GLORIA ROCHA DEAD AT 94

 

You can read the full story here.

She was a Mexican dubbing actor and director credited as one of the key figures for the success of anime in Latin America. She voiced Jenny in Space Kidettes; Melody in Josie and the Pussycats; Judy Franklin in Return to the Planet of the Apes; Mrs. Anders in Jeannie; Nurse Chapel in Star Trek: The Animated Series; Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family (1973); Katy O’Hara in My Favorite Martians; the old lady in The Fat Albert Christmas Special; and Velma Dinkley in several incarnations of Scooby-Doo. She also directed the dubbing of Digimon and Cardcaptors. 

R.I.P. TONY BENEDICT

 

You can read the announcement here.

He wrote for The Space Kidettes, The Super 6, The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show, Super President, Young Samson & Goliath, The Pink Panther Show, CB Bears, Baggy Pants & the Nitwits, Saturday Supercade, and The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show; worked on storyboards for Beany and Cecil (1988), Camp Candy, Tiny Toon Adventures, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures, Tom & Jerry Kids Show, Madeline and Droopy: Master Detective; and was a story editor on The Wuzzles.

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: DAWS BUTLER

DAWS BUTLER

(November 16, 1916-May 18, 1988)

Notable Roles: Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Dixie, Mr. Jinks, Hokey Wolf, Reddy, Snagglepuss, Wally Gator, Peter Potamus, Quick Draw McGraw, Scooby Dum, Augie Doggie, Jonathan Wellington “Mudsy” Muddlemore, Elroy Jetson, W.C. Cogswell, Henry Orbit, Chilly Willy, Cap’n Crunch

Regarded as the nicest man in the business, Butler began his career as an impressionist, winning most of the amateur contests he entered as a means to help him combat his shyness. That led him to gain professional gigs at vaudeville theaters. He joined Jack Lavin and Willard Ovitz to form the comedy trio The Three Short Waves, who played theaters, radio and nightclub engagemtns. After serving in WWII, he voiced his first theatrical short Short Snorts on Sports for Screen Gems in 1948. Following that, he became a regular performer in shorts directed by Tex Avery for MGM and the Warner Bros. puppet show Time For Beany working with Stan Freberg. Butler worked on several commercials and comedy albums with Freberg, and also appearing on Freberg’s radio show. In 1957, he became a regular player for Hanna-Barbera beginning with The Ruff & Reddy Show, and worked often with Jay Ward Productions first in The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle and as the first voice for Cap’n Crunch in commercials. In 1975, Butler began an acting workshop that molded such stars as Nancy Cartwright, Corey Burton, Bill Farmer, Pat Parris, Bob Bergen, Mona Marshall and others. Butler died of a heart attack in 1988, and was succeeded by his protégé Greg Burson in many of his roles.

Saturday Credits:

The Ruff & Reddy Show

Rocky & Bullwinkle

The Bugs Bunny Show

The Space Kidettes

The Super 6

Wacky Races (1968)

Harlem Globe Trotters

The Banana Splits Adventure Hour

Help!... It’s the Hair Bear Bunch!

The Funky Phantom

The New Scooby-Doo Movies

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie

The Roman Holidays

The Houndcats

Bailey’s Comets

Yogi’s Gang

Hong Kong Phooey

Sesame Street

Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics

Posse Impossible

CB Bears

The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour

The All-New Popeye Hour

Galaxy Goof-Ups

Yogi’s Space Race

The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo

Yogi’s Treasure Hunt

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!

SPACE KIDETTES

SPACE KIDETTES

(NBC, September 10, 1966-January 21, 1967)

Hanna-Barbera Productions

MAIN CAST:

Chris Allen – Scooter

Don Messick – Countdown, Pupstar, various

Lucille Bliss (as Lou Bliss) – Snoopy

Janet Waldo – Jenny

Daws Butler – Captain Skyhook, Static, various

            Take Our Gang (aka The Little Rascals), put them in the world of The Jetsons, and you’d get Space Kidettes (a play on the term “space cadets”).

The Kidettes look at Skyhook and Static caught in a trap.

            Space Kidettes focused on four kids—Scooter (Chris Allen), Countdown (Don Messick), Snoopy (Lucille Bliss), Jenny (Janet Waldo) and their dog, Pupstar (Messick)--who hung out in a downed rocket capsule that served as their orbiting clubhouse. They were constantly targeted by the sinister space buccaneer, Captain Skyhook (Daws Butler), who wanted a treasure map in their possession. However, the Captain wasn’t pure evil as he avoided harming the kids whenever possible; he just wanted to incapacitate them long enough to get the map. His first mate, Static (also Butler), however, had no such qualms and always suggested more permanent solutions. The rest of the time, the kids would fly around space, performing good deeds.

The Kidettes' club house.

            Space Kidettes debuted on NBC on September 10, 1966. The show was Hanna-Barbera’s attempt to appeal to a younger audience, rife with a variety of slapstick and pratfalls (usually towards the villains) that would come under fire by parent groups in the following years. Like classic serials, each episode was broken up into two parts with the first ending on a cliffhanger to be resolved in the second. Hoyt Curtin provided the series’ music, and Butler, in character, narrated the opening. The series wasn’t one of Hanna-Barbera’s most notable efforts, and it was scheduled against the strong competition of The Beatles on ABC and the studio’s own Space Ghost and Dino Boy on CBS. It was quickly cancelled after its singular 20-episode season.

The Kidettes in their ship.

            The show, sponsored by General Mills, was featured on various boxes of their cereal in cut-out pictures with accompanying stories. The episodes were later edited down to 10-minutes and paired with other General Mills-sponsored programs to form a full half-hour for syndicated reruns. They were later played in the 1980s as part of USA Network’s USA Cartoon Express.

A page from the sole Space Kidettes comic outing.

The Kidettes did manage to get some merchandise out of their short lives: including frame puzzles and jigsaw puzzles by Whitman, a magic slate, tiny trading cards as part of Monty Gum’s “Comic Heroes” set, and a Spanish card set. In 2011, Warner Archive released the edited complete series, paired with Young Samson, as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection. Although they never had their own comic, they were given several short stories in the final issue of Gold Key Comics’ Cave Kids; a series about kids living in the world of The Flintstones. 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Molemen Menace” (9/10/66) – A space storm leaves the kids lost, and when they land on a nearby planet to get their bearings they end up captured by a moleman.

“Jet-Set-Go” (9/17/66) – Skyhook learns about the kids’ treasure map and kidnaps Countdown in order to learn where they hid it.

“Space Indians” (9/24/66) – Skyhook interrupts the kids’ picnic to get at their treasure, but his plans are ruined by a group of Space Indians that want his head.

“Swamp-Swamped” (10/1/66) – Skyhood decides if he can’t beat the kids, he’ll join their club and be let into the secret of their treasure.

“Space Heroes” (10/8/66) – Skyhook decides to disguise himself as the kids’ favorite TV hero in order to get close to the map.

“Space Witch” (10/15/66) – Skyhook kidnaps Snoopy for the treasure map, but ends up competing with the Space Witch for it.

“Tale of a Whale” (10/22/66) – When the kids refuse to believe Skyhook is truly evil, he feeds them to a giant space whale.

“Space Giant” (10/29/66) – Skyhook chases the kids to the planet of the space giant.

“Space Carnival” (11/5/66) – Skyhook plans to use the local space carnival to lure the kids into a trap.

“The Laser Breathing Space Dragon” (11/12/66) – Static straps a rocket to the kids’ clubhouse and sends them off to the home of the laser breathing space dragon.

“The Flight Before Christmas” (11/19/66) – Skyhook makes the kids think Santa wants their map and tricks them into a cave trap.

“Beach Brawl” (11/26/66) – The kids decide to go enjoy the same beach where Skyhook looks to dig for a giant pearl a map has led him to.

“Dog-napped in Space” (12/3/66) – Skyhook decides to kidnap Pupstar and ransom him for the map.

“Secret Solar Robot” (12/10/66) – Tired of being thwarted, Skyhook develops a giant robot to go after the map instead.

“King of the Space Pirates” (12/17/66) – Skyhook enlists the aid of a fellow pirate in his quest, but when the kids defeat them the pirate looks for revenge.

“Planet of Greeps” (12/24/66) – Skyhook is perfectly happy to be mistaken for one of the Greeps’ gods—that is until he’s tasked with stopping a volcano from erupting.

“Cosmic Condors” (12/31/66) – The kids take refuge in the nest of a cosmic condor that protects them from Skyhook.

“The Space Mermaid” (1/7/67) – When Skyhook discovers the kids are friends with a space mermaid, he plots to capture her and sell her to a circus.

“Haunted Planet” (1/14/67) – Skyhook strands the kids on a planet where he plans to scare them into giving him the map to escape.

“Something Old – Something Gnu” (1/21/67) – Skyhook and the kids end up accosted by Plutonian Pigmies while the kids are on the hunt for a cosmic gnu.

SMF ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (PART 9)

Welcome to the golden portion of our 2nd anniversary celebration!

As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning. For this installment, we recognize those shows turning the big 50--particularly cartoons of the Comic Book Superhero genre, which officially began in 1966 (comic books in general had been animated for television as far back as 1958).

Take a walk down memory lane with us, and feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page. We'd love to hear from you!

Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...

NOTE: Not all intros available at this time.

JANET WALDO DEAD AT 96

Actress Janet Waldo died on Sunday, June 12. You can read the full story here.

Best known for her role of Judy Jetson in every iteration of The Jetsons (excluding the 1990 movie where her lines were dubbed over), Waldo had a long Saturday morning career primarily working for Hanna-Barbera.

She lent her voice as Jenny in The Space Kidettes; Lana Lang in The New Adventures of Superman; Granny Sweet in The Atom Ant Show along with Flora Rugg in The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show; Nancy in Shazzan; Princess Pearla in Fantastic Four (1967); Penelope Pitstop in Wacky Races, its spin-off The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, and Yogi’s Treasure Hunt; Jenny Trent in Cattanooga Cats; the eponymous Josie McCoy in Josie and the Pussycats and Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space; Belinda Maze in Around the World in Eighty Days; Grandmama Addams in an episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies; Curvia and Henrietta in The Roman Holidays; Marybell and Georgia in an episode of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie; Morticia Addams in The Addams Family (1973); Mrs. Anders in Jeannie; Arlene Wilcox and Beth Crane in The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour; Circe in an episode of Thundarr the Barbarian; Zerona and Shanna the She-Devil in Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends; several roles in various episodes of ABC Weekend Specials; Mother in The Puppy’s Further Adventures; Hogatha in The Smurfs; and a female dinosaur in Dink, the Little Dinosaur.

She also provided a variety of voices for The Secret Squirrel Show, The Abbott & Costello Show, Help!...It’s the Hair Bair Bunch!, Inch High Private Eye, Hong Kong Phooey, The New Tom & Jerry Show, Clue Club, Jabberjaw, CB Bears, Yogi’s Space Race, The New Fred and Barney Show, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Rubik the Amazing Cube, The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show, Mr. T, The Dukes, Alvin & the Chipmunks and Tom & Jerry Kids Show, as well as on The Jetsons.