30TH ANNIVERSARIES

 Now for this batch of shows turning a big

DON JURWICH DEAD AT 87

 

You can read the full story here.

He wrote for The Super 6, The Bugs Bunny Show, The New Tom & Jerry Show, The Mumbly Cartoon Show, Heathcliff (1980), Tom & Jerry Kids Show and Droopy: Master Detective, also serving as story editor for the latter two; worked as a layout artist for The Bullwinkle Show, Linus! The Lion Hearted, Wacky Races, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, Josie and the Pussycats, The Flintstone Comedy Hour, The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, The Roman Holidays and Hong Kong Phooey; served as a designer for George of the Jungle (1967); was a story director for Jabberjaw, The All-New Super Friends Hour and The Kwicky Koala Show; a recording director for Challenge of the Superfriends, The World’s Greatest Superfriends, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show and Droopy: Master Detective; production designer Emergency +4; director for Spider-Man (1981), supervising director Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, and voice director for The Incredible Hulk (1982); and was a producer for Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics, Challenge of the Superfriends, The World’s Greatest SuperFriends, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show, The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, The Incredible Hulk (1982), The Smurfs, Tom & Jerry Kids Show, Red Planet and Droopy: Master Detective.

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: JANET WALDO

JANET WALDO

(February 4, 1919-June 12, 2016)

Notable Roles: Pearl Slaghoople, Libby Freeman, Lana Lang, Granny Sweet, Nancy, Penelope Pitstop, Judy Jetson, Josie McCoy, Morticia Addams, Mrs. Anders, Scooby Dee, Princess, Susan, Shanna the She-Devil, Zerona, Mayda Munny, Hogatha

Waldo got her start with bit parts and small roles in films beginning in 1938; although in 1941 she was the leading lady in three Westerns: Silver Stallion, The Bandit Trail and Land of the Open Range. Her big break came when she joined Cecil B. DeMille’s Lux Radio Theatre, leading to a radio career topped by the starring role in Meet Corliss Archer. Her likeness was used for the Meet Corliss Archer comic book published by Fox Feature Syndicate in 1948; the first time fans got any visual indication of what the character looked like. Waldo made the transition to television in 1952 with guest-starring roles on I Love Lucy, The Phil Silvers Show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (reprising the role she played on the radio version) and others. She would make an appearance in another Lucille Ball series, The Lucy Show, playing Lucy’s sister in 1963. That year, she began her career as a voice actor in animation as supporting characters in Hanna-Barbera’s Loopy de Loop and Jonny Quest. She assumed the recurring role of Pearl Slaghoople, Wilma Flintstone’s (Jean Vander Pyl) mother, in The Flintstones franchise from Verna Felton in 1964. She also had a starring role in the short-lived sitcom Valentine’s Day as Libby Freeman. By 1966, Waldo had edged out of appearing on camera in favor of a voice career, primarily working for Hanna-Barbera; although she did do voices for Ruby-Spears Productions’ The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show and The Puppy’s Further Adventures, Marvel Productions’ Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, and anime dubs such as the Princess in Battle of the Planets. Her most recognizable characters included Judy Jetson from The Jetsons franchise, Penelope Pitstop from Wacky Races and its spin-off, and Josie McCoy from Josie and the Pussycats and its spin-off. Waldo continued acting until the new millennium, making a few documentary appearances afterward. Waldo died in 2016 from an inoperable brain tumor. At the time of her death, Waldo was the last surviving member of the original Jetsons cast.

Saturday Credits:

The Secret Squirrel Show

The Atom Ant Show

The New Adventures of Superman

The Space Kidettes

Shazzan

Fantastic Four (1967)

Wacky Races

The Perils of Penelope Pitstop

Josie and the Pussycats

Help!...It’s the Hair Bear Bunch!

The Roman Holidays

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie

The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan

Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space

Around the World in 80 Days

The New Scooby-Doo Movies

The Addams Family (1973)

Inch High, Private Eye

Jeannie

Hong Kong Phooey
These Are the Days

The New Tom & Jerry Show

Clue Club

Jabberjaw

CB Bears

Yogi’s Space Race

The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour

The New Fred and Barney Show

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels

The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show

Heathcliff (1980)

The All-New Popeye Hour

ABC Weekend Specials (episodes)

Richie Rich

Thundarr the Barbarian

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

The Smurfs

The Gary Coleman Show

The Puppy’s Further Adventures

Rubik, the Amazing Cube

The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show

Pac-Man

Mister T

The Dukes

Saturday Supercade

Alvin & the Chipmunks

The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries

Dink, the Little Dinosaur

Tom & Jerry Kids Show

Droopy, Master Detective

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: DON MESSICK

DON MESSICK

(September 7, 1926-October 24, 1997)

Notable Roles: Ruff, Professor Gizmo, Ricochet Rabbit, Scooby-Doo, Scrappy-Doo, Muttley, Spike, Boo Boo Bear, Ranger Smith, Dr. Benton Quest, Mumbly, Godzooky, Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Papa Smurf, Azrael, Dreamy Smurf, Astro, R.U.D.I., U.N.I.B.L.A.B., Hamton J. Pig, Droopy Dog

Messick originally wanted to be a ventriloquist and made a living at it early on. After performing in front of the program manager and chief announcer of radio station WBOC in Salisbury, Maryland, he was given his own weekly show at age 15 where he performed all of the voices and sound effects. After serving in the U.S. Army’s Special Services unit, Messick was hired by the Mutual Broadcasting radio station in Los Angeles to play Raggedy Andy and Farmer Seedling on The Raggedy Ann Show. At the suggestion of Daws Butler, director Tex Avery hired Messick to perform the voice of Droopy Dog when his regular actor, Bill Thompson, was unavailable, giving Messick his start in animation. He and Butler joined Hanna-Barbera as regular players in 1957 and were often paired together. Messick typically played sidekicks like Boo Boo Bear, provided the narration for various shows, or sound effects for various creatures. He became a major headliner when he was cast as the voice of Scooby-Doo, which would turn out to be the studio’s most enduring character. However, after A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, he retired from the role, claiming quitting smoking robbed him of the rasp he needed to perform it (although he did perform one more time in a 1996 Burger King commercial). After suffering a stroke while recording in 1996, Messick retired from voice acting altogether. He died from a second stroke the following year.

Saturday Credits:

The Ruff & Reddy Show

The Secret Squirrel Show

The Atom Ant Show

Frankenstein, Jr. and the Impossibles

Space Ghost & Dino Boy

Super President

Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor

The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show

Space Kidettes

Fantastic Four (1967)

Herculoids

Shazzan

Birdman and the Galaxy Trio

Wacky Races (1968)

The Adventures of Gulliver

Cattanooga Cats

The Archie Comedy Hour

Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines

The Perils of Penelope Pitstop

H.R. Pufnstuf

Sabrina, The Teenage Witch (1969)

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

Doctor Dolittle (1970)

The Banana Splits Adventure Hour

Josie and the Pussycats (1970)

Help!... It’s the Hair Bear Bunch!

Harlem Globe Trotters

The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show

The Funky Phantom

The Flintstone Comedy Hour

The Barkleys

The Houndcats

The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan

Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie

Jeannie

The Addams Family (1973)

Bailey’s Comets

The New Scooby-Doo Movies

Inch High, Private Eye

Yogi’s Gang

Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch

Hong Kong Phooey
These Are the Days

The New Tom & Jerry Show

The Oddball Couple

Jabberjaw

The Mumbly Cartoon Show

Dynomutt Dog Wonder

The Skatebirds

Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics

CB Bears

Fred Flintstone and Friends

Baggy Pants & the Nitwits

Yogi’s Space Race

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels

The New Fantastic Four

The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour

Challenge of the Superfriends

Dinky Dog

The New Fred and Barney Show

ABC Weekend Specials

Fred and Barney Meet the Thing

The Super Globetrotters

Godzilla (1978)

Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo

The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979)

The Flintstones Comedy Show

Drak Pack

The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show

The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang

Space Stars

Heathcliff (1980)

Trollkins

The Kwicky Koala Show

Spider-Man (1981)

The Smurfs

The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour

The New Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show

Saturday Supercade

The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries

The Mighty Orbots

Get Along Gang

Yogi’s Treasure Hunt

Pink Panther and Sons

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo

Galtar and the Golden Lance

Scooby’s Mystery Funhouse

Popeye and Son

The Real Ghostbusters

Foofur

Pound Puppies (1986)

DuckTales (1987)

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

Garfield and Friends

Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue

The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera

Tom & Jerry Kids Show

Tiny Toon Adventures

Bobby’s World

Yo Yogi!

The Plucky Duck Show

Droopy, Master Detective

Freakazoid!

DROOPY, MASTER DETECTIVE

DROOPY, MASTER DETECTIVE

(FOX, September 11-December 4, 1993)

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Tuner Entertainment

MAIN CAST:

Don Messick – Droopy

Charlie Adler – Dripple, Lightning Bolt the Super Squirrel, Screwball Squirrel

Teresa Ganzel – Miss Vavoom

Frank Welker – McWolf, Dweeble, Wildmouse, Grunch

William Callaway - Rumpley

            Spun off from Tom and Jerry Kids, Droopy, Master Detective was a spoof on detective films and cop shows with a faux film noir style. It focused on Droopy (Don Messick) and his son, introduced in the Kids show, Dripple (Charlie Adler) as detectives. They worked on various cases from thefts to kidnappings to protecting the rich and famous in various time periods. Like many other Hanna-Barbera productions, the series was broken up into three story segments per episode. The first and last segment usually featured a Droopy adventure both with and without Dripple as he faced off against his eternal enemy, McWolf (Frank Welker). As Droopy’s role and time period changed, so too did McWolf’s profession; ranging from a rival detective to a disgruntled superhero.

Droopy and Dripple on the case.

            The second segment usually centered around another Tex Avery creation: Screwball Squirrel. Screwball first appeared in the 1944 short Screwball Squirrel Avery made during his tenure at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Voiced by Wally Maher, Screwy was brash and erratic and took cartoon physics to the extreme; pulling objects out of thin air, creating duplicates of himself, breaking the fourth wall and so forth. Screwy usually spent his time torturing his enemy, typically portrayed by Meathead Dog (Dick Nelson). Screwy did not fare as well as Droopy with audiences, generally perceived to be an unsympathetic and annoying character. Avery seemingly killed Screwy in his fifth short, Lonesome Lenny (1946) and never used him again.

Screwball with Rumpley and Dweebie.

            Screwy resurfaced in cameo form and a mention in 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit (which also featured Droopy), and served as the basis for both the characters of Slappy Squirrel on Animaniacs and Sledgehammer O’Possum from Cartoon Network’s What a Cartoon. Screwball (never Screwy, voiced by Adler) was revived for Master Detective and was given new rivals in the form of Dweebie (Welker) and his dog, Rumpley (William Callaway). Dweebie was the attendant of the park where Screwball had taken residence and refused to leave. Screwball was seen frequently in a t-shirt and Napoleon hat.

Title card from the sole Wildmouse segment.

            Three of the segments were populated by other characters from the Kids show. One segment featured Wildmouse (Welker) being hunted. Two others featured the character of Lightning Bolt the Super Squirrel (Adler). Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with Turner Entertainment Company, Inc., the series ran for a single season as part of the Fox Kids! programming block; replacing its parent series briefly in the Saturday morning schedule. The series was then removed from the air after its initial run until it was seen again in the summer of 1994 on weekday afternoons on Kids’ WB. The series’ theme was composed by Gary Lionelli and featured lyrics by Joseph Barbera.

Droopy and Dripple on McWolf's case.

            While Droopy would return to Saturday mornings in Tom and Jerry Tales, Screwy faded again into relative obscurity. In 1996, Dark Horse Comics published Comics and Stories which featured Screwball. In 1997, Cartoon Network ran an edited version of the short Happy-Go-Nutty (removing a blackface gag) repeatedly for 12 hours as an April Fool’s prank, while sister station Boomerang would feature him in their station identification segments after 2005. In 2013, Screwy (Paul Reubens) and Meathead (John DiMaggio) appeared in the film Tom and Jerry’s Giant Adventure along with Droopy (Joe  Alaskey).

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Queen of the Mutant Weirdo Vampires / Screwball Snowballs / Shadowman and the Blue Pigeon” (9/11/93) – Droopy and Dripple protect a horror movie actress. / Screwball uses snowballs to torment Dweebie and Rumpley. / Droopy and Dripple team up with a superhero to protect a gem from a criminal.

“Droopy and the Cyberdolts / Pickax Max / Hey! Where’s Armold?” (9/18/93) – Droopy investigates a gang of robots in the future. / Screwball protects his park from a prospector. / Droopy and Dripple must find the Raj’s pet elephant.

“Return of the Yolker / A Chip off the Old Blockhead / Mighty McWolf” (9/25/93) – The Yolker goes after a priceless egg. / Rumpley coaches Dweebie on catching Screwball. / A former hero goes berserk.

“Deep Swamp Droopy / Dog Breath Dweebie / Hogswild” (10/2/93) – Droopy and Dripple participate in a riverboat race against McWolf. / Dweebie recounts the exploits of his pirate ancestor. / Lightningbolt and Super Squirrel face off against a pig motorcycle gang.

“Primeval Prey / Dweebie’s Worst Nightmare / Battle of the Super Squirrels” (10/9/93) – An explorer pursues Wildmouse. / Screwball plagues Dweebie’s dreams. / Lightningbolt competest with Thundergut to see who’s the best hero.

“The Babyman Bank Heists / Dweebie’s Night Out / The Deep Space Case” (10/16/93) – Droopy and Dripple are after a baby-faced crook. / Screwball keeps Dweebie up after a wild night out. / Droopy and Dripple are hired by an alien girl.

“The Monster Mob / Everybody Out / Sherlock Droopy” (10/23/93) – A mobster seeks helps from monsters to evade Droopy. / Dweebie and Rumpley try to get rid of Screwball. / Sherlock Droopy goes against his arch-nemesis Professor Wolfiarty.

“Dueling Detectives / Squirrelicious Obnoxiousness / Sherlock Droopy Gets Hounded” (10/30/93) – Droopy and Private Eye McWolf compete to see who solves a case first. / Screwball uses his new designation as an endangered species to his advantage. / Sherlock Droopy goes against the Baskerton Hound.

“Auntie Snoopie / Demolition Disorder / Mushu McWolf” (11/6/93) – Droopy gets a visit from his overprotective aunt. / Dweebie and Rumpley team-up with Screwball to save the park. / Droopy goes after a kung-fu criminal.

“Sheep Thrills / Screwball Out West / The Maltese Fossil” (11/13/93) – Droopy and Dripple are hired to guard a flock of sheep. / Screwball follows Dweebie and Rumpley on their dude ranch vacation. / Prehistoric Droopy defends a rare dinosaur skeleton from a crook.

“The Case of Pierre le Poulet / Commotion on the Ocean / Alligator Droopy” (11/20/93) – Droopy goes after an art thief. / Screwball follows Dweebie and Rumpley on a cruise. / Droopy and Dripple investigate the disappearance of wallabys.

“Droopy’s Deep Sea Mystery / Can We Miss You If You Don’t Go Away? / Droopy and the Case of the Missing Dragon” (11/27/93) – Droopy and Dripple aid a mermaid. / Dweebie and Rumpley try to trick Screwball out of the park. / Droopy and Dripple investigate a missing jade dragon.

“Round ‘Em Up, Bub / A Screwball Romance / The Case of the Snooty Star” (12/4/93) – Wild West Droopy and Dripple face off against Mad Dog McWolf. / Screwball helps Rumpley with his girl troubles. / Droopy and Dripple guard a snobby actress.