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

DYNOMUTT, DOG WONDER

DYNOMUTT, DOG WONDER

(ABC, September 11, 1976-October 29, 1977)

Hanna-Barbera Productions

MAIN CAST:

Frank Welker – Dynomutt

Gary Owens – The Blue Falcon/Radley Owens

Ron Feinberg – Narrator, F.O.C.U.S. One, Mudmouth, Worm

Larry McCormick – Mayor Gaunt

The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, Dog Wonder.

            Created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears for Hanna-Barbera Productions, the series was a parody of DC Comics’ Batman and Robin. It focused on the bumbling robotic dog, Dynomutt (Frank Welker, taking inspiration from the Red Skelton characters of Gertrude and Heathcliff), who could pull any kind of device from his robotic body. His straight man and partner was the Blue Falcon (Gary Owens), aka millionaire socialite art dealer Radley Crown. Together they protected Big City when they received a trouble alert from the headquarters of secret agent F.O.C.U.S. One (Ron Feinberg) via their Falcon Flash. They would abscond to the Falcon Lair located inside Crown’s penthouse to change into their outfits and depart in the Falcon Car. Unfortunately, protecting the city was often made more difficult when Dynomutt’s gadgets backfired; putting the heroes at the villains’ mercy (at least until after the commercial break).

A coloring book based on the hour.

            Dynomutt began on ABC on September 11, 1976. The first season aired on as part of The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour alongside The Scooby-Doo Show. As a result, the Mystery, Inc. gang often crossed over with Dynomutt to help solve mysteries. The series particularly gained notoriety for being the first Saturday morning cartoon to depict an African-American public official in Mayor Gaunt (Larry McCormick). Many of the concept designs were done by Alex Toth. The series was written by Jeffrey Scott, Haskell Barkin, Earle Doud, Donald F. Glut, Orville H. Hampton, Michael Muarer, Lee Orgel, Dalton Sandifer and Deirdre Starlight with music by Hoyt Curtin.

Blue Falcon, Dynomutt and their identities model sheet.

The following season, the show was rerun as part of the Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics programming block. Four new stories, broken up into 8 episodes, were aired as part of the block amongst the original 16 under the title The Blue Falcon & Dynomutt. Blue Falcon and Dynomutt also appeared as regular characters in the Laff-A-Lympics portion of the block as members of Scooby-Doo’s team, The Scooby-Doobies. In 1978, the series broke out on its own in syndicated reruns as Dynomutt, Dog Wonder before being paired up with Godzilla in The Godzilla/Dynomutt Hour in 1980. 

Blue Falcon on Dexter's Laboratory.

After years of inactivity, Blue Falcon and Dynomott appeared in the Dexter’s Laboratory episode “Dyno-Might” while Dynomutt cameoed as a picture in the “Agent Penny” episode of the Super Secret Secret Squirrel segment of 2 Stupid Dogs. Blue Falcon guest starred in the Johnny Bravo episode “Johnny Makeover,” helping to revamp Johnny’s show alongside “Weird Al” Yankovic and Don Knotts. Blue Falcon was reimagined as Spanish lawyer Azul Falcone (Maurice LaMarche) for Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law while Dynomutt would appear in the episode “Deadomutt” with a Spanish accent provided by Andre Sogliuzzo. Victor Yerrid and Kevin Shinick would assume the roles for the Robot Chicken episode “Ban on the Fun.” 

Blue Falcon and Dynomutt reunite with Scooby-Doo on Mystery Incorporated.

The characters would reunite with the Scooby gang in the Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated episode “Ban on the Fun,” where series star Welker reprised his role, but Blue Falcon was given a grim and gritty portrayal reminiscent of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns take on Batman, voiced by Troy Baker. In 2012, that theme was revisited when the Scooby gang got involved in a mystery surrounding a gritty reboot of the Blue Falcon film franchise in the direct-to-video movie Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon. Blue Falcon was represented by the “actors” that played him: the new one, Brad Adams (Diedrich Bader), and the original, Owen Garrison (named for Gary Owens and voiced by Jeff Bennett). Scooby spent a good portion of the film dressed up as Dynomutt. Another team-up occurred when Blue Falcon and Dynomutt were featured as central characters in the 2020 CGI film, Scoob!; this time voiced by Mark Wahlberg and Ken Jeong, respectively.

The variant cover for Super Sons/Dynomutt Special #1.

In 1977, Marvel Comics published a six-issue Dynomutt comic series. They also appeared in Marvel’s 1978 Laff-A-Lympics series and the related issue of Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. In 1999, Blue Falcon and Dynomutt were featured in the 21^st issue of Cartoon Network Presents by DC Comics. In 2018, the pair returned to comics in Super Sons/Dynomutt Special #1 by Peter Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin as part of the second wave of Hanna-Barbera crossover one-shots, which finally gave an origin to Dynomutt’s robotics. 

The DVD cover.

Also in 1977, Milton Bradley produced a board game based on the series while Rand McNally published a series of coloring books, sometimes pairing the characters up with Scooby-Doo. Dynomutt was also a featured character on the Scooby-Doo watercolor paint set in 1979. In 2003, Toynami produced an action figure box set for the characters and two small figures as part of their Hanna-Barbera Adventure Superstars line, as well as two maquettes that linked up by their bases to form a single statue. In 2006, Warner Bros. Home Video released the complete Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour on DVD as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection, featuring the original 16 episodes of Dynomutt. The Final eight have yet to see release.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“Everyone Hyde!” (9/11/76) – Mystery, Inc. helps the heroes take down Willie the Weasel, who has turned himself into Mr. Hyde.

“What Now, Lowbrow?” (9/18/76) – Lowbrow wants to become the king of crime, but the heroes and Mystery, Inc. stand in his way.

“The Great Brain…Train Robbery” (9/25/76) – The Gimmick dares the police to stop him from stealing a train car inhabited by a prince.

“The Day and Night Crawler” (10/2/76) – The Worm and Grub use a digging machine to bust Bugsy Busby and Roto Chopper from prison to help them steal a super computer.

“The Harbor Robber” (10/9/76) – Fishface plans to steal and ransom the city’s oil supply.

“Sinister Symphony” (10/16/76) – Manyfaces tricks Dynomutt into arresting his allies.

“Don’t Bug Superthug” (10/23/76) – Superthug and Zorkon use a super steel skeleton to steal the city’s steel supply to mass-produce an army of skeletons.

“Factory Recall” (10/30/76) – Mr. Cool finds Falcon’s lost communicator and uses it to dispose of the heroes.

“The Queen Hornet” (11/6/76) – The heroes investigate Queen Hornet in order to find the evidence that will put her away.

“The Wizard of Ooze” (11/13/76) – Swamp Rat and Mudmouth plan to flood the city, but the heroes team-up with Mystery, Inc. to stop them.

“Tin Kong” (11/20/76) – Eric von Flick plans to use his robotic creation to destroy Big City for his next motion picture.

“The Awful Ordeal with the Head of Steel” (11/25/76) – Ironface seeks revenge on Big City by capturing all its champions of justice.

“The Blue Falcon vs. the Red Vulture” (11/27/76) – The Red Vulture steals the most powerful jet-engines for his Vulturuejet in order to rule the air.

“The Injustice League of America” (12/4/76) – Fishface, Gimmick, Lowbrow, Queen Hornet, Superthug and Worm escape from prison and team-up.

“Lighter Than Air Raid” (12/11/76) – Blimp steals the city’s supply of helium.

“The Prophet Profits” (12/18/76) – The Prophet scams Mayor Gaunt into paying him for his predictions of disasters Prophet set up himself.

Season 2:

“Beastwoman Part 1” (9/10/77) – Beastwoman uses her Beast Whistle to have all the animals in the zoo drive the people out of the city, and even manages to control Dynomutt.

“Beastwoman Part 2” (9/17/77) – Falcon frees Dynomutt from Beastwoman’s control and prevent her from turning the country into a jungle.

“The Glob Part 1” (9/24/77) – Norbert Prindle becomes the Glob and steals the Baltese Falcon. The heroes give chase and end up subjected to the same process that created the Glob.

“The Glob Part 2” (10/1/77) – Dynomutt sculpts Falcon back to normal and they use Falcon’s Instant Hardening Spray to defeat the Glob.

“Madame Ape Face Part 1” (10/8/77) – Madame Ape Face steals and plans to sell the faces of the starlets of the city.

“Madame Ape Face Part 2” (10/15/77) – Dynomutt goes undercover to capture Madame Ape Face and ends up losing his own face.

“Shadowman Part 1” (10/22/77) – Shadowman knows all of the plans of the Crime Commission and makes off with a diamond, money plates and gold, framing Mayor Gaunt in the process.

“Shadowman Part 2” (10/29/77) – The heroes attempt to prove Mayor Gaunt’s innocence and capture Shadowman, who turns out to be the corrupt Crime Consultant.


Originally posted in 2015. Updated in 2020.

GARY OWENS DEAD AT 80

Gary Owens died on February 12th at the age of 80. You can read the full story here.

While primarily known as an announcer, Owens lent his voice to a great many Saturday morning cartoons. He was the original voice of Space Ghost on Space Ghost and Space Stars (with a non-Saturday reprisal on Batman: The Brave and the Bold) and the Blue Falcon on The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour, Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, and Dynomutt Dog Wonder (again reprised off Saturday on Johnny Bravo), and served as the announcer and instructor frequently featured on Garfield and Friends and Eek! the Cat. He tapped his announcing skills as the narrator for Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Yogi's Space Race, The Mighty Orbots, Yogi's Treasure Hunt, and the opening for Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, while also providing additional and guest voices for Bobby's World, Goof Troop, Raw Toonage, Tom & Jerry Kids, Skeleton Warriors, The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat, Aahh!!! Real Monsters, The Mask, and The New Batman Adventures. Rock 'n' Wrestling Saturday Spectacular, a spin-off film from Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling, featured Owens making an appearance as himself.