Eddie Murphy has had a successful career thanks partially to his voice work. Murphy is the voice of Mushu in Disney’s Mulan, Thurgood Orenthal Stubbs on the animated TV Series “The PJ’s”, and most notably the voice of Donkey in all four “Shrek” movies. Soon you can add “Hong Kong Phooey” to the resume. Murphy will voice the title character in the live-action/animation version of the short-lived 1974 Hanna Barbera cartoon.
Phooey (a.ka. Penry) is a dog, who’s also a police station janitor who gets the power to do kung fu. When he’s needed, he puts on a costume and becomes a crime-fighting superhero. That sounds like a mix of “Kung Fu Panda” and “Underdog”. Murphy is a good choice to take over the role originated by Scatman Crothers in the Saturday Morning cartoon.
“Hong Kong Phooey” is being distributed by Warner Brothers, the same studio that made “Yogi Bear” – another Hanna Barbera adaptation that made over $200M worldwide. No word yet on a release date.