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 Bizarre tales of one dog and his man: Fat Dog Mendoza and Little Costumed Buddy become involved in more adventures in Neighbourhood X.
Together Fat Dog and Little Costumed Buddy find adventure in Neighbourhood X, a neighbourhood that looks typical and familiar-until you notice that around the corner are the Himalayas, across the street is ancient Rome and three blocks over is the Nuclear Testing Grounds and the Family Fun Park with its roller coaster tracks winding happily around the oversized cooling tower.
Fat Dog is the story of a dog and his boy, learning to be heroes in a neighbourhood where nothing is quite what it seems.
Fat Dog Mendoza is only the coolest dog that ever sniffed the air, or anything else for that matter. Four little legs, one long tail and one big attitude. He’s smart, savvy, brave, opinionated and tough. When he’s got nothing to say, silence is golden but if you cross him, or any of his friends, you’ll soon find out that this dog has a mouth on him and sharp teeth too. Actually, Fat Dog is mostly mouth - which comes in handy.
Fat Dog’s favourite things are eating, drinking, laughing, talking when something needs to be said, and arguing when something needs to be argued. He also loves his ten minute siesta - during which time he elevates snoring to a new art. If there’s something to be done, Fat Dog will find a way to do it well - so it’s no simple snoring for Fat Dog - it’s usually in harmonics and it’s got a beat you can dance to. Fat Dog is also an excellent drummer, horn and bass player, as well as an amateur boxer, horticulturist and aviator. And his skills don’t stop there. He’s an expert at ping pong, movie trivia, surfing and lion taming. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Little Costume Buddy often finds himself with nagging doubts. And yet, he’s bursting with self confidence and grandiose ideas! Little Costume Buddy is easily bored - but once he gets started, he has an incredibly infectious enthusiasm! Like all kids, he’s searching to find himself and his place in the world. It’s just that Little Costume Buddy is searching a little harder than most.
Although an aspiring superhero he has no super powers at all. His costume can get ripped, stained, lost. None of Little Costume Buddy’s “super-hero” equipment has any true special powers either. What he lacks in super powers though he makes up for in determination. No problem is too great to tackle. Little Costume Buddy will always try to do the right thing, or at least the really fun thing - which is why he has the makings of a Hero. And he gets to wear the really cool costume!
So it’s sidekickdom for now. Being a full-fledged hero takes experience - which is something Little Costume Buddy knows he doesn’t have. But he knows someone who does... Fat Dog Mendoza!
Next to Fat Dog, Piranah Mae is Little Costume Buddy’s best friend. Piranha Mae is in many ways the opposite of Little Costume Buddy. With Piranha Mae, what you see is a shy, somewhat awkward little girl, and that’s what you get - at first. But Little Piranha Mae is like a freight train. A bit slow to get started, but after that, look out. Piranha Mae can be as sharp as a tack, as brave as a Marine and as vocal as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and by the end of the day she’s leading the charge.
Cruddy is a twelve-year-old with the emotional capacity of a pre-schooler. He’s a bad kid with a heart of gold, fools gold that is. Cruddy lives to cause trouble and he’s good at it. Small trouble, big trouble - it doesn’t make much of a difference as long as Cruddy is in on the action. Cruddy has been through a host of therapists and school counsellors, and he knows the lingo by heart.
‘I’ve got a lot of pent-up hostility! All I’m really doing is looking for attention!’ The only thing that keeps Cruddy from picking on Little Costume Buddy all the time is Fat Dog, who Cruddy (wisely) has the utmost respect for. Cruddy considers himself the king of insults, and loves to tease people about their appearance. Unfortunately for him, he can get very sensitive about this, especially about the moustache-like dark patch the runs along his upper lip.
Polly-Ester is understanding and liberal and yet, the stern voice of authority! Polly-Ester is nurturing. And yet, condemnatory! Polly-Ester feels selfless, patient, loved, and full of undying energy. And yet, at the same time feels put-upon, under-appreciated, fatigued! It’s not that Polly-Ester is a paradox. It’s not that Polly-Ester is a confused little kid. It’s that Polly-Ester are mums, and two headed ones at that.
Polly is the nice one. She’s pure of heart, forgiving, compassionate, ceaselessly nurturing. She’s the personification of wholesome goodness. She cares about everyone around her and is incredibly understanding.
Ester is the difficult one. She’s uptight. A control freak. She’s always plotting and scheming; doing whatever she can to “put things right.” “Rules were meant to be enforced!” - that’s her motto “for the good of all.” While Ester is a constant thorn in the side of Fat Dog and Little Costume Buddy (and just about everyone else in Neighbourhood X)
Behind Polly-Ester’s house is a hedge and a fence with a small hole in it. This hole is one of the best shortcuts out of the Inner Circle and one that Fat Dog, Little Costume Buddy and the others often avail themselves of. This trespassing is intolerable to Ester, who does everything she can to prevent these violations.
Onion Boy is basically a normal kid. Kinda shy. Kinda sensitive. He just happens to have an onion for a head - and because of it, he gets teased a lot. His mom is normal. His dad is normal. It just so happens that his grandfather on his mother’s side had an onion for a head when he was a boy. They say these things skip a generation. Onion Boy longs for the day when he will “grow out of it.” “It’s just a phase,” his mother explains, “A lot of kids go through this.”
Onion Boy is also very awkward and clumsy. He can’t throw. He can’t catch. He can’t run fast. So nobody ever wants him on their team. Onion boy has few friends. None the less, he has a friend in Little Costume Buddy, who thinks Onion Boy is totally awesome.
‘He’s got an onion for a head! How cool is that!’
Since Onion Boy is smart and spends a lot of his time at home, he’s become an expert in computers and the internet and has an on-line friend, The Onion Girl from Barcelona. He particularly likes to make Piranha Mae laugh, which is usually fairly easy to do, since she has a small crush on him. He has a small crush on her too, but it goes not much further than that.
No one’s born evil you know! Every show needs an evil villain with super powers. Too bad for Doc Rectangle he doesn’t have any. Doc Rectangle is a super villain wannabe who has moved back in with his nagging and somewhat crazy mom in a small house set between the railroad tracks. He may be living in his old bedroom, but someday he plans to be evil ruler of the world.
‘Deep down inside, I don’t think I’m truly evil - But give me time! ‘
Doc Rectangle waits tables for a living. He also drives an ice-cream truck, mops the floor in the school, and does whatever he can to finance his evil schemes. He also gets fired a lot. Doc Rectangle is not all that bright, but with his thin waxed moustache, he’s convinced that he at least looks the part of the perfect villain.
Because Doc Rectangle’s mum is convinced “a great flood is going to come!” A partial attempt has been made to make the house “sea worthy.” Circular, ocean-liner window hatches line the outer walls and the outside of the house is also covered in very large, very round buoys.
In Neighbourhood X there is one thing that you can always rely upon. The further you get from home the stranger things become!
From the relative normality of the Inner circle to the fantasy world of the outer circle.
Home sweet home. This is where Little Costume Buddy lives. His parents’ garage serves as his Superhero Base, Laboratory and where Fat Dog keeps a large sticker covered steamer decorated with stickers from the seven ancient wonders of the world containing Fat Dog’s possessions; books, souvenirs, metals of honour.
Fat Dog’s and Little Costume Buddy’s fishing spot. Meteor Pond is home of the Talking Fish, neighbour of Meteor Pond Jnr. and the continually smouldering, scientific curiosity; Pop Meteor.
Piranha Mae’s room is like a museum. Impeccably neat and full of racks and displays of her various collections; lima beans of the world, a life long catalogue of broken shoe laces, Snow Domes (from places that never have snow). Every collection seems to have a gap missing - a final piece that needs to be added.
Cruddy has his spot - it’s a curb where Cruddy sits when he’s looking for action. There’s a fire hydrant, with red paint lining the curb. Cruddy considers red to be his colour, and the red line is indication that the curb is his territory.
The Inner Circle also has a variety of familiar locales, typical of suburbs everywhere. There is a school, a gas station, a diner, a fire station and other familiar places.
Almost everything in Polly-Ester’s house in two’s. Two floors, a two car garage, the number “22” above the porch, two locks on the door, two mailboxes out front. In the backyard, past the two rows of cabbages, two rows of carrots, two rows of petunias, past the two lawn chairs and two-storey bird house is a bush and a fence. In the fence there is a hole. This hole leads to:
Just past the hole in the fence, the first landmark in the Outer Circle is:
All the doorways in Onion Boy’s house have been rounded at the top to allow for Onion Boy’s head. Onion Boy has a very nice room, filled with sci-fi stuff from his favorite shows. His window opens up on the back alley down which Fat Dog, Little Costume Buddy and Piranha Mae often pass on their way to adventure. Whenever Onion Boy joins them, he always shouts out to his mom, “Mom, I’m sneaking out the back window now!” To which she usually replies, “All right, dear! Be back in time for dinner!”
- Biplane, hot air balloon, zeppelin.
- Raft, rowboat, gondola, or submarine if you can catch one.
- Neighbourhood X has a very nice bus line. Fat Dog also drives the biplane, which is usually in too much disrepair to fly.
- Via cave, underground stream, mole-machines.
Well, actually, it’s Doc Rectangle’s Mum’s house. It’s a sweet little home that looks anything but evil or intimidating. Even Rectangle’s room has a certain childhood innocence and charm. Doc’s Mum refuses to let him change it.
Since Rectangle’s mom doesn’t let him bring anything evil into the house, Doc spends a lot of time in their back yard where he keeps a small, broken down, rocket ship. Next to the rocket he has a overstuffed chair which he considers his throne and is where he plots his latest scheme for world domination.
The Land of Monkeys is a set of large buildings with clothes lines strung between them, which the monkeys use to get across. No one is quite sure how these monkeys ended up here - it has something to do with Government subsidies for retired research animals, or so they say.
They look nice on the outside. They look nice on the inside. How much are they? No one knows.
This is the Industrial section of town. If they can make it with cheese, they’ll make it here.
Learn more about the art of Viking Hair Braiding! Gaze in wonder at the world’s largest split end!
Ever wonder where all those old astronauts went to? Visiting hours start at 9 a.m. Simulated launches at noon. Zero gravity checkers in the Bilka/ Strilka Memorial Air Lock.
Finally, there’s:
In the far out circle it’s not that “everything goes” it’s just that “a lot goes.” There are Aztec Ruins, Little Budapest, the Nile and even the Moon itself! And there’s that place where they keep the aliens! (Every town has one) And the Hidden Fortress of the Crime Fighters League, located just off of Highway 4! (You see a lot of confused Super Heroes driving up and down the Highway looking for their own base. Rumour has it that no one has ever found it.)
Then there is Venice on the Nile - a seasonal resort town. (The banks of the Nile flood once a year, causing this village to find itself submerged. Desperate for tourist dollars, they try promoting this as an added attraction.) There’s the popular World Of Laundry, Shanghai Spaghetti Western Island, and that really good toy store where you can get free stuff from time to time.
These locales are isolated from each other and always require effort to get to as they are separated by long roads, desert, forests and bodies of water.
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