Comments on: Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960s Volume 1

By: Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960s Volume 2 and 1970s Volume 2 » DVDs Worth Watching

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:33:54 +0000

[...] was very pleased to see another go-round of Warner’s Saturday Morning Cartoons compilations. They make very interesting samplers of what was happening in kid-vid in both the 1960s and 1970s, [...]

By: gary

gary — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:52:32 +0000

Wow!!!
You have such a great memory!
Thats exactly who I am talking about. I figured he was a back segment to something
I really beleived every story Commander McBragg ever told but hey I was only 4 years old, hahahahha. Anyway it had quite an impact on my life. I am 50 years old now and have spent my whole life traveling around the globe from one adventure to another, most people dont believe the stories I tell. I am working on a book about it and wanted to give credit to Commander McBragg, thanks a million. I hope he has some stuff on Utube.

By: David Oakes

David Oakes — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:45:18 +0000

Are you thinking of “The World of Commander McBragg”, a segment on “Tennessee Tuxedo and his Tales”?

http://www.toonopedia.com/mcbragg.htm

By: gary

gary — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:27:18 +0000

Hi,
I have been searching for weeks for the 60s cartoon that had the British gentleman explorer, wearing a pith helmet and long moustache, who recounted his stories from his drawing room, and he would always spin the globe.
I sure would appreciate it if someone could tell me the name of that swaturday morning cartoon.
Thanks,
Gary

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:03:48 +0000

Neat, it’s cool that you remember that. I think California tended to get more Asian culture than the rest of the US in the 60s, given its location and population. I only personally remember Star Blazers in the 80s, and that was only because my brother watched it.

By: Bunche

Bunche — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:34:12 +0000

MARINE BOY absolutely aired in syndication here in the U.S.; I first saw it when I was around four years old in California and watched it religiously, but it and most of the other Japanese kid’s shows I was familiar with were nowhere to be found when my family moved to Connecticut just before I turned seven. The only Japanese animation that was on in the Tri-State area at that time was GIGANTOR, and I think I saw perhaps five episodes of that before it was replaced with MAGILLA GORILLA and reruns of THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN and the Adam West BATMAN series. There was a very brief return of ASTRO BOY during the mid-1970’s, and after that SPEED RACER briefly resurfaced during the early 1980’s but after that, bubkes.

By: Dale

Dale — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:30:00 +0000

I’m 51 years old, and was a child during the saturday morning heyday. back then, there were only three channels and all three showed the best cartoons. I’d cwitch channels to see a bit of all of them, because they were all that good. I loved The HB cartoons, Filmation, Harvey, Terrytoons, etc. They produced great toons that make today’s toons seem really lame by comparison. Not only were the toons great, but the commercials as well. I’m very disappointed in the Boomerang channel, because out of over 50 years of cartoons, they show about six episodes of each of their lineup over and over again. Cable and Satellite really killed the genre.

By: SPURWING PLOVER

SPURWING PLOVER — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:23:03 +0000

In the 80s they updated SPACE GHOST redigned the PHANTOM CRUISER and SPACE COUPE, and came out with SPACE STARS they would oten team up SPACE GHOST THE TEEN-FORCE and THE HURCULOIDS into cartoons and menaced by that nasty flying ape UGLOR and PETER POTUMUS time machine just spin the dial and him and SO SO were in a different period of history

By: Neil

Neil — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:22:02 +0000

Awesome, awesome, awwwwsome.

I have something that is haunting me (in a good way)and is driving me insane…

PLEASE can somebody help me with this…

I recall a Short early morning Cartoon about a Polar Bear that got lost and flew around in a hot air balloon trying to find his way back home… He was just a cub (I think).

I’ve been given about 3 Names but they are not correct (sorry can’t remember names given).

If my memory serves me… I think it was a french Cartoon (dubbed to english) I was about 6 or 7 when I saw it a remember it being of very high quality similar of that to “Gummy Bears”.

Again Awesome writ on this page.
Thx

By: Jesse

Jesse — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:39:11 +0000

This was a great review and I thank you for writing it. I gret up in the late 80’s and 90’s so I didn’t see much of these shows. Boomerang is a great channel though and I’m looking forward to watching these two sets. Saturday morning was a great time for me so I hope they do the 80’s and 90’s also. The saturday morning cartoons are alive and well though even today. My little cousin won’t miss a minute of the Kids Wb block of shows.

By: James Schee

James Schee — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:10:42 +0000

Wow all these years, and it never dawned on me how similiar Blondie and the Jetsons were. Perhaps because when I started reading Blondie the boy was already a teenager?

I loved the El Cabong Quick Draw toons, they were just hilarious. I kind of want to see Marine Boy now though.:)

Tha tSpace Ghost crossover sounds incredibly cool! I think I’ve seen it, bt it’d be nice to revisit.

I wish they’d do a 1980s as that was when I loved Saturday mornings. looking back it seems strange that I HATED getting up early for school but never missed a Saturday morning.

Most of the shows I liked from the 80s were not HB though. They’d be the Smurfs, Captain N The Game Master, Gummie Bears, Moncheecies, Captain Video and Alf. (a cartoon that changed how I looked at the TV show, as Alf went from advanced pet to person in my eyes)

Of course teen shows like Saved By The Bell, which I LOVED, kind of helped kill off cartoons on Saturday morning for a while.

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:43:53 +0000

So many years without making the connection–Penny Singleton played Blondie and voiced Jane Jetson. I knew it, but didn’t know it.

I love Top Cat, but I think because of the music.

Quick Draw/El Kabong is my fav-o-rite of the bunch, pardner.

And another one I missed, somehow–the bear family surname of Rugg (bear rug). How could I have been so dense?

Space Ghost and Birdman–2 more classics.

Most of the other Hanna-Barbera features have lesser appeal to me, perhaps because of the shorter amount of time theu aired over the years. If you like something and see it often enough, it becomes part of you.

Whatever happened to Saturday morning? Profit, mostly, and legislative action. Fewer cartoon were being made because it cost a bit to make them. “News” shows aimed at kids were cheaper to make. And I believe that the rules for the amount of air time that had to be reserved for kids programming were changed.

Also, back in the day, Prime Time used to be longer. It was changed to allow local channels to make more money by running cheaper syndicated shows, thus evening cartoons were no longer viable–until Simpsons came along.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:54:45 +0000

Glad he could help! I was astounded when he gave me this piece, to see that it was a nearly 8000-word history of HB. I learned a lot!

By: Bill D.

Bill D. — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:15:34 +0000

KC, I was unsure about these sets, but I think you’ve sold me now.

Also, I had no idea about that whole Space Ghost crossover thing. Definitely will need to check that out!

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:03:10 +0000

“Holy crap!” — Frank Barone

KC, that’s a lotta words. Don’t have time to read it right now, but I will later today. For now, thanks for writing this.

By: Ed Sizemore

Ed Sizemore — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:44:49 +0000

I apparently was lucky enough to grow up in a city that syndicated Peter Potamus, because I remember watching it regularly. Actually, I remember Magilla Gorilla and most of the other HB universe.
I have to disagree with on Frankenstein Jr. I loved that show as a kid. It was my favorite monster as an action hero. What’s not to love? It’s the Impossibles that I didn’t like.
Herculoids are indeed awesome. It’s rumored they have the highest body count of any Saturday morning cartoon. Perhaps highest body count of any TV show that feature the nuclear annihilation of the human race. Crossing Zandor was never a smart move. Few of his foes lived to get a second chance. I’m enjoying the reruns on Boomerang.
From the 70’s I have to recommend Hong Kong Phooey. Come on, Scatman Crothers as a voice actor. How can that now be pure genius?
Josie & the Pussycats was simply Scooby-Do mixed with the Archies. I liked it because of the music and humor.
Speed Buggy, Funky Phantom, & Goober and the Ghost Chasers were all Scooby-Do clones if I remember correctly. The worst were the Speedy Buggy/Scooby-Do crossovers where it was painfully obvious how unoriginal Speed Buggy was. I remember watching these shows because I thought the other shows were worst.
KC, thanks for all the research and information. It’s a great review and I loved go back down memory lane. I remember getting up early curling up in this huge pillow (3ft x3 ft brown corduroy cover w/ polka dots. How 70’s is that! ) my mom made, wrapped in a blanket with my favorite cereal. Saturday morning made me a lifelong animation fan. It’s what lead me to become an anime fan.