanian was a kid that truly wanted to do good for others, and through hard work and some humbling lessons became a true hero.

Inspiring as well as good fun!

I have fond memories of this show, the animation was a bit patchy but that never seemed to matter too much. The theme tune was superb and was accompanied by dogs barking to it in the background! Obviously the idea of using Dogs as characters wore a little thin on the creators as only 'Dogtanian' got a doggy name while the rest of the characters got the names they had in the Dumas book. They also extended every aspect of the book as far as they could go, I don't know how many episodes there were but it was a lot and when you consider that the film faithfully reproduced the book in 2 hours this was perhaps overkill. Anyway, still a lot of fun.

If you've ever seen "Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds," Guido and Maurizio De Angelis' theme song will be stuck on your memory for the rest of your life. The show itself, from the same Spanish folks that gave us "Around the World with Willy Fog," was - once you get past the fact that all the characters are animals (mostly canine, with some exceptions - Milady was a cat for instance) - a pretty straight-faced adaptation; like "Muppet Treasure Island," it didn't make fun of its source, and all the better for it.

You do wonder why D'Artagnan was renamed Dogtanian (all the other Dumas characters kept their names), but the spirit of the story was retained and the message of friendship and loyalty came through true and clear - without any need to spell it out for the audience, DIC and Filmation please note. The animation wouldn't win any prizes, but neither was it as bad as some higher-profile companies (yes, that means Filmation again... now out of business, by the way). No one will rate this above the beloved 1970s version with Chamberlain, Reed and Co., but "The Musketeer" is likely to be less effective than this. The 1993 version, on the other hand, IS less effective than this.

Footnote: Although the English-language title and the theme song refer to "Muskehounds," Athos, Porthos and Aramis are referred to throughout the entire series as "Musketeers." I've heard of something getting lost in the translation, but this is ridiculous.

Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds (as it was called in the UK) was a decent show. The animation may not have been the best ever and it wasn't the most memorable show but it had it's moments.

Dogtanian was a puppy who came to Paris to join the Kings Own Guard. He manages to fall in love with Juliette and teams with three swordsters by the name of Athos, Porthos and Aramis to engage in battle. It was one for all and all for one.

I wouldn't call the show a classic cartoon show but the characters were quite interesting and it is certainly worth a look.

This show has one of the greatest theme tunes ever! It's a pretty good show otherwise, and is available in the UK on DVD (budget).It follows the adventures of cocky young pup Dogtanian in his quest to become one of the Royal Musketeers. Created as a joint collaboration between France and Japan, it retains many of the qualities that make anime so popular.

I think it should be made into a live action film starring Jack Nicholson as Dogtanian. That'd be worth seeing...