Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
Shazzan
was designed and created by Alex Toth
for Hanna-Barbera
Productions and CBS Television. The
series drew heavy inspiration from the Arabian Nightsfolk tales in its depiction of a pastiche Middle Eastern culture, use of
magical beings and thieves.
Shazzan with Chuck and Nancy and Kaboobie.
The story centered on all-American
teenaged siblings Chuck (Jerry Dexter) and Nancy (Janet Waldo) who stumbled
across a halved magic ring in a cave off the coast of Maine. They found that
when they combined the ring and spoke the inscribed word, “Shazzan!”, they ended
up being transported to the Arabian-like world and in the possession of the
giant, jovial, all-powerful genie, Shazzan (Barney Phillips). Shazzan could do
just about anything—except send the twins home. To do that, they had to
return his ring to its rightful owner, the Wizard of the 7th
Mountain. That sent Chuck and Nancy on a quest through dangerous lands filled
with thieves, pirates, evil magicians and more who sought to either conquer the
kingdoms of the land or get revenge on Shazzan himself. To aid in their quest,
Shazzan gave the kids an invisible cloak, a magic rope, illusion-casting dust,
and flying camel Kaboobie (Don Messick) for transportation. When things got
especially hairy, the kids could summon Shazzan himself by rejoining the ring
again and saying his name.
Ad for CBS' Saturday Morning line-up.
Shazzan debuted on CBS on
September 9, 1967. Notably, viewers got a double-dose of the characters its
second week on the air as they were included in the Space
Ghostfinale. Despite all of the people involved with the show, nobody
was able to catch the one fatal flaw with the premise: Shazzan was too powerful.
Whenever he appeared, the story was effectively brought to an end as none of
the foes depicted in the show could physically or mystically harm him. As a
result, the stories usually involved the kids being put into some kind of peril
or having them unable to use the ring either because they were physically
separated from each other (both held on to one half of the ring) or the rings
were stolen. The series was written by Walter Black, Bill Lutz and Sloan Nibley with two segments
airing per episode. Ted Nichols
composed the music. The series also made extensive use of the sound effects
originally created for Johnny
Quest.
Shazzan meets Space Ghost.
Production on Shazzan concluded
with its first and only season, leaving the premise of Chuck and Nancy
returning home unresolved. It remained on the CBS schedule until the fall of
1969 when parent groups’ complaints about violence in cartoons saw all of the
networks shift from action to comedy programming. In the 1980s, the series was
rerun as part of the syndicated Hanna-Barbera’s World
of Super Adventureanthology serieswith other action-adventure
programs from the studio. In the 1990s, it became part of the Super Adventuresand
Toonami programming blocks on Cartoon Network, and later moved to
its sister channel, Boomerang.
The Shazzan DVD, depicting the typical climax of an episode.
“The
Living Island / Master of Thieves” (9/9/67) – Chuck and Nancy land on an island
to give Kaboobie a rest and end up pursued by an evil hunter. / A thief plans
to steal the rings and give them to his master.
“Valley
of the Giants / The Black Sultan” (9/16/67) – Chuck and Nancy end up in a
valley where a Cyclops lives. / Chuck and Nancy help a prince-turned-pig rescue
his princess from an evil wizard.
“The
Underground World / Demon in a Bottle” (9/23/67) – Chuck and Nancy are attacked
by giant bats in an underground cavern. / Nancy and Chuck unwittingly free an
evil demon from his bottle prison.
“Ring
of Samarra / City of Brass” (9/30/67) – Chuck and Nancy have to avoid giant
glass birds to save a princess and her kingdom. / Chuck and Nancy land on a
ship to ask directions and end up captured by living brass statues.
“The
Evil Jester of Masira / The Master Wizard of Mizwa” (10/7/67) – An evil jester
steals a magic book to help him conquer the kingdom. / An evil wizard captures
Chuck and Nancy in his garden.
“Demon
in a Bottle Returns / City of the Tombs” (10/14/67) – The bottle demon returns
for revenge and separates Chuck and Nancy. / Chuck and Nancy end up captured
and taken to the City of the Tombs.
“The
Young Rajah of Kamura / The Sky Pirates of Basheena” (10/21/67) – Chuck and
Nancy save a young Rajah and have to protect his kingdom from an evil regent. /
Chuck has to rescue Nancy from the Sky Pirates.
“The
Forest of Fear / Sorceress of the Mist” (10/28/67) – Chuck and Nancy traverse a
sinister forest to find the Magical Tree of Tureen. / A sorceress captures
Nancy so that she can take her place.
“The
Flaming Ruby / Keys of the Zodiac” (11/4/67) – A Maharajah wants to use
Kaboobie for a theft. / An evil wizard’s minions resemble Chuck and Nancy,
leaving Shazzan to prove their innocence in any crimes.
“Lord
of the Shadows / The Diamond of El Rhapir” (11/11/67) – The Lord of Shadows
sends his creatures to steal an item that will give him all-seeing powers. /
Chuck and Kaboobie have to enter a mirror to resce Nancy from an evil magician.
“The
Idol of Turaba / The Land of Neverwas” (11/18/67) – Chuck and Nancy follow a
kidnapped girl to a city made of porcelain by a clay river. / Chuck and Nancy
are captured by an evil ruler who wants revenge on a good wizard.
“The
Three Horsemen of Mandragora / A Thousand and One Tricks” (11/25/67) – A sultan
tricks Chuck and Nancy into unwittingly releasing evil horsemen. / Chuck and
Nancy have to free the Rajah from his own palace.
“The
Circus of Zahran / Baharum the Befuddled” (12/2/67) – The kids go to a circus
whose ringmaster wants to conquer and rob the city. / Chuck and Nancy encounter
a genie being controlled by the Master of Thieves.
“The
Imopssible Quest of Nazir / A Pound of Evil Magic” (12/16/67) – Chuck and Nancy
visit a sage for directions, unaware an evil wizard is posing as him. / Chuck
and Nancy stumble upon a plot against the Viceroy of Rapport.
“The
Maze of Mercuraad / The Magical Kingdom of Centuria” (12/30/67) – Chuck and
Nancy get lost and are demanded by a guardian for payment to continue on. / The
kids are captured by an evil queen who wants to make Shazzan her king.
“Nastrina
of the Flames / Quest for the Magic Lamp” (1/6/68) – The kids get embroiled in
a plot by an evil sorceress who wants to destroy Shazzan. / Chuck and Nancy
have to help Aladdin get his lamp back from the Master of Thieves.
“Rachid,
the Apprentice Sorcerer / Kahn of the North Wind” (1/13/68) – An evil sorcerer
sends his apprentice to find Chuck and Nancy so he can get revenge on Shazzan.
/ Chuck and Nancy have to save their friend from an evil wizard.
“The
Mirage Maker / Mysterio, the Mini Magi” (1/20/68) – The Mirage Maker captures a
princess and Kaboobie to force Chuck and Nancy to do his bidding. / Evil imps
are sent after Chuck and Nancy so an evil wizard can capture Shazzan.
Filling the void of
pirate media before Johnny Depp, Bill Kopp developed Mad Jack the Pirate. The series followed the adventures of Mad Jack
(Kopp), a cowardly, clumsy, inept, disgrace of a pirate who was convinced of
his own superiority in everything. He captained The Sea Chicken with his faithful anthropomorphic rat first mate,
Snuk (Billy West). Snuk was only marginally smarter than Jack, and never
hesitated to point out his captain’s shortcomings. The pair always set out in
search of buried treasure or to claim a reward but were often thwarted by
circumstances and their own ineptitude.
Jack, Snuk and The Sea Chicken.
Initially, Mad Jack
was to be named Red Hook until Kopp discovered that a beer company was already using the name and
wanted to avoid any issues. The inspiration for the show came from the British
comedy series Blackadder, which followed
a man bumbling through various periods in history. Kopp set the series on an
alternate flat Earth-like planet where he could be fast and loose with history
and create unpredictable events. That meant the inclusion of anachronistic
things like cars, cameras and movies. While Jack and Snuk were the principal
characters, a variety of other equally bizarre characters made appearances with
frequent vocal contributions by Jess
Harnell, Robert Pike Daniel,
Tom Kenny, Charlie Adler, Cam Clarke, Sandy Fox, Brad
Garrett, Kevin Meaney, Valery Pappas and April Winchell.
Mad Jack...the movie?
Mad Jack the Pirate debuted on FOX’s
Fox Kids programming block
on September 12, 1998. Most of the episodes contained two segments apiece. Fox
Kids was at this point owned by Saban
Entertainment, who had a hand in producing the show with Fox Arts Animation
Studios and Bill Kopp Productions. Kopp served as a producer and voice
director, as well as wrote the majority of the scripts. Other writing was done
by Steve Ochs (who also
contributed some voice work), Huub
Dikstaal (who also directed two segments) and Martin Olson. The show’s outlandish
characters were designed by David Mucci
Fassett (credited as simply Mucci) and was animated overseas by Fil-Cartoons,
Inc.Shuki Levy, Haim Saban (as Kussa Mahchi) and Deddy Tzur composed the music.
Talk about a captive interview.
Mad
Jack was paired with fellow Saban property, The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs, during its original run on the
network. However, while Spy Dogs went
on to have a shorter second season, Mad
Jack was ultimately cancelled due to poor ratings and was replaced the following
fall by The New Woody Woodpecker Show. Its
removal marked the last time it was seen in North American markets. The show
has seen home media releases in Eastern Europe by Prooptiki and Turkey by Kanal D Home Video
and has aired on Jetix
Play in Turkey, following Disney’s
2001 acquisition of Saban Entertainment, and Fox Kids in Poland.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“The Terrifying Sea Witch Incident” (9/12/98) – Jack escapes the
island of the Three Witches with fellow prisoner Snuk in order to avoid
marrying the lake monster.
“The Curse of the Blue Karbunkle” (9/19/98) – Jack and Snuk have to go
to the Isle of the Biclops to acquire a sword to defeat a dragon guarding a
gem.
“Of Zerzin, Fleebis, Queues and Cures / A Knight to Dismember”
(9/26/98) – Jack tries to stay ahead of Mr. Death and get a cure for his
ailment. / Jack takes a knight on a quest to rescue a princess but ends up
having to rescue the knight himself.
“The Strange Case of Angus Dagnabbit / Lights, Camera – Snuk!”
(10/3/98) – Jack manages to trick Angus out of his Golden Haggis, but Angus’
ghost returns to reclaim it. / After seeing a film, Jack heads to a movie
studio to educate them about real piracy.
“Happy Birthday to Who? / Shipwhacked” (10/24/98) – Snuk takes Jack to
an amusement park only he enjoys for Jack’s birthday. / Snuk causes them to be
shipwrecked and Jack has a hard time coping with it.
“The Horror of Draclia” (10/31/98) – Jack and Snuk attempt to steal
Count Draclia’s golden wand, but Draclia was expecting and gets the drop on
them.
“The Treasure of the Headless, Left-Handed, Peatmoss Salesman / 999
Delights” (11/7/98) – Jack and Snuk end up arrested before their next quest and
placed in the DMMV. / Jack steals a magic wand to go on a quest to find the
Enchantress Victoria.
“The Alarming Snow Troll Encounter / The Case of the Crabs” (11/14/98)
– Jack and Snuk end up captured by the Snow Trolls after trying to retrieve
their ice cream maker from them. / Jack and Snuk are captured by the
Crustacians while searching for a pink pearl on the seabed.
“Jack the Dragon Slayer / Captain Snuk” (12/12/98) – Jack sets out to
rescue a princess from a dragon for a reward, only to find out the pair have
fallen in love. / When an old enemy comes for Jack, he switches places with
Snuk.
“The Island of Pink and Fuzzy / Uncle Mortimer” (2/6/99) – Jack and
Snuk head to an island of cuteness for a treasure that ends up being cursed. /
To receive his inheritance from his uncle, Jack must take Scabby Doo to the
isle of Hanna Barberians while avoiding his uncle’s ghost.
“The Great Kapow! / The Snuk, the Mad and the Ugly” (2/13/99) – A
starving Jack and Snuk are fed by island natives, not knowing they’re being
fattened as sacrifices. / While in jail their cellmate tells Jack and Snuk
about a treasure in the desert.
“Attack of the Man-Eating, Green Gorillas / The Johnny of the Lamp”
(2/20/99) – Jack finds a treasure shortly before being kidnapped by an old
classmate. / Jack tries to reclaim his magic lamp from a sea monster only to be
eaten by it along with Snuk and Angus.
“Mad Jack and the Beanstalk / The Curse of the Mummy’s Toe” (2/27/99)
– Beans taken by Snuk in a con end up growing a giant beanstalk. / Jack
narrowly escapes a death trap only to be arrested for theft.
When Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) moved from Newark, New Jersey to the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, things weren’t all that
great. Befriending cheerleader Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue) drew the wrath
of her boyfriend, Johnny Lawrene (William
Zabka). Johnny and his cronies, all students of the unethical and vicious
form of karate known as Cobra Kai, attacked Daniel until he was saved by Keisuke
Miyagi (Pat Morita). Daniel enlists Miyagi’s aid in learning karate, which he
uses to defeat Johnny in a tournament.
That was the plot of The Karate Kid, a 1984 movie from Columbia Pictures
directed by John G. Avildsen
and written by Robert Mark Kamen.
The film opened on June 22nd and became a critical and commercial
success; earning over $90 million and getting Morita nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. 1986
saw the release of the first sequel, The Karate Kid, Part II, which
followed Daniel joining Miyagi on a visit back to his home village in Okinawa, Japan. Despite mixed
reviews, the film grossed even more than the original and led to the production
of The Karate Kid, Part III.
The second sequel focused on the teacher of the Cobra Kais, John Kreese (Martin Kove), seeking
revenge on Miyagi and Daniel. It was poorly received by fans and critics, only
grossing $39 million.
Taki, Miyagi and Daniel.
Before the third movie’s release,
Columbia partnered with DiC Entertainment
and Saban
Entertainment to build on the franchise’s popularity with an animated series.
Developed by Dan Distefano,
it was originally going to be a 65-episode daily syndicated series until it was
reduced to a standard 13-episode Saturday morning cartoon. Forgoing the
tournament aspect central to the plots of the films, the show was done as a
quest show as Daniel (Joey Dedio) and Miyagi (Robert Ito) pursued a miniature
shrine with mystical powers after it was stolen from a temple in Okinawa. The
shrine traveled around the world and bestowed powers upon those who ended up
with it, and usually found a way to elude the heroes just before they could
retrieve it. Along the way, they usually ended up having to help those they
encountered with problems besides the ones tied to the shrine. Joining them on
their hunt was an Okinawan girl named Taki (Janice Kawaye), who bore a
resemblance to Daniel’s girlfriend from the second movie, Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita). Morita was the
only actor from the films to reprise his role, providing an opening narration
from his character’s perspective to introduce the episode’s plot (with the
exception of the 8th episode).
With the movie franchise already on the way out with its audience, it
came as no surprise when the repetitive nature of the show failed to win them
back; especially going up against Slimer!
and the Real Ghostbusters(also produced by DiC) and Pee-wee’s
Playhouse in its timeslot. It was cancelled after its single season.
The series never saw release on home media, but in 2009 Sony Pictures, Columbia’s new parent
company, released the series to digital streaming platforms such as iTunes, Neftlix
and Hulu, and Sony’s own streaming service, Crackle. Dedio and Kawaye would go on to
star together again as Wheeler and Gi, respectively, in Captain Planet and the Planeteers, on which Ito would guest star.
In 1994, the original Karate Kid franchise gained its final
chapter in The Next Karate Kid. The film
was the first to not feature Daniel, be written by Kamen or directed by
Avildsen. Instead, it was written by Mark Lee and directed by Christopher Cain. It focused on
Miyagi visiting Boston, Massachusetts and
training the granddaughter of his former commanding officer during WWII, Julie (Hilary Swank). The film, while a
breakout role for Swank, was even more poorly received than the third movie and
only earned $15.8 million.
In 2010, Columbia attempted to revive the franchise with a reboot movie
starring Jaden Smith and
produced by his parents, Will
and Jada. The film, written by Christopher Murphey and directed
by Harald
Zwart, focused on Jaden’s character, Dre Parker, moving to Beijing, China and being
rescued from bullies by janitor Mr. Han (Jackie
Chan). Han trained Dre in the ways of Kung Fu (despite the film’s title)
and Dre entered a tournament where he competed against Master Li (Rongguang Yu) and his merciless
students. Despite mixed reviews, the film was a box office success and a sequel
had been announced, although it would end up being cancelled.
Cobra Kai promotional poster.
Beating that sequel was the unexpected continuation of the original
franchise, Cobra Kai.
The series followed Johnny and Daniel 34 years after the events of the
first movie; running 6 seasons across YouTube Red (now YouTube Premium) and Netflix. Although not canon with the franchise,
the animated series was referenced in Cobra Kai’s third season with the
appearance of the shrine in a dojo in Okinawa. In 2025, Columbia released Karate Kid: Legends,
written by Ron Lieber and
directed by Jonathan Entwistle.
It united Daniel and Mr. Han in training Li Fong (Ben Wang) in a new style
combining both their disciplines so that he could win an upcoming tournament.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“My Brother’s Keeper” (9/9/89) – Miyagi and Daniel help a South
American boy learn what he needs to past his tests of manhood besides relying
on a mystical shrine.
“The Greatest Victory” (9/16/89) – Miyagi helps a Chinese neighborhood
form an organized effort to oppose the gang terrorizing them as their leader
uses the shrine gain new members.
“The Homecoming” (9/23/89) – Daniel returns to New Jersey to find a
shrine where he used to live.
“The Tomorrow Man” (9/30/89) – In France, a clairvoyant predicts
Miyagi’s death as they try to beat a smuggler to the shrine.
“All the World His Stage” (10/14/89) – In London, a prop sword ends up
infused with the power of the shrine and the actor who wields it can no longer
distinguish reality from fantasy.
“The Paper Hero” (10/21/89) – The trio join forces with Daniel’s FBI
uncle in Mexico to stop banditos who have gained the power of the shrine.
“Over the Rainbow” (10/28/89) – A Himalayan village becomes young
again due to the shrine’s powers, and abandoning their responsibilities leave
it their home vulnerable to a blizzard.
“The Return of the Shrine” (11/4/89) – The trio finally get the shrine
to Okinawa, but a family feud can result in its being lost again.
“Walkabout” (11/11/89) – In Australia, an Aborigine man sees the
shrine but is being blackmailed by members of his tribe.
“East Meets West” (11/18/89) – A scientist steals the shrine from a
Russian lab in order to empower his son playing hockey in the Friendship Games.
“The Hunt” (12/2/89) – When a whale swallows the shrine the trio get
jobs aboard a whaling vessel in Norway to pursue it.
“The Gray Ghosts” (12/9/89) – The trio enlist the help of senior
citizen group The Gray Ghosts in San Francisco to get the shrine from a wealthy
recluse.
“A Little World of his Own” (12/16/89) – A young boy uses the shrine
to shrink objects to add to his collection and get revenge on bullies, and
accidentally shrinks the trio.
Notable Roles: Cartoonist, comic book artist, character designer
Toth displayed artistic talent early in his
childhood and was encouraged by a teacher to pursue it. Toth enrolled in the School of Industrial Art where he
studied illustration. He sold his first piece of freelance art at age 15 and
worked on stories for Heroic magazine through comic book packager Steve
Douglas. Toth had dreamed of doing newspaper strips but switched over to comic
books after considering the strip industry “dying”. After graduating in 1947,
Toth was hired by Sheldon
Mayer at National Periodicals (precursor to DC Comics) where he would spend the next 5
years working on a variety of books as editor Julius Schwartz
considered him “my best artist at the time.” In 1950, he briefly realized his
dream of doing strips by ghost illustrating Casey Ruggleswith Warren Tufts. In 1952,
Toth moved to California and began a career with Standard Comics until
he was drafted into the army. While stationed in Tokyo, Toth wrote and drew his
own strip, Jon Fury,
for the base paper, Depot
Diary. Returning home in 1956,
Toth worked for Dell Comics
until 1960 when he became the art director for the animated science fiction
show, Space Angel. Noticing his work, he was hired by Hanna-Barbera where he
served as a character designer and layout artist. He created the characters of Space
Ghost, The
Herculoids, Birdman,
the Galaxy Trio, Dino Boy and Johnny
Quest, among others. In 1973, he was assigned to the Australian division to
oversee production of Super
Friends. Toth continued
to work in comics, including doing the Hot Wheelscomic that tied into the animated
series. In 1990, he was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame.
Toth was known for his intense study of other artists and was often outspoken
in his analysis of comic throughout the years. Throughout the 1990s and early
2000s, he contributed the columns “Before I Forget” and “Who Cares? I Do!” to
the magazines Comic
Book Artistand Alter
Ego, respectively. Although he
left the animation industry following Bionic
Six, his characters and designs
found new life in the Cartoon Network
parody shows Space Ghost Coast to Coast,
Sealab 2021, and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at
Law. After years of declining
health, Toth died in 2006 from a heart attack while working at his drawing
table.
Following the successful run of Batman: The Animated Series, Steven Spielberg contacted show
co-creator Bruce
Timm
(with whom he was previously associated through Tiny Toon Adventures)
to request his help in developing a new superhero show that would be made
between Amblin
Entertainment and Warner
Bros. Animation. Timm and Paul Dini
crafted the pitch for an edgy superhero with a manic personality that would
star in a serious adventure show with comedic undertones. Timm named him
“Freakazoid” after it just jumped into his head. Spielberg loved the pitch, but
wanted the concept to lean more towards comedy.
Bruce Timm's concept art.
Timm, feeling unable to deliver the
kind of show Spielberg wanted, bowed out of the project. Spielberg called in Tom Ruegger,
who had developed Tiny Toons and Animaniacswith Spielberg, to
redevelop the series from scratch. Ruegger utilized some of Timm’s initial
designs and concepts, but the overall project had become a pure comedy series
with the same style of humor as Tiny Toons
and Animaniacs. This actually led
to some criticism from comic book creator Mike
Allred who felt the character was a direct lift of his Madman; from his
appearance right down to personality. Timm had admitted that Madman served as an inspiration for his
initial idea, and Allred was incensed over the lack of credit or compensation
when the show finally came out. As Madman
was an amalgamation of multiple influences himself, Allred didn’t pursue
any action outside of sending Spielberg a letter about his displeasure.
Original Freakazoid concept art.
Ruegger compiled a collection of
short story segments for the series, but Spielberg, while liking Ruegger’s
offerings, wanted longer ones as well. Ruegger recruited writers John McCann
and Paul Rugg to develop those longer stories and help figure out what exactly Freakazoid! was going to be.
Dexter Douglas.
Freakazoid!
was about 16-year-old geek Dexter Douglas (David Kaufman) who had just
gotten a new Pinnacle
Chip
for his computer. Unknown to him, the chip had a flaw that when someone entered
in the code string “@[=g3,8d]\&fbb=-q]/hk%fg” (which was entered by his
cat, Mr. Chubbukins [Frank Welker], walking on the keyboard) and hit “delete”
(which Dexter did), the user would be absorbed into cyberspace where they would
become infused with all the knowledge of the internet, given super powers, and
be very silly with questionable sanity—or, a Freakazoid (Rugg, who won the role
after Spielberg liked his demonstration of the voice they were looking for).
Freakazoid possessed a variety of powers, including super strength, endurance,
speed, agility, hearing (he once traveled across the globe to yell at a Tibetan
monk for raking too loud), and could travel instantaneously by turning into a
lightning bolt. However, Freakazoid’s primary method of travel was sticking his
arms outward while running and making swooshing sounds, pretending to fly.
Freakazoid could switch to and from his alter ego by saying “freak out” or
“freak in.” Freakazoid’s perception of himself varied between episodes, as both
he and Dexter would be regarded as the same person sometimes, and other times
regarded as completely different individuals (Freakazoid would spend
Dexter-time in an area of his brain called the Freakazone where he would
reflect, have profound thoughts, and watch reruns of The
Rat Patrol).
Dexter with Duncan and Mr. Chubbikins.
In Dexter’s life, he lived with his
family in Washington, DC. Debbie (Tress MacNeille) was Dexter’s clueless mother
who served as a parody of a stereotypical domestic type and often delivered
lines on morose subjects in a cheery tone. Dexter’s father, Douglas (McCann),
was an automobile dealer who believed a goblin lived in his gas tank and was a
generally inept father figure. His older brother, Duncan (Googy Gress), was a
bully towards Dexter and portrayed as a stereotypical jock. Dexter attended Harry Connick, Jr.
High School.
Freakazoid with Cosgrove and Professor Jones.
Over in Freakazoid’s life, he had
his mentor, Roddy
MacStew (Craig
Ferguson, after the producers failed to get Mike Myers),
an ill-tempered Scotsman who worked for the company that produced the Pinnacle Chip
and trained Freakazoid in the use of his powers. Freakazoid’s best friend was
Sgt. Mike Cosgrove (Edward Asner), a stone-faced monotoned police officer who
often interrupted Freakazoid’s adventures to invite him to hang out somewhere
and could put a stop to almost any situation by pointing and sternly saying
“Cut that out.” Cosgrove was originally intended to be a one-time character by
McCann, but Rugg liked him and brought him back as a regular. Freakazoid’s
girlfriend was the perky blonde Stephanie (Tracy Rowe). Steff was a classmate
of Dexter’s and viewed him as a creep, unaware that she was technically dating
him. Steff sometimes participated in Freakazoid’s adventures and displayed a
technical prowess. Occasionally, when Freakazoid was portrayed as a Batman
parody complete with gadgets, vehicles and a Freakalair, Freakazoid had a mute
butler named Ingmar
(a combination of Zorro’s
mute manservant Bernardo
and Batman’s butler Alfred
Pennyworth). When Ingmar quit to become a rodeo clown, he was
replaced by Professor
Jones (created specifically for Jonathan Harris,
who essentially reprised his role of Dr. Smith from Lost
in Space). A running gag would feature someone
asking Jones if he was “on a TV show with a robot.” Professor
Heiney (Ed
Gilbert) was a scientist often attacked by monsters at his
lab who helped Freakazoid out on occasion.
Longhorn, Invisibo, cyborg Gutierrez, Waylon Jeepers, Candle Jack, The Lobe, Cobra Queen and Cave Guy.
A superhero isn’t much without a
selection of supervillains, and Freakazoid had his share of enemies as wacky as
he was. His most frequent sparring partner was The Lobe (David Warner), a super
genius whose entire head was a giant brain. Other foes included Royce Mumphry,
aka Cave Guy (Jeff Bennett, impersonating Jim Backus),
a blue caveman with upper-class diction, education and taste who spoke in a
stereotypical WASP
tone; Audrey Manatee, aka Cobra Queen (MacNeille), a former shoplifter who was
transformed by an experimental cosmetic left in the sun too long that gave her
command over reptiles, as well as their general appearance; Jubal “Bull” Nixon,
aka Longhorn
(Maurice LaMarche,
impersonating Johnny
Cash),
a former cat litter company employee who turned to crime with his sidekick, Turk
(Hal Rayle),
and had plastic surgery to turn himself into a Texas Longhorn Steer (Timm’s
pitch had him be a strongman in a bull costume) in order to evade law
enforcement (which didn’t work as he was still featured on America’s
Most Wantedevery
week); The
Nerdator (Aron
Kincaid), a parody of The Predator,
who sought to kidnap all the nerds in the world to absorb their knowledge and
become a super-nerd; Ahmon Kor-Unch, aka Invisibo
(Corey Burton,
impersonating Vincent
Price), a smart-mouthed pharaoh who only appeared visible
with the Anubis staff he carried; Arms Akimbo
(John Schuck,
impersonating Edward
G. Robinson), a former model-turned-extortionist
whose years of posing left his hands permanently stuck to his hips; Candle Jack
(Bennett, impersonating Jack
Palance), a supernatural Boogeyman that abducted anyone who
said his name and enjoyed watching F
Troop;
Waylon
Jeepers (a play on country singer Waylon Jennings,
voiced by Bennett), a creepy little man whose Medusa Watch could turn people
(and pigeons) to stone and book, How to
Summon Monsters the E-Z Way, allowed him to summon the demon Vorn
the Unspeakable (Richard Moll);
Deadpan
(Bebe Neuwirth),
a plain-looking and monotoned shape-shifter; Janos Ivnovels
(Jim Cummings),
the ruthless dictator of the fictional country of Vuka Nova; Dr. Mystico
(Tim Curry),
a mad scientist who turned orangutans into human-like creatures and vice versa;
Kid Carrion (Bennet), a zombie cowboy who resembled Tex Hex
from the show Bravestarr(and was part of
Timm’s original pitch); and Mary Beth (a play on cosmetics giant Mary Kay, voiced by
MacNeille), a cosmetics executive who transformed into a monster when angered
and sought to absorb Freakazoid’s hero essence to remain immortal.
Gutierrez in his Freakazoid form.
Freakazoid’s arch-nemesis was Armando
Gutierrez (Ricardo
Montalban), the eye-patched man who ran the company responsible
for the Pinnacle Chip. Gutierrez sought to exploit the flaw of the chip for his
own gain and ignored MacStew’s warnings about it. Eventually, Gutierrez was
able to access the flaw and became a dark version of Freakazoid (however,
maintaining his sanity) until Freakazoid knocked him into a cyber-pit. He
returned as a cyborg to vex Freakazoid again. Gutierrez took umbrage to being
called a weenie and usually demanded people laugh (and, in one instance,
scream) with him. Gutierrez resembled Montalban, and his mannerisms were based
on Montalban’s character of Kahn
Noonien Singh from Star
Trek II: Wrath of Kahn.
Gutierrez’s
main henchman was Jocko (Rugg), an inarticulate caricature of first season
director Dan
Riba.
Freakazoid, Steff, Douglas Douglas, Sgt. Cosgrove, Emmit Neverend and The Lawn Gnomes.
Other characters included Mo-Ron
(later Bo-Ron after the network feared the first name might be offensive,
voiced by Stan
Freberg), an obese and dimwitted alien from the planet Barone
(named after the production’s favorite pizza restaurant, Barone’s); Fanboy
(Stephen Furst),
an obese and zit-faced socially awkward fanboy that wanted to be Freakazoid’s
sidekick; Hero Boy (McCann, using a voice he had originally conceived for
another character), a parody of Astro Boy
and star of Freakazoid’s favorite TV show who inspired Freakazoid with his
catchphrase “I must succeed!” (even though Hero Boy had no powers and was often
shrugged off by whatever foe he was facing); Paul Harvey (a caricature of the
radio-host whom Rugg had once been a programmer for, allowing him ample
opportunity to hone his impression of him), an obnoxious man who interrupted
the story to give background information on the villain or ruin the ending, and
often signed off with “And now you know the rest of the backstory. Good day!”; Emmitt Neverend,
a short, hunchbacked man with a grimace designed by Mitch Schauer
who appeared in a Where’s Waldo?fashion throughout
an episode (the credits would reveal how many times he appeared); and Weena Mercator
as The Hopping Woman, a fictional person acknowledged whenever credits were
used in an episode but never actually appeared. Joe Leahy served as the series’
narrator and commentator, often becoming an active participant in the plot and
occasionally appearing on screen as a caricature of himself.
Fanboy, Mo-Ron, The Huntsman and Lord Bravery.
For a little variety, Freakazoid! had several other features
that had their own theme songs, title cards and rarely crossed over into the
main show. Lord Bravery starred Nigel
Skunkithorpe, aka Lord Bravery (Bennett, impersonating John Cleese),
a snooty, cynical and particularly British knight dressed like a Roman soldier.
He yielded no respect from the public (or his relatives) and was generally the
laughing stock of superheroes. The
Huntsman starred Marty Feeb, aka The Huntsman (Bennett, impersonating Charlton Heston),
a hunter who saved a chunky elf from being eaten by a crow and was rewarded a
magic sack of corn that gave him super strength, speed and glistening teeth.
Despite his willingness to do good, he often failed to find any crime to fight.
Toby Danger was a loving parody of Johnny
Questthat
was originally written by Tom
Minton for Animaniacs.
The short starred actors who previously appeared on Quest in similar roles, including
Don Messick
as Dr. Vernon Danger, Granville
van Dusen as bodyguard “Dash” O’Pepper, and Scott Menville
as Toby. The Lawn Gnomes was a parody
of Disney’s
Gargoylesanimated series.
The gnomes were cursed by a wizard they played a prank on to turn to stone
during the day until they mended their evil ways and fought alongside mankind. Fatman and Boy Blubber was a parody of
the 1966 Batmantelevision series
starring the morbidly obese Fatman (Marc Drotman)
and Boy Blubber (Rugg).
Freakazoid and Norm Abram.
Rugg, who was also the writing
supervisor on the show, served as one of the primary writers alongside McCann.
Other contributors included Ruegger, Paul Dini,
Alan Burnett,
Melody Fox,
Tom Sheppard,
Wendell Morris,
Lisa Malone,
Ken Segall,
Mitch Watson
and Jed
Spingarn. The humor from the show relied heavily on slapstick,
parody and pop culture references. The series was metafiction, so the
characters often broke the fourth wall. For instance, one episode’s story was
interrupted so that Freakazoid, Wakko Warner
(Jess Harnell)
and the
Brain (LaMarche) could argue which of their shows was
Spielberg’s (Welker) favorite (Tiny Toons
wasn’t featured, either due to their being on another network or Spielberg
citing that they existed in a universe separate from Animaniacs). Other cameo appearances included characters from various
Warner productions and celebrities, some of whom played themselves, such as Mark Hamill,
Jack Valenti,
Leonard Maltin
and Norm
Abram (who got a whole episode centered around him). Stock
footage played a role in some of the gags, including peaceful scenes of flowers
for “Relax-O-Vision”, numerous people screaming for “Scream-O-Vision”,
traditionally-dressed Bavarians dancing and slapping each other, a man being shot by a
cannonball, and a man wrestling a bear. A running gag on the
show was Freakazoid reminiscing fondly over the many sidekicks he had that had
fallen in battle.
The
series had encountered several difficulties: it failed to attract its target
audience, netting older viewers than the children The WB wanted, and it was
frequently shifted around the network’s schedule so that it became difficult
for viewers to find. The show managed to earn a second season, but WB cancelled
it in February of 1997 before the final two episodes aired. Cartoon Network
picked up the series that April and aired it in its entirety, and continued to
rerun it until 2003. Had the show not been cancelled, the character of Freakazette,
a female version of Freakazoid who made a cameo appearance in the first
episode, would have been introduced as possibly the alter-ego of Steff. In the
years since its original airing, Freakazoid!
had earned a cult following. In 2020, Rugg, Warner, Asner and Leahy all
reprised their roles for a special
crossover episode of Teen Titans Go!
Freakazoid teams-up with the Teen Titans.
Despite its comparatively short run
to the other Warner Bros. Animation efforts at that point, Freakazoid! still managed to land Daytime Emmys
for its theme song, “Outstanding Original Song” for “Invisibo” from the episode
“Freak-a-Panel”, and “Outstanding Special Class Animated Program.” Although
Freakazoid never received his own comic series, he did make an appearance in Animaniacs
#35
by DC Comics,
which was written by Jennifer
Moore and Sean
Carolan, who also penned the potential Freakazette script. Moore
and Carolan pitched a miniseries to DC for Freakazoid, but the idea was
abandoned when the series was cancelled. Between 2008 and 2009, Warner
Home Video released the complete series on two
season sets. The series was made available to
purchase for streaming on Amazon
Prime, Apple
TV, Google
Play and Vudu.
For a time, it was available to stream on Tubi
and HBO Max (now Max).
EPISODE GUIDE: Season 1: “Five
Day Forecast / The Dance of Doom / Freakazoid and Friends / Handman” (9/9/95) –
Freakazoid moonlights as a weatherman. / Freakazoid must rescue hostages at a
school dance from Cave Guy. / Yakko, Wakko and Dot introduce Freakazoid and his
cast in a modified version of their own theme song. / Freakazoid introduces his
new sidekick: Handman (Freakazoid’s hand with a face drawn on it). “Candle
Jack / Toby Danger in Doomsday Bet / The Lobe” (9/16/95) – A camping trip leads
to an encounter with Candle Jack, who kidnaps anyone that says his name. / The
Danger family must stop a mad scientist from taking over the world. / The Lobe
tries to figure out what makes Freakazoid tick with a lobotomy. “Mo-Ron
/ The Sewer Rescue / The Big Question / The Legends Who Lunch” (9/23/95) – A
UFO lands in Washington, DC and proves there is no intelligent life in space. /
Lord Bravery is called to action in the sewer after being thrown out of his
house. / Another alien arrives looking for the answer to a question of
universal importance. / Retired superheroes reminisce. “And
Fanboy is His Name / Lawn Gnomes Chapter IV: Fun in the Sun / Frenching with
Freakazoid” (9/30/95) – Fanboy desires to become Freakazoid’s new sidekick...no
matter what. / A wizard curses the gnomes to be statues during the day until
they learn to start helping others out of kindness. / Freakazoid teaches
French. “Foamy
the Freakadog / Office Visit / An Ode to Leonard Nimoy / Emergency Broadcast
System / Conversational Norwegian” (10/7/95) – Freakazoid reminisces about his
sidekick, Foamy. / Lord Bravery discovers a bakery owns the copyright to his
name. / Fanboy recites his experience obtaining an autograph from Leonard
Nimoy—in rhyme. / Freakazoid conducts a test of the EBS. / Freakazoid instructs
how to identify the narwhal in Norwegian. “The
Chip (Part 1)” (11/4/95) – A freak accident with a new Pinnacle Chip causes
Dexter Douglas to be sucked into his computer and emerge as Freakazoid. “The
Chip (Part 2) / Freakazoid is History” (11/11/95) – Freakazoid battles
Gutierrez. / Freakazoid gets sent back to Pearl Harbor during WWII. “Hot
Rods from Heck! / A Time for Evil / Freakmobile Toy Line” (11/18/95) –
Freakazoid uses his Freakmobile to derail Longhorn’s plan to steal a missile
with robotic hot rods. / The Huntsman wants action—and there’s none to be
found. / Freakazoid enjoys a windfall from the promotion of his Freakmobile. “Terror
on the Midway / Fatman and Boy Blubber / Limbo Lock-Up / Terror Palace”
(11/25/95) – The Lobe’s sinister plot conforms to Kids’ WB’s violence-reducing
standards. / The flabtastic duo fight for a boy’s right to eat his lunch…until
they learn what it is. / Freakazoid is arrested by the idiot police. / Huntsman
responds to a false alarm. “In
Arms Way / The Cloud” (12/16/95) – Freakazoid’s Christmas shopping is put on
hold to stop Arms Akimbo. / Freakazoid investigates a cloud that turns people
into clowns. “Next
Time, Phone Ahead / Nerdator” (2/3/96) – Freakazoid helps a lost alien “phone
home”. / An alien kidnaps nerds to steal their tech savvy. “House
of Freakazoid / Sewer or Later” (2/10/96) – A werewolf comes to Freakazoid for
help in keeping from transforming. / Cobra Queen thwarts Freakazoid’s pursuit
by going through the sewers. “The
Wrath of Gutierrez” (2/17/96) – Gutierrez escapes into the internet and emerges
as a being similar to Freakazoid, but maintaining his sanity (if you can truly
call evil sane, that is). Season 2: “Dexter’s
Date” (9/7/96) – Freakazoid is forced to ask the Lobe for help in stopping
random transformations so that he can enjoy his date with Steph as Dexter. “The
Freakazoid” (9/14/96) – Freakazoid must grant all requests made on his
birthday, with the Lobe’s being that he doesn’t interfere with his crime spree. “Mission:
Freakazoid” (9/28/96) – Freakazoid and his friends must rescue his family from
the brutal police state of Vuka Nova. “Virtual
Freak” (11/2/96) – The Lobe traps Freakazoid and Cosgrove in a game while their
avatars wreak havoc in the real world. “Hero
Boy” (11/9/96) – Gutierrez captures Freakazoid and unleashes an evil clone to
ruin his reputation. “A
Matter of Love” (11/16/96) – Cosgrove’s new girlfriend not only takes his time
away from Freakazoid, but she also wants to take Freakazoid’s essence to
maintain her youth. “Statuesque”
(11/29/96) – Waylon Jeepers summons Vorn the Unmentionable as well as imbues
his watch with petrification abilities to get his revenge on Freakazoid. “Island
of Dr. Mystico” (2/7/97) – A plane with Freakazoid’s arch-villains crashes on
an island where they become prey for Dr. Mystico. “Two
Against Freak” (2/14/97) – Cave Guy and Cobra Queen join forces while
Freakazoid attempts to learn the art of telekinesis. “Freak-A-Panel
/ Tomb of Invisibo” (5/31/97) – Freakazoid pursues Cave Guy through a comic
convention. / An ancient Egyptian invisible villain has been freed to cause
havoc on the world. “Normadeus”
(6/1/97) – The Lobe kidnaps Norm Abram and forces him to build a horn designed
to shatter Freakazoid to bits.
