Around the World with Willy Fog Around the World with Willy Fog is an 80’s children’s TV cartoon that came from the same studios that made Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds (B.R.B. Internacional). Again they hit the jackpot with this series and it became very popular. The story is (loosely) based upon the Jules Verne novel Around the World in 80 Days, but this time the characters are played by talking animals. Story A rich gentleman named Willy Fog is a member of a gentleman club in London, England (The Reform Club). The date is the 2nd October 1872 and Willy Fog has a bet with a number of the club members that he can make it around the world in 80 days. But one of the members, a Mr Sullivan, is not a gentleman and hires someone to sabotage his journey, thus making him late and not winning the bet (a total of £20,000). The story about this attempt is detailed by one of the national newspapers and capture the imagination of the country. In fact so much so, that a massive crowd goes to the docks to wave him off and wish him luck. Also £55,000 was stolen from the Bank of England by someone posing as a gentleman. Inspector Dix and Bully have been put on the case by Commissioner Rowan to find the thief who robbed the Bank of England. They have a sketch of the thief and it looks just like Willy Fog. They tell the Commissioner of their findings, who orders them to follow Mr Fog around the world and arrest him only when they have enough evidence that he committed the crime. Most of the time it is with luck that Willy Fog continues his journey on time. Around the World with Willy Fog Characters Willy Fog He is a gentleman and a lion. He is a precise person and everything must be in its place and has to be 100% correct. If someone says that they will be there are 11:00, then he expects them to be there at 11:00 and no seconds. He is a rich bachelor and has no apparent form of income. It is this methodical attitude that got him into the wager to go around the world. He had read a newspaper article that detailed the exact itinerary to go around the world in 80 days. So once this was in his mind, he took it as read that it was possible. The others at the club scoffed at him, as they rightly said that there is always delays on a journey. He would have none of this and said it could be done. So they bet against him and off he went to prove them wrong (a total sum of £20,000). Now he may be a gentleman and it looks like he wouldn't hurt a fly, but when he is provoked, Willy Fog can really defend himself. He uses his cane as a weapon and can knockout his enemies with it, so you have been warned. He is well learned and has an extensive knowledge of archaeology and guns! On his journey he concludes that someone has been impersonating him and is trying to stop him from travelling around the world. But Willy Fog is bullish about this and says stopping Willy Fog is more difficult than they realise. He is such a gentleman that when he found out that the relatives of Princess Romy had died, he asked if she would like to come to London to live with him. She was surprised and delighted at this offer and accepted straight away. As they travel together, there is a chemistry that develops between the two of them. He has a knack of finding alternate transport when it looks like there is nothing available, such as an elephant. Mr Fog also has deep pockets and spends, spends, spends, to ensure he stays on course to win his wager. It seems that he has become so obsessed with completing the journey, that he actually spends more money than the wager, such as the time he spent £60,000 on a ship! So as you can see he is a very rich man, where money is no object, but if he fails to win his wager then he will become penniless, as he is spending too much. Also in his haste, he can forget that he can put his friends in danger trying to complete his journey on time. When he made it back to England, he thinks that he has arrived too late to win his wager. The only money he has is the money he owes, and 1 ten pound note. He is broke! This is when he starts to think about his life, and his true feelings for Princess Romy surface. It seems he has loved her since he first set eyes on her. But now that he is penniless, he couldn't support her in the lifestyle she was accustomed to. The next day he tells the Princess that he was going to sell his house and give her the money. This is when she pops the question, and asks if he will marry her. He accepts and finds out that both of them have been in love with each other for quite a while. Life seems to be looking up for Mr Fog. He is so pleased, that he plans to marry her the next day, at Westminster Cathedral. While Rigadon finds out that they had calculated the time taken on the trip wrongly, Willy Fog had come to the same conclusion. They had arrived a day early! But a day had nearly passed and they only had minutes to get to the Reform Club in time to win the wager. Luckily he got there in time. Rigadon He is the french butler that was hired by Willy Fog. His best friend is Tico, who travels with him. He was born and raised in Paris.In the past Rigadon (and Tico) used to be part of a circus and was a juggler, trapeze artist and a tightrope walker. He became tired of travelling around and wanted to settle down in one place and so applied for the job of butler. He was ecstatic when he got the job, but when he found out that Willy Fog was going around the world in 80 days, his heart sank. He didn't want to go on this journey. Rigadon has been entrusted with all the money for their journey and Willy Fog is always asking him to pay for this and pay for that.Once, Rigadon upset some monks in India, by putting his hat on the horns of the sacred cow (what Tico did was worse, by eating the cows food and sitting on it). Poor Rigadon got the worst of it, as the monks attacked him with poles. Luckily his circus acrobatics helped him escape from them, but only just. Rigadon was very upset when he found out that he left his hat on the cow in India. You see, Rigadon feels that this hat has brought him good luck and now it is lost they will only have bad luck. But this hat would come back to haunt him when he was arrested (along with Rigadon) in Calcutta for desecrating a religious place. They were sentenced to 15 days in prison, but Mr Fog posted their bail of £1000 each. One thing Rigadon is, is loyal. If his master is in danger, he has not qualms about putting his life on the line to help. He even saved Princess Romy from a horrible death, and for this he should be commended. The sly devil also has a girlfriend waiting for him in Paris. The circus taught him a number of things and one of them was how to use a gun. So when they landed in the USA, Rigadon bought some guns to defend themselves after they had a close shave with a gunslinger. When he made it back to England, he was upset that Mr Fog didn't win his wager. He loved working for him, but decided that he would be a drain to Mr Fog's depleted funds, so would need to leave. But next day his mind was changed when he found out that Mr Fog and the Princess were to be married. He rushed off with the last ten pound note to arrange the wedding for the next day. This is when Rigadon made the startling discovery that he had calculated the date wrong and they had actually arrived in England 1 day in advance. He rushed back to Willy Fog to tell him, as they had less than 30 minutes to get to the reform club and win the wager.   Tico He is a small mouse that travels with his friend Rigadon. Initially Tico stayed hidden away from Willy Fog (in a leather bag), to ensure that Rigadon was hired. He was quite upset that he had to hide and wanted to meet Willy Fog.Tico is a strong willed Italian mouse and tells it like it is. When he found out about the trip around the world, he thought it was fantastic, as he likes adventure and excitement. There is one thing that Tico thinks about all the time, which is food. He is always complaining that he is hungry.He is very good at protecting Willy Fog and loves nothing more than sinking his teeth into Transfer. One thing he doesn't have is patience, and is always asking how long it is till they get to their next destination. Also, try as he might, he just can't whistle (yet), which is unfortunate when he need to warn the others. When in Egypt, he was given a gold Sun clock. He has to choose the month of the year and the sun shines through a hole and tells him the time. Its one of his most treasured possessions. He does get scared by noises in the night. I think he's imagining there are lots of beasts that are going to eat him (he's probably right too!). He does have an eye for the ladies and fancies Princess Romy, but he wants it kept a secret. When they group was travelling through a snow storm in Canada, poor Tico became ill, as he had a mild form of frostbite. Shelter was found and they warmed him up, but he then started to burn up. Eventually he regained his health to continue with their journey. Princess Romy Her family came from Bombay in India and were simple merchants. She was sent to England for her education by her parents, but when she returned she had found out that her parents had died from Typhoid. She was forced to marry an important Raja, who claimed that it had been pre-arranged with her parents.Once she married the Raja, she became a Princess, but on his death the worshippers of Kali, the "Goddess of evil, death and destruction" declared that she must die with her husband on the funeral pyre, as a sacrifice to their Goddess. Luckily for her Rigadon came to the rescue, closely followed by his friends and they rescued her from this terrible situation. Once they reached safety, she asked if she could accompany Willy Fog to Singapore, so that she could meet up with her Uncle and Aunt there. When she reached Singapore, she found out that they had moved to Hong Kong three years ago, so travelled there with Mr Fog, only to find out that they died in a flood. Poor Princess Romy was very upset and felt alone in the world. But Mr Fog cheered her up again by saying that should could continue the journey with him and stay with him. She has some basic knowledge of medicine and helped to make the Hawaiian Princess Kahula better when she was unwell. She is also very good a sewing and easily helped fix the cloth of a hot air balloon. As she travelled with Mr Fog, she became more attached to him. When she returned with him to England, she was saddened that he had (supposedly) returned to late to win the wager. Poor Mr Fog was penniless and he offered to sell his house and give the money to her, while he moved on. Princess Romy was so angry with him, as his stiff upper lip was getting in the way of his true feelings. So she asked him to marry her, and he accepted. He didn't know that she felt the same way as him. Inspector Dix Inspector Dix is a policeman who works for Scotland Yard, in London. He isn't the nicest person in the world and is constantly bullying his subordinate Constable Bully. I think he need to go on an anger management course and he's always shouting and blaming Bully for everything. One bad habit of his it to try to take credit for things, even if he hasn't performed the task. There is a question mark whether he has bungled other missions, as his boss, Commissioner Rowan, has threatened to fire them if they bungle the investigation into the robbery at the Bank of England. Shadowing Willy Fog has made him even more bitter, because he really does believe that Fog has stole the money from the Bank of England. When he see Fog spending any money, it makes his blood boil, as he thinks it is the Banks! He dreams of arresting him, but is frustrated how lax other Police forces are. I think all the travel is getting to him, as he's started to muddle his words. It makes him look quite silly, especially when he's trying to be serious. When the group arrived back in Liverpool, England, Inspector Dix arrested Willy Fog for stealing from the Bank of England. Just after this Commissioner Rowan arrived to tell him that they had already arrested the thief, how looked similar to Mr Fog. The Commissioner wasn't happy that they had arrested the wrong person, so Dix & Bully were demoted in the Police Force. Constable Bully As his name suggests, he is a Bulldog. He is not too bright and is always being pushed around and shouted at by Inspector Dix.Try to keep him away from boats, as he does get sea sick and is afraid of the water. Bully does like to keep his strength up, but this consists of eating lots of food. But whilst shadowing Willy Fog, he is gradually wasting away, as Inspector Dix refuses to spend much money on food, even when it is meal times. Mr Sullivan He is the Governor of the Bank of England. Others class him as ill mannered and  tight with money. He was extremely upset that £55,000 was stolen from his bank. It was Mr Sullivan who thought Willy Fog was mad when he said he could travel round the world in 80 days. So Sullivan thought he could make some easy money by betting £5,000 that Willy Fog could not make it. Others at the club decided they wanted in on this too, so three others bet £5,000 against Fog, a total of £20,000. Fog gladly accepted the wagers. But Mr Sullivan does not like Willy Fog and doesn't want him to win the wager. This is not because of the money, but it is because he doesn't want him to become a hero if he succeeds. He thinks Willy is a conceited man and he wants to humiliate him. During Fog's journey, he is informed that the drawing of the robber looks exactly like Willy Fog. So he puts pressure on Commissioner Rowan to get Willy Fog arrested. He gets really angry when he finds out that in Colonial India, that Fog had slipped through the local Police's hands. When Willy Fog arrived back at the Reform Club to win his bet, he graciously gave Mr Fog his five thousand pounds and so did the others. But the next day he was fired from his job, for misappropriation of funds. Transfer He is a ruffian who is hired by Mr Sullivan to slow down and stop Willy Fog from going around the world in 80 days. Sullivan has promised him £5,000 (his wager's total) if he can carry out the job successfully. He is a master of disguises and has a strange habit of dressing up like a woman (ummm). Not only that, he can even disguise himself as Willy Fog, so be careful you never know which is the real one!  Transfer also thrives on sabotage. His left eye glints every so often, I wonder if he wears contact lenses. As Mr Fog continued on his journey Transfer did succeed in slowing him down, but he was infuriated by how he always caught up with his schedule to go around the world in 80 days. Eventually his luck turned and everything he did to slow them down ended in failure, he even went over Niagara Falls by accident! Brigadier Corn He was Willy Fog's Travelling Partner through India and was just as shocked as Mr Fog to find out the train line finished in the middle of a jungle. He is the Brigadier of a regiment and is always commenting how it is an honour to know such a noble gentleman as Willy Fog. He likes to say "Capital Idea". Around the World with Willy Fog Images (click to enlarge) Around the World with Willy Fog T-Shirts - NONE Around the World with Willy Fog DVDs Region 2 (Europe) - Around the World with   Willy Fog DVDs Region 1 (USA) - NONE Around the World with Willy Fog Episodes Series 1 (1985)  1. The Wager  2. The Departure  3. The Eventful Journey  4. The Temple of Doom  5. The Counterfeit  6. Bombay Adventure  7. The End of the Line  8. The Deadly Jungle  9. The Rescue  10. A Present For Parsi  11. Guilty As Charged  12. Shipwreck  13. The Butler's Dilemma  14. En Route For Yokohama  15. Akita's Circus  16. Hawaiian Party  17. A Trip In A Balloon  18. The Showdown  19. Moment of Truth  20. Warpaint In The West  21. A Very Special Train  22. Below Zero  23. Destination Liverpool  24. Fire Down Below  25. Last Train To London  26. 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