49 Fun Facts About 70s Cartoons

On which network did Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! premiere in September 1969?

CBS premiered it on 13 September 1969; Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created it for Hanna-Barbera, and it ran two seasons before the gang moved on to new formats.

Who voiced Shaggy Rogers, Scooby's best friend, in the original Scooby-Doo series?

Casey Kasem voiced Shaggy from 1969 until 2009; Don Messick voiced Scooby and Frank Welker voiced Fred from the first episode.

What made The New Scooby-Doo Movies of 1972-73 different from the original series?

Hour-long episodes with celebrity guests: Don Knotts, Sonny & Cher, the Harlem Globetrotters and Batman and Robin all joined the gang across two seasons on CBS.

Which puppy was added to the Scooby-Doo franchise in 1979 to rescue its sinking ratings?

Scrappy-Doo debuted in Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979) and lifted the ratings; Lennie Weinrib voiced him for one season before Don Messick took over.

What relation is the Great Dane puppy introduced in 1979 to Scooby-Doo?

Scrappy is Scooby's nephew, the son of Scooby's sister Ruby-Doo, and idolises his uncle, shouting 'Let me at 'em!' at every villain.

Which DC Comics team was Super Friends based on?

The Justice League of America became the Super Friends; the show ran on ABC from 1973 into the mid-1980s under seven different titles.

Which three sidekicks with no powers were created for the 1973 Super Friends?

Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog were powerless teen sidekicks invented for the 1973 show; they were dropped in 1977 in favour of the super-powered Wonder Twins.

What is the name of the Wonder Twins' pet monkey, introduced in The All-New Super Friends Hour?

Gleek, the Wonder Twins' blue space monkey, arrived with Zan and Jayna in 1977; his stretching tail and bucket gags supplied the comic relief.

What is the day job of Penrod Pooch, secret identity of Hong Kong Phooey?

Penry is a mild-mannered janitor at the police station; he changes by jumping into a filing cabinet, gets stuck, and is freed by his cat Spot.

Who voiced Hong Kong Phooey?

Scatman Crothers, later Dick Hallorann in The Shining, voiced the kung-fu janitor; Joe E. Ross of Car 54, Where Are You? voiced Sergeant Flint with his 'Ooh! Ooh!' catchphrase.

Josie and the Pussycats was based on characters from which publisher?

Archie Comics' Josie, created by Dan DeCarlo in 1963, became Hanna-Barbera's 16-episode series on CBS from September 1970.

Which Pussycat was the first regularly appearing Black female character in a Saturday morning cartoon?

Valerie Brown, the band's tambourine player and its brains, was voiced in song by Patrice Holloway, with Barbara Pariot supplying her speaking voice.

Which future Charlie's Angels star was Melody's singing voice in Josie and the Pussycats?

Cheryl Ladd, credited as Cherie Moor, sang as Melody years before joining Charlie's Angels in 1977; Jackie Joseph supplied the drummer's speaking voice.

Where did the band go in the 1972 relaunch of Josie and the Pussycats?

Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space sent the band into the cosmos after Alexandra accidentally launched their rocket; sixteen episodes aired on CBS in 1972–73.

Which studio produced Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids?

Bill Cosby hosted live-action bookends and voiced several characters, including Fat Albert.

In which city's junkyard did Fat Albert's gang play their cobbled-together instruments?

North Philadelphia, where Cosby grew up; Fat Albert first appeared in his 1967 'Buck Buck' stand-up routine about the neighbourhood gang.

What was Fat Albert's catchphrase?

'Hey hey hey!' announced Fat Albert's every entrance; the show premiered in 1972 and new episodes appeared sporadically until 1985.

Which Schoolhouse Rock! song was the first, written to teach multiplication?

'Three Is a Magic Number' came first, after ad executive David McCall noticed his son could memorise Rolling Stones lyrics but not his times tables.

Which musician wrote and performed most of the Multiplication Rock songs?

Bob Dorough, a jazz pianist and the series' musical director, wrote all eleven Multiplication Rock songs and sang most of them; Blossom Dearie and Grady Tate sang a few.

On which network did Schoolhouse Rock! air between the Saturday morning cartoons?

The original run lasted from 1973 to 1985 with a revival in the 1990s.

What kind of vehicle is the title character of the 1973 series Speed Buggy?

Mel Blanc voiced him, and the concept borrowed from The Love Bug and Speed Racer.

Which 1968 Disney film inspired the concept for Speed Buggy?

The Love Bug (1968), Disney's hit about Herbie the sentient Volkswagen Beetle, inspired Hanna-Barbera's talking car; Speed Buggy arrived on CBS in 1973.

What kind of animal is Jabberjaw?

Jabberjaw is a great white shark, 15 feet long and amphibious, who drums for the Neptunes, a rock group with four humans living in an underwater civilisation.

Frank Welker voiced Jabberjaw as an impression of which comedian?

The shark's complaint that he gets no respect is a nod to Rodney Dangerfield, but the voice is Curly.

How is Captain Caveman discovered by the Teen Angels?

Frozen in a block of ice: the Teen Angels, Brenda, Dee Dee and Taffy, thawed him out, and his club and hair conceal a range of useful objects.

Which superhero and robotic dog starred in the 1976 series Dynomutt, Dog Wonder?

The Blue Falcon, a Batman-style hero, and his bumbling mechanical dog Dynomutt began as a segment of The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour on ABC in 1976.

How tall is the Great Grape Ape?

Grape Ape stands 40 feet tall, a purple gorilla with a child's mind who repeats his own name twice after almost anything anyone says.

What is the name of Grape Ape's canine companion?

Beegle Beagle, voiced by Marty Ingels, drives the van with Grape Ape riding on the roof; his giant friend affectionately calls him 'Beegly Beagly'.

Laff-A-Lympics, with 45 Hanna-Barbera characters in Olympic events, parodied which show?

Battle of the Network Stars, ABC's celebrity sports special, was the model; the cartoon anchored the two-hour Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics block on ABC in 1977–78.

The Pink Panther Show originally paired Pink Panther cartoons with shorts starring which character?

The Inspector, a bumbling Clouseau-style detective, shared the 1969 show with the Panther; The Ant and the Aardvark and other series were added later in the run.

Which two men produced the Pink Panther cartoons?

Their studio was DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, and the film theme carried over to TV.

Who composed "The Pink Panther Theme", used throughout the cartoons?

Henry Mancini's film theme dominated the cartoon series; Doug Goodwin wrote the show's own opening title music.

Star Trek: The Animated Series was the first Star Trek series to win what?

Its second season won the 1975 Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment - Children's Series.

Which original cast member did not return to voice Star Trek: The Animated Series?

Walter Koenig was dropped for budget reasons, so Chekov never appears, though Koenig wrote the episode 'The Infinite Vulcan'; Doohan and Majel Barrett voiced most extra characters.

Battle of the Planets was an American adaptation of which Japanese anime?

Sandy Frank's version used 85 of the 105 original episodes and cut the graphic violence.

What is the name of the five-member team in Battle of the Planets?

G-Force: Mark, Jason, Princess, Keyop and Tiny defended Earth from the planet Spectra, operating from the undersea base Center Neptune.

What was the plot-explaining robot added to Battle of the Planets called?

7-Zark-7, a robot created for the US version to narrate and paper over the cut footage, watched over the team from their base, Center Neptune.

What was the name of the cowardly young relative of Godzilla in the 1978 Hanna-Barbera series?

The show premiered on NBC as The Godzilla Power Hour alongside Jana of the Jungle.

Sealab 2020, the 1972 NBC series set on an underwater research base, was created by which artist?

Alex Toth, the designer who also created Space Ghost and Birdman for Hanna-Barbera, created Sealab 2020; Adult Swim later recut its footage as the parody Sealab 2021.

Where did the monsters of the Groovie Goolies live?

Horrible Hall, a haunted boarding house, was home to Drac, Frankie and Wolfie; the 1970 Filmation show crossed over with Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Which studio produced The Jackson 5ive cartoon for ABC in 1971?

Rankin/Bass, the studio behind Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced The Jackson 5ive with animation by Halas and Batchelor; the brothers sang but did not voice their own characters.

Inch High, Private Eye was modelled on which TV character?

Maxwell Smart: Lennie Weinrib imitated Don Adams's Get Smart delivery for the one-inch detective, who drove a silent Hushmobile.

Fangface, the 1978 Ruby-Spears show, turned into a werewolf when he saw what?

The moon, or even a picture of one, turned Sherman 'Fangs' Fangsworth into Fangface, and the sun turned him back; Fangs and Puggsy were modelled on the Bowery Boys' Huntz Hall and Leo Gorcey.

Yogi's Gang, the 1973 series, pitted Yogi Bear and friends against villains named for what?

It began as the TV movie Yogi's Ark Lark and tackled ecology and bigotry.

Which real basketball team got its own Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon on CBS in 1970?

The Harlem Globetrotters cartoon was rerun by NBC in 1978 as The Go-Go Globetrotters, bundled with shorts from The CB Bears.

Where do the bears of Hanna-Barbera's 1971 cartoon the Hair Bear Bunch live, dodging Mr. Peevly and Botch?

A zoo, patrolled by keepers Eustace P. Peevly and Lionel J. Botch; critics compared the premise to Yogi Bear and Top Cat.

The 1972 prime-time cartoon Wait Till Your Father Gets Home began as a one-off segment on which anthology series?

Love, American Style aired the segment 'Love and the Old-Fashioned Father'. The spin-off was the first prime-time animated sitcom to last more than one season since The Flintstones, and the last until The Simpsons.

The Brady Kids cartoon (1972) spun off Mission: Magic, a Filmation series built around which future pop star?

Rick Springfield starred in Mission: Magic, which Filmation spun off from its animated Brady Bunch series made with Paramount Television for ABC.

Which two actors from the 1960s live-action Batman voiced the heroes in Filmation's 1977 cartoon The New Adventures of Batman?

Adam West and Burt Ward returned as Batman and Robin, joined by Bat-Mite, an imp from another dimension who considers himself Batman's biggest fan.