Let’s not forget the revival/reinvention type of show. Bringing back their old characters for “Yogi’a Ark”, “Wacky Races”, “Yo Yogi!”, “Tom and Jerry Kids,” etc.
In many of these cases, the idea is to take the existing characters, place them in absurd (for an animated series even) or contrived situation, and have the characters act way out of character.
Or in the “Pop Culture Ripoff” vein, how about what they did during the ninties: Make lousy animated series out of musical groups or relatively high grossing movies.
Examples:
The New Kids on the Block cartoon.
“Hammerman” (MC Hammer as a superhero)
“The Adams Family”
“Dumb and Dumber: The Series”
also, I’m not complete sure on this, but I think “Penelope Pitstop” is actually a spinoff of sorts from “Wacky Races.”
Unless I have my timeline reversed, the folks at HB liked the character of Pitstop enough, they created a show around her. If so, this would explain why her character (as thin as it was) was so drastically different in the two shows. In “Wacky Races,” she’d be the stereotypical ditzy blonde girl; the joke being “damn wimmin drivers”. It “Pitstop” she was more the victim…the damsel in distress.
[sub](Now watch as I find out that “Pitstop” came before “Races”)[/sub]
“Where’s Huddles?” – Flintstone formula, although set in contemporary times. About a pro football player and his family who live in a house shaped like a stadium.
“Motormouse and Autocat” – Cat and mouse chase each other constantly, except this pair does it on motorcycles. Tom and Jerry formula?
“It’s the Wolf” – Wolf chasing a wisecracking lamb. Paul Lynde did the wolf’s voice, IIRC. Tom and Jerry formula again.
“Hong Kong Phooey” – A dog who fights crime using martial arts. Not sure what the formula for this one would be.
“Top Cat” – Spin-off formula. This is what would have happened if Sgt. Bilko and his unit became cartoon cats and moved to an alley.
And an obscure one from about the mid-60s or so:
“Cool McCool” – Cartoon detective. Not sure what the formula for this one is. Not even sure if it was an HB production. But for some reason, I was able to remember it–does anybody else?
HB also had something about two mice–Pixie and Dixie–who were always being chased by the cat Mr. Jinks. What show were they all in?
And last but not least, who (besides me) remembers “Ruff and Reddy”?
Orignally posted by Ophanim:
By the way, I have to say that Smurfette is definately smurfable! I’d like to smurf her smurf till I smurfed all over her smurfs, and then I’d start smurfing her smurfy smurf! That’d be just the beginning of a smurfy smurf of smurfing! Plus she was the ONLY female smurf, so I’m guessing everybody got a smurf!
Stay smurfy!
I was drinking a Coke at the time. I had forgotten what it felt like coming out of your nose.
And let me just say, those were the worst Tom and Jerry cartoons ever, ever, ever. I like the originals by Hanna and Barbera, but the studio schlock they turned out in the seventies (especially the horrible ba-ba-baa, ba-ba-baa, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba background music) was gawdawful.
Glad to get that off my chest.
Also - someone mentioned Tom & Jerry Kids. The “Kids” shows experienced a surge in the late '80s, early '90s, IIRC. The Flinstones Kids, A Pup Named Scooby Doo were a couple more. And they sucked ass, old school!
This would be the Main Character Is An Arrogant Idiot Who Only Resolves Problems With the Help Of Obnoxious But Clever Sidekick. In this case, the cat.
Other examples would include:
Yogi Bear and Boo Boo
Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble
Captain Caveman and The Teen Angels (Don’t really remember the second banannas; can’t say how obnoxious they really were)
Super Marv of the original Superfriends (dumbass should have gotten toasted by the Joker or Lex Luthor).
if this site is correct, HB produced Two Stupid Dowgs and The Powerpuff Girls. If this is true, then all is forgiven.
Thanks Amp. I kept trying to remember that one, but couldn’t for the life of me. I really love cartoons, even the crappy ones. I became addicted to Pirates of DarkWater during a summer when I think it aired daily on the Network.
I think crapulence is the hallmark of early, mass-produced cartoons by Hanna Barbara. But I don’t think we can look down on Joseph and William because their mass production pushed cartoons into main stream. Without a constant onslaught of new, short-lived series with outrageous characters, I don’t think cartoons would be where they are today, on Fox Sunday nights. And hey, how did the boys know what crazy series would work? They just kept throwin’ em out and some were hits like Scooby Doo and Jonny Quest. I don’t think Scooby Doo and Jonny Quest were technically better than the other cartoons (well, maybe some of 'em) I just think these were more popular and had a chance to develop. Just MHO.
I would classify it as similar to the Blue Falcon and Dynomut formula. You have a dumb super-type-hero and the partner always is bailing him out. I don’t knock Hong Kong Phooey, though. He’s the whole reason I got into martial arts into the first place. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be a black belt today.
Let us not forget the formula of GI-Joe. It spawned off the Transformers.
Also don’t forget that they are still using formulas today. Look at the friggin Pokemon type shows and also the stupid power ranger type shows.
The real fact of the matter is that when a type of cartoon entertainment formula appears to work, it then gets done to death.
You young whippersnappers are forgetting the early output of the H-B studios (we’re talking around 1960). Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw - VERY funny stuff!
Gundy - I’m not sure which incarnation of Tom & Jerry you’re referring to, but NOTHING could be as bad as the 1961 version produced in Czechoslovakia(!). Horrendous audio, poor animation, and incomprehensible plots - it bordered on the surreal.
I adore old Fred Quimby and Hanna & Barbera-produced T&J, but the '70s stuff…somehow, they often wound up at a disco. I believe that H-B corrupted Droopy, and he and the wolf always wound up in a disco too. Weird.
Heresy! Those are the BEST ones! I especially like the one based on Moby Dick, except the whale’s name is Dicky Mo, and the Captain Ahab character mopes around the ship mumbling “Dicky Mo…DICKY MO!” I also dig how the sound and dialogue sounded like it was recorded in the bathroom.
Ah, yes. GI-Joe. This show featured HUGE battles with THOUSANDS of soldiers shooting laser guns at each other, but NOT ONE of them ever got hit IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE SHOW! (There WAS one exception, but that person was only hit to demonstrate that he was wearing Cobra’s new super-duper armor and could not be harmed.) Every time a plane was shot down, someone would be shown parachuting out of it. I guess the point of the show was to show kids that no one actually gets killed in a war. And, of course, there were all these multi-episode arcs where GI-Joe and Cobra had to race each other to collect the pieces for some weird doomsday weapon, such as the Mass Device, the Weather Dominator, and the Pyramid of Darkness. My particular favorite GI-Joe episode was when they entered an ancient pyramid which was actually the gateway to the Egyptian underworld and the Joes had to convince the Egyptian gods to return them to life while the god Set decided to give all his treasure to Cobra in order to trigger the end of the world. At the end, Duke calls Anubis “dog-face.”
Let’s not forget the “Teenage Garage Band” and “Hip Groovy Musical Interlude” formulas…
Scooby Doo–Always had the chase scene to groovin’ beach music
Jabber Jaw–played in a band
Captain Caveman–His ottie groupies had a band
Flintstones–Remember Pebbles and Bam Bam’s big hit? Plus the New Flintstones (?) when they grew up and had their own band.
Josie and the Pussycats–ggrrrrrrawwwwl!
Jetsons–Jet Screamer appearances “Climb aboard baby and I’ll put you in orbit!”
The Flintstones–in the spinoff(?) of the Gruesomes they had that monster band
The Archie Show–another band. I had the hots for Veronica big-time
Fat Albert–great show! One of the few times that Hanna Barbera truly shined!
The Hair-Bear Bunch. Take Hogan’s Heroes- POWs who can get out of the stalag whenever they want; and transform them into bears that can get out of the zoo whenever they want. Oh, and since this was in the 1970s, the leader of the bears has an afro and speaks in white-bread pseudo-cool.
I’d hate to have to correct someone whose username may or may not have been inspired by on of the more inspired animated series of the ninetys, but…
Hanna-Barbera didn’t have anything to do with Fat Albert. That was one of Filmation’s better shows.
[sub]link intentional[/sub]
On to Tom and Jerry.
I think you’re also talking about Filmation. They too had a hand in the Tom & Jerry pot. Their’s was called The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show. Aside from the bad animation, and the funky disco music (it came out in the early 80s), what I remember from the show was that Droopy’s nemesis was a wolf called Slick. And droopy kinda sounded like Quickie Kowala or something.
Not to be confused with the cartoons by Gene Deitch (“Dicky Moe” among others), when Hanna and Barbera left MGM at the end of the 50s to spread their wings, and MGM needed some T&J stat. Of course I believe Dietch did have an Academy Award and some prestiege to his name so it wasn’t completely apparant that people would be weirded out by his UPA style.
The only other person besides Hanna-Barbera, and Gene Deitch to try his hand at Tom and Jerry was Chuck Jones. His toons were recieved by the public better than the Deitch ones, but not as well as the classics.
I’ll agree that the later H&B stuff was schlock, but earlier stuff was pretty funny. Top Cat, Huckleberry Hound (“I don’t desire to be a sire.”), and my personal favorite only because my grandfather really spoke like the Pa - The Hillbilly Bears. Ah, a mispent youth - plopped in front of the TV.
Let us honor the Flinstones - all the greats were on as guest stars: Anne Margrock, Rock Hudstone, the Wayouts (“we’re gonna go way out, wayout, that’s where the fun is”), the list goes on and on. The Honeymooners go Neanderthal.
Let’s twitch, twitch in Bedrock.
And you know that Betty Rubble was just a minx in bed. Given Barney’s height, his nose should have hit her right about…there
And hey, how did the boys know what crazy series would work? They just kept throwin’ em out and some were hits like Scooby Doo and Jonny Quest. I don’t think Scooby Doo and Jonny Quest were technically better than the other cartoons (well, maybe some of 'em) I just think these were more popular and had a chance to develop. Just MHO.