When Bob's away, the pups will play!
Puppy Dog Pals is a Disney Junior show that premiered on April 14, 2017. The show is created by Canadian-American actor/comedian Harland Williams, and focuses on two pups named Bingo and Rolly who go on all sorts of adventures. Other characters include Bob (their owner), Hissy (Bob's cat, who's their friend), ARF (the robot dog), Keia (Chloe's pup) and Lollie (Ana's pup).
A second season was commissioned on August 24, 2017, followed by a third on September 7, 2018.
On October 30, 2019, a fourth season
was announced. On October 8, 2020, a fifth season was announced.
On June 6, 2022, it was announced that the show's fifth season would be its last. The show ended on January 20, 2023.
This show provides examples of:
- Abandoned Catchphrase: In the early episode "A.R.F.", Hissy keeps saying "I'm okay" after falling from a great height (and presumably landing on her feet, off-screen). She hasn't said it in any other episode. It popped up one more time in the Season 5 episode "Cat Park".
- Actor Allusion:
- There's a wisecracking seagull named Jonathan, who's voiced by Jeff Bennett. This wouldn't be the first time he voiced one a wisecracking seagull in a Disney Junior show. It's not the first time he voiced a character named Jonathan in a Disney cartoon either. He also voiced the titular character of Johnny Bravo.
- Captain Dog, the pups' favorite dog hero, is an expy of Krypto The Super Dog, Superman's dog. His voice actor, Patrick Warburton, once voiced Superman on The Adventures Of Seinfield And Superman advertisements.
- In the episode "Cousin Cody," the puppies' shy puppy cousin Cody is voiced by Duncan Joiner, who's voiced the equally shy Baby Panda on We Bare Bears. The extra kicker? Rolly's voice actor, Sam Lavagnino, voices Baby Grizz on We Bare Bears!
- "Puggy-ology" has Bonnie, Bob's archaeologist sister, voiced by Grey DeLisle. This wouldn't be the only time she voiced an explorer of some sort.
- The season 2 premiere has Tara Strong voicing Bea, a talking horse. She's done this before .
- In Brazil, A.R.F. has the same voice as Baymax. Both characters are Robot Buddies.
- Ambiguously Brown: Esther Exposition
- Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Appears in "The Fang Fairy".
- Adults Are Useless: In "Captain Rolly", there are several grown-up dogs at the Captain Dog convention, but none of them do anything when Cupcake and Rufus try to take over their area, or when the model monorail is damaged, leaving it up to Bingo and Rolly to save the day.
- Adventure Duo: The two main characters.
- Air-Vent Passageway: Pups escape through one in "The Great Shirt Rescue".
- All There in the Script: The girl in charge of the Design A Dog store is named Sunny, but it's only mentioned in the credits and not in the episode. The same goes for the characters Chloe's mom and Shannon. Oddly enough, Tara Strong voices all of them.
- According to the credits and closed-captioning for "A Pug-Tastic Day With Grandma", Bob's Mom's name is Rosetta, although her name has never bean said on-screen.
- Animal Talk: Bob is unable to understand Bingo and Rolly, hearing only barks. Oddly enough, A.R.F. (who Bob built) can understand them and other animals perfectly.
- Animation Bump: Starting with Season 3's Christmas Episode, the series now boasts brighter animation, characters, and settings note
- Ascended Extra: Season 2 episodes give Chloe, while still a supporting character, more prominence. In a more literal example, Lollie and her owner Ana made two appearances (one major, the other minor) in Season 2. In Season 3, they are promoted to main cast members.
- Award-Bait Song: "With Friends Like These" from "Friendship Feast".
- Badass Adorable: Both Bingo and Rolly qualify due to their persistence, flexibility, and athleticism.
- Big Friendly Dog: "Adventures in Puppy-Sitting" introduces Baby, a puppy who is younger than Bingo and Rolly, but bigger than either of them, due to the fact that she is a Great Dane puppy. She's also very playful, and quickly makes friends with Bingo, Rolly and Hissy.
- Big "NO!": Hissy did this in "Take Me Out to the Pug Game" when Bingo and Rolly were about to throw the baseball outside through the window. She tried to catch it, but it was too late.
- Big Sister Instinct: Being a bit older than the pups, Hissy tries to keep their antics in control, and quickly steps up to protect them from danger.
- Birthday Episode: "Her Royal Pug-Ness" for Rosetta, "Bingo and Rolly's Birthday" for the title characters, "Bob's Birthday Wish" for Bob, "A.R.F.'s Birthday" for A.R.F., "Keia's Birthday Balloon Bash" for Keia, and "Cupcake's Birthday" for Cupcake.
- Brand X: The episode "Windy City" has Wrigley Field depicted as a generic baseball stadium with a bear mascot.
- In "Father's Day Countdown" Busch Stadium is referred to as "The St. Louis Baseball Stadium".
- To a lesser extent, "Valentine's Day Mix-Up" for Bonnie.
- Brick Joke: At the beginning of "Hissy's Big Day", Hissy briefly gets caught in a garden hose. A.R.F. tries to free her, but gets caught himself. By the episode's end, we see that A.R.F. is still tangled up in the hose.
- Butt-Monkey: Hissy is often on the receiving end of a lot of the slapstick comedy.
- Captain Oblivious: Every human character in the show. People usually don't mind dogs running around the city and doing weird things. They can even mistake pups for toys!
- Catchphrase: The pups have two: "Bow to the wow!" and "On your barks, get ready!"
- Cats Hate Water: In "Land of the Rising Pups", after Bingo and Rolly return home from Japan with snow which melts into water, Hissy states this trope.
- Chained to a Railway: Happens to Hissy in "Hissy's Big Day": she gets stuck on a chewing gum when a train is about to hit her.
- Character Development: Cupcake receives this in season two.
- In "The Fang Fairy", she actually feels bad about taking Rolly's first tooth so the fang fairy can leave her a treat, and makes amends. From then on, she is far less antagonistic toward the pups, yet still aloof.
- In "I Heart Rufus", she hurts Rufus' feelings, leading him to spend more time with Keia, which causes her to learn to be nicer to her friends.
- Christmas Episode:
- "A Very Pug Christmas" in Season 1.
- "A Santa for Bob" in Season 2.
- "Elves for a Day!" in Season 3.
- "A Christmas Mission in Toyland" in Season 4.
- "Wrap Party Pups" & "Fixing Santa's Sleigh" in Season 5.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Jackie disappeared after Season 1 and so far has never been seen or mentioned again.
- The City: the place main characters live in.
- Clingy Macguffin: In "The Go-Long Retriever", Bingo and Rolly are trying to get rid of their toy, but it manages to follow them anywhere.
- Clueless Detective: In The French Toast Connection, the detective investigating the theft of all the bread from a bakery in Paris is completely incapable of finding any clues, even overlooking a literal Trail Of Breadcrumbs.
- Comically Missing the Point: Happens quite often to many characters, but mostly to Rolly.
- Cool Old Guy: Bulworth, a bulldog who lives at the junk yard and often aids Bingo and Rolly.
- Cool Old Lady: Bob's mother. She is very active for a senior, and loves to play and have fun with the pups.
- Couch Gag: Whenever Bingo and Rolly go into the doghouse before going out on a mission, there's always a little gag they do before each mission. For example, "Putting It Together" had them all anime-esque while "Bob Loves Mona" had Bingo making a deadpan remark on Rolly chewing again.
- A Day in the Limelight: Jackie, one of the pups' friends from the dog park, helps them on their mission in "The Great Shirt Rescue".
- Demoted to Extra:
- Hissy and A.R.F. both went in this direction, as their screen time had been significantly reduced in the later seasons compared to Season 1.
- In Season 5, Lollie (despite being Bingo and Rolly's sister now) and Keia were kicked to the curb to focus on the new characters. And Auggie and Mo, who were very prominent in Season 4, only made few voiceless appearances in the background in the same season.
- Disney Acid Sequence: A lot of the songs are accompanied by weird visuals.
- Dog Stereotype: The two leads are plucky, fun-loving Pugs.
- Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Rolly spoke this way in the earlier episodes, but the lisp faded away as the series went on.
- Exact Words: A.R.F. is programmed to clean up every mess caused by Bingo and Rolly but won't get involved when someone else causes a mess.
- Female Feline, Male Mutt: Hissy is this to Bingo and Rolly.
- Firehouse Dalmatian: Dallie is an easy-going Dalmatian who works at the fire department. In "Special Delivery", he takes Bingo and Rolly for a ride in a fire truck.
- Forcibly Formed Physique: In "Cousin Cody", Cody, while chasing his favorite chew toy through an airport, has his path blocked by falling luggage, which leave a triangle-shaped gap. He slides through the gap, emerging on the other side with a triangular body.
- Four-Fingered Hands: Bob and the other human characters.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: In "A New Pup In Town", when Keia is crawling under a fence, you can see her collar falling off.
- Fun with Acronyms:
- A.R.F. is short for Auto-doggy Robotic Friend.
- In "How ARF Got His Bark Back", the pups meet another robo-dog named B.A.R.K., short for Bio-Augmented Robo-Kanine.
- Furry Reminder: Most animals can speak as well as make their natural sounds.
- Genki Girl:
- Both Nellie the parrot and Funny Bunny are excitable and full of energy.
- Chloe's new dog Keia (introduced in season 2) is also this.
- Even Lollie.
- Gift of the Magi Plot: In "Bingo and Rolly's Birthday", the pups, intent on getting each other a great birthday gift, each trade away their favorite things in return for something that goes with their brother's favorite thing (a new spring for Bingo's Captain Dog toy launcher, and a box for Rolly's stick collection). While losing their favorite things makes them both sad, they console themselves with the knowledge that they got each other something they'd really like. Luckily for them, Hissy trades some of her own favorite things to get back the items the pups traded away, to ensure her little brothers are happy.
- Girly Girl: Hissy, Keia, and Roxy.
- The Glomp: Keia likes to tackle-hug Bingo and Rolly.
- Go-to-Sleep Ending: "The Naptime Chronicles" ends with Keia, Lollie, Hissy, Bingo, and Rolly falling asleep.
- Goggles Do Nothing: Bob's sister Bonnie wears goggles as part of her archaeologist outfit, but was never seen using them.
- Group Picture Ending: Happens in "A Santa for Bob", with Bob and Chloe's family sharing a picture. Also the ending for "Family Pet Picture Day".
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Keia wears a blue sweater.
- Halloween Episode:
- "Return to the Pumpkin Patch / Haunted Howl-oween" in Season 1
- "221B Barker Street / Leaf It to Puppies" in Season 3
- "Halloween Puppy Fashion Show Party / Full Moon Fever" in Season 4
- "The Pumpkin King / The Elf Who Halloween'd" in Season 5
- Hanukkah Episode:
- "The Latke Kerfuffle" in Season 1.
- "The Dreidel Dilemma" in Season 3.
- "Nine Lights Tonight" in Season 4.
- Happy Birthday to You!: Sung in "Bob's Birthday Wish" by the Opera Lady which woke Hissy up startled and falling off the sofa with a screech.
- "Harmful to Pets" Reminder: While in Europe to put some of Bob's art in the Louvre, Bingo and Rollie traipse through a vineyard. Rollie reminds his brother not to eat any of the grapes, as they're bad for puppies.
- Hat of Flight: From Season 2 onwards, Rolly owns one, which is attached by a single strap on the chin. One can only wonder how it doesn't strangle him.
- Hiccup Hijinks: The episode "Bob's Birthday Wish" has a running gag where Rolly has hiccups, which threatens to blow their cover when spying on Bob's sister Bonnie. In the end, he gets rid of them only for Bingo to get them.
- Hollywood Chameleons: One appears in "Close Encounters of a Pug Kind", able to change colors at will.
- Housepet Pig: Grace (introduced in season 5) has a piglet named Nougat for a pet.
- In a Single Bound: Lollie. Despite her disability, she is able to use her front paws to jump higher than Bingo in her debut appearance.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Sheri Oteri as Esther and Leslie David Baker as Frank.
- Ironic Name: "Sweetie" is a pretty strange name for a skunk.
- Is It Something You Eat?: In "The Total Yodel", both Rolly and a deer faun the pugs meet think a yodel is a kind of food.
- Iris Out: This is not the standard method of closing the show, but I Heart Rufus has the iris closing in the shape of a heart.
- Kangaroo Pouch Ride: happens in "Bob's Boomerang".
- The Klutz: Auggie and Buster.
- Laser Hallway: Featured in "The Great Shirt Rescue".
- Laughing at Your Own Jokes: At the end of "Fetch That Fish!", after Bingo and Rolly have saved their new fish sister Olivia, Bingo laughs at his joke about how their mission is "fin-ally" accomplished.
- Manchild: It's pretty downplayed considering the target demographic, but Bob tends to get frustrated and have a very small tantrum when things go poorly.
- Mobile Fishbowl: A literal example in "Oh Brother, Where ARF Thou?" When Olivia joins in on her family's mission to locate ARF, the machine that gives Bingo, Rolly and Hissy their mission collars provides an upgrade to her fishbowl, with a rolling ball set into the underside that allows her to travel wherever she wants.
- Mystery Episode: "Dinner Thief on the Puppy Town Express"
- No Antagonist: The series lacks a major villain. The closest thing to an antagonist is Cupcake, which isn't saying much.
- Nonstandard Character Design: Bingo and Rolly look like normal enough Pugs, but Hissy is a purple and pink cat. Her colorful design clashes with the dogs more realistic ones.
- Only One Name: With the exception of Frank and Esther Exposition, none of the human characters' surnames are ever mentioned.
- Only Six Faces: The models for background characters are constantly reused. The odd thing is that they do not only appear in the pups' hometown, but in different cities across the world. Though in most cases it can be hand-waved that they're all tourists, some people often seen in the pups' city are shown to live in other places. For example, the dark-haired woman in a blue skirt, who took the puppy home in "Adopt-A-Palooza", also works as a tour guide in Washington, as shown in "Mr. Bob Goes To Washington".
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Due to series creator and voice of Bob Harland Williams being Canadian, Williams' Canadian accent sometimes slips ("Sorry" being pronounced as "Soh-ry", and "Tomorrow" being pronounced as "To-moor-ow")
- Pantsless Males, Fully-Dressed Females: Inverted in "Slumber Paw-ty", where Bingo and Rolly wear full pajamas, while Hissy and Keia only wear shirts. Usually averted, since Bingo, Rolly and Hissy tend to wear no clothes at all.
- Percussive Maintenance: Rolly once fixed his toy by hitting it.
- Pet the Dog: Cupcake shows her kinder side in "A Very Pug Christmas".
- Phrase Catcher: "Leave us alone, Cupcake!"
- Rain, Rain, Go Away: Season 4 has the episode "Rainy, Rainy, Don't Go Away".
- Rimshot: In "The Great Shirt Rescue", some of pups' jokes are followed by "ba-dum-tss".
- Scout-Out: Chloe is part of the Nature Scouts.
- Shout-Out:
- Die Hard is spoofed in The Great Shirt Rescue.
- Godzilla is spoofed in "Land Of The Rising Pup".
- A Charlie Brown Christmas is spoofed in a Santa for bob
- Not to mention there's an episode titled The French Toast Connection.
- In "Dinner Thief on the Puppytown Express", Bingo and Rolly meet Clawseau, a dog (actually a cat in disguise) detective, named after Inspector Clouseau of The Pink Panther. While investigating the stolen food, Bingo dresses up as Sherlock Holmes, while Rolly dresses like Magnum, P.I..
- The title of the episode "When Hedgie Met Sally" is a clear reference to When Harry Met Sally....
- Up is indirectly mentioned in "Keia's Birthday Balloon Bash".
- In "Desert Pups", the pups meet an owl named Edgar Owllen Poe.
- In "Okavango Odyssey", the pups meet an African wild dog pup named Monet, who is something of an artist. This is a reference to the famous artist Claude Monet.
- In "Maple Cheer-Up" there is a poster on the wall of a Canadian shack homaging the iconic "Starman" cover art of the Rush album 2112: the man has been replaced with a puppy, and the star with a heart, and the top and bottom text read "NP 2020" - honoring then-recently deceased drummer Neil Peart.
- Show Within a Show: Bingo and Rolly are fans of Captain Dog, a TV show which comprises of 2D animation.
- Sick Episode: "ARF-CHOO!" for ARF and "The Soup Search" for Bob.
- Sixth Ranger: Season 2 adds Keia to the main cast. She is Chloe's pet. Later, Lollie was added to the main cast who is Ana's pet.
- Slumber Party: There was a Season 2 episode called "Slumber Paw-ty".
- Smelly Skunk: in the episode "Sham-pooch", it is mentioned that Bingo & Folly once made friends with a skunk, who ended up accidentally spraying them. Bob gave them a bath, but they were still stinky before giving them various baths before they smelled better.
- In "A Stinky Story", Hissy gets sprayed by a skunk (off-screen, though her screaming is heard) that wandered into her and the pups' backyard.
- The Smurfette Principle: Hissy is the only female of the main cast, at least until Keia joined in Season 2, then Lollie during the same season.
- Speech Impediment: Keia has a slight but noticeable lisp in her early appearances.
- Stating the Simple Solution: In "Special Delivery". When Bingo and Rolly hitch a ride to Bob's mom's house in the mail truck, Bingo suggests a series of complicated maneuvers that will get them over to her mailbox so they can post Bob's Mother's Day card. Rolly instead has them hide in the mail carrier's satchel, so they can simply place the card in the mailbox as they pass by.
- Stepford Smiler: Sunny. Very energetic and perky... until the kids go home, whereupon she drops the smile in favor of a tired frown.
- Stout Strength: Rolly is slightly pudgier than Bingo, but is shown to be the stronger of the two on several occasions.
- Superhero Episode: "Fantastic Pet Force"
- Surprise Party: In "Bob's Birthday Wish", all Bob's friends throw him a surprise Birthday Party.
- Thanksgiving Episode:
- "Turkey on the Town / Friendship Feast", a Season 3 episode.
- "Pups on a Parade / Pop's Promise", a Season 4 episode.
- That Poor Cat: Hissy amongs this trope along with the other cats.
- Those Two Guys: The couple, Esther and Frank, who seem to show up everywhere the puppies go.
- Title, Please!: From Season 2 up to the show's end, title cards no longer appeared onscreen.
- Tomato Skunk Stink Cure: In "A Stinky Story", after Hissy gets sprayed by Sweetie, this is one of the remedies Keia attempts to get rid of the smell. Needless to say, it doesn't work out so well.
- Tomboy: Nougat.
- Unwanted Rescue: In "The Great Pug-scape", when Bingo and Rolly finally found Hissy and break her out of her punishment, Hissy tells them that she was actually having some time to relax.
- Vague Age:
- Bob looks like he could be anywhere from his late 20s to early 40s.
- Chloe looks and sounds like she could be anywhere from 5-8.
- Valentine's Day Episodes:
- "Valentine Surprise" in Season 2.
- "Valentine's Day Mix-Up" in Season 3.
- "My Bobby Valentine" in Season 4.
- "A Valentine's Gift for Ana" in Season 5.
- Vocal Evolution: Bingo and Rolly's voices sound noticeably deeper in Season 3 due to their voice actors hitting puberty. In Season 4, they got new voices by new voice actors: Elisha Williams & Gracen Newton
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: The show's location is rather interesting. Whenever Bingo and Rolly (and sometimes Hissy) have to go somewhere faraway like France or England, they can seemingly go there and come back within the same day even though they use a plane. Several episodes do reveal the show is set somewhere in the United States.
- Whole-Plot Reference: "Bingo & Rolly's Birthday" is one to "The Gift Of The Magi".
