As I was growing up there were many
many different Saturday morning cartoon shows. Bugs Bunny and all his Looney
Tunes pals were a perpetual presence as well as probably a dozen versions of
Scooby Doo and the gang. These franchises are iconic; and continue to be on TV
today.
Perhaps the most popular Saturday
morning cartoon ever was not even a 30 minute show. It’s the ABC’s Schoolhouse
Rock. It started out with Multiplication Rock and Grammar Rock then later
expanded to include American history and other subjects. Nearly everyone who
grew up in the 70’s knows at least one of the Schoolhouse Rock songs.
I could go on and on about Saturday
morning TV shows. I’m sure with your help I could make a list of the most
popular ones as well. But now it’s on to my personal obscure list. These are the ones that I really liked but not
many remember.
Deputy Dawg: This was
one of my favorite cartoons when I was a preschooler. My dad and I would watch
this together on Saturday mornings.
Deputy Dog was a deputy sheriff who
tried his best to keep Muskie the Muskrat and Vince the gopher from stealing his
produce. As I watch it now I realize that it really doesn’t hold up. But I
liked it when I was 4. Here’s a link to an episode on You Tube. See what you
think.
The Mighty Hercules: Watching
this cartoon was my first exposure to Greek mythology, though I didn’t realize
it at the time. Again, I remember watching this before I started school or while
I was in kindergarten or maybe even as late as first grade. I was especially
fascinated by one of the characters.
The premise of the cartoon has the
Greek god, Hercules, come down from Mount Olympus to the fictional kingdom of
Caledon. He’s there to rescue its citizens from whatever pressing threat or
danger there might be. Usually that danger was caused by “Herc’s” arch enemy, Daedalus.
Whenever Hercules was in serious
danger he would remove a ring from inside his belt, place it on his finger, and
raise it in the air. Lightening would come down from the heavens empowering it’s
wearer with his amazing strength.
I didn’t admire the mythological star
of the show (although I wouldn’t have minded having one of those rings). I
wanted to be one of the supporting characters, Newt the centaur. The half man/half
horse was Hercules’ best friend on earth.
His high falsetto voice and habit of
repeating himself (“Hurry Herc, Hurry Herc” or ”There’s trouble in Caladon.
Trouble in Caledon”) made him unique. I remember hearing my mother complain to
my dad about annoying and nerve racking she thought Newton was.
This Hercules cartoon was my earliest
memory of being pulled into a world of action and adventure while watching TV.
All the other cartoons I watched were light hearted and silly. It opened the
door for my future admiration of Johnny Quest, and Marvel super hero cartoons. Both
of those cartoons are still remembered today but “The Mighty Hercules” is not
mentioned often if at all.
You can watch full episodes of this forgotten
childhood favorite on You Tube. Just search for it by name.
The Mighty Heroes: This
cartoon ran for less than a year on CBS on Saturday mornings. I was 6 at the
time of its initial run but would watch it in syndication in the afternoons
probably up until I was 9 or 10. There were only 21 episodes made.
The best way to describe this cartoon
is the Justice League meets the Three Stooges. The Mighty Heroes were a group
of 4 men and a baby who are, as Wikipedia states, “clumsy accident-prone
bunglers” with superpowers.
They protect the city of Good Haven
from a variety of super villains. The fact that the city’s name was similar to
my last name I’m sure was a draw for me.
Each of the heroes had secret identities
until they were called to duty. They were summoned into action when a massive
patriotic themed fireworks show was launched into the Good Haven sky. There
was: Strong Man, Tornado Man, Rope Man, Cuckoo Man and Diaper Man. Strong Man
and Diaper Man both had super strength, Tornado Man could turn himself into an
actual small tornado, Rope Man was a man made of rope. Cuckoo Man’s powers were
bird-based (he could fly but had to flap his arms) but he was not very “super”.
Each of them also had their own catch phrase as they flew through the air.
These guys were their own worst
enemies. They always messed up their initial attempts to capture the villain and
ended up getting captured themselves. Eventually they would get out of the
dangerous predicament, heroically capture the bad guy, and save the city.
The combination of humor and heroes in
this cartoon really appealed to me. In addition to finding it very funny, I
would also venture to say that I learned something very important from this
cartoon. The Heroes showed me that if you try your best and mess up , keep
trying and you’ll be able to make it right. Therefore, don’t quit.
You can read all about this cartoon,
its history and creators on Wikipedia. Also there are several episodes
available on You Tube. Here’s a link to one of them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4zVHSE5ngs
Peter Potamus and Friends: This is a show that included 3 of my favorite Hanna Barbera
cartoons. Peter Potamus was a talking hippo who, ironically, traveled the world
in a boat lifted by a hot air balloon. His friend and traveling companion was
So So, a monkey. This is the cartoon that first showed me the life truth that
everything is more fun if there’s a monkey.
When Peter and So So found themselves
in a situation, dangerous or otherwise from which they needed to escape Peter
would employ his secret weapon, the hippo hurricane holler. It was a loud yell
backed with a strong tropical storm strength wind (all from his own lungs) that
usually blew the problem away or got them out of the situation.
The Peter Potomus program was the
companion show to Magilla Gorilla and his friends (Ricochet Rabbit and Droop A
Long & Mush Mouse and Punkin Puss)
The “and Friends” on The Peter Potamus
show were also two more of my favorite cartoons.
Breezly & Sneezly: Breezly Bruin was a polar
bear who lived in the Arctic near an army base called “Camp Frostbite”. He was
a con artist who was always trying to sneak his way onto the base for a variety
of reasons. His buddy was Sneezly naive little seal with perpetual cold. He had
a habit of sneezing at the most inopportune times. This cartoon was my dad’s
favorite of the 3 on this show. It was my least favorite.
Yippie, Yappie and Yahooey: This cartoon has a premise very similar to that of “The
Mighty Heroes”. It is set in medieval times and features 3 bungling dog characters
who are the royal guards to the king. They are essentially the 3 musketeer
stooges. The “Curly” type character of the group, Yahooey, is voiced by Daws
Butler, but sounds and acts like Jerry Lewis.
The appeal of this cartoon for me is
also similar to that of “The Mighty Heroes”. The guards may be dimwitted but
their heartfelt desire to do their job and serve the king is honest and pure.
That’s what gives them their character and makes them likable. That plus they
were very funny.
You Tube is the place to see these
charming canines once again as well.
Wacky Races: Although
I was a fan of all the cartoons I’ve mentioned so far I have to say I was crazy
over this last one. The Wacky Racers were a group of 11 different types of
vehicles, only 3 of which even closely resemble an actual race car, and their
stereo typical drivers. I’m not going to list each of them individually but
here’s a You Tube link to the show’s introduction that reviews the roster of
Wacky Races drivers.
Each episode of the show featured a
race in a fictitious place set in a real area of the US. The main plot of each
episode revolved around the villainous driver, Dick Dastardly’s (full name:
Richard Milhous Dastardly) attempts to win the race by cheating any way he can.
Dastardly’s dog, Mutley (a
reincarnation of the character Precious Pup from Hanna Barbera created Atom Ant
show), best known for his wheezing and sarcastic laugh, is seemingly an accomplice
in these devious plots. However, his “help” usually foils his owner’s efforts
for victory. Whether it’s Mutley or other elements that are responsible
Dastardly never wins a race. To which he always ends up exclaiming: “Drat and
Double Drat”.
Dastardly was voiced by one of my
childhood idols, Paul Winchell. His voice over career included many characters.
But he’s probably best known for being the voice of Tigger in Disney’s Winnie
the Pooh features and cartoons. But I idolized Winchell for a different reason.
More on that in my next post.
While seeing Dick Dastardly defeated
was the main reason I loved the Wacky Racers there were a couple of others. I
loved the unique and wide variety of the cars and characters. I had a “crush”
on the charming southern belle, Penelope Pitstop. You might say that was an
ironic foreshadowing of what my romantic future held for me.
Because of my admiration for Miss Pitstop, I
wanted to be like her Wacky Racer suitor, Peter Perfect. I also liked “Perfect”
because he drove the #9 car the same number as my birthday. I believe that was
the beginning of 9 being my favorite number.
Penelope Pitstop was such a popular
character she was spun off to her own show: The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. A
cartoon with a format that mimicked the old movie serials of the 40’s & 50’s. The heroine was constantly being chased by an evil villain known as “The Hooded Claw”.
He was voiced by comedic actor Paul Lynde. Like Mutley, he too had a signature
sarcastic laugh. His efforts to capture Ms.Pitstop were always defeated;. mainly
by Penelojpe's ingenious and sometimes athletic escapes.
Ironically Penelope’s protector in
this show was not Peter Perfect. It was “The Anthill Mob”; a group of short
gangster characters from the Wacky Races. Paul Winchell was the voice of the
leader of this little group (pardon the pun). I didn’t watch this show very
often. But if I was in front of the TV and it happened to be on I watched.
There is no doubt that Dick Dastardly was the
break out star of the Wacky Races cartoon. He and Mutley also went on to have
their own show.
They were moved from the sport of road
racing to the military air service in “Dick Dastardly and Mutley in their
flying machines” show. The show made them part of the “ Vulture Squadron” a group of planes flown by four pilots whose
mission was to stop the Yankee Doodle pigeon from getting messages through to
the army. They attempted to do this with a series of planes designed with interesting
gimmicks. Only in the world of cartoons would these planes have been able to
fly.
The other two pilots were Zilly and
Klunk. Both were unusual characters with unique and strange personalities. You
can read about them by searching for Dick Dastardly on Wikipedia.
If anything is remembered about this
cartoon show it would be its catchy and mind numbing theme song. It repeats the
phrase “Stop The Pigeon” over and over again. Here’s a You Tube link to an
episode with the show’s opening which includes the theme song and explains the
series’ premise.
As stated before I loved the Wacky
Races and really enjoyed the Dick Dastardly spinoff. I watched both faithfully
throughout their run. But whenever a discussion of classic Saturday cartoon
shows comes up among other baby boomers and me they are rarely mentioned.
That’s
the reason I chose to mention them in this special Saturday morning cartoon
post.
The cartoons I just mentioned are not,
by far, a complete list of the forgotten ones I watched as I was growing up. If
you remember them and want to see them again, head to You Tube. They are all
there.
I didn’t mention the Secret Squirrel cartoon
on my list but I have to give it an “ honorable mention” before I end this post.
Secret Squirrel had the honor of being
my first ever character meet and greet. I liked this cartoon so much that when
he made a “personal appearance” in the toy department in the basement of
Laubach’s, a local department store in downtown Easton, my dad took me to see
him.
I don’t know how old I was but it was
way before I started school. The memory of that first character encounter is
not crystal clear. In fact to me it’s more like a movie in my mind. But I do
remember it. Thanks Dad.
So there you have my favorite cartoons
that I watched on Saturday morning while sitting in front of the TV eating my
favorite cereals when I was a kid. Did I bring back any memories for you? I
hope so.
The next post will be the final one in
the series and will feature a list of those real live TV show hosts who have
all had an influence on my life. Come on back and see how my lists and stories about
these people compares to yours.
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