Books Galore, And A Whole Lot More.

"The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie," "Famous Classic Tales." "The ABC Afterschool Specials." And "The ABC Weekend Special." These were all anthology series for which Hanna-Barbera produced cartoons(each one also featured films either animated or live-action films from other studios as well). Here are my thoughts on H-B's contributions to these shows:

"The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie." I already mentioned "Yogi's Ark Lark" and "The Banana Splits In Hocus Pocus Park" in previous threads. Now about the others:

"Oliver And The Artful Dodger." Whenever a Dickens story is animated, the studio gets the look and feel of 19th century England just right. And this two-part sequel to the classic is no exception. There were no anachronisms to be found, and the newly-created characters were ones that Dickens himself should have created. I loved the songs, and the overall storyline, as the title characters, along with four other orphans and the Dodger's dog Hero set out to find Mr. Brownlow's will, while having to deal with both Mr. Bumble and Sniperly. However, the one character they could have done without is Miss Louisa. She was presented as one of Oliver's friends , but I saw her as a snooty type who merely skipped rope and recited rhymes about Oliver, even after finding out Mr. Brownlow was dead. But this one was truly outstanding all the same.

"Adventures Of Robin Hoodnik." This take on the Robin Hood legend was very much like the animated Disney version in that Robin and the Merry Men were animals. Robin, Maid Marian, and Allan-A-Dale, renamed Allan Airedale, were dogs, Friar Tuck was a pig, now called Friar Pork, and Little John was a gorilla. Unlike Disney, this film did have human characters. But the idea of Maid Marian drinking a love potion, and falling for the human Sheriff Of Nottingham was absurd. So was the opening, in which she mentioned Cincinnatti and Pittsburgh--cities that did not exist in their time. So while it was somewhat good, I don't rate it as highly I do other H-B cartoons. In fact, I prefer the animated Disney version and the later H-B animated series "Young Robin Hood" for being more faithful, and "Robin Hood: Men In Tights" for having better humor.

"Gidget Makes The Wrong Connection." All I really saw of this episode was a TV ad that showed Gidget fending off a muscular beach bully type guy underwater, then resurfacing, and shouting, "Rink! Jud! A monster!" Oh, come on, Gidget, Muscleman was one of the bad guys, but he was no monster. Still, I feel I should have seen this all the way through. Oh, well. Maybe someone will find it, and upload it on YouTube.

"Tabitha And Adam And The Clown Family." Since Hanna-Barbera animated the opening credits of "Bewitched," and there was an episode of "The Flintstones," "Samantha," in which Sam and Darrin guested as themselves, with Ms. Montgomery and Mr.York providing the voices, it was only right that H-B should produce an animated film about their magical offspring. Here, they visited their relatives, the Clown Family, a rock group who performed in a circus. With clown makeup, needless to say. They contended with Count Crumley and his not too bright henchman Ronk. This was a great story, and the songs were good, too.

"Lost In Space." Since I was, and still am, already a big fan of the live action series, I decided to check this one out. I was at first disappointed that Dr. Smith and the Robot were the only ones from the original show, but gradually, I came to like the story. When I found out it was a pilot film for an animated spinoff, I was disappointed again. This time, that it didn't become a regular series. But then again, Mr. Harris was, at the time, voicing the animated Uncle Martin in "My Favorite Martians," which was produced by rival studio Filmation. So he obviously was unable to fully commit himself to the project. Low ratings may have
been another factor.

"Famous Classic Tales." H-B did its best to animate some of the great novels. But how did I rate them? Let's find out.

"Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea," and "The Count Of Monte Cristo." I saw both of these on Nickelodeon's "Special Delivery" in the mid-80's, and I was very impressed with the way H-B adhered to the plots. Of course, for the former, they omitted Conseil, and changed the way Arronax and Land were captured, but that was H-B's style. And the use of their traditional sound effects made it more sci-fi than it already was. As for the latter, it was very good.

"Last Of The Mohicans." I saw this one on HBO, and noticed that it was produced by Hanna-Barbera Pty, the studio's Australian subsidiary, which produced many H-B cartoons of the '70's and '80's, and eventually became Southern Star. The adaptation was toned down to be kid friendly, and even included a pet dog who was captured along with the Munroe sisters. I especially liked the fact that the main characters were voiced by H-B veterans, most notably Casey Kasem as the voice of Uncas.

"Davey Crockett On The Mississippi." This was rather cool. Crockett was there with Mike Fink, Matt Henry, and the bear Honeysuckle, coonskin cap and all. But there were no songs about his being "King Of The Wild Frontier."

"Five Weeks In A Balloon." Never saw it, so there's nothing to say until I do. Same with "Daniel Boone."

"Black Beauty." I decided to watch this one on YouTube earlier this year, since this is the year of the horse. It was simply beautiful, and Anna Sewell herself would have been pleased.

"The ABC Afterschool Specials." H-B produced the live action films "The Runaways" and "The Gymnast" for this series. Both of them were unforgettable, but I'd really rather focus on the cartoons.

"Last Of The Curlews." This was nicely done, and was both pleasing to the eye, and heartbreaking. I felt bad for the poor curlew when his mate was killed by humans. But overall, it was one of H-B's better efforts.

"The Crazy Comedy Concert." Another one I missed out on, sorry to say.

"Cyrano." Ten years after Mr. Magoo's version, and thirteen years before Steve Martin's brilliantly comical upgrade of the story, H-B presented this animated adaptation of Rostand's play. I didn't see much of it, but I guess I'd have liked it, since I watched long enough to see how perfectly animated the main characters were. Perhaps I'll catch it again sometime.

"The ABC Weekend Special." Can't say anything about "The Amazing Bunjee Venture," "Return Of The Bunjee," or "The Velveteen Rabbit," though I should have seen the last one, having read the book when I was little.

"The Secret World Of Og." Now this three-parter I saw. By the time it aired, I was in my early 20's, but that didn't discourage me one bit. I liked it so much, but not so much that I decided to look for a subterranean world in my own back yard. But that would have been fun to imagine when I was a schoolgirl.

As for the standalone adaptations like "Jack And The Beanstalk," "Alice In Wonderland," and the theatrical adaptations of "Charlotte's Web," and "Heidi's Song," let's just say I enjoyed two out of four. Maybe I'll order the "Heidi's Song" DVD, and see "Jack" online. As for all other animated specials and movies, again, I only liked the ones I actually saw. That includes "The Halloween Tree," which I read in high school long before seeing the animated version.

I also missed out on H-B's "Timeless Tales By Hallmark." Maybe I should eventually see those animated fairy tales, too.

Yes, I know. I know the voice casts of nearly every H-B production.

Almost forgot the cartoons H-B produced for "CBS Storybreak," as well as "The Berenstein Bears." The only one from "CBS Storybreak" I saw and liked was "Chocolate Fever." And the bears were nicely animated. All these were produced by the Australian Studio under the Southern Star banner. And I never saw "Daniel Boone," so I can't say anything about it until I do.

Trivia Question 82: Name the squirrel who had to rescue Johnny Cook and Little Bear twice in "The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't."

Trivia Answer: Jeremy Squirrel, whose story was narrated by his descendant.