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.

VAMPIRINA

 

VAMPIRINA
(Disney Junior, Disney Channel, October 1, 2017-June 28, 2021)
 
Brown Bag Films

 

 

            Vampirina is a computer-animated series created by Chris Nee, creator of Doc McStuffins, based on the Vampirina Ballerina series of books written by Anne Marie Pace, illustrated by LeUyen Pham, and published by Disney-Hyperion. Consisting of four books released between 2012-17, the series focused on Vampirina, a young vampire who had aspirations of taking up ballet while overcoming the fact that she is, y’know, a vampire and also has stage fright. The animated series takes loose inspiration from the books, with Vampirina Hauntley (Isabella Crovetti) and her family—mother Oxana (Lauren Graham), father Boris (James Van Der Beek), and werewolf-transforming dog Wolfie (Dee Bradley Baker), omitting the siblings she had in the books—moving from Transylvania to open a supernatural-friendly bed and breakfast called Scare B&B in Pennsylvania. They had to learn to adapt to their new environment so as not to alert the normal humans to their vampiric origins and scare them. Along with the Hauntleys, the series featured Demi (Mitchell Whitfeld), a ghost who loved with them; Gregoria (Wanda Sykes), a 473-year-old gargoyle who acted like Vampirina’s sidekick; Poppy Peepleson (Jordan Alexa Davis), Vampirina’s human best friend; Edgar (Benji Risley), Poppy’s older twin brother who was a monster enthusiast and ran the vlog “Weekly Weirdness”; and Bridget (ViviAnn Yee), Vampirina’s other human friend. Together, Vampirina, Poppy, Edgar and Bridget had a band called the Ghoul Girls.

Vampirina, her friends and family welcoming a guest to the Scare B&B.

            Vampirina debuted on October 1, 2017, simulcast on both Disney Junior the channel and Disney Junior the programming block on Disney Channel. That was followed by a special screening in theaters that Halloween and a DVD release only two weeks later. It was renewed for a second season in January, and for a third that September before the second season even debuted. It was supplemented by music videos shown independently under the title Ghoul Girls Rock. The series’ music was composed by Michael Kooman and Christopher Diamond, with Layla Minoui doing the score. Vampirina was populated by a number of veterans from Doc McStuffins, who would shift to take over the series from Nee when she left Disney after the second season to being a short-lived relationship creating shows for Netflix. The series ended after 75 episodes, racking up 7 Daytime Emmy Award nominations, winning 1, and a British Academy Children’s Award and Irish Film and Television Award nomination. It was made available to stream on Disney+.

FUDGE

 

FUDGE
(ABC, January 14-December 16, 1995)
 
Kevin Slattery Productions, Amblin Television, MCA Television Entertainment

 

 

MAIN CAST:
Jake Richardson – Peter Warren Hatcher
Luke Tarsitano – Farley Drexel “Fudge” Hatcher
Eve Plumb – Anne Hatcher
Forrest Witt – Warren Hatcher
Nassira Nicola – Sheila Tubman
Alex Burrall – Jimmy Fargo

 

 

Judy Blume is the author of children’s, young adult and adult fiction. Having always been concocting stories in her head, she finally decided to put them down on paper when her children began pre-school. He first book, The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo, was published in 1969, and she’d go on to write a total of 32 (to date) across her career. She became one of the first young adult authors to write about controversial topics like masturbation, menstruation, birth control, teenage sex and death. These not only made her books beloved by generations of audiences, but often landed her at the top of banned book lists. She had won more than 90 literary awards and was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress, among other honors. Her work has also been adapted several times into other media; with the first being a 1978 TV film based on the novel Forever.

Fudge, Peter and ill-fated turtle Dribble as depicted by Roy Doty.

In 1972, Blume introduced the beginning of the Fudge series of books. “Fudge” was the nickname of Farley Drexel Hatcher, a 2 ½-3-year-old toddler who was very loud, demanding and mischievous with an overactive imagination who deathly hated his given name. Despite the series being named after him, the protagonist was actually his long-suffering older brother, Peter, and the stories were generally told from his perspective. One of his contentions is that Fudge is seemingly allowed to get away with anything or always gets what he wants, along with driving him crazy in the process. Other characters included their parents (naturally), Peter’s best friend Jimmy Fargo, and his neighbor and rival, know-it-all Sheila Tubman.

A more realistic depiction on a later edition cover.

The first book, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, was inspired by Blume’s babysitter, Willie Mae Bartlett, showing her a news article about a toddler swallowing a tiny pet turtle. She wrote a picture book called Peter, Fudge and Dribble that made the rounds to various publishers and was rejected. Later, it was submitted to Ann Durrell, editor of children’s books at E.P. Dutton, who suggested changing it from a picture book and making its story a chapter in a longer book about the whole family. So, Blume did; basing Fudge on her son, Larry, and setting it in the New York City building where her best friend, Mary Weaver, lived. Durrell loved the book, but the title needed to change thanks to the book Peter Potts having just come out. Out of a list of 20 suggestions by Blume, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was chosen and the book was published.

Sheila gets her chance to shine.

The next book was a spin-off, called Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, as Blume wanted to give focus to Sheila after finishing the first book. The next three books—Superfudge, Fudge-a-mania, and Double Fudge—returned to the Hatcher family and their everyday adventures. Blume never actively worked on the series as much as fans kept requesting further installments; rather, she wrote each successive book as soon as inspiration for their story struck. “The thing about funny books is, they have to spill out spontaneously, or they don’t work. (At least that’s how it is with me)” Blume explained on the Superfudge page of her website.

DVD cover to Sheila's film.

The first adaptation of a Fudge book was Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, written and produced by Blume and her son and directed by him. It aired as one of two new entries during the 13^th season of ABC Weekend Specials. The next adaptation was a made-for-TV film based on Fudge-a-mania, also airing on ABC on January 7^th, 1995. Written and directed by Bob Clark (director of A Christmas Story and its original sequel), the film starred Jake Richardson as Peter, Eve Plumb and Forrest Witt as his parents Warren and Ann, Nassira Nicola as Sheila, Alex Burrall as Jimmy, and Luke Tarsitano as Fudge in his first acting role. Florence Henderson also appeared as grandmother Muriel, bringing a small Brady Bunch reunion with Plumb.

The Hatchers come to life.

As not much information currently exists about Fudge’s live-action adaptations, it’s unknown whether the film was always intended to act as a potential pilot or if the network liked what they saw enough to move forward with a series. Regardless, Fudge the sitcom would debut the following week on January 14^th, with all of the film’s primary cast carried over. It was a co-production of Kevin Slattery Productions, Amblin Television and MCA Television Entertainment. Episodes were largely adapted from the chapters of Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge, with a few original stories sprinkled in. As with the books, Peter provided narrative commentary and would address the audience directly in fourth wall breaks. Writers included Tom J. Astle, George Thompson, Robin Stein, Jay Ingram, Joseph Purdy and producers Russell Marcus and Mary Gregory de Butts. Dick Marx, Shelly Berg and Tom Halm handled the music, while costume designs were done by Nancy Fox-Taylor.

Sheila observes some Fudge shenanigans.

The first season ran for only nine episodes, but viewers didn’t have to wait too long as the second season began that August. It wasn’t renewed for a third, however, which could be attributed to either the series failing to match the popularity of its source material or it being a casualty of the Disney purge after they had purchased the network and wanted to populate it with their own programming. Fudge’s second season returned to television in 1997 as part of CBS’ Think CBS Kids programming block, which was entirely populated by live-action programming designed to fill new educational and informational requirements mandated by the FCC (many sources mistakenly claim that the second season first ran on CBS, but the airdates and schedules contradict that). While the film has seen an official home media release the series itself remains largely forgotten outside of a VHS release for “Ducky Soup”. Only two fair quality episodes, the intro and outro have surfaced online so far. 

Fudge on the hunt for his audience.

The Fudge books continue to remain in print, receiving minor updates between editions to dialogue and featured technology to bring them closer to the current times. In February of 2022, it was reported that an animated adaptation of Superfudge would be coming to Disney+ courtesy of Joe and Anthony Russo (provided it hasn’t become a casualty of Disney’s cost-cutting measures in the interim). To date, Blume’s last published book was 2015’s In the Unlikely Event. In the meantime, she’s remained a steadfast activist against the banning and censorship of books as a  member of the National Coalition Against Censorship; served on the boards of The Authors Guild, the Society of Chidldren’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Key West Literary Seminar; and opened a non-profit book store called Books & Books in her current hometown of Key West, Florida.

 

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

Movie:

“Fudge-A-Mania” (1/7/95) – The Hatchers and Tubmans decide to go to Maine together for a getaway only to have conflicts and chaos ensue.

 

Season 1:

“How Turtle Got His Name” (1/14/95) – After Fudge ate Peter’s pet turtle Dribble, his father got him a new dog that he named “Turtle” in his honor.

 

“Saving Up is Hard to Do” (1/21/95) – Fudge becomes an elevator operator in order to earn money for an anniversary gift for his parents.

 

“Fudge Meets Ratface” (1/28/95) – Fudge climbs to the top shelf in his kindergarten class and refuses to come down as his teacher won’t address him as “Fudge”.

 

“The TV Star” (2/4/95) – Spending a day at their father’s office results in Fudge becoming the star of a commercial.

 

“To Catch a Fudge” (2/11/95) – Sheila volunteers to babysit Fuge so that their parents can have dinner together.

 

“The Birthday Bash” (2/18/95) – Peter is forced to stay home for Fudge’s birthday party.

 

“The Flying Train Committee” (2/25/95) – Fudge vandalizes the project Peter and his friends were working on the day before it’s due, forcing their parents to build a wall to separate them.

 

“Uncle Feather” (3/4/95) – In order to keep their wall, Peter suggests getting Fudge a pet bird to help ease his fear of monsters in his room.

 

“Ducky Soup” (3/11/95) – Peter gives Fudge his stuffed duck until his stuffed monkey can be repaired after accidentally being washed.

 

Season 2:

“The Grade Escape” (8/19/95) – Fudge fills out Peter’s aptitude test, resulting in Peter’s being labeled a “genius”.

 

“The Art of Friendship” (8/26/95) – Jimmy’s father speaking at Career Day at school puts a strain on his friendship with Peter.

 

“No Exit” (9/2/95) – A visit from a cousin causes Peter to reconsider his thoughts about young kids.

 

“Play it Again, Dad” (9/9/95) – A girl winking at him after watching a street performer encourages Peter to consider taking up music.

 

“The Candyman Shouldn’t” (9/16/95) – After Fudge is found to have four cavities, his parents challenge the family to give up sweets for a week.

 

“My Grandmother the Card” (9/23/95) – Their grandmother comes to babysit the kids for the weekend, putting a damper on Peter’s plans with his friends.

 

“Big Little Lie” (9/30/95) – Peter gets his friends to help him fix a table before his parents find out he and Fudge broke it.

 

“Bye Anxiety” (10/7/95) – Sheila’s family announces they’re moving to Chicago.

 

“Bad Housekeeping” (10/14/95) – The new maid causes Peter and Warren to act strangely.

 

“Odd Man Out” (10/21/95) – Peter and Fudge’s classes end up paired together for a buddy program.

 

“A Foreign Affair” (10/28/95) – Peter falls for an exchange student from China.

 

“Slam Funk” (11/4/95) – A new neighbor trounces Peter in basketball.

 

“Reversal of Fortune” (11/11/95) – Peter is in a panic when he discovers Fudge gave away his lucky nickel.

 

“The Mouse Trappers” (11/18/95) – Fudge befriending a mouse leads Peter to believe their mother is pregnant with multiple babies.

 

“Midnight Cowboys” (12/16/95) – Peter is tasked with watching over Fudge during the Hatchers’ New Year’s Eve party.