Poo-Chi
Encyclopedia
Robot dog
Robotic dogs are robots designed to resemble dogs in appearance and behavior, usually incorporating canine characteristics such as barking or tail-wagging...
, created by Tiger Toys after the success of the Furby
Furby
A Furby was a popular electronic robotic toy resembling a hamster/owl-like creature which went through a period of being a "must-have" toy following its launch in the holiday season of 1998, with continual sales until 2000...
. It is one of the first generations of robopet toys. Poo-Chi was originally designed by artist Samuel James Lloyd and manufactured by Sega Toys. After becoming a huge hit in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
they made a deal with Tiger Toys to distribute it in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Description
The original Poo-Chi had a gray body with ears, tail, and leg joints of either purple, blue, pink or green. Its four legs allowed it to either stand up or lie down, and its eyes were red LEDLEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
s, displaying emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
. The symbols of his eyes were as follows: Hearts = Very Happy, Up-side-down 'U's = happy, small 'U's = Sad, small sideways D's = Angry. They were also manufactured for a short time as a Happy Meal toy at McDonalds. Other Poo-Chi's had different color variations, different breeds, such as the Poodle and Bulldog, and for a short time in 2000, three Poo-Chis were released to resemble Domino, Little Dipper, and Oddball (above) to promote Disney's 102 Dalmatians
102 Dalmatians
102 Dalmatians is a 2000 live-action film, produced by Walt Disney Pictures and starring Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil. It is the sequel to 101 Dalmatians, a live-action remake of the 1961 Disney animated feature of the same name. In the film, Cruella de Vil attempts to steal puppies for her...
. Poo-Chi stopped selling in 2002.
Speech
Poo-Chi spoke using pre-recorded sounds such as barks, whines, and growls. These, were not very realistic and often sounded more like 'beeps' than anything. The sounds will also come in the form of song. By pressing the button on the top of poo-chi's head it will make short barks that have a rhythm. It can do six differrent songs like, Bingo and Camptown Races.Sub-Categories
There are other kinds of toys similar to Poo-Chi. They are all different animals, except the Super-Poo-Chi, which is the larger version of Poo-Chi.- Meow-Chi - a robotic cat.
- Super Poo-Chi - a dog similar to Poo-Chi, but a larger version of Poo-Chi.
- Dino-Chi - a robotic dinosaurDinosaurDinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
. - Chirpy-Chi - a robotic bird.
- Petal-Chi - a robotic flowerFlowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
or plantPlantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
. - Baby-chi - a robotic baby.
Songs
You could make Poo-Chi sing one of 6 songs by triggering the light sensor (placing your hand or something else over his nose) and pressing the touch sensor on its head very quickly, until a series of high-pitched 'beeps' are heard. Then, press the touch sensor 1 to 6 times, each amount getting a different song. Poo-Chi sang and danced to songs such as 'The Wedding March' and 'When the Saints Come Marching In'. The different songs you can hear are listed below.| # of times to press the touch sensor (after you hear the high-pitched 'beeps') |
Song Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Wedding March The Wedding March The Wedding March is a silent film directed by and starring Erich von Stroheim. It also stars Fay Wray and ZaSu Pitts. Paramount Pictures forced von Stroheim to create two films from the footage, the second being The Honeymoon... |
| 2 | Camptown Races |
| 3 | The Star-Spangled Banner |
| 4 | I've Been Working on the Railroad/Home On the Range |
| 5 | O Canada |
| 6 | When the Saints Come Marching In |
Poo-Chi would also often sing "Ode to Joy
Ode to Joy
"Ode to Joy" is an ode written in 1785 by the German poet, playwright and historian Friedrich Schiller, enthusiastically celebrating the brotherhood and unity of all mankind...
" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
when happy, and if another Poo-Chi or Robo-Chi pet is nearby (such as a Meow-Chi), that other Robo-Chi would begin to sing "Ode to Joy" as well, though unsynchronized.