ROBOCOP: THE ANIMATED SERIES

ROBOCOP: THE ANIMATED SERIES

(Syndication, October 1-December 17, 1988)

Marvel Productions, Orion Pictures Corporation, New World International

MAIN CAST:

Dan Hennessey – RoboCop/Alex Murphy, Headhunter

Susan Roman – Officer Anne Lewis

Barbara Budd – Dr. Tyler

Greg Morton – Sgt. Warren Reed, Dr. Roosevelt

Len Carlson – The Old Man, Clarence Boddicker, Casey Wong, The Scrambler, Ace Jackson, intro narrator

Rex Hagon – Lt. Roger Hedgecock

            Part man. Part machine. All cop.

            That was the tagline used to market Orion Pictures’ 1987 film RoboCop. The story takes place in a dystopian version of Detroit, Michigan, in the near future (circa 2014). The crooked mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) owned everything, including the police. In order to achieve their dream of demolishing the poorer sections of Detroit and building their independent city-state of “Delta City,” OCP was tasked with eliminating the spiraling crime rate. They got their chance when Officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) was brutally murdered in the line of duty. Murphy was placed into the experimental RoboCop program, where he was transformed into a cyborg. After reclaiming his own mind though OCP’s programming, RoboCop stopped a crooked OCP executive and got revenge on his murderer before saving the life of OCP’s head, nicknamed “The Old Man” (Dan O’Herlihy).

RoboCop's armor.

            Edward Neumeier got the idea for RoboCop after a friend explained to him the plot of Blade Runner. The character himself was inspired by blending comic book heroes Judge Dredd and ROM (whose comic appeared in two scenes of the movie). Neumeier wrote the screenplay with Michael Miner, who was working on a script with a similar concept, and they got the chance to pitch it to a studio executive when they were all stranded at the same airport. The film dealt with several themes including corruption, privatization, gentrification, capitalism, masculinity, resurrection, the media and human nature. 

RoboCop doing his trademarked gun spin.

            The RoboCop costume was designed by Rob Bottin. Originally, the design was sleeker and aerodynamic. Director Paul Verhoeven requested multiple revisions to the suit to make it look more machine than man. The end result looked close to Bottin’s original design, but bulkier and more cumbersome. Weller had hired Moni Yakim, the head of the Movement Department at Julliard, to help him work out the character’s movements. However, the awkwardness of the suit forced him to rethink how he moved, leading to a more robotic and slower method of moving. RoboCop’s primary weapon was a modified Beretta 93R by Ray Williams of Freshour Machine in Texas.

Bullet proof!

            The film was released on July 17, 1987 and became regarded as one of the best films of the year. Despite being an extremely graphic and violent R-rated film, the following year began a heavy campaign to market the character to children. Part of which (and the reason you’re reading this) included an animated series. Developed by Miner and Michael Charles Hill for Marvel Productions, the series began along the same lines as the movie but underwent many changes in both story and content to make it more suitable for its intended audience.

Lewis and RoboCop.

            Like the film, the series focused on RoboCop (Dan Hennessey) and his partner, Anne Lewis (Susan Roman), as they patrolled the streets of Old Detroit. However, Old Detroit wasn’t quite the cesspool it was depicted as; instead it was more technologically advanced in line with other depictions of future timelines in various media. Notably, standard weaponry was replaced by laser guns in order to reduce the imitable violence depicted. Without the physical restrictions of an actual suit, Animation Korea Movie Production, Ltd. (AKOM) was able to give RoboCop a greater range of motion and faster speeds in their animation. RoboCop’s visor was also given a red light which sometimes extended across its length. Though not as overt, the series dealt with its own themes including racism, workplace prejudice, environmental issues, terrorism and finding one’s humanity.

Boddicker, alive and well.

The character of Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer in the movie) who created the RoboCop project was omitted, replaced instead by Dr. Tyler (played by Sage Parker in the film, voiced by Barbara Budd) who was assisted by Dr. Roosevelt (Stephen Berrier in the film, voiced by Greg Morton) as they maintained RoboCop. Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith in the film, voiced by Len Carlson), the gang leader who murdered Murphy, was still alive despite having been killed off in the film. Other returning characters were their commander Warren Reed (Robert DoQui in the film, voiced by Morton), OCP head The Old Man (Carlson), and Dr. McNamara (Jerry Haynes in the film, voiced by Robert Bockstael), who served as a recurring villain always trying to upstage or destroy RoboCop. Lieutenant Roger Hedgecock (Michael Gregory in the film, voiced by Rex Hagon), a minor character elevated to villain status by constantly wanting to see all robots eliminated.

Drs. Taylor and Roosevelt giving Murphy a check-up.

RoboCop began on October 1, 1988 as part of the syndicated programming block Marvel Action Universe, which featured new and old programs produced by Marvel. It was written by Rich Fogel, Mark Seidenberg, Donald F. Glut, John Shirley, Marv Wolfman, Michael Charles Hill and Roger Slifer, with music by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy. Although budgeted for 13 episodes, Marvel only produced 12 and reallocated the funds for the final episode into producing a pilot episode for a potential X-Men cartoon known as Pryde of the X-Men. Marvel Productions would become financially unstable in the following year, resulting in all projects except Muppet Babies being cancelled. 

Kenner produced a line of action figures related to the series under the name RoboCop and the Ultra Police. Debuting the same year as the cartoon, Kenner made 16 figures and 7 vehicles before the line ended. A large talking RoboCop was designed but never went beyond the prototype phase. Best Film & Video Corp. released three episodes as part of the Marvel Video! line in America. Overseas, Jetix Films UK released 8 episodes on DVD in 2004 and 2005 as RoboCop Volume 1 and RoboCop Volume 2: the Hot Seat. Later in 2004, volume 1 was re-released as part of the triple pack Action Man/RoboCop/Conan the Adventurer, in 2007 as Part Man, Part Machine and in Transformers/MASK/RoboCop. Jetix released the complete series in 2008.

In 1990, Orion released RoboCop 2 directed by Irvin Kershner. It would be the last time Weller would play the title role due to his displeasure working on the film. Despite mixed reviews, the movie was successful and production began immediately on RoboCop 3. The film was directed by Fred Dekker, who heavily rewrote the screenplay by comic book writer Frank Miller. Starring Robert John Burke, the film wasn’t released until 1993 due to Orion’s bankruptcy and was a critical and commercial failure. However, that wasn’t the end of the franchise.

In 1994, Orion partnered with Skyvision Entertainment to produce a live-action television series set between the first and second movie. Starring Richard Eden in the title role, RoboCop was given new non-lethal means of apprehending villains in order to allow them to recur. Because of rights issues, many of the supporting characters were given new names. The series ran for 21 episodes including the 2-hour pilot produced from an unused RoboCop 2 script before its high budget-per-episode cost caused it to be cancelled. 

In 1998, RoboCop returned to animation with RoboCop: Alpha Commando, played by David Sobolov and produced by MGM Animation, MGM Television and Orion Television. Set further in the future and featuring many of the same writers as the 1980s series, it was even lighter in tone by giving RoboCop new gadgets such as roller skates and a parachute. Sgt. Reed was the only supporting character from the films featured, and he was voiced by Blu Mankuma who played his counterpart in the live series. In 2001, Fireworks Entertainment and MGM Telvision produced a four feature-length episode mini-series called RoboCop: Prime Directives starring Page Fletcher. In 2014, MGM and Columbia Pictures released the remake RoboCop, starring Joel Kinnaman, after several years in production hell. Despite mixed reviews, the remake went on to gross over $242 million making it the most profitable of the franchise.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Crime Wave” (10/1/88) – Dr. McNamara hires a dangerous gang, the Vandals, to cause a crime wave in Old Detroit so he can prove his ED-260 weapon works.

“Scrambler” (10/8/88) – A jailed member of OCP hacks into RoboCop and uses him to escape and assassinate The Old Man.

“Project Deathspore” (10/15/88) – OCP’s experiment Project Deathspore escapes into the city’s sewers and begins draining everything with power.

“The Brotherhood” (10/22/88) – The Brotherhood wants to destroy all robots and cyborgs in the city and uses a high tech ball that disrupts their programming..

“The Man in the Iron Suit” (10/29/88) – McNamara puts Lt. Hedgecock into an iron suit and The Old Man puts him in competition with RoboCop to see which is more profitable.

“The Hot Seat” (11/5/88) – McNamara frees the Vandals and has them steal RoboCop’s charging chair.

“No News is Good News” (11/12/88) – McNamara sabotages OCP’s new tank and a reporter attempts to defame RoboCop.

“Night of the Archer” (11/19/88) – Archer plays Robin Hood in Old Detroit.

“Rumble in Old Detroit” (11/26/88) – Weapons go missing from the police lockup and are used to initiate a gang war.

“A Robot’s Revenge” (12/3/88) – RoboCop and Lewis are assigned to protect two visiting delegates, which are targeted by a terrorist-controlled ED-260.

“Into the Wilderness” (12/10/88) – RoboCop fights to shut down a polluting OCP factory.

“Menace of the Mind” (12/17/88) – RoboCop learns the leader of the Vandals is the man who killed him.

ROGER REES DEAD AT 71

British actor and director Roger Rees died on July 10th. You can read the full story here.

Rees guest-starred on Gargoyles as Prince Malcolm.

RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES

RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES

(NBC, September 6-November 18, 1975)

DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, 20^TH Century Fox

MAIN CAST:

Tom Williams – Bill Hudson

Claudette Nevins – Judy Franklin, Nova

Austin Stoker – Jeff Allen

Henry Corden – Cornelius, General Urko, opening narration

Philippa Harris – Zira

Richard Blackburn – Dr. Zaius, Bill Hudson

            Scientists have always said man was descended from the apes. What they never figured on was that they would one day rule us.

The novel that began it all.

            In 1963, French author Pierre Boulle released a novel entitled La Planète des Singes after being inspired by the humanlike expressions of gorillas at a zoo he visited. In the story, French journalist Ulysse Merou journeyed to another planet where animal-like humans were hunted and enslaved by an advanced society of apes. Humans had once ruled that world until they grew complacent and allowed the apes to overthrow them and assume control. The novel was a commentary on the failings of human nature and the overreliance on technology; stressing the point that human intelligence needed to be actively maintained. The novel became a hit and was translated into English. In the United Kingdom, it was retitled as Monkey Planet, while in the United States it was called Planet of the Apes.

Planet of the Apes concept art.

            Boulle’s literary agent, Alain Bernheim, introduced the novel to American film producer Arthur P. Jacobs. Jacobs had just begun a new company, APJAC Productions, and was looking for new properties to adapt. Jacobs took interest in the novel and acquired the rights immediately. He would spend the next three years trying to convince filmmakers and studios to take on the project, as the estimated $10 million price tag to make it scared them off.

Even if you've never seen the film, you've likely seen this scene in one of many parodies.

            Jacobs hired Rod Serling to write the script. Serling introduced Cold War themes to the story and created the twist ending of the planet actually being a future Earth after humans destroyed themselves with nuclear warfare. Securing Charlton Heston to star in the film landed them Franklin J. Schaffner to direct. After a screen test with Heston, 20^th Century Fox was convinced the film could succeed and took on the picture. However, Fox insisted on changes to bring the budget down to $5.8 million. Michael Wilson, who had adapted Boulle’s novel The Bridge Over the River Kwai, was hired to rewrite Serling’s script, making the ape society more primitive to save on special effects. Serling’s ending, however, was maintained. 

            The film featured Heston as 20^th Century American astronaut George Taylor who wound up on a planet where primitive humans were dominated by intelligent apes; in particular by the sinister orangutan science minister, Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans). Of course, not all apes were against humanity as they had sympathizers in chimpanzees Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (Roddy McDowall). The special ape make-up effects were produced by John Chambers. The film was released on February 8, 1968 and became a critical and commercial success. Two months after its release, a sequel called Beneath the Planet of the Apes entered production, which focused on another astronaut, Brent (played by James Franciscus and whose full name wasn’t revealed until the movie novelization), following Taylor to the planet. The sequel was released in May of 1970.

Beneath's movie poster.

            Despite being poorly reviewed, Beneath earned almost as much as the original; leading Fox to request additional sequels. Three more movies followed: Escape From, Conquest of, and Battle for, each made on a significantly decreasing budget. The series took the characters of Zira and Cornelius into the past where they had a child, Caesar (also McDowell), who would rise up to lead the ape rebellion against oppressive humans and try to build an integrated society of peace. 

The main characters of Apes: Galen, Burke and Virdon.

            When television broadcasts of the films earned high ratings, Jacobs planned to produce an hour long live-action series based on the franchise in 1971, but shelved the project when Fox requested another film after Conquest. However, Jacobs died in 1973, leaving Fox executive Stan Hough to take over production of the series entitled Planet of the Apes. The series focused on astronauts Alan Virdon (Ron Harper) and Peter Burke (James Naughton) being shunted to the future roughly 900 years before the events of the first movie. There, they befriended chimpanzee Galen (McDowell) and proceeded to aid both humans and apes while avoiding the authorities led by General Urko (Mark Lenard). The series was picked up by CBS in 1974, but because they decided to gear it towards children and due to its repetitive nature, the show earned poor ratings and was cancelled after 14 episodes.

Lights! Camera! Ape-tion!

           NBC decided to try and create their own adaptation of the franchise, but as a cartoon on Saturday mornings. Contracting DePatie-Freleng Enterprises to produce the series, they hired Jonny Quest co-creator Doug Wildey to oversee its development. Wildey served as associate producer, storyboard director and supervising director while drawing inspiration from only the first two films to craft the world of the show. That world, without the limitations of live-action production, became considerably more advanced akin to what the original book had described. However, Wildey did have to contend with NBC’s “Emulative Clause,” which stated that the series had to be devoid of imitable behavior that a kid watching could duplicate and possibly hurt themselves doing. This restricted the types of weaponry featured on the show, which Wildey loaded with Howitzers after the network decided they couldn’t imagine a six-year-old operating one.

Bill, Judy and Jeff meeting the future.

         Return to the Planet of the Apes centered on astronauts Bill Hudson (Tom Williams in early episodes, Richard Blackburn towards the end), Jeff Allen (Austin Stoker, who played Mr. MacDonald in Battle), and Judy Franklin (Claudette Nevins) as they ended up shunted forward in time from 1976 to 3979 and stranded in the ape-ruled future. Returning characters from the franchise included General Urko (Henry Corden) as a sinister gorilla who wanted to send all humans off-planet; orangutan scientific leader Dr. Zaius (Blackburn); the primitive human female, Nova (Nevins); chimpanzee human sympathizers Zira (Philippa Harris) and Cornelius (Corden); and Brent from the second movie, given the first name “Ronald.” 

The book that could change ape history forever.

The series set itself apart from the live-action one by having ongoing subplots while each episode’s main plot was relatively self-contained. For half the series, Judy was a prisoner of the Underdwellers; a subterranean race of humans that were based on the mutants from the second movie. Urko was relieved of power by Zaius, although he still spent the remainder of the series going after the humans. An old airplane was discovered that the astronauts had to keep out of ape hands lest they learn about air combat. The astronauts also engaged on a quest to find an ancient children’s book that would prove the theory of ape archaeologists that man preceded the ape. 

The astronauts meet Brent and Nova.

Return to the Planet of the Apes debuted on NBC on September 6, 1975 with music by Dean Elliott. The series, written by Larry Spiegel, John Barrett, Jack Kaplan, Bruce Shelly and John Strong, was praised for its intelligent scripts; which were said to accurately capture the tone of the film series. The highly detailed background artwork also received critical recognition. Unfortunately, Depatie-Freleng’s cost-cutting measures left viewers underwhelmed with the series; in particular, the constant reusing of footage and the stiff animation techniques on characters. The often-wooden performance of the voice actors also worked against the series. Poor ratings led the series to be cancelled after a single season. NBC briefly considered allowing a second season of three episodes to wrap up any lingering plot points, but ultimately the idea was scrapped. 

Despite all my rage I am still just a human in a cage.

In 1976, Ballantine Books published three volumes adapting episodes of the series, written by William Rotsler and Donald J. Pfeil under the house name of William Arrow. In March of 2006, the complete animated series was released as part of Planet of the Apes: the Ultimate DVD Collection. It was then released on its own in a complete collection that October.

Jack Kirby's concept sketch.

Throughout the 1980s, Fox tried to resurrect the franchise several times without much success. Amongst the many film attempts was another animated series. Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, who had served as producers on the live-action Apes series, had just formed their Ruby-Spears Productions and were interested in a sort of revival. Comic book legend Jack Kirby worked on concept sketches for the series proposal, but it never materialized. Finally, Fox wanted a new film for July of 2001 and was willing to offer considerable creative control in exchange for the firm release date. The prospect attracted director Tim Burton, but the deadline and $100 million budget meant the script written by William Broyles, Jr. had to be extensively rewritten and all aspects of production rushed. The film, a remake of Planet of the Apes, was successful upon its release, but Burton was disinterested in working on a sequel and it failed to generate enough interest for Fox to go forward with plans for a new franchise.

In 2006, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver took inspiration from stories of apes raised as humans and came up with a new concept focusing on the story of Caesar. After a slow development period, Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released in 2011 directed by Rupert Wyatt. The film was a major success, and Fox immediately commissioned a sequel. In 2014, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes directed by Matt Reeves was released and received equal acclaim. Confident in Dawn before it was even released, Fox greenlit a third movie in the franchise titled War of the Planet of the Apes, released in 2017. 7 years later, another sequel was released, the first since Disney’s takeover of Fox, called Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Flames of Doom” (9/6/75) – Three astronauts are shunted forward in time and find themselves on the run from a human-like ape civilization.

“Escape from Ape City” (9/13/75) – Urko launches an attack on the humans, almost killing Jeff in the process.

“The Unearthly Prophecy” (9/20/75) – Escaping Urko leads Bill and Jeff into the realm of the Underdwellers and the discovery that they have Judy.

“Tunnel of Fear” (9/27/75) – Bill and Jeff enlist Zira and Cornelius’ aid in finding a safe place for the humans, leading to a chase along an underground river.

“Lagoon of Peril” (10/4/75) – Bill, Jeff and Nova race to retrieve equipment from the capsule and destroy it before Urko finds it and learns about their origins.

“Screaming Wings” (10/11/75) – The astronauts hope to steal an old plane Urko found before he can mass produce it for his war on humans.

“Trail to the Unknown” (10/18/75) – The astronauts lead the humans to New Valley, where they encounter 22^nd century astronaut Ron Brent.

“Attack from the Clouds” (10/25/75) – Judy and Bill try to hide the plane from Urko while a giant bird monster attacks Ape City and the human settlement.

“Mission of Mercy” (11/1/75) – Bill and Jeff set out to find more fuel for the plane while Judy tries to find a cure for Nova’s illness in Ape City.

“Invasion of the Underdwellers” (11/8/75) – Urko and his men attempt to frame the Underdwellers for thefts around Ape City.

“Battle of the Titans” (11/15/75) – A disgraced Urko launches an attack on the humans while Bill and Cornelius look for a book to save the humans from Ape persecution.

“Terror on Ice Mountain” (11/22/75) – Bill and Cornelius try to hide the book but end up in the land of the peaceful Mountain Apes.

“River of Flames” (11/29/75) – Bill and Jeff agree to save the Underdwellers from a volcanic eruption in exchange for Judy’s freedom.


Originally posted in 2015. Updated in 2024.

GODZILLA (1978)

GODZILLA

(NBC, TV Tokyo, September 9, 1978-December 8, 1979)

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Toho Co. Ltd.

MAIN CAST:

Ted Cassidy – Godzilla

Jeff David – Captain Carl Majors

Al Eisenmann – Pete

Hilly Hicks – Brock

Brenda Thompson – Dr. Quinn Darien

Don Messick - Godzuki

            In 1954, Toho Studios needed a picture. The project they had originally counted on fell through, and it was tasked to young producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to fill the void. That year, an American thermonuclear device test on Bikini Atoll had a higher yield than anticipated and a Japanese fishing boat, the Lucky Dragon 5, was caught in the fallout. The resulting radiation sickness in the crew, island natives and military personnel created a fear of the unpredictability of nuclear weapons; not to mention stirring up memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from a decade prior. From these fears, an idea began to form.

The beast rises and attacks New York.

Inspired by the success of Warner Bros.’ 1953 film The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, it was decided to make a picture about a prehistoric monster that represented the destructive power of nuclear weapons, as well as having been awoken by them from a deep hibernation. Eiji Tsuburaya served as the special effects artist and went through several designs before settling on a mixture of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, an Iguanodon and a Stegosaurus, while also giving the creature the fire-breathing abilities of a dragon known as atomic breath. 

Godzilla rises from the sea.

Tsuburaya originally wanted to do the monster using stop-motion animation after being impressed with the method’s use in King Kong, but the tight deadline and budget made an actor in a latex suit the way to go. Developed by art director Akira Watanabe, the suit’s skin was texturized to represent the scars seen on survivors of the Hiroshima bombing and given a gray color with white bone protrusions. The sound of the creature’s roar was created by composer Akira Ifukube by rubbing a resin coated glove along a string of contrabass and then slowing down the playback. Toho held a contest to name the creature, and settled on Gojira; a combination of the Japanese words “gorira” (gorilla) and “kujira” (whale), describing his massive size and strength and the fact he lived in the water.

That's a spicy meat-a ball!

Gojira was released on November 3, 1954. It was written by Ishiro Honda and Takeo Murata and directed by Honda. To save expenses, the film was shot in black in white rather than color, which in the end helped to enhance the special effects. It became the eighth best-attended film in Japan that year, although it was heavily criticized for exploiting the nuclear tragedies Japan suffered. In 1955, the film was released to American theaters catering to Japanese-American neighborhoods. In 1956, Jewell Enterprises acquired the rights to the movie and heavily edited it. Certain scenes were removed and new footage starring Raymond Burr as a reporter investigating the monster directed by Terry O. Morse were incorporated into the story. The English-dubbed version became known as Godzilla, King of the Monsters! and became a success with the American public; opening a new interest in imported Japanese productions. 

No matter who wins, the insurance companies lose.

In the meantime, Toho, quick to capitalize on the original’s success, released its second film, Gojira no Gayakushu (or Godzilla’s Counterattack, also known as Godzilla Raids Again in America) in 1955. It was the first in the Godzilla series to feature the titular monster fighting against another monster, which would become a franchise staple. Toho would continue releasing more movies in the series up through 1975 for a total of 15 installments. Throughout the course of the films, Godzilla would be portrayed as a villain against humanity, but would also sometimes be an ally against a bigger threat alongside the humans (although, he could turn on his allies at any moment for any reason). Godzilla’s appearance would also change between pictures, his suit being recreated from scratch every time. It wouldn’t be until the series resumed in 1984 that the suit’s design would become consistent. 

Godzilla gives a monster a dose of bad breath.

As the movies continued to be successful with American audiences, Toho decided to bring the franchise to Saturday morning television. Initially beginning development at DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, it was traded off to Hanna-Barbera Productions in exchange for the Fantastic Four cartoon they were working on. Developed by Dick Robbins and Duane Poole, the series played on Godzilla (Ted Cassidy, providing the sounds rather than using the standard Toho ones) being a heroic figure, often fighting against various other monsters to save humanity and the world. Godzilla’s atomic breath was altered to resemble typical fire, and he was given the additional ability of laser eyes. Godzilla’s size also varied constantly throughout the run--sometimes within a single episode, even. This also occurred during the film series, although that was on a movie-to-movie basis. As in most other media outside the movies, Godzilla was given a green skin color.

Dr. Darien, Brock, Capt. Majors, Pete and Godzuki.

Godzilla was an ally to a team of scientists aboard a hydrofoil research vessel called the Calico. The team consisted of Captain Carl Majors (Jeff David), Dr. Quinn Darien (Brenda Thompson), her nephew, Pete (Al Eisenmann), and her assistant, Brock (Hilly Hicks). Also with the crew was Godzuki (Don Messick), the smaller, cowardly cousin of Godzilla who served as the show’s comic relief and to fulfill Hanna-Barbera’s love of pet sidekicks. He could barely fly with his tiny wings and any attempt to breathe fire usually resulted in smoke and a coughing fit. Godzilla could be summoned by the team using a special communicator or Godzuki could call him. 

The Godzilla Power Hour title card.

Godzilla ran on NBC in America and TV Tokyo in Japan beginning on September 9, 1978. It was written by Tom Swale, Don Heckman, David Villaire, Doug Booth, Martha Humphreys, Glenn Leopold, Ted Pedersen, David Wise, Kathleen Barnes, Bob Johnson, Ray Pakrer and Bob Stitzel, with music by Hoyt Curtin and Will Schaefer. Despite only having two seasons of 13 episodes produced, the series ran continuously through 1981 and was often paired up with other programs to form a packaged programming block. From its debut through October 28, the program was part of The Godzilla Power Hour with Jana of the Jungle. On November 4 through September 1, 1979, the name was changed to The Godzilla Super 90 when reruns of Jonny Quest were added to make the block a full 90 minutes. 

Godzilla carries the Calico to safety.

For the second season, Hanna-Barbera planned to pair the show up with The New Shmoo and The Thing to create the block Godzilla Meets the Shmoo and the Thing, but those plans fell apart. Instead, Godzilla was run independently while The New Fred and Barney Show was attached to the other two programs as Fred and Barney Meet the Thing (and later the Shmoo). On December 8, 1979, the final Godzilla episode and its reruns were paired up with The Super Globetrotters to form The Godzilla/Globetrotters Adventure Hour. On September 27, 1980, Globetrotters was swapped out for Dynomutt, Dog Wonder to become The Godzilla/Dynomutt Hour until Dynomutt was replaced with Hong Kong Phooey on November 22 to create The Godzilla/Hong Kong Phooey Hour. On May 23, 1981, Godzilla once again ran independently until it was ultimately replaced in NBC’s line-up by new series, The Smurfs. 

The VHS for Godzilla.

Two episodes received a limited released on VHS. In 2006, Sony Wonder released the first 8 episodes of season 1 on DVD in Godzilla: the Original Animated Series Volume 1 and Volume 2. In 2007, Classic Media released the final 5 episodes in Volume 3. The series has also been made available to view on streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, and Toho began uploading episodes to their official Godzilla YouTube channel between 2021-23. Toy Vault produced a line of plushies based on the franchise, including one of Godzooky. In 2023, Mondo released a limited-edition statute based on Godzilla’s design from the show in time for its 45^th anniversary.

Custom title card for the Cartoon Network parody short.

In 1999, Cartoon Network produced a short in response to the Y2K bug scare, Godzilla vs. the Y2K Bug, in which The Calico was attacked by a personification of the bug and failure to update the microchip in their device left the crew unable to summon Godzilla for help. Dr, Darien was repurposed as music expert Dr. Gale Melody for the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode “Shoyu Weenie”, voiced by Grey DeLisle. On Cartoon Network Europe, Hanna-Barbera’s Godzilla was featured as a weather reporter in segments of the Toon:FM programming block called ToonFM: Live From Tokyo. Scooby-Doo Team-Up #43 from DC Comics makes mention of Godzilla, as well as the monsters the Eartheater, the Cyclops Creature and the Time Dragon.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“The Fire Bird” (9/9/78) – A fiery bird wants to lay its eggs in the Arctic, and the team must stop it before it melts all the ice.

“The Earth Eater” (9/16/78) – The team must save San Francisco from a creature eating out all the earth beneath the city.

“Attack of the Stone Creature” (9/23/78) – A pyramid investigation turns deadly when stone creatures built to guard it come to life and attack the team.

“The Megavolt Monster” (9/30/78) – The team has to rescue ships in the Pacific under attack by an electrical creature.

“The Seaweed Monster” (10/7/78) – A seaweed monster arises and sets it sight on a small island.

“The Energy Beast” (10/14/78) – After Godzilla stops a monster, the monster transforms into Godzilla and destroys anything electrical.

“The Colossus of Atlantis” (10/21/78) – The team ends up trapped in the lost city of Atlantis and have to destroy the giant robot guarding it to free its populace.

“The Horror of the Forgotten Island” (10/28/78) – The team ends up stranded on an island inhabited by a cyclops, but Godzilla can’t penetrate a force field to get to them.

“Island of Lost Ships” (11/4/78) – Pete and Godzooky have to rescue the others from Sirens before their island disappears at sunset for the next 1,000 years.

“The Magnetic Terror” (11/11/78) – The team must stop a monster from reaching the South Pole and destroying the world.

“The Breeder Beast” (11/18/78) – A creature attacks Washington, DC, and is made up of an explosive material that could level the entire city.

“The Sub-Zero Terror” (11/25/78) – Godzilla has to rescue the team in the Himalayas from the Abominable Snowman.

“The Time Dragons” (12/2/78) – The team ends up transported and stranded back in prehistoric times.

Season 2:

“Calico Clones” (9/15/79) – The team encounters a mad scientist who plans to clone them and use them to steal oil from a rig.

“Micro Godzilla” (9/22/79) – A pink fog shrinks Godzilla and causes a fly to become giant-sized and attack Godzuki and Brock.

“Ghost Ship” (9/29/79) – The team finds a U-Boat from WWI complete with its entire crew before it ends up attacked by a giant octopus.

“The Beast of Storm Island” (10/6/79) – The team ends up stranded on an island and some of them enslaved by Axor along with its inhabitants.

“The City in the Clouds” (10/13/79) – The team ends up on a cloud city and the inhabitants want Godzilla to have him destroy the dragon they’re trying to escape.

“The Cyborg Whale” (10/20/79) – Brock and Pete are stuck in a prototype sub that goes haywire and heads straight for Honolulu.

“Valley of the Giants” (10/27/79) – The team runs aground in a valley of giant insects and ends up trapped in a cave after a cave in.

“Moonlode” (11/3/79) – A monster from the moon comes to Earth and begins affecting the water currents globally.

“The Golden Guardians” (11/10/79) – The team encounters a hostile city that worships gold statues that come to life and turn Godzilla into one of them.

“The Macro-Beasts” (11/17/79) – The team discovers a volcano oozing a strange liquid that turns sea animals into giants.

“Pacific Peril” (11/24/79) – The team investigates a new island that appears in the Pacific only to end up trapped in its volcano with giant lizards.

“Island of Doom” (12/1/79) – Godzilla must save the team from an island inhabited by a terrorist organization before their nuclear reactor suffers a meltdown.

“The Deadly Asteroid” (12/8/79) – Ice aliens plan to use an asteroid to destroy the Earth and capture the entire team except for Pete.


Originally posted in 2015. Updated in 2023.