Precious Pupp was another short series produced by Hanna-Barbera in their Funny Animal period of the 1960s. Precious Pupp was a backing segment on The Atom Ant Show.
Precious is a dog who doesn't exactly live up to his name. He lives with Granny Sweet (who herself is more tart than expected underneath her sweet exterior) and ends up engaging in shenanigans against various antagonists, all of whom end up wishing they never met the "precious" pup.
Tropes included:
- Alliterative Name: Precious Pupp's first and last names start with the letter "P."
- Animated Adaptation: The episode "Oliver Twisted" is loosely based on Oliver Twist. Here, Precious Pupp gets lost in London and meets a street band of dog pickpockets.
- Badass Biker: Granny Sweet is implied to have been a motorcycle hellion in her youth but still rides a chopper even in her advanced years.
- Baseball Episode: In "Mascot Massacre," Granny encourages Precious Pupp to try out for the position of the local baseball team's Mascot. He gets recruited for the team as a player instead and becomes an Unlikely Hero, delivering a win for the local nine.
- Bowling for Ratings: Granny Sweet becomes a bowling champion with a little help from her mischievous pooch in "Bowling Pinned."
- Bully Bulldog: Mauler the bulldog spends most of the episode "Next of Kin" trying to kill Precious Pupp, attempting to prevent the latter from getting an Unexpected Inheritance.
- Cannibal Tribe: While on vacation, Granny Sweet and her dog run afoul of a cannibal native in "Pot-Time Work."
- Expy:
- Precious Pupp's floating-in-air joyous reaction to getting dog treats mirrors the same behavior by Snuffles in Quick Draw McGraw.
- Precious Pupp's wheezy, snickering laugh and snarky grumbling is copied verbatim by Muttley from Wacky Races.
- Mad Scientist: In "A Fiend in Need," Dr. Frankenstein needs to find a brain to put into his latest Frankenstein's Monster. His assistant Crunchback kidnaps Precious Pupp to provide one.
- On One Condition: The episode "Next of Kin" features Precious Pupp standing to inherit a fortune that will go to a dog named Mauler if something happens to Precious. After Mauler spends a good portion of the story trying to kill Precious, it's revealed Granny Sweet misread the will. Turns out that Mauler stands to inherit and Precious is the backup.
- Pet Heir: Precious Pupp spends much of the episode "Next of Kin" believing he is about to come into an Unexpected Inheritance. A dog named Mauler turns out to be the pet heir, while Precious is the backup heir if something happens to Mauler. Mauler, who spent most of the story trying to off Precious while believing it was the only way around the issus, now fears retribution.
- Precious Puppy: Inverted. Precious Pupp may be a dog, but he's as far from precious as a pooch can be.
- Protagonist Title: The show is named after the title character.
- Ring Around the Collar: Like most Hanna-Barbera characters from this time, Precious Pupp wears an accessory around his neck (a dog collar in this case) to facilitate animation shortcuts.
- The Savage Indian: In "Test in the West," Granny and Precious Pupp run afoul of Big Chief Flip Top when they visit a mostly deserted frontier town for ice cream.
- Ski-Resort Episode: Granny and Precious Pupp enter a big ski race tournament in "Ski Sickness."
- Sleepwalking: Granny Sweet is seen sleepwalking in "A.M. Mayhem".
- Species Surname: Precious Pupp's last name is also a term for his species.
- Speech-Impaired Animal: Precious grumbles and snickers like Muttley from Wacky Races and barks as well. He doesn't speak intelligibly (or even semi-intelligibly like Astro or Scooby Doo) however, walks on all fours, does not wear clothing, and otherwise acts like a typical, if very mischievous, dog.
- Three Shorts: Precious Pupp was the middle short on The Atom Ant Show.
- Unexpected Inheritance: In "Next of Kin," Precious Pupp initially believes he has come into money when an aunt passes away. This makes the aunt's bulldog Mauler upset that Precious is first-in-line for the estate. However Granny ends up realizing she read the will wrong because she has new glasses. It turns out that Mauler is the rightful heir, and Precious Pupp only inherits if something bad happens to him. Given that the bulldog has spent the episode trying to knock him off, Precious Pupp is most happy at the news.
- The Wild West: The episode "Test in the West" is set in a mostly deserted Old West style frontier town. Granny and Precious Pupp run afoul of Big Chief Flip Top when they stop for ice cream.
