50 Fun Facts About 70s Cartoons

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

Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created it for Hanna-Barbera, and it ran two seasons before reruns.

Who voiced Shaggy Rogers in the original Scooby-Doo series?

Don Messick voiced Scooby and Frank Welker voiced Fred, and Welker is still voicing Fred today.

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

Guests included Don Knotts, Sonny & Cher, the Harlem Globetrotters and Batman and Robin.

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

The Great Dane puppy appeared in various incarnations of the franchise from 1979.

Which DC Comics team was Super Friends based on?

It ran on ABC from 1973 to 1985 under seven different titles.

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

They were dropped in 1977 in favour of the super-powered Wonder Twins and their monkey Gleek.

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

Zan and Jayna, unlike Wendy and Marvin, actually had super powers.

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

He changes by jumping into a filing cabinet, gets stuck, and is freed by his cat Spot.

Who voiced Hong Kong Phooey?

Joe E. Ross, of Car 54, Where Are You?, voiced Sergeant Flint and revived his "Ooh! Ooh!" catchphrase.

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

Dan DeCarlo created the comic; Hanna-Barbera's 16 episodes aired on CBS from 1970.

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

Patrice Holloway provided her singing voice, and the band wore leopard-print leotards with tails and ears.

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

Jackie Joseph did the drummer's speaking voice.

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

Sixteen more episodes aired on CBS in 1972-73, giving the show a six-year network run across three networks.

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?

The stories came from Cosby's tales of growing up there, first heard in his "Buck Buck" routine.

What was Fat Albert's catchphrase?

The show premiered in 1972 and new episodes appeared sporadically until 1985.

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

Ad executive David McCall commissioned it after noticing his son could memorise Rolling Stones lyrics but not times tables.

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

He was also the series' musical director; Blossom Dearie and Grady Tate sang a few.

Which Schoolhouse Rock! season was timed to coincide with the US Bicentennial?

It aired in 1975 and 1976 and covered the structure of the US government and history.

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?

Its working titles were Speed Bug and Speed Buggs.

What kind of animal is Jabberjaw?

The 15-foot amphibious shark drums for an underwater rock band called the Neptunes.

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?

His club lets him fly and hides tools, and his hair conceals a variety of useful objects.

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

The Batman-esque hero and his bumbling mechanical dog began as a segment of The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour.

How tall is the Great Grape Ape?

The purple gorilla with the mind of a child says his name twice after almost anything anyone says.

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

Grape Ape calls him "Beegly Beagly".

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

It 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 Ant and the Aardvark and other new 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?

Doug Goodwin wrote the show's opening title music, but Mancini's film theme dominated.

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 studio made Star Trek: The Animated Series for NBC in 1973?

Lou Scheimer had first pitched an animated spin-off while the original series was still on the air.

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?

Mark, Jason, Princess, Keyop and Tiny defended Earth from the planet Spectra.

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

He 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?

He also created Space Ghost and Birdman; Adult Swim parodied the show as Sealab 2021.

Where did the monsters of the Groovie Goolies live?

The hip monsters echoed the classic 1930s horror-film creatures and crossed over with Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

The Jackson 5ive cartoon ran on which network's Saturday morning lineup from September 1971?

Animation director Bob Balser insisted the series would not include violence.

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

Lennie Weinrib imitated Don Adams for the one-inch detective and his silent Hushmobile.

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

Puggsy and Fangs were based on Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall of the Bowery Boys.

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?

NBC later rerun it in 1978 as The Go-Go Globetrotters, bundled with shorts from The CB Bears.

Where do the bears of Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch! (1971) live?

Keepers Peevly and Botch patrol the grounds; critics compared the premise to Yogi Bear and Top Cat.

Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (1972-74) began as a segment on which anthology series?

It 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 (1972) spun off Mission: Magic!, a Filmation cartoon starring which future pop star?

Filmation made the animated Brady Bunch spin-off 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 added Bat-Mite, an imp from another dimension who considers himself Batman's biggest fan.