Hockey Night in Cartoonland

The Vancouver Canucks, visiting the Boston Bruins tonight, have won three games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. They're poised to win the Cup for their city for the first time since the old Vancouver Millionaires defeated the Ottawa Senators of the NHA in 1915!

Thousands of "Canuckleheads" -- many wearing Canucks jerseys -- are gathered in downtown Vancouver and many other places outside giant screens to cheer on their hockey team.

Here are some cartoons that have celebrated the good ol' hockey game. Not surprisingly, many of them were produced in Canada:


The Hockey Champ (Donald Duck; Walt Disney Studios, 1939)
Donald- the Hockey Champion of Duck Swamp- plays a game of hockey with his nephews.

Hockey Homicide (Goofy; Walt Disney Studios, 1945)
A hockey game concentrating on the finer points of "sportsmanship" as both players and spectators get into the fight. During the final fight scene, snips of other shorts are used, including a shot of Monstro the Whale (from 'Pinocchio") breaching the waves. In the lineup and scorecard pictured, all the players have names of Disney artists.

Hokej Je Hra(Krátký Film Praha/Studio Bratři v Triku, 1978)
Humorous observations of an ice hockey match explain the essence and glamor of the manly game. English title: "Hockey Is A Game."

The Sweater (National Film Board of Canada, 1980)
Best-selling author Roch Carrier narrates a mortifying boyhood experience in this adaptation of his beloved story "The Hockey Sweater." In the 1940s, in the rural village of Saint Justine, Quebec, listening to the hockey game on the radio was a Saturday night tradition... and so was rooting for the Montreal Canadiens. All the boys worshipped the star player, Maurice "Rocket" Richard, and proudly wore the number 9 emblazoned on their sweaters. The boy in the story outgrows his hockey sweater, so his mother writes to "Mr. Eaton" for a new one. But instead of the coveted red, white and blue of Les Canadiens, the company sends a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey! Imagine the young player's chagrin when he shows up at the neighborhood rink in the blue and white colours of the arch-enemy!

Tales Of The Mouse Hockey League(Marmalade Productions, 1987)
In this Canadian Broadcasting Corporation special, a hopeful hockey team of mice challenge a team of larger rats for the coveted Cheddar Cup. The rats don't believe in fair play. The mice seem outmatched until their team leader Benny convinces hockey legend The Big M to come out of retirement and help them win. The first half-hour animated show ever made in Vancouver, this was based on the book Mice at Centre Ice, by Estelle Salata, with illustrations by Malcolm Collett. The book has sold about 90,000 copies to schools since 1984, when it was published.

The Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series (Walt Disney Television Animation, 1996)
A team of human-sized ducks in hockey uniforms play against other teams. This TV series aired on ABC until 1997.

Mighty Ducks The Movie: The First Face-Off (Walt Disney Television Animation, 1997)
Direct-to-video film. Far away in a distant galaxy, the evil Lord Dragonus returns to Puckworld, a peaceful planet of hockey-loving ducks, to take revenge against the peaceful inhabitants who once banished him! A special strike team of six young courageous superheroes- The Mighty Ducks- is formed to face off against Lord Dragonus' dark forces! In a fierce battle, the Ducks kick Lord Dragonus and his menacing henchmen off the planet. But when the sinister mastermind escapes through a dimensional gateway, the Ducks follow him and find themselves transported to the weird, alien metropolis of ... Anaheim, California! Trapped in a strange new world, the Ducks build a super secret headquarters under the Anaheim Pond to thwart Lord Dragonus' plans to take over the world!

Franklin Plays Hockey (Franklin; Nelvana Limited/Alphanim, 2000)
Franklin and Bear's winning streak comes to an end when an inexperienced player joins their hockey team. Not wanting to exclude anyone from the game, Franklin and Bear start a hockey school for beginners.

Jacob Two-Two And The Purloined Hockey Card (Jacob Two-Two; Nelvana Limited, 2003)
When Jacob receives a Gummer Gormley hockey card from Dad, he decides this is just the lucky charm that his hapless hockey team needs to end its record-breaking losing streak. With the card in hand, all goes well, and the team is finally winning some games... until perfectly loathsome Leo Louse steals the card from Jacob's locker. Jake and Buford visit the aged Gummer Gormley to ask for another card, but he turns them down, reminding them that skill wins games, not luck. Back at the arena, Jacob pulls himself together, and he leads the team to a win, proving the old hockey legend's words to be true.

Hockey Fan Franklin (Franklin; Nelvana Limited/Alphanim, 2004)
Franklin wins a contest to skate with professional hockey star Bill Buffalo. Overcome with nervous jitters, Franklin performs poorly at the arena in front of family and friends and worst of all, his hockey hero. When Bill Buffalo secretly visits the frozen pond to watch the local kids play hockey, he sees how skillful a player Franklin truly is. Franklin gets the nervous jitters after winning a contest to meet his hockey hero.

There's No "I" in Hockey (Wapos Bay: The Series; Wapos Bay Productions/National Film Board of Canada, 2005)
It's the Wapos Bay Winter Festival, and the spirit of competition is in the air. During the hockey tournament, Talon and T-Bear vie for the attention of a girl on the opposing team, and Raven is determined to enter the bannock contest. The three children learn how important teamwork is.

Hockey Night In Burnaby (Being Ian; Studio B Productions, 2005)
Ian gets behind the scenes with the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks, and his brothers almost ruin it for him.

Hockey(Hey Joel; Blueprint Entertainment, 2006)
Joel's search for a celebrity pal leads to an on-air hockey duke-out with heavy-metalman Rob Halford, and then a crush on Eighties popstress Debbie Gibson, who won't stop believing that her love can change the gay Halford. Kevin catches Michele helping herself to some cash being collected for a Leif gift to get even for his revealing their ancient one-night stand.

Krabs à la Mode(SpongeBob SquarePants; NickToon Productions, 2007)
The Krusty Krab becomes an ice rink after Plankton turns down the thermostat. Bill Fagerbakke and Clancy Brown voice hockey players.

Jacob Two-Two And The Hockey Seat Hoopla(Jacob Two-Two; Nelvana Limited, 2007)
The spirit of a long-departed hockey player is released from an old arena seat and possesses Jake's family. The only way for Jake to break the spell is to join his family and play a hockey game against the Montreal Marvels.

Hockey Schtick (Tom and Jerry Tales; Warner Bros. Television Animation, 2008)
On a cold winter day, Jerry decides to freeze the pond and go ice skating. But Tom, escaped from jail, wants to play hockey and tries to engage him in a physical confrontation, leading to hijinks on ice.

The League of Super Hockey(League of Super Evil; Nerd Corps Entertainment, 2009)
To get control of the street outside the lair, LOSE challenges the neighbors' kids to a street hockey game. After a crushing defeat, Voltar decides to go double or nothing, but this time bringing in some ringers -- every villain in town.


"I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out..." -- attributed to Rodney Dangerfield

"Peter Puck" was a series of Hanna-Barbera produced shorts in the 1970s that explained various rules of hockey. Those segments were broadcast on NBC during the intermission of their NHL coverage. Ronnie Schell provided the voice of Peter Puck.

The DIC "Pro Stars" series in the 1980s featured hockey legend Wayne Gretzky in cartoon form but he did not perform the voice.

The San Jose Sharks break my heart every post-season...