Clutch Cargo

Back in 1959, Cambria Productions syndicated a low budget, poorly animated series called Clutch Cargo that became a surprising hit for its time. A total of 52 episodes were produced, each story being presented in 5 minutes serial episodes. The series revolved around the adventures of  square jawed muscular writer and pilot, Clutch Cargo. Accompanying Clutch was his young ward, Spinner, a small dachshund named Paddlefoot and Clutch’s scruffy friend, Swampy.

Clutch Cargo was one of the ‘limited’ animation shows produced by Cambria (Space Angels being another popular title) that utilized a technique called Synchro-Vox that merged live action footage with moving pictures. All of the characters speech was recorded by live actors, then placed onto the faces of Clutch and his pals in order to save time and money to create the stories. Although the animation was poor the talent put into scripts helped keep the series popular and still carries a cult following to this day.

TRIVIA: The voice of Spinner and Paddelfoot was provided by Margaret Kerry. Kerry was the character model for Tinkerbell in Walt Disney’s animated classic, PeterPan.

The Impossibles

The Impossibles hit the Saturday morning cartoon scene in 1966 as part of the Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles program. Their television show was but one of the many successful programs produced by Hanna Barbera in the mid-sixites and can currently be seen  on cable stations like Boomerang.

The cartoon is about a trio of rock musicians who transform themselves into crime fighting superheroes to thwart a variety of villains in a six to seven minute time slot. The Impossibles consisted of three members, each with their own unique powers (and weakness). Coil Man had a body that could stretch, twist and bounce like a spring, Fluid Man who could change his body to liquid and Multi-Man who had the ability to create multiple copies of himself.

The  recurring theme of this cartoon was presented in many of the HB cartoons from that era; super villain with strange power would try to stage a crime, good guys would try to stop the villain but be presented with a variety of obstacles tailor fit to the villains special abilities. The good guys, in turn, would overcome the obstacles using their unique abilities and the day would be saved. All kids watching knew the good guys would win in the end but part of the enjoyment was watching the various techniques and gadgetry used to win over evil. A lot of details to the history of the Impossibles, their powers, etc. was left out of the plot because the show’s main objective was the chase to catch the villain each week within that tight time limit. The fact that they were musicians seemed to be not much more than a starting and ending part for each episode. They received their orders from the character ‘Big D’ (voice of Paul Frees) but little mention was ever given as to the origin of that crime fighting relationship.

TRIVIA: The voice for the character Coil Man was provided by Harold ‘Hal’ Smith, best know on television for his role as Otis the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show.

Here Comes the Grump

From 1969 to 1971 Depatie-Freleng (better known in the U.S. for their cartoon hit The Pink Panther) produced an off-key show called Here Comes the Grump. The basic premise of the show revolved around two kids, Terry Dexter (a boy from the ‘real world’) and Princess Dawn, who searched for the Cave of the Whispering Orchids where a magic key was hidden that would break the spell of melancholy placed on the princess by the evil wizard, Susanne (aka the Grump). Each episode led the kids to strange lands like Snow White City or by the banks of the Lemonade Sea, always one step ahead of the Grump and his sidekick dragon named Dingo. Two recurring elements in each episode were 1.the kids would never quite find the Cave of the Whispering Orchids and 2. Dingo the dragon would inevitably sneeze and burn the Grump right as he was closing in on Terry and Princess Dawn.

The cast of voices included Rip Taylor as the Grump, Indira Stefanianna as Princess Dawn and Jay North (better know for his role as Dennis the Menace) as Terry. Other notable voices included the multi-talented John Byner, Bob Holt, Pat Harrington Jr. (Snyder from One Day at a Time) and Larry Storch (Corporal Agarn, F Troop).

TRIVIA: The character of the Grump was created and conceived by Friz Freleng, based off his more popular created character, Yosemite Sam.

Jonny Quest

During the 1964-1965 season, Saturday morning cartoon viewers enjoyed the action packed adventures of an 11 year old boy named Jonny Quest. Jonny Quest was produced by Hanna-Barbera and since the original series aired, has been revamped into two additional television series, two films (to date) and a video game. The subsequent series (The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and The New Adventures of Jonny Quest) have not received the fan following of the original series.

Three key concepts stood out to made Jonny Quest a sure hit for Hanna-Barbera in the mid sixties and influenced later series like Space Ghost, The Herculoids and Birdman. The concept of an adventure team played well and included a main cast of Jonny Quest, his father Dr. Benton Quest, bodyguard Roger T. ‘Race’ Bannon, Dr. Benton Quest’s adopted son, Hadji and the family dog, Bandit. The man considered the creative genius behind the main characters, Doug Wildey, introduced a more realistic illustrative quality to the series and gave a comic book feel with heavy inked lines and chisled, Milton Caniff style drawings. Another appeal to the series was the extended format provided for each episode. Many cartoon shows from this era would gang two or three episodes into a half hour time slot; Quest would use the entire half hour slot for each single story, 26 episodes in all.

Another distinctive trait to the series was the unforgettable theme, a lost art for so many modern television series. For as short lived as the show was, the theme song stuck in my mind to this day and stands a a brilliant composition.

Trivia: The voice of Jonny Quest was provided by film and television star Tim Matheson

 

Beany and Cecil

What started as a puppet show named Time For Beany grew into a slapstick, pun-filled Saturday morning cartoon delight for kids back in 1962. Beany and Cecil originally aired on October 11, 1959 as “Matty’s Funday Funnies” (named for Matty Mattel the spokesperson sponsor for Mattel toys). By 1962 the show was polished up and released under the name “Beany and Cecil” as part of ABC morning cartoons.

Bob Clampett, creator of the show, has been praised for his wacky approach to animation, a trait he developed while working for Warner Bros. animating Looney Tunes classics like Bugs Bunny. Clampett was fired from Warner and began developing his idea of a sea sick sea serpent character. His original concept came to him back in 1925 after watching the movie The Lost World which showed the head of a dinosaur sticking it’s head out of the water.  Adding to the character of Cecil the serpent were other regular cast members Beany Boy (voice of Jim MacGeorge), Captain Horatio Huffenpuff (also voiced by MacGeorge), Crowy the ship’s pet crow and last but not least, the nefarious villain Dishonest “DJ” John (voice of Irv Shoemaker).

The show was riddled with pithy remarks, bad puns and the catchphrase  “nya-ah-ah” from Dishonest John as he attempted to thwart the do-good crew of the Leakin’ Lena, Captain Huffenpuff’s world adventuring boat. Beany and Cecil was one of the first three cartoons to be aired on ABC in color (the other two being The Jetsons and The Flintstones). An attempt was made to revamp the show in 1988 under the direction and production of John Kricfalusi (who later created The Ren and Stimpy Show) but only made eight episodes, five of them airing before the series was cancelled. Clampett passed away in 1984

TRIVIA: The AC/DC song ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” was said to have been influenced by the calling card of Dishonest John which read “dirty deeds done dirt cheap. Holidays. Sundays and special rates”.