C.H.O.M.P.S.

Back in the 70's, producers Joseph Hanna and William Barbera dominated the Saturday morning television cartoon market. The duo thought their success on the small screen could transfer over to the big screen in a live action venture. The end result was 1979's C.H.O.M.P.S.

A young inventor named Brian, another Saturday morning staple, Land Of The Lost's Wesley Eura, creates a robot dog he calls C.H.O.M.P.S. to be the ultimate home security system. His boss Ralph Norton, Conrad Bain, is skeptical. It doesn't help matters that Brian dates his daughter Casey, Valerie Bertinelli. But when he see's the pooch in action, he is sold. So is Nortan's competition, Jim Backus, who sends two bumbling crooks, Red Buttons and Chuck McCann, out to steal the canine.

This is an odd little family film. It's G rated, but there's some cursing from a neighborhood dog that gives C.H.O.M.P.S. some trouble. Yes, there is one dog that talks. None of the others do. It's probably best not to look at this through grown up eyes.

Supposedly, this was Joseph Barbera's baby. William Hanna didn't really want to venture into feature films. Originally Barbera wanted a more menacing dog to play the lead. The studio head's son suggested a more cuddly dog since Benji was big at the time. Barbera blamed this change for it's dismal box office. I don't think that this was the real issue. Having a small dog take on the bad guys is funnier. I think it tanked because of a weak script.

The movie is great for little kids, but there's not a lot there for grownups.

It's available on dvd.