I know nobody’s ever believed me in the past when I described The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, a live-action cat who would have Walter Mitty-style animated fantasy adventures as a feline version of the Lone Ranger, Tarzan, Batman, Robin Hood, or Captain Kirk. The IMDB never had much info on it, other than that it ran for 1 season when I was 5 years old and only seven other people remember it (based on the votes it’s received).
Well, lo and behold, YouTube finally has the opening credits as proof (though to be honest, I don’t remember that terrible title song; I do remember this musical intro, but this YouTube’s picture sucks). I’m not crazy after all! Ah-HA!
This thread really has my memory churning. I have a vague memory of a cartoon that included a wizard turtle who would send a little boy on a different adventure with each episode. The episode always ended with the kid in some sort of danger, yelling “Help me, Mr. Wizard!” or something. Then the wizard would use some sort of incantation to get him back, something like, “Drizza drizza drazza drone, time to bring back this one home.”
Oh, and I remember The Magic Garden, too! We got WPIX on our cable system in central Pennsylvania when I was a kid, so we got the Magic Garden.
o/ You don't need a key so follow me! From crafty Fox to Goldilocks! Storybox! Storybox! There are no locks on Storybox, on Storybox, on Storybox... o/
And also PIX!, that stupid video game where a kid called in and controlled the shooting of a spaceship and things like that by yelling “Pix! Pix! Pix!Pix! Pixpixpixpixpixpixpix!”
I think the only strategy anyone ever came up with on that was strengthening their lungs and mouths so they could just gear up at the beginning and get out one LONG continuous series of pixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpixpix…
That was a very informative post, RealityChuck, and a very good overview of Bullwinkle and Jay Ward. One thing should be pointed out, however:
Besides the cartoons that Jay Ward produced, Ward is also sometimes remembered for the cartoons he didn’t produce: the output of Total Television (a.k.a. Leonardo Productions): King Leonardo and His Short Subjects, Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, Go-Go Gophers, Tooter Turtle, and The World of Commander McBragg. The confusion probably comes from two reasons:
-Both the Ward and Total TV cartoons have similar animation. In fact, both were animated by the same studio, Gamma Productions (Val-Mar Studios) in Mexico City.
-Both Ward and Total TV cartoons were distributed by the same company, PAT (Filmtel), who often combined them in the same show (such as the syndicated Dudley Do-Right Show, which featured Dudley Do-Right cartoons plus Total TV shorts such as Commander McBragg.) The inept sea captain from Bullwinkle cartoons, Peter Peachfuzz, was named after PAT’s president, Peter Piech. The Ward and Total output are still owned by the same company today, British entertainment congolmerate Entertainment Rights PLC.
This was a syndicated franchise called TV POWWW, which featured a special Intellivision game kids called in to control by shouting “POWWW” into the phone. For obvious reasons, WPIX in New York changed the word to PIX!
I can’t believe I missed this post before, but, man, THANK YOU…I’ve been trying to remember those two series forever - I remembered Oz, vaguely - the theme song popping into my head is what made me want to seek out information*, but had forgotten most of the details, and Pinocchio had skipped my brainmeats altogether, save for ‘the show that came on after the Wizard of Oz’.
Now, I have the needed information.
Oddly, I could only remember the second verse, though YouTubing it reminded me of the first, no problem.
sings Oh, the world of Oz is a funny, funny place, where everyone wears a funny, funny face…
Here in the Garden, what we say and do
We’d like you to join us and do it to
Can you crow like a rooster? Cock-a-doodle-doo
Or clap your hand and stamp your shoe…
thanks. thanks a lot for the new mental tape loop.
I enjoyed Hong Kong Phooey and the Spirit of '76?
What about Charlie Chan and the Chan Clan?
My husband will frequently walk into the room where my son is playing video games and start sayong “pix pix pix pix pixpixpixpix”
Heretic. Thou shall perisheth before the power of mine mighty Uru hammer! HAVE AT THEE!
BTW–there was a Thor cartoon that was cool. As was the Captain America, Iron Man & Hulk cartoons.
<SINGS> When Captain America throws his mighty shield…</SINGS>
All those who choose to oppose his shield must yieeeeeld!
Tony Stark makes you feel
he’s the cool exec with a heart of steel.
As Iron Man, all jets ablaze
he fights and smites with repulsor rays!
‘Cross the rainbow bridge of Asgard
where the booming heavens roar.
You’ll behold with breathless wonder
the god of thunder, mighty Thor!
Doctor Banner,
pelted by gamma rays,
turns into the Hulk,
ain’t he unglamoraze?
Wreckin’ the town with
the power of a bull,
ain’t no monster clown
who is as lovable
as everlovin’ Hulk!
Hulk! Hulk!
God…I still remember those! I didn’t catch them originally (I was born about four years too late for that) but they did reruns of them on some stations in the late 70s.
The opening of Jason and the Wheeled Warriors (o/Wheeled Warriooooors! o/) is the last clip in this YouTube compilation, if you want to have a moment of nostalgia.
never assume anything goes without saying. Somebody will want to say it.
ya know…there’s a zillion channels on cable TV, one of which appears to be entirely devoted to showing cartoons. And yet it’s not possible to see any of these; you can’t even find classic Warner Bros anymore. This sux.
I also remember the Samson and Goliath cartoon from the 60s (syndicated, again), where he slapped his bracelets together to transform himself into Samson and his dog into a lion (Goliath).
There is a LOT of this stuff on YouTube, if you want to search for it. No, it’s not mass-market media, but it’s there if you want it. Even Dungeons & Dragons.
