45TH ANNIVERSARIES

 These are the groovy shows that are turning 

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: FRANK WELKER

FRANK WELKER

(March 12, 1946- )

Notable Roles: Fred Jones, Scooby-Doo, Pudge, Wheelie, Chopper, Jabberjaw, Wonderbug, Dynomutt, Buford, Nugget Nose, H.E.R.B.I.E., Impossible Man, Crazy Legs Crane Jr., Dragonfly, Toyman, Dinky Dog, Shmooo, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Droopy Dog, Dingbat, Rockjaw, Dollar, Cosmo, Blip, Mr. Cool, Dirty Dawg, Hefty Smurf, Poet Smurf, Smurfberry Bird, Timber, Wild Bill, Rock ‘n Roll, Marvin, Wonder Dog, Fangface, Donkey Kong Jr., Flash the dog, the General Lee, Smokey, Iceman/Bobby Drake, Flash Thompson, Darkseid, Kalibak, The Joker, Dr. Claw, Brain, Uni, Scoooter, Blaster, Rest-Q, Cap’n O.G. Readmore, Megatron, Soundwave, Skywarp, Dr. Ray Stantz, Slimer, Foofur, Catgut, Tooter Shelby, Occy, Bigtime Beagle, Baggy Beagle, Bubba the Caveduck, Toto, Kermit the Frog, Skeeter, Beaker, Abu, Gogo Dodo, Furball, Barney Rubble, Fall-Apart Rabbit, Dr. Viper, Bo, Booker, Sheldon, Bronx, Ralph the Security Guard, Krypto the Superdog, Father Time

When Welker moved to California, he attended Santa Monica College where he majored in theatrical arts. He received honors for his performance as the Cowardly Lion in the school’s 1966 production of The Wizard of Oz. His career officially started on stage as a stand-up comedian and impressionist, landing his first voice-over role in a Friskies commercial. The producer’s girlfriend encouraged him to audition for Hanna-Barbera while they were casting for Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! He auditioned for Scooby-Doo and Shaggy but ended up with the role of Fred Jones, which he has played in almost every incarnation of the franchise since (he did eventually get the role of Scooby after original actor Don Messick retired). Welker has since led a prolific voice acting career, spanning television shows and films. Along with Scooby, he’s most associated with the Transformers franchise; voicing several characters including primary antagonist, Megatron. Notable for his creature and animal sound effects, Welker is often cast as monsters, ghosts, animals or other inhuman characters. A good range of his vocal effects can be heard with the character Tooter from Snorks, who only communicated via sounds. He has done work for all the major animation studios, including Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, Ruby-Spears, Marvel Productions, DiC Entertainment, Warner Bros., Disney and others. Though rare, Welker has made on-camera appearances in films and television shows. His first on-screen role was as a kid who befriended Elvis Presley in 1969’s The Trouble with Girls. He also appeared in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and its sequel, How to Frame a Figg and Dirty Little Billy. On television, he’s appeared on Laugh-In, Love, American Style, The Patridge Family, Catch-22 and others. Welker made an on-camera appearance in CBS’ 1984 Saturday morning preview special, which showcased his recording an episode of Muppet Babies. In 2016, he was honored with a lifetime achievement Emmy Award.

Saturday Credits:

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

The Barkleys

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie

The New Scooby-Doo Movies

Super Friends (1973)

Bailey’s Comets

Valley of the Dinosaurs

Hong Kong Phooey

Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch

The New Tom & Jerry Show

The Oddball Couple

Jabberjaw

Wonderbug

The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour

Dynomutt, Dog Wonder

What’s New, Mr. Magoo?

The Skatebirds

Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels

Fred Flintstone and Friends

The Robonic Stooges

The All-New Popeye Hour

Fangface

Yogi’s Space Race

The Fantastic Four (1978)

The All-New Pink Panther Show

Challenge of the Superfriends

Dinky Dog

The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle

Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo

The New Shmoo

Casper and the Angels

The World’s Greatest Superfriends

The Super Globetrotters

The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show

The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show

The Tarzan/Lone Ranger/Zorro Adventure Hour

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979)

Heathcliff (1980)

Super Friends (1980)

The Flintstone Comedy Show

The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show

Richie Rich

Space Stars

The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang

Trollkins

Blackstar

The Kwicky Koala Show

The Smurfs

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

Shirt Tales

The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour

The Puppy’s Further Adventures

Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour

Pac Preview Party

Pac-Man

Inspector Gadget

Dungeons & Dragons

Monchichis

Saturday Supercade

The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show

The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries

ABC Weekend Specials (episodes)

The Dukes

Alvin & The Chipmunks (1983)

The Littles

SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show

Snorks

The Get Along Gang

Turbo Teen

Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies

Pink Panther and Sons

Back to Next Saturday

Jim Henson’s Little Muppet Monsters

Punky Brewster

Robotix

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo

The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians

The Wuzzles

Challenge of the GoBots

There Berenstain Bears

Galtar and the Golden Lance

Pound Puppies (1986)

The Real Ghostbusters

Scooby’s Mystery Funhouse

Kissyfur

Teen Wolf

CBS Storybreak

Wildfire

Foofur

Lazer Tag and Academy

DuckTales (1987)

Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears

The Flintstone Kids

Popeye and Son

Yogi’s Treasure Hunt

The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley

Superman (1988)

Garfield and Friends

The New Yogi Bear Show

Dino-Riders

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

Dink, the Little Dinosaur

Pryde of the X-Men

Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue

The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera

The Wizard of Oz

Rick Moranis in Gravedale High

Captain N: The Game Master

Where’s Waldo? (1991)

Yo Yogi!

Tom & Jerry Kids Show

Tiny Toon Adventures

Bobby’s World

The Plucky Duck Show

Darkwing Duck

The Pirates of Dark Water

Goof Troop

The Addams Family (1992)

Batman: The Animated Series

The Little Mermaid: The Animated Series

Marsupilami

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993)

Cro

Animaniacs

Droopy: Master Detective

Gargoyles

Freakazoid!

The Savage Dragon

The Mask: The Animated Series

Pinky and the Brain

Timon & Pumbaa

The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries

Mighty Ducks

Casper

101 Dalmatians: The Series

Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm

Road Rovers

Jungle Cubs

The Legend of Calamity Jane

Waynehead

Superman: The Animated Series

Cave Kids

The Secret Files of the SpyDogs

Hercules: The Animated Series

Histeria!

Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain

Xyber9: New Dawn

Mickey Mouse Works

40TH ANNIVERSARIES

CASPER AND THE ANGELS

CASPER AND THE ANGELS

(NBC, September 22-December 15, 1979)

Hanna-Barbera Productions

MAIN CAST:

Julie McWhirter – Casper

John Stephenson – Hairy Scarey, Commander

Diana McCannon – Space Patrol Officer Maxi

Laurel Page – Space Patrol Officer Mini

Hal Smith – Nerdley

Paul Winchell – Fungo


For the history of Casper, check out the post here.

            When Harvey Cartoons approached Hanna-Barbera about producing their next Casper series, the results ended up becoming a hodgepodge of different ideas blended together.

Casper, Maxi, Mini and Hairy.

            The new Casper series became Hanna-Barbera’s second attempt at cashing in on the fame of Charlie’s Angels following Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. The difference was this time they opted to mix in a little CHiPs and a taste of The Jetsons as the Angels in question, the ditzy Mini (Laurel Page, who also starred in Caveman) and the sensible yet short-tempered Maxi (Diana McCannon), were jet cycle cops in the year 2179. Joining them on their assignments was Casper (Julie McWhirter), as well as two inept junior partners, Nerdley (Hal Smith) and Fungo (Paul Winchell). Rounding out the rag-tag bunch was Casper’s cousin Hairy Scarey (John Stephenson impersonating Ed Wynn), a more traditional ghost who liked to scare and often fell into helping the Angels out on their cases. Unlike other ghosts in the Casper franchise, Hairy was more accepting of Casper’s gentle nature and did his best to try and teach him how to be a real ghost. The Angels’ orders came from The Commander (Stephenson) via communicator screen.

Hairy giving Fungo and Nerdley a fright.

            Casper and the Angels debuted on NBC on September 22, 1979. The show was written by Jack Bonestell, Patsy Cameron, Gary Greenfield, Bob Ogle and Dick Robbins, with Ogle serving as story editor. Hoyt Curtin provided the music. The series limped along for a single season, not really catching much of an audience on the struggling network. Hanna-Barbera gave it their all, however, as while the show was in production, they also produced two Casper specials featuring Hairy. Casper’s Halloween Special, aired on October 30^th, and Casper’s First Christmas, aired on December 18^th. Neither special was set in the futuristic setting of The Angels, or featured the Angels themselves; however, the cast, save Page and Winchell, were reused for different roles in Halloween.   

Hairy having fun in the office.

In 1995, Turner Home Entertainment released two VHS collections, The Boo Zoo and Stars & Frights, featuring five episodes of the show between them. In 2000, Warner Home Video released the Halloween special on VHS and included six episodes with it. The series itself has yet to see any kind of release to DVD.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Casper’s Golden Chance / Space Circus” (9/22/79) – Mini and Maxi are after gold thieves while Hairy teaches Casper how to scare. / A diamond smuggler happens to hold out at the circus Casper and Hairy go to.

“Casper Ghosts West / Casper’s Camp Out” (9/29/79) – The team is tasked with protecting Sandy Gulch from goons disguised as ghosts. / While on a camping excursion, the team has to deal with a damaged dam.

“Strike Four / The Space Pirate” (10/6/79) – Someone impersonates the star player of the Space City Dodgers. / The team plans to foil Spacebard’s plot to rob a bank.

“Ship-Wrecked / The Cat Burglar” (10/13/79) – Hairy gets the team stranded on a remote planet with hostile inhabitants. / Hairy helps Nerdley and Fungo solve a burglary after they fail to catch the thief.

“Something Fishy / The Smiling Lisa” (10/20/79) – A seal from the Space Aquarium gets held for ransom. / The team is assigned to guard the Smiling Lisa, but find out it’s already stolen upon their arrival.

“A Pocket Full O’Schemes / A Tale of Two Trashmen” (10/27/79) – Mini and Maxi argue over who gets the credit for capturing a pickpocket. / Burglars use disguises as trashmen to make off with their stolen goods.

“Fatula / T.V. or Not T.V.” (11/3/79) – An old collar seeks revenge against Mini and Maxi. / Casper and Hairy keep an escaped criminal from ruining Mini and Maxi’s TV debuts.

“Gone to the Dogs / Private Eyeball to Eyeball” (11/10/79) – Hairy poses as a dog to catch a thieving dog catcher. / Hairy becomes a private eye to investigate a crooked detective looking to steal the gold the Angels guard.

“Champ for a Day / The Ghost Robbers” (11/17/79) – The Angels have to find a wrestler’s stolen teddy bear to get him back into the ring. / Casper and Hairy are framed for robbing a bank.

“Aunt Mary Scarey / The Ice Heist” (11/24/79) – Hairy pretends to be the commander in order to impress his aunt. / The team works to uncover a ring of jewel thieves in a hotel.

“A Shoplifting Experience / The Impossible Scream” (12/1/79) – The team pursues a high-tech shoplifter. / Muscles McSnort causes trouble in the city, but the team has to stop him without Hairy who has lost confidence after failing to scare him.

“Prehistoric Hi-Jinx / The Commander is Missing” (12/8/79) – While guarding a scientist’s lab, the team accidentally gets sent back in time. / The team has to find out what happened to their boss.

“Love at First Fright / Saving Grace in Outer Space” (12/15/79) – Hairy begs Mini and Maxi to let him tag along on an assignment to guard an actress he’s fallen for. / The Commander’s troublesome niece stows away aboard a stolen spacecraft.