KANGAROO
(CBS, September 8-December 1, 1984)
Ruby-Spears Productions
MAIN CAST:
David Mendenhall –
Joey Kangaroo
Mea Martineau – Katy
Kangaroo
Marvin Kaplan –
Sidney Squirrel
Arthur Burghardt –
Mr. Friendly
Pat Fraley – Bingo, Bango
Frank Welker – Bongo,
Fred, various
Kangaroo was
an arcade platform game developed by Sun Electronics (aka Sunsoft) in
1982. It was one of the first games similar to Donkey Kong without being a direct knock-off. The game was licensed for
release by Atari, who later ported it to
their home consoles after the arcade proved to be a success.
In the game, the player was a mother kangaroo with
boxing gloves that had to rescue her joey from a gang of monkeys. Consisting of
four levels, the player had to navigate the kangaroo up to the top section of
the level to progress to the next one. On each level, the monkeys would throw
apples at her which she either had to jump over, duck under or hit with her
gloves. If she came face-to-face with one of the monkeys she could punch them
out; which was necessary on the third level to prevent five from climbing up a
tree and unleashing a horde of apples. However, a big ape would appear and
attempt to take her gloves from her. The object was to complete the level
within the time allotted. Like Donkey
Kong, once the four levels are played through they repeated with increased
difficulty. Adding to that difficulty was the lack of a jump button. Instead,
players pushed “up” on the joystick to make the kangaroo jump.
![]() |
The arcade flyer for Kangaroo. |
Around the time of the game’s release, CBS was looking to get in on the video game craze
and to combat ABC’s Pac-Man produced by Hanna-Barbera.
Figuring to hedge their bets, they licensed several gaming properties and
commissioned former Hanna-Barbera
employees Joe Ruby and Ken Spears to
handle it through their company Ruby-Spears Productions.
The resulting series was Saturday Supercade. Making up the Supercade every week were segments based on Frogger, Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., while Q*Bert and Pitfall!
rotated weekly. The series performed well enough for a second season,
however some changes were made. Donkey
Kong and Q*Bert, now weekly,
remained while two new features were added to the line-up: Space Ace and Kangaroo.
![]() |
Katy and Joey. |
Kangaroo was
a loose adaptation of the arcade’s premise. A mother kangaroo named Katy (Mea
Martineau), her son, Joey (David Mendenhall), and their squirrel friend, Sidney
(Marvin Kaplan) all resided in zoo run by Mr. Friendly (Arthur Burghardt).
However, life there was often complicated by the Monkeybiz Gang (a play on “monkey business”)
comprised of Bingo, Bango (both Pat Fraley), Bongo and Fred (both Frank Welker)
who liked to cause trouble and escape from the zoo (Bingo, Bango, Bongo is also
the name
of a golf game). Katy, Joey and Sidney often had to put a stop to their
schemes and keep them in line. As in the game, Katy had a pair of boxing gloves
she kept in her pouch that could repel objects (mostly fruit) thrown her way.
Also, Joey was more the focus of the show, often ending up in some kind of
trouble necessitating Katy’s rescue of him.
![]() |
The Monkeybiz Gang. |
Kangaroo debuted
on the Supercade on September 8, 1984 and ran for a total of 13 episodes. With
the videogame industry suffering the effects of the 1983 bust, and the new Supercade unable to stop the ratings
decline caused by The Smurfs on NBC, CBS cancelled the show. To date, Kangaroo has yet to see any form of home
video release, as has most of the Supercade
segments. Warner Archive announced
via their Facebook page in 2010 that plans were underway to release Supercade to DVD, but because of rights
issues with the various game properties the project needed extensive research
before it could happen.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Trunkfull of Trouble” (9/8/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Zoo for Hire” (9/15/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Bat’s Incredible” (9/22/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The White Squirrel of Dover” (9/29/84) – When Sidney gets covered in
white wash, he’s mistaken for a magician’s escaped assistant.
“The Birthday Party” (10/6/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Having a Ball” (10/13/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Trail of the Cowardly Lion” (10/20/84) – The monkeys discover the
zoo’s lion is easily terrified and scare him right out of the zoo.
“It’s Carnival Time” (10/27/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Lost and Found” (11/3/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Joey and the Beanstalk” (11/10/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Zoo’s Who” (11/17/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Egg and Us” (11/24/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Runaway Panda” (12/1/84) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
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