BIRDMAN AND THE GALAXY TRIO

BIRDMAN AND THE GALAXY TRIO

(NBC, September 6, 1967 – January 20, 1968)

Hanna-Barbera Productions

MAIN CAST:

Keith Andes – Birdman/Ray Randall

Don Messick – Falcon 7, Vapor Man, General Stone, Mentok the Mind-Taker, Dr. Shado The Brain Thief, Vulturo, Dr. Shark, various

Dick Beals – Birdboy

John Stephenson – Number One (original), X the Eliminator, Reducto, various

Vic Perrin – Number One, The Ruthless Ringmaster, various

Ted Cassidy – Meteor Man

Virginia Eiler – Gravity Girl

In response to CBS’ successful action-oriented schedule the prior season, NBC decided to move away from the comedy and incorporate more action programs into their line-up for the 1967-68 season. One of them was the original creation of one of Hanna-Barbera’s key designers Alex Toth: Birdman and the Galaxy Trio.

Birdman followed the adventures of Birdman (Keith Andes), an ordinary man named Ray Randall bestowed with powers by the Egyptian sun god Ra. He was given large wings that granted him flight and the ability to shoot solar rays and project solar shields from his hands. As his powers originated from the sun, prolonged time in darkness led to his powers fading away. He was assisted by his pet eagle, Avenger, and Birdboy (Dick Beals), a young boy that Birdman saved with his powers, transferring some of them to him (his wings, however, were mechanical in nature).

Birdman model sheet.

They worked for the government agency Inter-Nation Security under its leader, Falcon 7 (Don Messick). They protected the country and the world from various kinds of threats; particularly from the enemy agency F.E.A.R. led by the sinister Number One (John Stephenson & Vic Perrin). Other threats included the weather-manipulating Cumulus (Henry Corden); the mental manipulator Mentok the Mind-Taker (Messick); The Deadly Duplicator (Frank Gerstle), who could create duplicates of people with his glasses; the knowledge-stealing Dr. Shado (Messick); the time-traveling Dr. Millennium (Hal Smith); and Vulturo (also Messick), who created a vulture-like costume to battle Birdman, amongst others.

The Galaxy Trio: Vapor Man, Gravity Girl and Meteor Man.

As with other Hanna-Barbera originals in the action genre, Birdman was accompanied by a second feature: The Galaxy Trio. The Trio were a team of extraterrestrial superheroes who patrolled the farthest reaches of space for the Galactic Patrol Law Enforcement Agency. Their number included Vapor Man (Messick) from the planet Vaporus, who could transform his body into gas and produce a variety of different vapors from his hands; Meteor Man (Ted Cassidy) from the planet Meteorus, who was able to control the size and strength of his body; and Gravity Girl (Virginia Eiler) from the planet Gravitas, who could bend the laws of gravity to her will. Their supervisor was known simply as “Chief”.

Birdman and Avenger.

Birdman and the Galaxy Trio debuted on NBC on September 6, 1967. The series was written by Art Davis, Jack Hanrahan, Phil Hahn and Neal Barbera, with Paul Sommer serving as story director. Ted Nichols and Andes handled the music and Toth did the character designs. Each episode was broken up into three segments with a Trio story being bookended by two Birdman stories. Despite the characters banding together to combat a threat in the opening sequence, Birdman and the Trio never actually met during the show. The show ran for 20 episodes into 1968 and remained on NBC’s schedule until that fall. Unfortunately, the show came on during a time when Saturday morning television was under by Action for Children’s Television (ACT); a grassroots group designed to improve the quality of children’s programming. A favorite target of theirs: violence in cartoons. In response to the pressure from ACT, the networks and production studios began to revamp their approach to cartoons, which meant a shift away from action shows back towards comedy. As a result, Birdman was never given a second season.

The show lived on in reruns, joining the rotating ensemble of cartoons featured in the syndicated Hanna-Barbera’s World of Super Adventure beginning in 1980. They were also featured in the Cartoon Network programming block Super Adventures in 1992, and the Toonami programming block’s Cartoon Roulette from 1997-2000. In 2001, Cartoon Network gave Birdman a second life in the parody series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. In it, Birdman (Gary Cole), had retired from superheroing and become a lawyer. Various characters from the show made appearances in various episodes. The show ran for four seasons, ending in 2007.

A meeting of the heroes in Super TV Heroes #2.

Birdman appeared in 5 of the 7-issue Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes comic published by Gold Key from 1968-69, with the Galaxy Trio appearing in the first two. Tying into their run on Toonami, Birdman next appeared in DC Comics’ Cartoon Network Presents #s 5 and 9 in 1997 and 1998, with the Trio appearing in issue #17 in 1999. Birdman and the Galaxy Trio both returned to comics in 2016 as part of DC’s attempt at revitalizing and updating the Hanna-Barbera properties owned by parent company Warner Bros. They appeared in the pages of Future Quest and its spin-off series Future Quest Presents. Birdman’s origins, only hinted at in the show, were explored further in the latter book.

The complete series DVD.

In 2003, Toynami produced a limited edition maquette of Birdman. They also released a double pack of action figures featuring him and Avenger the following year. They and the Galaxy Trio were included in the Hanna-Barbera wave of Toynami’s I-Men blocky figure line. In 1986, Worldvision Home Video released a VHS collection featuring five Birdman segments and two Galaxy Trio segments. In 2007, Warner Home Video released the complete series to DVD as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection. In 2017 the set was re-released with slightly different packaging. 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“X the Eliminator / Revolt of the Robots / Morto the Marauder” (9/9/67) – FEAR offers a bounty on Birdman’s helmet and X aims to collect by luring Birdman into a trap. / The Galxy Trio are called to stop a robot servant uprising on Orbus 4 at the hands of Computron. / Morto escapes from prison and uses a mechanical knight to lure Birdman into a duel.

“The Ruthless Ringmaster / The Battle of the Aquatrons / Birdman Versus the Mummer” (9/16/67) – The Ringmaster steals the government’s most advanced weapons and plots to use them against Birdman. / Lotar directs heat rays at Earth in order to melt the ice caps and create a new colony. / An imposter sabotages a peace conference and sparks a war between two countries.

“The Quake Threat / The Galaxy Trio Versus the Moltens of Meterous / Avenger for Ransom” (9/23/67) – Birdman tracks down a villain using earthquakes to terrify a populace only to end up trapped underground. / The Moltens, who live beneath the surface of Meteor Man’s home planet, attempt to drive the surface populace away with explosions and lava. / When Zardo kidnaps Avenger, Birdman is forced to do his bidding.

“Birdman Versus Cumulus, the Storm King / The Galaxy Trio and the Sleeping Planet / Serpents of the Deep” (9/30/67) – Cumulus attempts to enslave the country with his weather powers. / The Trio investigate radio silence on Planet K-7 and discover the inhabitants are all asleep while machines steal their valuables. / Dr. Shark steals the government’s gold-extracting bathysphere.

“Nitron the Human Bomb / The Galaxy Trio and the Peril of the Prison Planet / Mentok, the Mind Taker” (10/7/67) – Birdman foils a nuclear scientist’s rise in an underground organization, driving the scientist to try and destroy him. / The Trio are sent to quell a riot on a prison planet. / Mentok takes control of Avenger’s mind in order to bring Birdman to him.

“The Purple Moss / Drackmore the Despot / The Deadly Trio” (10/14/67) – Xadu causes a purple moss to grow over the planet so that he can claim it for his home planet. / The Trio allow themselves to be captured in order to find missing explorers. / Three supervillains decide to combine their efforts in destroying Birdman.

“The Brain Thief / Titan, the Titanium Man / Birdman Versus the Constrictor” (10/21/67) – The Brain Thief steals the knowledge of scientists, but to get it back Birdman and Avenger will have to face giant replicas of themselves. / Titan lures the Trio to his planet and pits them against his army. / Birdman reluctantly trades Avenger to the Constrictor for stolen missile plans.

“Number One / The Duplitrons / Birdman Meets Birdgirl” (10/28/67) – Number One plots to capture Birdman and siphon his energy to power his pirate satellite. / Coming to Earth to prevent a war, the Trio learn three leaders have been replaced with duplicates. / Mentaur hypnotizes a young aerialist and makes her Birdgirl in an attempt to steal a hydrogen bomb.

“Birdman Meets Reducto / Computron Lives / Vulturo, Prince of Darkness” (11/4/67) – Reducto threatens to shrink the country unless he gets ultimate power. / Soldiers reactivate Computron to control him, but he escapes to Planet Z-10 and activates war machines there. / Vulturo challenges Birdman to a duel with his new awesome powers.

“The Chameleon / The Eye of Time / The Incredible Magnatroid” (11/11/67) – A thief uses a formula to change his appearance and steal valuables. / The Trio are caught in a time tornado that sends them back to ancient Scandanavia and pits them against the Roman army. / Birdman searches for a stolen titanium shipment and ends up trapped in a dark scrap warehouse.

“Hannibal the Hunter / The Galaxy Trio and the Cavemen of Primevia / The Empress of Evil” (11/18/67) – Hannibal captures a friend of Birdman in order to lure him to his secret island and make Birdman his next prey. / The Trio have to free the enslaved planet Primevia from invaders from Vapor Man’s home planet. / Medusa and her Amazons capture a young prince and demand a ransom for his return.

“The Wings of F.E.A.R. / The Demon Raiders / Birdman Meets Birdboy” (11/25/67) – Birdman attempts to learn who’s kidnapping ambassadors from the UN by replacing one with a robot double. / Attempting to stop Zakor from robbing a treasury planet, the Trio end up trapped in their pods to orbit forever. / Rescuing a young boy with his powers ends up turning him into Birdboy.

“The Menace of Dr. Millennium / The Rock Men / Birdman Versus Dr. Freezoid” (12/2/67) – Dr. Millennium uses dinosaurs to cover his escape with high-security missile plans. / A geologist is captured by Rock Men controlled by escaped convict Braton. / Birdman follows Dr. Freezoid to the North Pole after the villain stole some inter-nation security files.

“The Deadly Duplicator / Space Fugitives / Professor Nightshade” (12/9/67) – Attempting to stop the replacement of people with evil duplicates pits Birdman and Avenger against duplicates of their own. / Survivors of the planet Magnetron disguise themselves as the Trio and rob planets of elements needed to build their army of androids. / Nightshade steals a device that allows him to trap the capitol in a vortex of time and space in order to ransom it for power.

“Train Trek / Space Slaves / Birdman Meets Moray of the Deep” (12/16/67) – A gang of foreign agents plot to replace astronauts on an American solar capsule. / Elraf captures Gravity Girl in order to force her to help him efficiently get an element he needs to make enslavement bands. / Birdman disguises himself as a scientist in a plot to rescue a group of them being held in an underground lab.

“Birdman and the Monster of the Mountains / The Galaxy Trio Versus Growliath / The Return of Vulturo” (12/23/67) – While the heroes deal with a giant monster in Tibet, Birdboy is captured by the real villain. / Evil scientist Growliath turns all the insects of planet Nova into giants. / Vulturo captures Birdboy in order to lure Birdman into a trap for revenge.

“The Revenge of Dr. Millennium / Return to Aqueous / The Ant Ape” (12/30/67) – Dr. Millennium transports Birdman to ancient China while he prepares an army of barbarians to attack the present. / The Trio head to Aqueous in order to defeat a monster on the rampage, which turns out to be part of a political plot. / A foe of Birdman’s creates a giant creature to loot museums and cause general havoc.

“Birdman Versus the Speed Demon / Invasion of the Sporoids / The Wild Weird West” (1/6/68) – The chemicals a prisoner uses to escape jail also gives him super speed. / The Trio try to rescue Outpost A-15 from a nearly indestructible spore monster. / Superhumans attack a western town to rob it and get revenge in the name of their ancestors.

“The Pirate Plot / Gralik of Gravitas / Skon of Space” (1/13/68) – Attempting to stop high-tech pirates leads Birdman to get captured as he protects Avenger. / The Trio protect Gravitas from Gralik and his ultra-gravitizer ray. /

“The Molten Monsters of Moltar / Two Faces of Doom / The Final Encounter” (9/16/67) – Space Ghost and the twins are captured by Moltar. / Brak and Spider Woman take turns against Space Ghost. / The heroes confront the Council of Doom.

SPACE SENTINELS

THE YOUNG SENTINELS / SPACE SENTINELS

(NBC, September 10-December 3, 1977)

Filmation Associates

MAIN CAST:

George DiCenzo – Hercules, Sentinel One, Commander Nemo, various

Evan C. Kim – Mercury

Dee Timberlake – Astrea, Sentinel Seven, Commander Androlin, various

Lou Scheimer – Maintenance Operator “MO”, Prime Sentinel, various

            With Star Wars reinvigorating the interest in outer space, Filmation latched onto the craze for their next animated outing. The Young Sentinels took the concept of space-faring adventure and combined elements of Greco-Roman legend. While Filmation productions tended to feature a diverse cast of characters, this was notably the first production where the main cast matched that diversity. 

Mercury, Astrea and Hercules.

            Sentinel One (George DiCenzo), a technological lifeform from another galaxy, came to ancient Earth and took three teenagers back to his homeworld where they would be bestowed with incredible powers as saviors of the future. Hercules (DiCenzo), who had the strength of many men like his mythological namesake; Mercury (Evan C. Kim), who could move at super speeds again like in mythology; and Astrea (Dee Timberlake), a completely original creation that could transform into virtually any animal. Each also had the ability to fly and was rendered immortal by the process that gave them their powers. They were returned to Earth where they operated out of a ship situated inside an inactive volcano and protected Earth from a variety of threats; both alien and terrestrial. Assisting them and keeping the ship maintained was MO (Lou Scheimer), a maintenance operator droid that seemed to have a crush on Astrea. Sentinel One would communicate with his team through a holographic projection.

Sentinel One.

            Amongst the various threats they faced were their predecessor, Morpheus (Alan Oppenheimer), a former Sentinel who had gone rogue; Agent Kronos (Ted Cassidy), a saboteur from the future; Fauna (Erika Scheimer), a young girl who was raised by animals and could communicate with them, and whose noble efforts to stop animal testing led to the creation of a Man-Wolf (Oppenheimer); and The Sorceress (Linda Gary), a powerfully magical being, amongst others.

An add for NBC's 1977 Saturday line-up with the show's original title.

            The Young Sentinels debuted on NBC on September 10, 1977. The series’ music was handled by Ray Ellis and producer Norm Prescott (under their aliases Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael). The show was written by Kathleen Barnes, Donald F. Glut, Dale Kirby, Douglas Menville, Michael Reaves, Jerry Winnick, David Wise, Len Janson and Chuck Menville, with the latter two also serving as the series developers and story editors. Along with the cartoon, Filmation recorded a 12-minute live-action pilot for The Young Sentinels that would have been included in the anthology series, Space Express. The show never materialized.

Fauna.

            The Young Sentinels languished in the ratings as it was competing against Hanna-Barbera’s Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics on ABC. Halfway through its season, the show was moved to a different timeslot and given a new name: Space Sentinels. Speculation for the name change included the thought that NBC felt young viewers weren’t tuning into the show because they didn’t know what a “sentinel” was and that it didn’t sufficiently convey that the show took place in space, and to potentially stylistically link up to the CBS Filmation show, Space Academy (on which DiCenzo also appeared). However, NBC was last in the ratings overall that year and those measures couldn’t help. The show concluded after 13 episodes. At least a portion of Space Sentinels would continue on as Hercules was included as a member of Filmation’s next hero effort, The Freedom Force, the following year. The even shorter-lived show ran as a segment of the new package show, Tarzan and the Super 7. 

Kronos.

Rand McNally would publish several coloring books using images from the show, and Fleetwood Toys made magnetic figures based on the characters and a launching rocket. In the 1990s, several episodes were released to VHS by Untied American Video Corp. In 2006, the complete Space Sentinels was released onto DVD by BCI Home Entertainment along with the entirety of The Freedom Force; including the live-action pilot. In 2008, BCI released a compilation collection called Heroes and Heroines which featured a disc from their earlier Blackstar, Secrets of Isis and the Space Sentinels sets.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Morpheus: The Sinister Sentinel” (9/10/77) – Former Sentinel Morpheus kidnaps MO in order to copy his memory and create his own Sentinel One.

“Space Giants” (9/17/77) - Robots sent to rob a government gold vault realize they are superior to humans and create an army to wipe out mankind.

“The Time Traveler” (9/24/77) – Time-traveling Kronos comes from the future to steal plans for a space station, and Hercules and Astrea track him down to prehistoric times.

“The Sorceress” (10/1/77) – The Sorceress makes the North Pole vanish and imprisons the Sentinels in their own imaginations when they investigate.

“The Return of Anubis” (10/8/77) – Archaeologists accidentally free Anubis from his pyramid prison and he plots his revenge on mankind.

“The Wizard of Od” (10/15/77) – An elf asks the Sentinels to come to the land of Fancia where a wish machine threatens to disrupt the natural laws and destroy every universe.

“The Prime Sentinel” (10/22/77) – The Sentinels head to battle an energy-absorbing blob and rescue their leader.

“Commander Nemo” (10/29/77) – The Sentinels have to stop Commander Nemo from exacting his revenge on those who pollute the oceans.

“Voyage to the Inner World” (11/5/77) – Dying Queen Darkari captures Astrea in order to siphon her brain waves.

“Loki” (11/12/77) – Telekinetic giant Loki is freed from his prison and he takes the Sentinels’ ship in order to exact his revenge on his jailer.

“Fauna” (11/19/77) – A girl who can communicate with animals attacks an animal testing lab, which leads to a wolf mutating into a man-beast bent on revenge against humanity.

“The Jupiter Spore” (11/26/77) – A spore brought to Earth from Jupiter begins growing at a rapid rate, sending the Sentinels to the planet to find a solution.

“The World Ship” (12/3/77) – The Sentinels head to stop a planetoid from crashing into Earth only to learn it’s a ship whose captain plans to steal the planet for his own people.


Originally posted in 2017. Updated in 2020.

GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY MONTH PART 2

101 DALMATIANS: THE SERIES

101 DALMATIANS: THE SERIES

(ABC, Syndication, September 1, 1997-March 4, 1998)

Jumbo Pictures, Walt Disney Television Animation

MAIN CAST:

Pamela Adlon (ABC) & Debi Mae West (syndicated) – Lucky

Kath Soucie – Cadpig, Roly “Rolly” Poly, Anita Dearly

Tara Strong – Spot, Two-Tone

Jeff Bennett – Roger Dearly, Sergeant Tibbs, Lieutenant Pug

April Winchell – Cruella de Vil, Princess (2 episodes)

Tress MacNeille – Cruella de Vil (2 episodes), Cornelia

David L. Lander – Horace Baddun

Michael McKean – Jasper Baddun

            The Hundred and One Dalmatians, or The Great Dog Robbery, was a 1956 novel written by Dodie Smith. Pongo and Missis were a pair of Dalmatians, owned by the newly-married Dearly couple, that recently had a litter of puppies. Those puppies would end up dognapped with 97 others by the evil Cruella de Vil and her henchmen in order for them to be skinned for their fur. Pongo and Missis set out to find their puppies in what became a grand adventure involving many other animals all working together. Smith would follow it up with a direct sequel, The Starlight Barking, in 1967.

The original book.

            When Walt Disney read the book in 1957, it grabbed his attention and he immediately set out to acquire the rights; fulfilling a secret desire of Smith’s. Disney assigned Bill Peet to write the screenplay for the film adaptation, the first time that a story for a Disney animated film was written by a single person. He condensed some elements from the book and focused on others. Peet completely removed the characters of Cruella’s husband and cat, a second stolen litter of Dalmatian puppies and their father, Prince, and merged their mother, Perdita, with Missis while keeping the former’s name. He also changed the name of the humans from Dearly to Radcliffe, and one of Cruella’s henchmen from Saul to Horace. Pleased with the script, Disney prompted Peet to begin storyboarding. Peet sent Smith some of the material he was working on, and she praised his work stating he had actually improved her story and the designs looked much better than the book’s illustrations.

Pongo, Perdita and a fraction of their puppies.

            By this point in the Disney company’s history, Sleeping Beauty had disappointed at the box office and Disney himself had grown disenchanted with animation to the point of contemplating shutting down the animation division. Only nostalgia and the fact the company was built on it kept it going. This meant Disney was a lot more hands-off than he had been with previous features and allowed art director Ken Anderson to use a Xerox process Ub Iwerks had been experimenting with on the film. It let them put drawings directly onto cells, bypassing the inking process, and allowed them to animate all the dogs and their spots quickly and for a reduced cost. Disney initially disliked the look the method gave the film, but over time came to appreciate it.

Cruella and Nanny.

            Although the look of Cruella was established in the book, Marc Davis took additional inspiration from Bette Davis, Rosalind Russell, Tallulah Bankhead and her voice actress, Betty Lou Gerson, in rendering her final design. Her disheveled style originated from old magazine images of hairstyles from the 1940s. The rest of the cast was filled by Rod Taylor as Pongo, Cate Bauer as Perdita, Ben Wright as Roger Radcliffe, and Lisa Davis (who was originally sought for Cruella) as his wife, Anita. Unlike other Disney animated features, the movie only featured three songs; however additional ones were written for it by Mel Leven. 

            101 Dalmatians was released to theaters on January 25, 1961. It quickly became a box office success with $14 million, pulling the studio out of its financial slump. The film was re-released in 1969, 1979, 1985 and 1991, bringing its total box office gross to $215 million. The ’91 release was the 12^th-highest earning domestic film of the year. When it was released to VHS for the first time in 1992, it became the sixth best-selling video of all time. In 1996, Disney produced a live-action remake starring Glenn Close as Cruella. The film was written by John Hughes and directed by Stephen Herek, turning in a $320.6 million box office following its release on November 27. Unlike the animated version, the dogs didn’t talk but the vocal effects for Pongo and Perdita were provided by Frank Welker.

The stars of the show: Roly, Spot, Cadpig and Lucky.

            Following the success of the film, Disney decided to expand on the franchise by producing a new animated series. Walt Disney Television Animation was paired up with the recently-acquired Jumbo Pictures to bring the series to life with Jim Jinkins, David Campbell, Tony Craig and Roberts Gannaway serving as executive producers. The series marked the franchise’s return to animation, using the original 1961 designs as a base with modern flourishes like thicker borders and brighter coloring, as well as some minor design tweaks. Unlike the original film animated entirely in the United States, animation duties were doled out to Disney Animation’s Japan office, Jade Animation, Sun Min Animation, Sun Woo Animation and Plus One Animation.

Promotional image featuring Dipstick, Tripod, Two-Tone, Patch and Wizzer, along with the stars.

101 Dalmatians: The Series took elements from both Disney films and the books in crafting its universe; although the books presented a greater influence to the overall tone than the films. The series shifted focus off of Pongo (Kevin Schon & Michael Donovan) and Perdita (Pam Dawber) and put them on the puppies; specifically the plucky Lucky (Pamela Adlon & Debi Mae West), who had a horseshoe-shaped spot; Roly Poly (Kath Soucie), whose obsession with food often led the pups into trouble; and Cadpig (also Soucie), the runt of the litter and most intelligent of the puppies. Cadpig was a prominent character in the books, but not in the Disney productions before this point. Other pups included the fearless three-legged Tripod (Toran Caudell), the dim-witted Dipstick (Thom Adcox-Hernandez), the accident-prone Wizzer (Adlon for one episode, Christine Cavanaugh the rest of the time), and the fashion diva Two-Tone (Tara Strong).

Patch: show (top) vs. films (bottom).

Initially, Lucky, Roly and Cadpig were joined by two other pups named Patch and Penny, but it was feared that there were too many main characters. Penny was dropped from the show, and Patch was relegated to a minor role voiced by Justin Shenkarow. Patch would go on to have his own starring feature with the direct-to-video sequel 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure in 2003. The Patch in the show, however, differed from the film version in that he was heavier and wore a knotted rope collar.

The pups wrapped up with Cynde.

The pups lived on the Dearly Farm (aka the “Dalmatian Plantation”) run by Roger (Jeff Bennett) and Anita (Soucie), with the help of Nanny (Charlotte Rae). Roger was also a video game programmer as established in the live movie, which also marked the return of the original surname from the books. The farm was populated by a variety of animals, including Spot (Strong), a chicken who hung out with Lucky, Roly and Cadpig and desperately wanted to be a Dalmatian (she was added as a last-minute replacement for Patch and Penny); Cornelia (Tress MacNeille), Spot’s mother who wanted her to act like a chicken; Duchess (Marla Gibbs) and Princess (April Winchell in two episodes, Cree Summer for the remainder), two dairy cows; Mayor Ed Pig (Jim Cummings), the self-appointed leader of the animals; his daughter Dumpling (Cavanaugh), who was in love with Lucky; Swamp Rat (Bennett), a salesman that lived in the nearby swamp; Steven the alligator (Welker), Swamp Rat’s associate who wanted to eat Spot; Lucy (Paddi Edwards), a goose that got angry whenever the pups played in her pond; Cynde (also Welker), a snake who hung out with both Swamp Rat and Steven; and the bullying Sheepdog mix Mooch (Danny Cooksey). 

Lucky with The Colonel and Sergeant Tibbs.

The farm was protected by the Bark Brigade, of which Pongo and Perdita were members. It was headed up by The Colonel (Cummings), a Catalan Sheepdog from the original movie; his trusted ally, an Abyssinian named Sergeant Tibbs (Bennett); Captain (Welker), a horse that helped Nanny with her chores; and Lieutenant Pug (Bennett), a training officer paranoid about a potential feline invasion.

Cruella paying a "visit" to the Dearlys.

Cruella (Winchell, with MacNeille handling two episodes) had moved on from fur and developed a new interest in real estate. She lived next to the farm and constantly schemed on how to get it away from the Dearlys. Aiding her as always was Horace and Jasper (David L. Lander and Michael McKean). Cruella also had a pet ferret, Scorch (Welker), who shared Steve’s appetite for Spot. To diminish their impact on young viewers, the villains were less menacing and more bumbling; comically failing in all their attempts against the farm and the pups.

The Dearly Farm.

101 Dalmatians: The Series was produced for both syndication and Saturday mornings. It began airing on September 1^st, 1997, before making its debut as one of the launch programs for ABC’s Disney’s One Saturday Morning programming block on September 13^th, 1997. It, like all the other programs, were meant to debut a week early on the 7^th, but their broadcast was delayed by the simulcast of the funeral of Princess Diana. The Saturday episodes were exclusive to ABC and were only seen there. The series’ theme was composed by Randy Petersen, Kevin Quinn and Tim Heintz, with Mark Watters and Dan Sawyer handling the rest of the show’s music.

Searching for that prosocial message.

The show was developed with consultation from Harvard’s Project Zero, a consortium of child experts that ensured the series upheld the FCC’s strict mandates of cartoons teaching kids prosocial messages. As a result, writers were tasked with having to address an issue in each script they submitted, as well as a solid lesson learned by its conclusion. These elements were included in the series’ publicity packets leading up to the show’s debut along with a synopsis of the episode’s story. Cydne Clark and Steve Granat served as the show’s supervising story editors, as well as two of its writers. Other writers included Mirith J.S. Colao, Ken Koonce, Michael Merton, Bruce Shelly, Anne Baumgarten, Jess Winfield, Fracaswell Hyman, Don Gillies, David Hemingson, Len Uhley, Bruce Talkington, Chris Hubbell, Sam Graham, Thomas Hart, and Carin Greenberg, amongst others. Gannaway wrote several episodes as well. The majority of episodes had two segments, and titles with dog-related puns.

On an adventure.

The series ran through its entire 65-episode run within the season; the Saturday episodes concluding in January of 1998 and the syndicated episodes ending that March. Reruns continued on ABC until 2000, when it was moved to The Disney Channel and then Toon Disney. It gradually stopped airing in various countries until its last known airing in 2013. The series has yet to be released in its entirety to home video, with only “A Christmas Cruella” and “Coup  de Vil” being put out on VHS by Buena Vista Home Entertainment and the three-part “Dalmatian Vacation” on Video CD in the United States, VHS and DVD internationally, and LaserDisc in Japan. The song “Surf Puppies” from those episodes was included on the album The Music of Disney’s One Saturday Morning. In 2017 the series became available to stream on the iTunes Store and Amazon Prime Video, with the exception of the episode “Alive N’ Chicken / Prima Doggy” as the episode was removed from broadcast after the September 11 attacks due to the scene of Spot crashing into a barn. The episode was finally restored when the entire series was made available on Disney+ in 2020.

The Disney Chapter book.

Little Golden Books published three books based on the show: the original The Big Dig, the scratch and sniff sticker book Springtime Fun, and the coloring book Hide-and-go-Seek at the Farm. A Disney Chapter book, Cruella Returns, featured an adaptation of the episodes “You Slipped a Disk”, “Leisure Lawsuit” and “Snow Bounders”. In 1998, McDonald’s included flip car racers in their Happy Meals which featured different characters on either side. McDonald’s located in Wal-Mart stores also offered exclusive curly straws. Caldor offered beanbag plush toys of the main characters along with their Sweethearts Candy. In Japan, fans could get branded keychains courtesy of The Disney Channel.