LITTLE DRACULA

 

LITTLE DRACULA
(FOX, Fox Family, September 3, 1991-October 13, 1999)
 
Steven Hahn Productions, Sachs Family Entertainment, Bandai Entertainment

 

 

MAIN CAST:
Edan Gross – Little Dracula
Joe Flaherty – Big Dracula
Jonathan Winters – Igor, Granny
Kath Soucie – Mrs. Dracula, Millicent, Spirits of the Netherworld Operator
Melvyn Hayes – Deadwood
Joey Camen – Werebunny
Brian Cummings – Garlic Man
Neil Ross – Maggot
Danny Mann – No Eyes, Twin-Beaks

 

Little Dracula is a British series of children’s books that centered on the daily adventures of Dracula’s son, nicknamed Little D. Along with his father, Little D lived in Castle Dracula in Transylvania with his mother, Mrs. Dracula, little sister, Millicent, and his Granny. Other residents included Igor, Dracula’s all-purpose servant who had a removable eye; Slave, a zombie servant that was frequently used and abused by everyone, especially Igor; Handy, a disembodied sentient hand; and their pets, Cat, Batty and later Rover, a werewolf cub. During the day, the nearby villagers were out and about, but at sunset they would retreat to their homes and the night belonged to the Draculas.

One of the series' two-page spreads.

The books were written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Joseph Wright. They took some inspiration from Charles Addams’ The Addams Family strips and its adaptations by blending macabre imagery with humor and enough silliness to be kid-friendly. For instance: liberal use of blood as beverages or condiments; skulls doubling as bowling or croquet balls; emptying the contents of a severed human head into a frying pan for breakfast; eating a sandwich made from a severed human leg; getting blood delivered like bottles of milk; Little D sawing his sister in half and later gluing her back together; an iron maiden complete with skeletal occupant as a Christmas gift, etc. All of this was conveyed through Wright’s highly-detailed artwork, infusing safe-yet-grotesque sight gags into every picture. Each book would open with a two-page spread of the Dracula castle grounds showcasing the occupants and other beings doing various activities within and without. A number next to some characters would correspond to a list identifying who each character was; including random characters that played no part in the actual story such as a werewolf and Frankenstein’s monster.

The first Little Dracula book.

The first book in the series, Little Dracula’s First Bite, debuted in 1986 and was published by Walker Books. Seven books followed through 1992; however, the Fiendishly Funny Joke Book was done by the different creative team of Alan Durant and Paul Tempest. Candlewick Press would pick up the international rights to the series and release the books in North America, and four of the books would see reissues as late as 2001.

Little D with Igor, Deadwod, Dracula, Millicent, Mrs. Dracula, Werebunny, Batty and Granny.

In the 1990s, it was decided to adapt Little Dracula into an animated series. Produced by Steven Hahn Productions in association with Sachs Family Entertainment, the cartoon took deep inspiration from the books. However, since the books were very short, didn’t have too much depth to their stories, and weren’t many of them, some liberties were taken to flesh them out further in order to fill an entire season of television episodes. Little D (Edan Gross) still lived in the caste with Big Dracula (Joe Flaherty, as a nod to his Count Floyd character from SCTV), Mrs. Dracula (Kath Soucie), Millicent (also Soucie), and his Granny (Jonahtan Winters, sounding fairly close to his Maude Frickert character). On his birthday, Little D was gifted the Scepter of the Draculas, which could create a doorway to anywhere or open any locked door, an amulet that would allow him to communicate with anyone, and a hat that would allow him to go out into the sunlight unharmed. Little D combated his difficulty with flying by designing a flying car, the Dracster (a vampire-themed play on dragster).

Igor presenting the Draculas with his Santa-catching trap.

Igor (also Winters), on top of being Dracula’s servant and Little D’s keeper, was also the live-in mad scientist who cooked up bizarre inventions for the Draculas. That included a special top hat that allowed Little D to go outside in the daytime. Slave was renamed Deadwood (Melvyn Hayes), likely to avoid the controversy of the Draculas being slave-owners. He was often Igor’s guinea pig or tool. He would often make sarcastic comments about situations or predicaments, but nobody ever seemed to hear him clearly. Handy helped out around the castle and was excellent at sleight-of-hand magic. Along with their established pets Battie and Wolfie (renamed from Rover), Cat was replaced by a fuzzy spider.

Little D taking Werebunny for a ride in the Dracster.

Newly-created for the series was Little D’s best friend, Werebunny (Joey Camen); a blue-furred half werewolf, half bunny with a single eye. There was also Twin-Beaks (a play on “Twin Peaks”, voiced by Danny Mann), a two-headed vulture that often hung out in the dead trees by the castle and whose heads tended to bicker with each other. Both attended the same Ghoul School as Little D…in Twin Beaks’ case because their right head was held back for 17 years. As Little D was unable to fly just yet, he turned his car, the Dracster, into a flying car to compensate for it.

The sinister Garlic Man.

Other new characters were antagonists for the show. Dracula’s sworn enemy was Garlic Man (Brian Cummings), who wanted nothing more than to destroy him (since vampires hated garlic, after all). He had a garlic head and a stench to match. Whenever he was defeated, Garlic Man would be reduced to a garlic clove, but be could be resurrected via a ceremony of planting it and reciting a chant. He was served by two lackies: the aptly-named No Eyes (Mann), who also had an interchangeable mechanical hand, and the boil-covered Maggot (Neil Ross).

The Man With No Eyes and Maggot saluting their boss (while dealing with his stench).

Little Dracula debuted on FOX on September 3, 1991 as part of the Fox Kids programming block. The series was written by Pamela Hickey and Dennys McCoy, with Frank Ward and Trish Stewart serving as special consultants. Character and background designs were handled by John Norton, Gary Selvaggio, Craig Clark, Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, Jeff Myers, Debbie A. Silver, Sung-Woo Hong, Emily Schwappach Michels, John Petrovitz and Vadim Sokolov. The series’ music was done by The Music Team, Andrew Dimitroff and Stephen C. Marston, and animation duties were handled by Island Animation, Inc. (now part of Dong Woo Animation).

Little D with his scepter and protective hat.

Little Dracula had an interesting run. It aired from Tuesday through Saturday its debut week, and was then replaced by Beetlejuice on weekdays and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures on Saturday. The next episode wouldn’t air until Halloween that year. The remaining seven episodes wouldn’t run until the series was rerun on Fox Family Channel (now Freeform) in 1999. Although it was never seen in North America again, second season of 13 episodes was commissioned overseas by Fance’s M6 network. Co-produced in France and Germany by IDDH and Renaissance-Atlantic Films, it aired exclusively in Europe under the title Draculito, Mon Saigneur.

An equally short-lived toyline was co-produced by DreamWorks, who handled the North American release, and Bandai, who handled other territories. Two versions of Little D, Deadwood, Garlic Man, Igor, Maggot, The Man With No Eyes, Twin Beaks and Werebunny were released, along with the Dracster, the Garlicmobile, the Drac-Moto and the Coffin Car. Additionally, Little D’s scepter and amulet were offered as roleplay toys. Harvey Comics published a 3-issue mini-series seeing Little D on the trail of whoever staked his parents so that they can remove the stakes and bring his parents back to un-death. Like the books, the first issue featured a two-page introduction spread of Dracula’s castle. The comic was done by Michael Gallagher, Dave Manak, Jorge Pacheco, and In Color.

The Harvey Comics version of the two-page introduction spread.

Between 1993-94, Abbey Home Media released episodes of Little Dracula across four VHS collections in PAL regions. Little Dracula’s Fangtastic Video featured “Little ‘D’ Goes Hawaiian”, “Bat Boys” and “Easy Biters”; Little Dracula’s Video Full of Frightfull Suprises featured “Little D’s Surprise”, “Deadwood’s Complaint” and “The Chamber of Unspeakable Terrors”; and Little Dracula’s Video With a Bite had “Little D’s First Bite” and “The Curse of the Ghastly Minimum Wage”. “Little D’s Surprise” was also featured on The Biggest Ever Saturday Morning Heroes Video by Tempo Video, which also included episodes of The Adventures of T-Rex, James Bond Jr., Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Captain N: the Game Master, and Transformers. The original FOX-run episodes have been uploaded by viewers to YouTube.

 

 

EPISODE GUIDE:
“The Curse of the Ghastly Minimum Wage” (9/3/91) – Little D unwittingly becomes an employee for a new burger joint in town created solely to get rid of Dracula.
 
“Little D’s First Bite / Ghoul Days” (9/4/91) – It’s Little D’s first day of school, and Garlic Man enrolls Maggot in order to steal the Scepter of the Dracula’s from him.
 
“Little D’s Surprise” (9/5/91) – It’s Little Dracula’s birthday, and he’s finally of age to embrace his heritage—if he can master the flying that he’s neglected practicing.
 
“The Bite Before Christmas” (9/6/91) – While the Draculas anticipate the arrival of Santa, Garlic Man decides to disguise himself as Santa in order to infiltrate their castle.
 
“Little ‘D’ Goes Hawaiian” (9/7/91) – Sick of the Transylvanian weather, Dracula decides to take everyone on a vacation to Hawaii.
 
“Little D’s Halloween” (10/31/91) – The Draculas dress as ordinary people to accompany Little D on his first time trick-or-treating in the village with Garlic Man in hot pursuit.
 
“Bat Boys” (9/12/99) – Little D battles Garlic Man and his minions in a game of baseball with his schoolmates.
 
“Easy Biters” (9/14/99) – Igor changes Little D’s bike into a motorcycle, leading to him and his friends crossing paths with a bad motorcycle gang looking for a challenge.
 
“Deadwood’s Complaint” (9/17/99) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
 
“The Chamber of Unspeakable Terror” (9/17/99) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
 
“The Bite at the Ghoul Schol Corral” (10/3/99) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
 
“Midnight Madness” (10/11/99) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
 
“Deadly Screentest” (10/13/99) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE

 

TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE
(CBS, September 11, 1976-November 3, 1979)
 
Filmation Associates

 

 

MAIN CAST:
Robert Ridgely  – Tarzan (speaking), various
Danton Burroughs – Tarzan (yell)
Lou Scheimer – N’Kima, various

 

 

Edgar Rice Burroughs had wandered from job to job and one failed enterprise to another, making darkly humorous cartoon sketches and writing fairy tales set on other worlds to amuse himself and distract from his string of bad luck in life. Having indulged in some pulp publications during his downtime, he felt he could write better than what he read and began work on his first pulp story: Under the Moons of Mars, which would become the first entry in his Barsoom series about Confederate Army captain John Carter suddenly finding himself on the planet Mars and embroiled in the conflict between its peoples. After finishing half of it, he submitted it to The All-Story magazine under the pseudonym “Normal Bean” (fearing his reputation would be damaged if connected to the work). Managing editor Thomas Newell Metcalf liked what he read, and after some polish and its completion, he bought the serialization rights from Burroughs for $400 USD (equivalent to $13,283.92 as of this writing). It was first published in the February-July 1912 issues of The All-Story.

Cover to The All-Story magazine's October 1912 edition.

Burroughs took up writing full time. Although initially discouraged when his next story idea was rejected, encouragement to keep at it led him to create the first entry in his most successful series: Tarzan of the Apes. Tarzan was the son of a British Lord and Lady who were marooned on the West coast of Africa before he was born. Neither survived his infancy and he was adopted and raised by Kala, member of the ape tribe known as the Magani. His name, Tarzan, meant “White Skin” in their language. Tarzan would eventually ascend to king of the apes, learned about his past upon discovery of his family’s hut, people in general when another group wound up stranded in the jungle, and eventually of love when he met Jane Porter—who would eventually become his wife. Although his adventures would often take him out of the jungle, it wouldn’t be long before he was drawn back to it.

Front page artwork from the 1914 edition of Tarzan of the Apes.

Tarzan of the Apes was published in The All-Story in October of 1912. After being rejected by several publishers, A.C. McClurg and Co. finally agreed to release it in novel form in 1914, becoming a best-seller. Burroughs would go on to publish 24 books in the Tarzan series—two posthumously after his death in 1950—along with several novellas. Recognizing how popular Tarzan was with his audience, Burroughs went against advice and planned to exploit the character through whatever other media he could: a comic strip that ran from 1929-2002 and continues on in reruns; films beginning with the 1918 silent film Tarzan of the Apes and still being produced in the present; stage plays starting in 1921; radio shows beginning in 1932 which Burroughs was involved with; and various merchandise. For tax reasons and to maintain control over his works, Burroughs formed Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. which is still run by his family today and continues to license and manage Burroughs’ creations that have not yet fallen into the public domain.

Jane, Tarzan and Cheeta from Tarzan the Ape Man.

The films introduced many of the characteristics most people associate with Tarzan. 1932’s Tarzan the Ape Man introduced Tarzan’s sidekick Cheeta; a chimpanzee that provided comic relief and correspondence between Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) and his allies, and led other animals to come to Tarzan’s aid. This character replaced Nkima from the books; an African monkey that first appeared in Tarzan and the Lost Empire who exhibited great bravery in Tarzan’s presence but was otherwise cowardly on his own. The film also introduced the version of Tarzan’s yell synonymous with the character (and whose vocal origins have been an ongoing debate). His son with Jane (Maureen O’Sullivan), Jack, that first appeared in The Eternal Lover, was also replaced by an adopted son known only as “Boy” (Johnny Sheffield) in 1939’s Tarzan Finds a Son! The 12 films starring Weissmuller established Tarzan as a noble savage speaking in broken English, rather than the cultured aristocrat he was portrayed as being in the novels. The 1935 serial The New Adventures of Tarzan, which was one of a competing series of films allowed by licensing issues and the only film production with Burroughs’ direct involvement, featured an educated Tarzan. When television emerged as a dominant medium, many of the Tarzan films were brought to Saturday morning television. The character’s first television series, Tarzan starring Ron Ely, aired on NBC between 1966-68 as essentially a continuation of the films made under producer Sy Weintraub that began with 1959’s Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure.

The animated Tarzan and his animal friends.

Eight years later, Filmation co-founder and producer Lou Scheimer decided he wanted to try his hand at producing his own Tarzan series. Scheimer, at this time, resided in Tarzana, California; the town that sprang up when Burroughs gradually sold off portions of his massive 550-acre Tarzana Ranch named after Tarzan. ERB, Inc.’s office was also located in Tarzana just a few minutes away from Scheimer’s house. Scheimer met with the Burroughs estate to convince them that Tarzan would be perfect for animation; starting with a film to explain his origins. Unfortunately, Burroughs’ grandson, Danton, wasn’t thrilled with the changes writer David Gerrold wanted to make for the film to have the story flow better, and the resulting heated exchange between them would be one of the reasons Gerrold left Filmation to work with Krofft Productions. Eventually, a deal was struck and Filmation acquired the rights. They, in turn, sold the show to CBS.

Tarzan gives his traditional call.

The goal was to have the series appear as lush and illustrative as the work of Burne Hogarth, Burroughs’ favorite artist from the Tarzan comic strip that worked on it between 1937 and 1950, while keeping it within the scope of their budget. Knowing how physical a character Tarzan was, and since was meant to be a real man rather than a superhero who could fly like Superman, Filmation decided to make use of rotoscoping for their library of stock footage. They shot a lot of film of a model—who was a bartender from the animators’ favorite nearby hangout called The Dug-Out—walking, running, jumping, diving, swimming and whatever other common movements an ape-man would need to make in the jungle. The animators would then draw off of that footage to perfectly emulate how the human body would move.

Character models for Tarzan's foes from Zandor.

The series featured the smallest cast of any Filmation project; with the main characters only being Tarzan (Robert Ridgley) and his companion N’Kima (Scheimer providing vocal effects). Danton Burroughs himself provided Tarzan’s iconic yell (once; that single recording was reused for each instance in the series). Some of the recurring characters included the Mangani apes that raised him; Jad-bal-ja, the lion he raised and trained; African elephants, called “Tantor” in the Mangani language, that would come to Tarzan’s aid when called; Queen Nemone (Joan Gerber & Hettie Lynne Hurtes), the ruler of Zandor; Tomos (Alan Oppenheimer), Nemone’s prime minister and lackey; Belthar, Nemone’s pet lion; and Phobeg (Ted Cassidy & Oppenheimer), the strongest man in Zandor and one of the royal guards. Jane (Linda Gary) only appeared in one episode, and that was by special request from the Burroughs estate to resecure the character’s rights as she hadn’t appeared in visual media since 1959. The series made heavy use of the Mangani language from the books, having all animals be called by their Mangani names and even making up a few words when none existed, and retained Tarzan’s intellect.

Enter: evil robot Tarzan.

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle debuted on CBS on September 11, 1976 and ran for four seasons; however, only the first was its own separate entity. For the second season, 6 new episodes and reruns were paired with repeats of The New Adventures of Batman to form The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour. They were joined by The Freedom Force, Jason of Star Command, Manta and Moray, Superstretch and Microwoman and Web Woman to form the 90-minute Tarzan and the Super 7 for the next two seasons. Tarzan’s runtime was reduced to 17 and 11 minutes as part of the block, depending on the episode, and longer reruns were trimmed down to run within the allotted time. 6 and 8 new episodes were made for each season, respectively. When the other series—excluding Jason—moved to NBC to air in reruns as Batman and the Super 7, reruns of Tarzan were joined by The New Adventures of The Lone Ranger to form The Tarzan/Lone Ranger Adventure Hour. For the final season, those shows were joined by The New Adventures of Zorro to make The Tarzan/Lone Ranger/Zorro Adventure Hour.

You encounter all sorts of strange beings in the jungle.

Much of the series was written by Len Janson and Chuck Menville, who also served as associate producers, with additional scripts from Paul Dini, Kathleen Barnes, David Wise, Tom Ruegger, Dale Kirby, Don Heckman, Michael Reaves and Fred Ladd. Many episodes were based off of Burrough’s books and tried to remain as faithful to them as possible; however, tempered for a more modern audience and infused with pro-social messages about preservation and treating animals and other cultures properly. Topping that off was Filmation’s customary coda at the end where Tarzan would relay a moral message to the viewers. Notably, Tarzan’s adventures seemed to be set in the present day with the appearance of robots, satellites and airplanes rather than the late 19^th and early 20^th Century of the books. Additionally, there were strong science fiction elements through the presence of mad scientists and extra-terrestrials. Lacking their desired film, storyboard director Bob Kline was able to provide at least a glimpse of Tarzan’s origins in the series’ opening sequence, supported by narration from Ridgely. Horta-Mahana Corp. was responsible for the music and sound effects used, with background music provided by Ray Ellis (as Yvette Blais) and producer Norm Prescott (as Jeff Michael).

The DVD cover.

Following the last run of episodes in the Adventure Hour, Tarzan took a two-year hiatus from the network before returning for a brief seven month run in February of 1984. The series largely disappeared, with Scheimer stating in his book, Creating the Filmation Generation, that he was often asked about when it would be released to home media. Warner Bros. eventually released the episode “Tarzan and the Colossus of Zome” as part of their compilation DVD Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s Volume 1; itself collected with other entries in that series in 2018. The complete first season was released to DVD in 2016 by Studio Distribution Services in time for its 40^th anniversary; just weeks before Warner Bros.’ (a part owner of SDS with Universal Pictures) new film, The Legend of Tarzan, hit theaters. It was also made available for purchase to stream on Prime Video.

 

EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“Tarzan and the City of Gold” (9/11/76) – Tarzan ends up a prisoner of Zandor when he attempts to help Athne of the City of Ivory return home after Zandorians drove her off.
 
“Tarzan and the Vikings” (9/18/76) – Tarzan is captured by jungle Vikings to be a slave to the chieftain’s daughter and ends up discovering a plot to overthrow the chieftain.
 
“Tarzan and the Golden Lion” (9/25/76) – Tarzan comes to the aid of the Monkey People being enslaved by the Bolmangani and teaches them how to stand up for themselves.
 
“Tarzan and the Forbidden City” (10/2/76) – Tarzan must rescue two groups of visitors seeking the Forbidden City for different reasons after they’re captured by the soldiers living there.
 
“Tarzan and the Graveyard of Elephants” (10/9/76) – The Novardians demand Tarzan’s aid in finding the Graveyard of the Elephants so that they may harvest the tusks from their bones.
 
“Tarzan’s Return to the City of Gold” (10/16/76) – Tarzan ends up saving Athen’s brother and attempts to get him home, but Queen Nemone has ordered her soldiers to capture Tarzan.
 
“Tarzan and the Strange Visitors” (10/23/76) – Tarzan meets an anthropologist as aliens arrive in the jungle to capture animal specimens to bring back to their planet.
 
“Tarzan and the Land of Giants” (10/30/76) – Tarzan discovers a hidden valley full of giants being terrorized by tyrant King Odysseus and Buto, the latter whom they believe is a god.
 
“Tarzan and the Knights of Nimmr” (11/6/76) – Tracking the occupant of a crashed balloon leads Tarzan to be captured by knights and stumbling upon a plot to rob the queen.
 
“Tarzan’s Rival” (11/13/76) – Tarzan is villainized by a robot duplicate so that Mr. Senti can steal the Jewels of Opa.
 
“Tarzan and the City of Sorcery” (11/20/76) – Tarzan meets a boy who claims his father has been transformed by a sorceress queen, and Tarzan travels to the city of Rashid to confront her.
 
“Tarzan at the Earth’s Core” (11/27/76) – Tarzan journeys to the prehistoric land of Pellucidar in order to help unite two kingdoms.
 
“Tarzan and the Ice Creature” (12/4/76) – A volcano eruption frees the gigantic ice creature Glakor from his slumber.
 
“Tarzan and the Olympiads” (12/11/76) – After meeting two escaped slaves, Tarzan heads to Olympus to free the remaining slaves and make Emperor Cronus change his ways.
 
“Tarzan’s Trial” (12/18/76) – The aliens return and capture Tarzan so that their commander can learn all of his abilities and use them to become supreme ruler of the space fleet.
 
“Tarzan, the Hated” (12/18/76) – The Bolmangani Emperor plans to turn a tribe of gorillas against Tarzan and rebuild their city in the Opar Region despite an archaeologist’s claims it’s unsafe.
 
Season 2:
“Tarzan and the Sunken City of Atlantis” (9/10/77) – Tarzan seeks to free whales enslaved to power Atlantis, but deny the city power will cause it to flood.
 
“Tarzan and the Bird People” (9/17/77) – Aiding an injured member of the Bird People gets Tarzan involved in the conflict between them and the Land People.
 
“Tarzan and the Colossus of Zome” (9/24/77) – The inches-high people seek to enlist Tarzan in their war against the Zomans, but the Zomans need help as well when their weapon turns against them.
 
“Tarzan and the Beast in the Iron Mask” (10/1/77) – Tarzan must restore Chief Denat after his twin brother has assumed his identity in order to mine for gold in a volcano.
 
“Tarzan and the Amazon Princess” (10/8/77) – Tarzan returns a long-lost Amazon to her home only to learn the captain of the royal guard seeks her extermination to become next in line to rule.
 
“Tarzan and the Conquistadors” (10/15/77) – Tarzan must protect the Donlumangani from Conquistadors searching for their captain’s ancestors’ treasure.
 
Season 3:
“Tarzan and the Spider People” (9/9/78) – Tarzan tracks large spiders abducting elephants to a treetop city where he discovers that the spiders are actually robots under their control.
 
“Tarzan and the Space God” (9/16/78) – Tarzan rescues a professor from a crashed plane who convinces him to lead him to an area where the Mayans are believed to have disappeared.
 
“Tarzan and the Lost World” (9/23/78) – Tarzan must help a scientist retrieve a downed satellite from the Minotaur before it explodes and destroys the valley.
 
“Tarzan and the Monkey God” (9/30/78) – N’Kima winds up in a village being terrorized by a gorilla where he’s believed to be a monkey god.
 
“Tarzan and the Haunted Forest” (10/7/78) – Tarzan partners with the inhabitants of the Haunted Forest in order to stop Queen Tara’s deforestation to power her machines.
 
“Tarzan and the Island of Dr. Morphos” (10/14/78) – Tarzan pursues an abducted N’Kima to an island where a mad scientist plans to perform genetic experiments on Tarzan.
 
Season 4:
“Tarzan and the Sifu” (9/15/79) – Tarzan is captured in Tao Ching when their Sifu is overthrown, and their new leader plans to conquer other cities in the jungle and take control of a dragon.
 
“Tarzan and Jane” (9/22/79) – Tarzan rescues Jane and her father after a mutiny during an archaeological exposition and helps lead them back to civilization.
 
“Tarzan and the Land Beneath the Earth” (9/29/79) – Tarzan and his friends end up in the land of the mole people who have been using Makos Trees to power their furnace.
 
“Tarzan and the Drought” (10/6/79) – Tarzan tries to convince the Monkey People to tear down their dam during a drought.
 
“Tarzan and the Soul Stealer” (10/13/79) – Tarzan learns Zandor and Athne are at war again, and Queen Nemone has acquired magical powers.
 
“Tarzan and the Future King” (10/20/79) – King Torg’s Vizier plans to foil Prince Yaru’s final trial in order to become king of the Red Gorilla Kingdom himself.
 
“Tarzan and the Huntress” (10/27/79) – Tarzan must rescue Fana the Huntress from Kerlock and his men when they believe her to be an ally of Tarzan’s.
 
“Tarzan and the White Elephant” (11/3/79) – Tarzan must convince a kingdom to leave a White Elephant calf with its mother instead of taking it to protect against invading Rhino Riders.

THE RELUCTANT DRAGON & MR. TOAD SHOW

 
THE RELUCTANT DRAGON & MR. TOAD SHOW
(ABC, September 12-December 26, 1970)
 
Rankin/Bass Productions

 

 

MAIN CAST:

Paul Soles – Tobias, Irving the Bold, Merlin the Magician Jr., Inkley, Mole, Badger, Chief Weasel, King the Lion, Robin Hood, Sir Lancelot, various

Carl Banas – King Herman the Atrocious, Ugliola, Sheriff of Nottingham, Sir Gallahad, Uncle Charles, Monk the Gorilla, various

Claude Rae – Mr. Toad, Sir Malcolm St. George, Bunkley, King Arthur, Additional voices

Donna Miller – Daisy, Water Rat, Queen of England, Field Mice, Additional voices

 

 

            Kenneth Grahame was a British writer that lived from 1859-1932. A good student, he wanted to attend Oxford University, but due to the cost was instead sent to work at the Bank of England, the central bank of the United Kingdom. There, he quickly rose through the ranks to become its Secretary. In 1899, he married Elspeth Thomson and they had a son, Alastair, in 1900. Alastair was born with blindness in one eye and was plagued by health problems, school bullies and an unhappy home life until he committed suicide in 1920. In 1908, Grahame was forced to retire (health was the official reason—the actual reason was he had fought with one of the bank’s directors, Walter Cunliffe, who would eventually become Governor of the Bank of England) and relocated his family to his childhood home of Cookham where they lived in what would become Herries Preparatory School.

70th anniversary publication of The Reluctant Dragon.

            While he was in his 20s, Grahame published light stories in various London periodicals; some of which would be collected and published as Pagan Papers in 1894 and then The Golden Age in 1895. 1898’s Dream Days contained Grahame’s most famous short story: “The Reluctant Dragon”.  The story, set in Grahame’s one time residence of Berkshire Downs in Oxfordshire (where St. George was said to have fought a dragon in legend), featured a young boy discovering and befriending a poetry-loving dragon. The townspeople learn of the dragon’s existence and called for St. George to exterminate him. However, St. George befriends the dragon as well and stages a fake joust between them, which leads to St. George convincing the townspeople the dragon meant no harm. The story was effectively the prototype for all the ones that would present the typically thought-of-as-evil being as a sympathetic character.

The 1st edition of The Wind in the Willows.

            Grahame’s next most famous work would come in 1908, when he turned the bedtime stories he told his son into the children’s novel The Wind in the Willows. The plot centered around Mr. Toad; the rich, jovial, friendly, kindhearted yet arrogant and rash master of Toad Hall whose personality was inspired by Alastair. He was quick to fall into the latest fad and drop it just as quickly in favor of the next one. It just so happened his latest obsession became motorcars; which he routinely crashed, incurred astronomical fines, and had three stays in the hospital. His friends—the timid and thoughtful Mole, the charming boat-loving Rat, and the wise and considerate Badger—attempt to keep him out of trouble, but Toad winds up in jail anyway. This allowed the sinister weasels, stoats and ferrets to take over Toad Hall, prompting the four friends to fight to take it back. Along with this central story, the book contained several short stories independent of it centered around the adventures of Rat and Mole. While initial reviews of the book were mixed, it quickly became popular; with U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne being counted amongst its fans.

Ad for a stage version of The Reluctant Dragon.

            Over the years, both stories have seen reprintings with and without pictures, as well as adaptations into stage (the first of which was written by Milne), screen and radio productions that continue on to this day. Disney would release a film version of both as part of anthology films in 1941 and 1949, respectively, and continues to feature their versions in their parks and productions. On television, there was a 3-year period dedicated to adaptations of Grahame’s works. In 1968, a puppet adaptation of The Reluctant Dragon was performed by Kukla, Fran and Ollie for an episode of NBC Children’s Theater. In 1969, The Wind in the Willows was adapted using still images by artist John Worsley and narration by Paul Honeyman. In 1970, Rankin/Bass Productions took their first stab at adapting the stories; however, they ambitiously decided to do both at the same time.

Rankin/Bass' Reluctant Dragon meeting their Mr. Toad.

            The Reluctant Dragon & Mr. Toad Show debuted on ABC on September 12, 1970. As the title suggests, it featured the adventures of the dragon, now named Tobias (Paul Soles), and Mr. Toad (Claude Rae). However, the worlds of the two characters only interacted during the opening and closing titles, commercial bumpers, and in the story “Toad’s Time Machine”. The series was actually broken up into three different stories: two featuring Tobias at the beginning and end, and a Mr. Toad one right in the middle. The entire series was adapted and written by Romeo Muller and William J. Keenan, music by Maury Laws with lyrics by Jules Bass, characters designed by Paul Coker Jr., and animation duties handled in Japan by Mushi Studios. It was produced and directed by studio founders Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Bass.

Tobias after encountering a daisy.

            The Reluctant Dragon segments opened with royal trumpets blaring before the story title was shown with Tobias behind it. As in the original story, Tobias was a gentle dragon who didn’t want to hurt anyone. However, he was cursed by the wizard Merlin to unleash dangerous fiery sneezes whenever he saw a daisy in any form—from the real thing to a simple picture. It was often a point of great shame when one of these attacks hit; as well as troublesome for the medieval village of Willowmarch where he resided.

Tobias, Sir Malcolm and King Henry in one of many encounters with Ugliola and Iriving the Bold.

            Ruling over Willowmarch was King Herman the Atrocious (Carl Banas); a self-centered and short-tempered royal who frequently tried to get rid of Tobias while at the same time often relying on him to handle certain kinds of trouble. He was often on the receiving end of one of the sneezing fits. Knight Sir Malcolm St. George (Rae) was Tobias’ only true friend and did what he could to protect both him and the kingdom. A little girl named Daisy (Donna Miller)—who claimed to love Tobias—made it her mission in life to get him a bouquet of daisies whenever possible; either being blissfully or maliciously ignorant of the effect they had on him. Additional trouble was often caused by two Vikings from Viking Land: the large Ugliola (Rae) and the diminutive Irving the Bold (Soles). They sought to steal whatever they could from Willowmarch—be it valuables or the entire kingdom itself. They were often stopped by Tobias as much as their own incompetence.

Badger, Rat and Mole look on in worried disbelief as Toad explains his latest endeavor.

            The Mr. Toad segments began with their own brief intro showing Mr. Toad piloting a variety of vehicles before crashing onto Tobias’ tail and giving him a sneezing fit by offering a daisy. Residing at Toad Hall in turn-of-the-century Scotland, Mr. Toad was a carefree and aloof soul who squandered his money on every single whim that crossed his mind. This often put him at odds with his friends—English gentleman Mole (Soles, using a British accent), rough and tumble Rat (Miller, modulated with an Irish accent), and stalwart Badger (Soles, using a Scottish accent)—who were either inconvenienced by his flights of fancy or dragged along on them. Aiding him in his schemes was sometimes a legion of dimwitted and lazy field mice (all Miller). There were also the weasels, who took every opportunity they could to usurp Toad Hall from Mr. Toad’s possession; necessitating Toad and his friends getting it back from them through some elaborate scheme. Although Mr. Toad seemed unbothered by these turns of events, a wink to the camera at the end sometimes let on he was more cognizant than seemed.

Toad being tricked by the weasels into signing over Toad Hall for a shiny new fire truck.

            The Reluctant Dragon & Mr. Toad Show, unfortunately, had trouble finding an audience; it was cancelled and removed from the schedule before it finished airing. It returned to the network on Sunday mornings beginning September 12, 1971 and remained there until the following September. The series has largely disappeared since, with only 7 episodes made available online so far through the Internet Archive. Rankin/Bass would get another crack at Mr. Toad for ABC in their 1987 telefilm The Wind in the Willows, which was a more faithful adaptation of the book again written by Muller. The film was actually completed in 1983 and released onto video in the UK, but was met with several delays before it could make its American debut. This ended up being the last production by Rankin/Bass, as the company would be shut down on March 4, 1987. Rankin and Bass would partner for two more productions before officially dissolving their partnership on December 17, 2001; with all but several projects from their library split between Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Discovery.

  

EPISODE GUIDE:

“A Cold Day in Willowmarch / Build a Better Bungalow / A Day at the Fair” (9/12/70) – Tobias is unwilling to use his fire to free Willowmarch from Viking Land as it’s against the law to do so. / To keep the mischief to a minimum, Toad’s friends oversee the construction of his new guest house. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

 

“Cowardly Herman / Casey Toad / Daisies Away” (9/19/70) – Sir Malcolm sets up a fake fight between Tobias and King Herman in order to cure the King of his sudden bout of cowardice. / Mr. Toad has taken to playing with a model railroad—using full-sized trains. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

 

“Dippy / Gentlemen's Gentleman / Dragon Under Glass” (9/26/70) – The Vikings use a baby dragon to distract Daisy so that they can capture Tobias and keep him out of their plans. / After losing Toad Hall to the weasels when he spends the mortgage payment, Mr. Toad happily becomes their butler. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

 

“Free a Cold, Starve a Viking / Ghost of Toad Hall / Happy Birthday, Dear Tobias” (10/3/70) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / When the weasels trick Mr. Toad into signing over Toad Hall, he and his friends decide to play ghost and scare them out. / If Tobias can keep away from daisies all day on his 400^th birthday, his sneezing curse will finally be lifted.

 

“How to Be a Wizard / Jack of All Trades / How to Vex a Viking” (10/10/70) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

 

“If It's Wednesday It Must Be Viking Land / Jove! What a Day / Lights, Camera, Action” (10/17/70) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

 

“Merlin the Magician, Jr. / Micemaster Road / National Daisy Week” (10/24/70) – Expecting important visitors, King Herman enlists the aid of Merlin’s son to remove Tobias’ curse. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

 

“Never Count on a Cornflower / Movie Maker Toad / No Bix Like Show Bix” (10/31/70) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / Mr. Toad takes up filmmaking and recruits the weasels as his villains, who in turn sabotage the production. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

 

“Saving the Crown / Polo Panic / Sir Tobias” (11/7/70) – The Vikings come to steal the crown jewels and use a daisy to keep Tobias from stopping them. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / After King Herman banishes him, Tobias decides to try and make London his home.

 

“Subway Sabotage / Sail Ho-Ho / Taxes Are a Drag on Dragons” (11/14/70) – Tobias comes to the rescue when the Vikings steal the palace through an underground tunnel. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

 

“The Big Break / Sandhogs / The Campscout Girls” (11/21/70) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

 

“The Flying Flagon / The Amphibious Mr. Toad / The Haunted Castle” (11/28/70) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / King Herman forces Tobias to spend the night in a castle that ends up being haunted by King Arthur and some of his knights.

 

“The Kid's Last Fight / The Demolition Derby / The Purple Viking” (12/5/70) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / The Vikings bring a massive purple Viking to Willowmarch to steal their bridge.

 

“The Robot Dragon / The Great Bonfire Contest / The Starve Versus Herman, the Atrocious” (12/12/70) – Tobias gets blamed when the Vikings attack Willowmarch with a robot dragon. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

 

“The Tobias Touch / The Great Motorcycle Race / Tobias, the Terror of the Tournament” (12/19/70) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

 

“Tobias, the Reluctant Viking / Toad's Time Machine / Wretched Robin Hood” (12/26/70) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. / Mr. Toad builds a time machine that takes him and his friends to medieval Willowmarch. / Tobias and Sir Malcolm encounter Robin Hood, who doesn’t exactly live up to his legend.

 

“The Toughest Daisy in Willowmarch / Twenty Thousand Inches Under the Sea / The Great Zoo Bust Out” (1/2/72) – Tobias tries to get rid of a daisy in front of his door before he’s supposed to receive an award for not destroying the town for a month. / Mr. Toad’s friends get pulled into an unwitting adventure on his latest invention: a submarine. / King Henry sells Tobias to a zoo where he ends up unwittingly aiding in the other animals’ escape.