30TH ANNIVERSARIES

 Now for this batch of shows turning a big

SAMUEL E. WRIGHT DEAD AT 74

 

You can read the full story here.

He was best known as the voice of Sebastian the crab from Disney’s The Little Mermaid franchise. He played the role in the animated series, as well as Raw Toonage, Marsupilami and House of Mouse.

RENE AUBERJONOIS DEAD AT 79

You can read the full story here.

Best known for the role of shape-shifting Odo in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he spent a lot of time loaning his voice to Saturday mornings. He was the stranger in The Smurfs Christmas Special; Desaad in Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians; a Poodle and Pierre in episodes of Pound Puppies (1986); Boris Roquefort in an episode of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo; Dr. Strangesnork and additional voices in Snorks; General Zod in an episode of Superman (1988); Sensei in an episode of Darkwing Duck; Dr. March in two episodes of Batman: The Animated Series; Kangent in The Pirates of Dark Water; Chef Louie in both Marsupilami and The Little Mermaid: The Animated Series; Jonathan in an episode of Rugrats; Nefir Hasenuf in episodes of Aladdin; Horde in The Savage Dragon; Quintoon in an episode of Men in Black: The Series; Scarab in episodes of The Mummy; Master Fung and the narrator in Xiaolin Showdown; McChirpy in an episode of Duck Dogers; Xyber 9 in Xyber 9: New Dawn; Blockbuster in Young Justice; Saladin in Winx Club: Beyond Believix; McLeish, Professor Schmierkankle and a cat narrator in Pound Puppies (2010); and Azmuth and additional voices in Ben 10: Omniverse. He also provided additional voices for The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, Punky Brewster, The Smurfs and The Tom & Jerry Kids Show.

MARSUPILAMI

MARSUPILAMI

(CBS, September 18-December 11, 1993)

Walt Disney Television Animation, Marsu Productions

MAIN CAST:

Steve Mackall – Marsupilami, Husband

Jim Cummings – Maurice the Gorilla, Norman, Leonardo the Lion

Samuel E. Wright – Sebastian the Crab

René Auberjonois– Chef Louie

Jason Marsden – Shnookums

Frank Welker – Meat

Tress MacNeille - Wife

In the January 31^st, 1952 issue of comics magazine Spirou, artist Andre Franquin debuted his yellow and black-spotted creation: Marsupilami. 

Marsupilami.

The name was a portmanteau of the words marsupial, Pilou-Pilou (which was the French name for Eugene the Jeep from the Popeye strip, a character Franquin loved), and ami, French for friend. Marsupilami is both the name of a specific creature and the species itself. The creatures are monkey-like with tails that could be used as weapons by forming a fist with the end and coiling them up into a spring, or for various other functions. Males had longer tails, conjoined eyes and often exclaimed “Houba!” while the females had shorter tails, separate eyes and exclaimed “Houbii!” Otherwise, the characters could only mimic words like a parrot rather than speak original sentences.

Marsupilami's first appearance.

Franquin created the character when he took over the creative duties on the strip Spirou et Fantasio. Marsupilami was found and adopted by titular characters Spiro and Fantasio and joined them on their journeys. The Marsupilami became the subject of their own story in 1957’s “Le nid des Marsupilamis,” which was done like a documentary observing the Marsupliamis in the wilds of the fictional South American country of Palombia.

Marsupilami's resignation?

By 1968, Franquin had grown tired of working on Spiro et Fantasio and wanted to focus primarily on his own creation, Gaston Lagaffe. Franquin retained the rights to Marsupilami, causing the character to disappear from the strip after the story “Le faiseur d’or.” It wouldn’t be until 1987 that Marsupilami returned to comics after Franquin launched his own publishing house, Marsu Productions, with writer Greg and artist Batem. 

It's about time for that lucrative Disney deal.

In the early 1990s, the character came to the attention of then-Disney President Michael Eisner. Eisner purchased the television rights to the character and tried to find a suitable vehicle for him. An opportunity came when Walt Disney Television Animation was in the process of producing the series Bonkers, inspired by the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which would focus on former cartoon star Bonkers D. Bobcat (Jim Cummings) taking a job as a police officer. The series ran into numerous production troubles, causing it to be delayed. It was decided to fill the void on CBS’ schedule with another show that focused on the shorts Bonkers would have starred in before his series. Other segments were added to round out the show, including Marsupilami, resulting in the series Raw Toonage. 

Marsupilami and Maurice on the job.

Some changes were made to the character for his TV debut. Marsupilami (or Mars for short, voiced by Steve Mackall) was given the full ability to speak. It was unclear if he was the only one or one of a species as no other Marsupilamis were ever seen. He was given new friends in the form of Maurice the Gorilla (Cummings) and Stewart the cowardly elephant (Dan Castellaneta). Mars also had two primary foes in the form of the human Norman (Cummings), who had a different occupation every time he was seen, and the leopard Eduardo (Steve Landesberg). While the strip had Mars hailing from South America, the animated cast put him closer to African origins. 

Stewart.

Despite Raw Toonage’s cancellation, Mars garnered enough interest to warrant his own spin-off series. Marsupilami debuted also on CBS on September 18, 1993. It was written by John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, Jim Peterson, Len Uhley, Bill Matheny, Bill Motz, Bob Roth and Gary Sperling, with Matheny and Kevin Hopps serving as story editors. The music was composed by Barend G. Bendrof, Stephen James Taylor, Mark Watters, Drew Neumann and Jean-Michel Bernard with the theme composed by Roy Braverman. Animation duties were handled by Sae Hahn Productions, Walt Disney Animation France S.A. and Wang Film Productions Company.

No longer just "Under da Sea."

Like Raw Toonage, Marsupilami featured several different segments. Two of those segments starred Mars himself, with an all-new adventure opening the episode and a rerun of a Raw Toonage short closing it out. The middle slot was occupied by two different sets of characters in their own adventures. The first secondary feature starred Sebastian the Crab (Samuel E. Wright) from The Little Mermaid franchise (simultaneously starring in a prequel animated series for that). Picking up from where the first film left off, as all his friends had gone off on their own adventures Sebastian left the sea to live his life. Sebastian took on several jobs, most often as a bellboy in a hotel, and was often brought into odds with another character from the film, Chef Louie (René Auberjonois). Sebastian’s adventures comprised eight of the episodes.

Meat and Shnookums.

The remaining five were filled by new creations Shnookums (Jason Marsden) and Meat (Frank Welker). Created by Bill Kopp, the segment focused on a cat and dog who didn’t get along and were always abusing each other. Their owners, called Husband (Mackall) and Wife (Tress MacNeille) were only ever seen from the neck down. The characters and the type of humor involved were often compared to The Ren & Stimpy Show both favorably by fans of the program, and unfavorably by those who deemed it just an imitation. They were Disney’s attempt at edgier programming.

Marsupilami fared about as well as its parent program and was cancelled at the conclusion of its singular season, although he did guest-star on an episode of Bonkers. Marsupilami continued to be published by Marsu (which was purchased by Dupuis, the company Franquin left to create Marsu, in 2013) and on merchandise, eventually gaining a new French animated series in 2000 by Cactus Animation and Marathon Productions (now Zodiak Kids). In 2012, Pathe released a live-action/CGI film based on the strip called Sur la Piste du Marsupilami (or HOUBA! On the Trail of the Marsupilami).

Shnookums and Meat were spun off into their own short-lived animated series in 1995 as part of The Disney Afternoon weekday programming block. It aired on Mondays in place of Bonkers. Like the previous two programs, Shnookums and Meat was broken up into multiple segments, with one featuring the titular duo, the second being superhero parody Pith Possum (Jeff Bennett), and the third being a parody of western serials starring cowboy Tex Tinstar (also Bennett). Also like the previous two programs, it only lasted a single season.

VHS Covers.

Both Marsupilami and Shnookums and Meat were comic features in Disney Adventures Magazine. Buena Vista Home Entertainment released several VHS and Betamax collections of the Marsupilami shorts alone. Three were released in the United States in 1994, and five in Europe beginning in 1993. The entire series was also released overseas in a 2-disc DVD collection called Jungle Adventures. 

EPISODE GUIDE (* denotes segment from Raw Toonage):

“Working Class Mars / King of the Beach / The Hairy Ape*” (9/18/93) – Norman hires Mars and Maurice as workers in his office. / Sebastian tries to reclaim his lifeguard chair from a seagull.

“Normzan of the Jungle / Room Service / Bathtime for Maurice*” (9/25/93) – Norman learns hypnosis and plans to control all jungle animals. / Sebastian has to keep the hotel quiet to keep from setting off a frazzled Chef Louie.

“Hole in Mars / Crab Scouts / The Treasure of the Sierra Marsdre*” (10/2/93) – Norman challenges Mars to a game of golf. / Sebastian and the Crab Scouts go on a hike.

“The Wizard of Mars / TV Jeebies / The Puck Stops Here*” (10/9/93) – Mars is blown to the Land of Oz. / Sebastian and Louie are cast in multiple TV roles.

“Mar-Sup-Du-Jour / King-Fu Kitty / Romancing the Clone*” (10/16/93) – Spanish leopard Eduardo wants to eat Mars. / Shnookums learns Kung-Fu to defend himself from new guard dog Meat.

“Toucan Always Get What You Want / I.Q. You, Too / Fear of Kites*” (10/23/93) – Mars protects a baby toucan from Eduardo. / Shnookums and Meat use a bran-enhancing device to come up with new pranks against each other.

“Mars’ Problem Pachyderm / Night of the Living Shnookums / Mars Meets Dr. Normanstein*” (10/30/93) – Mars tries to cure Stewart the Elephant of his many phobias. / Meat thinks he’s killed Shnookums.

“Steamboat Mars / Something Fishy / Someone’s in the Kitchen with Mars*” (11/6/93) – Norman tries to smuggle a rare bird from the jungle. / The pet fish evolves into a giant monster to terrorize Shnookums and Meat.

“Hey, Hey! They’re the Monkeys! / Jingle Bells, Something Smells / Prime Mates Forever*” (11/13/93) – Abandoned circus monkeys take over Mars’ nest. / Shnookums and Meat must finish Santa’s deliveries after Meat’s smelly sock knocks him out.

“Thorn O’ Plenty / Basic Insting / Witch Doctor is Which?” (11/20/93) – Removing a thorn from Eduardo’s paw makes him believe he must save Mars before he can eat him. / A near-sighted scorpion falls for Sebastian when he gets a fish hook stuck on his back.

“A Spotless Record / A Boy and His Crab / Mars vs. Man*” (11/27/93) – Stewart helps Mars reclaim his spots after bad fruit causes them to disappear. / Sebastian plays a boy’s pet in order to avoid Crab Season.

“Cropsy Turvy / A Crabby Honeymoon / Safari So Good*” (12/4/93) – Mars meets the subject of his scary campfire stories. / Sebastian becomes involved in the problems of a honeymooning couple at his hotel.

“Royal Foil / Flambe, Bombe / Jungle Fever*” (12/11/93) – Norman tricks Mars and Maurice into stealing the Crown Jewels. / Sebastian tries to avoid Louie in order to host a show in time.

Originally posted in 2015. Updated in 2020.

DISNEY'S RAW TOONAGE

DISNEY’S RAW TOONAGE

(CBS, September 12-December 5, 1992)

Walt Disney Television Animation

MAIN CAST:

Jim Cummings – Bonkers D. Bobcat, Norman, Maurice, Don Karnage

Jeff Bennett – Jitters A. Dog

Charlie Adler – Green Frog

Nancy Cartwright – Fawn Deer, Windy

Steve Mackall – Marsupilami

CBS Raw Toonage promo featuring Bonkers D. Bobcat.

            In 1991, Walt Disney Television Animation was in the process of developing a new 65-episode program for its The Disney Afternoon 2-hour programming block called He’s Bonkers D. Bobcat, later renamed simply Bonkers. The show was inspired by the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit as it was focused on Bonkers, an animated bobcat who was fired from Wackytoon Studios and was forced into a new profession as a police officer alongside a human partner. However, the series was beleaguered by numerous production troubles, resulting in its being delayed.

The Marsupilami comic strip.

            Faced with an opening in its programming schedule, someone at Disney suggested they should make the cartoon shorts that Bonkers had supposedly starred in as a lead-up to the series. At roughly the same time, then Disney President Michael Eisner had purchased the rights to the popular Belgian comic strip Marsupilami. With those rights just sitting around, it was decided to expand the idea and create a new show encompassing three segments with different stars. 

Bonkers and his dream of marrying Fawn Deer.

            He’s Bonkers featured the misadventures of Bonkers (Jim Cummings) as he tried to win the affections of Fawn Deer (Nancy Cartwright), usually to disastrous results. Like classic Disney shorts, Bonkers was often depicted in a variety of occupations and time periods with each segment having no connection to the other. Bonkers’ best friend and frequent partner was Jitters A. Dog (Jeff Bennet), a nervous dog who often falls victim to Bonkers’ hijinks. Totally Tasteless Video was an offbeat parody of popular culture, lampooning things such as commercials, movies and entire television networks. Each segment was done in a completely different style. Marsupilami centered on the titular character (Steve Mackall), which was a spotted monkey-like creature with an extremely long tail. Unlike the comic strips from where he originated, he could talk, was easy-going, and hung around with a gorilla named Maurice (Cummings). Together, they dealt with everyday life in the jungle and the constant nuisance of Norman (also Cummings), who appeared in a variety of roles and served as the segment’s main antagonist.

TTV's All-Potato Network promo.

            Raw Toonage premiered on CBS Saturday mornings on September 12, 1992 with an intro that showcased the primary characters of the series, and for some odd reason, Webby from DuckTales. Typically, each episode featured a Bonkers, Video and Marsupilami segment in that order, although occasionally they would feature four segments and double up on one of them. All but three episodes featured a guest host in a cold open from other Disney properties, such as Scrooge McDuck (Alan Young) from DuckTales, Launchpad McQuack (Terry McGovern) and Goaslyn Mallard (Christine Cavanugh) from Darkwing Duck, Don Karnage (Cummings) from TaleSpin, and the original Disney host Ludwig Von Drake (Corey Burton) from The Wonderful World of Color. Goofy even made an appearance in a segment throwing back to his 1940s shorts. Bonkers, Jitters, Marsupilami and Maurice also had turns hosting segments. Much like other comedy variety shows, these segments were typically unrelated skits and sometimes featured additional characters. Larry Latham produced and directed the Bonkers, Video and host segments while Ed Wexler worked on Marsupilami. Tom Minton served as the story editor for the Video segments. The program was written by Minton, Laraine Arkow, John Behnke, Terrie Collins, Jeremy Cushner, Shari Goodhartz, Libby Hinson, Kevin Hopps, Rob Humphrey, Mina Johnson, Alan Katz, Jim Peterson, Kevin Rafferty, Mark Rhodes, Ralph Sanchez, Robert Schechter and Gary Sperling. Music for the series was composed by Stephen James Taylor, Mark Watters, Eric Schmidt, Jerry Grant, Walter Murphy and Craig Stuart Garfinkle.

Marsupilami and Maurice.

            The quick production schedule caused the series to be finished way before Bonkers, allowing it to be aired first and retroactively adding validity to the characters’ fictional background. When Bonkers finally did make it to air as part of The Disney Afternoon, several segments of He’s Bonkers plus one theatrical short that originally preceded the film 3 Ninjas were repackaged together into four episodes to fill out the Bonkers episode package and bring it up to 65. Marsupilami was spun off into its own series the following year, also on CBS (more on that and the character in its entry). The show was rerun on The Disney Channel and Toon Disney, and even received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program and Outstanding Music Direction and Composition in 1993.

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Spatula Party / Doggie Schnauzer / Marsupilami Meets Dr. Normanstein” (9/19/92) – Bonkers goes around town to find a spatula to lend to Fawn. / Doggie Schnauzer must save a man who swallowed a washing machine. / Dr. Normanstein is looking for a brain for his new monster.

Host: Ludwig von Drake

“Sheerluck Bonkers / All Potato Network / The Puck Stops Here” (9/26/92) – Bonkers tries to find Fawn’s stolen pendant. / The network caters to an all-potato audience with its programming. / Norman challenges Marsupilami to a game of hockey.

Host: Don Karnage featuring Captain Hook

“Bonkers in Space / Cro-Magnum PI / The Treasure of the Sierra Marsdre” (10/3/92) – Jitters is sent into space while Bonkers is distracted by Fawn. / The stone-age detective investigates a tycoon’s theft of new invention ideas. / Norman works his way into Marsupilami and Maurice’s treasure hunt.

Host: Scrooge McDuck

“Draining Cats and Dogs / Mars vs. Man” (10/10/92) – Bonkers and Jitters rescue Fawn when her pipes burst. / Marsupilami’s tree is removed by Norman to make way for new condos.

Host: Sebastian the crab featuring Chef Louie

“Get Me to the Church on Time / So You Think You Know Everything, Do You? / Someone’s In the Kitchen With Mars” (10/17/92) – Bonkers tries to get Jitters to his wedding on time. / Two geniuses compete against each other and a dog on a game show. / Marsupilami and Maurice go after their fruit basket stolen by Chef Norman.

 Host: Jitters A. Dog

“Ski Patrol / Poultrygeist / Romancing the Clone / Goofy’s Guide to the Olympics” (10/24/92) – Ambulance drivers Bonkers and Jitters rush to Grumbles’ aid. / A house built on the site of an old fast-food restaurant is haunted by the chickens served there. / Marsupilami falls in love with Norman who wears a female Marsupilami costume. / Goofy demonstrates various track and field events.

Host: Bonkers D. Bobcat

“Get Me a Pizza (Hold the Minefield) / Nightmare on Rocky Road / Wannabe Ruler? / The Porker’s Court” (10/31/92) – A black and white newsreel shows Bonkers delivering pizzas to the front line during WWI. / A boy’s wish turns the world into ice cream and unleashes the evil Freddy Scooper. / Marsupilami and Norman compete to lead the Wannabe tribe and get their treasure. / The three pigs take their big bad wolf landlord to TV court.

Host: None

“Dogzapoppin’ / Bathtime for Maurince / A Fear of Kites” (11/7/92) – Bonkers can’t get past Grumbles’ nasty dog to deliver a package to him. / Marsupilami tries to get Maurice to bathe. / Bellhop Norman won’t let Marsupilami and Maurice retrieve their kite from the hotel roof.

Host: Launchpad McQuack

“Trailmix Bonkers / The Young and the Nestless / Coming Attractions / Jungle Fever” (11/14/92) – Trailmix Bonkers battles the Grumbles Kid to get two money plates to California. / Marsupilami reminisces about when he and Maurice fought Norman over a comic collection. / Ads for the snack bar, Totzilla and Rambone. / Marsupilami looks for a cure for a sick Maurice.

Host: None

“Witch Doctor is Which? / Robin Hoof / The Hairy Ape” (11/21/92) – Witch Doctor Norman curses Marsupilami so that he could be the happiest person in the jungle. / Robin Hoof and Milk Maid Marion protect Sherwood Forest from evil royalty. / Norman captures Maurice to bring him to a zoo.

Host: Gosalyn Mallard featuring Ludwig Von Drake

“Quest for Firewood / Badly Animated Man / Safari So Good” (11/28/92) – Cavecat Bonkers searches for firewood for his tribe. / A superhero who is badly animated. / Norman’s aunt visit and takes a liking to Marsupilami.

Host: Marsupilami and Maurice

“Gobble Gobble Bonkers / Hot Spots / My New Shoes / Prime Mates Forever” (12/5/92) – Jitters doesn’t realize Bonkers is taking his turkey to Grumbles for dinner. / Norman takes over the watering hole during a heatwave. / A kid raps about what he can do with his new shoes. / Marsupilami tries to help Maurice woo a female gorilla.

Host: None