Diver Dan

Last updated
Cover from Alpha Video's 2006 DVD release of Diver Dan. Diver Dan DVD cover.jpg
Cover from Alpha Video's 2006 DVD release of Diver Dan.

Diver Dan is a series of 104 seven-minute live-action shorts made for children's television from 1960 to 1970. [1] Made by Brian Cartoons, it was syndicated (mainly to NBC affiliates) [2] and distributed by ITC Entertainment. The shows were sometimes re-edited into half-hour (including commercials) blocks by local stations.

Contents

The series featured the adventures of a diver in an old-fashioned diving suit who talked to the passing fish. The series was filmed in live action with puppet fish; the underwater effect was achieved by shooting through an aquarium.

Production

Diver Dan debuted in 1960, the brainchild of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, cartoonist J. Anthony (John) Ferlaine, as a spinoff of his comic strip, Fish Tales. Ferlaine, who worked as an art director at Philadelphia's CBS affiliate WCAU-TV, produced two Fish Tales live-action marionette pilots. When CBS did not pick up the show, Ferlaine and promoter Martin Young partnered with Philadelphia producer Louis W. Kellman, who with his staff produced local TV spots and film shorts and filmed NFL football games. They produced the shorts over nine months and syndicated them. [3]

In New York City, Diver Dan shorts ran as part of Felix & Diver Dan, a 30-minute children's show airing from January 4, 1960, to August 31, 1962, which also included Felix the Cat . [4] In Chicago during the 1960s, Diver Dan was regularly shown on the WGN-TV show "Ray Rayner and His Friends" even though Rayner would frequently read on-air letters from children requesting that he get other cartoons.

Main cast

Characters

Humans

Puppet Fishes

Themes

Honeymooners."The Ballad of Diver Dan" [1]

The series opening and closing themes were written, performed, and sung by the show's sound engineer, Jack Sky, in a double tracked recorded voice. [5]

Below in the deep there's adventure and danger;
That's where you'll find Diver Dan!
The sights that he sees are surprising and stranger
Than ever you'll see on the land!

Following those opening lyrics, the narrator sums up the recent situation in a short group of rhymes, during the second half of the song as an instrumental, before the episode resumes. Before the closing sung lyrics, the narrator brings up the new situation in a short group of rhymes, during the first half of the song, as an instrumental, as the episode concludes.

He moves among creatures
Of frightening features:
Flashing teeth, slashing jaws,
Flapping fins, snapping claws!
He protects and he saves
His friends under the waves;
That's where you'll find Diver Dan!

Episodes

Ep. #Episode title
01Hard Water
02Goldie The Goldfish
03Talking Fish
04Skippers Gold
05Treasure Ship
06Sawfish Rescue
07Shell O Phone
08The Octopus
09Murder Ink
10Bottomless Pit
11Teetering Rock
12Barons Capture
13An Unusual Treasure
14Triggers Revenge
15An Unusual Fish
16The Verdict
17Horaces Dilemma
18The Trap
19The Trap Is Sprung
20Riddle Of The Hermit Crab
21Sargasso Sea
22Lost In The Sargasso Sea
23Current Flow
24The Storm
25Goldies Heroism
26Dynamite
27Ghost Is Clear
28Captain Barney
29Lost City
30Secret Of The Throne
31Crawling Danger
32The Strange Fish
33The Bomb
34The Bubbling Pit
35The Volcano
36Depth Charge
37School Daze
38Strange Vines
39Savage Seaweed
40The Magnet

Credits

DVD release

Alpha Video released two collections of Diver Dan episodes on DVD (Region 0). All episodes in both volumes are black & white.

Diver Dan (Catalog # ALP 5152D, UPC #0 89218 51529 2, Release Date September 26, 2006)
Diver Dan Volume 2 (Catalog # ALP 5710D, UPC #0 89218 57109 0)

Three DVD (Region 0) releases have also been produced by East West Entertainment LLC. All episodes in all three volumes are black & white.

Diver Dan Vol. One (UPC #8 43156 02012 2)

Note: Each of the first 8 episodes has its own chapter stop except for Episode #09. It continues immediately after Episode 08. Pressing >> skips Episode 09 and cycles back to Episode 01.

Diver Dan Vol. 2 (UPC #8 43156 02014 6)

Note: Followed by five Van Beuren Corporation and three Fleischer Studios cartoons on Track 2.

Diver Dan Vol. 3 (UPC #8 43156 02015 3)

In other media

Dell Publishing issued a Diver Dan comic book, as issue #1254 (February–April 1962) of its series Four Color . A follow-up issue, #2 was also published, dated June–August 1962. [6]

In 1964, songwriter and record producer Tony Piano of Columbia Records put out a children's album based on the series titled Diver Dan and the Bermuda Onion. With the exception of the theme song, which he legally borrowed from the series, Piano wrote the story, music, and lyrics for the album. His inspiration for producing it was his two young children at the time, who were 'hooked' on the Diver Dan TV series. In addition to producing the album, Piano took on three of the roles: Trigger, Sam the Sawfish, and Skipper Kipper. Aiding Piano on the album was the comedian Del Close, playing the role of Baron Barracuda. "Birthday House" and children's album star Kay Lande played Minerva the Mermaid.

Legacy

The Nickelodeon animated children's show SpongeBob SquarePants seems to have been somewhat influenced by Diver Dan, either in directly parodying or by paying homage to it. In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode, "One Krabs Trash", Mr. Krabs goes to a graveyard to retrieve a "soda-drink-hat", and there is a gravestone that reads "Diver Dan".

Related Research Articles

<i>DuckTales</i> American animated television series

DuckTales is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It originally premiered on syndication on September 18, 1987, and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four seasons, with its final episode airing on November 28, 1990. Based upon Uncle Scrooge and other Duck universe comic books created by Carl Barks, the show follows Scrooge McDuck, his three grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and close friends of the group, on various adventures, most of which either involve seeking out treasure or thwarting the efforts of villains seeking to steal Scrooge's fortune or his Number One Dime.

An animated series is a type of animated television works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either a finite number of episodes like a miniseries, a definite end, or be open-ended, without a predetermined number of episodes. They can be broadcast on television, shown in movie theatres, released direct-to-video or on the internet. Like other television series, films, including animated films, animated series can be of a wide variety of genres and can also have different demographic target audiences, from males to females ranging children to adults.

<i>Superman</i> (1940s animated film series) Series of seventeen animated Technicolor short films released by Paramount Pictures

The Fleischer Superman cartoons are a series of 17 animated short films released in Technicolor by Paramount Pictures and based upon the comic book character Superman, making them his first animated appearance.

<i>Toonerville Folks</i> American comic strip by Fontaine Fox

Toonerville Folks was a popular newspaper cartoon feature by Fontaine Fox, which ran from 1908 to 1955. It began in 1908 in the Chicago Post, and by 1913, it was syndicated nationally by the Wheeler Syndicate. From the 1930s on, it was distributed by the McNaught Syndicate.

Tom and Jerry is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the rivalry between the titular characters of a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. Many shorts also feature several recurring characters.

<i>KaBlam!</i> American animated sketch comedy television series programming block

KaBlam! is an American animated sketch comedy television series that ran on Nickelodeon from 1996 to 2000. The series was created by Robert Mittenthal, Will McRobb, and Chris Viscardi. The show was developed as a fully animated showcase for alternative forms of animation that were more common in indie films and commercials. Each episode thus features a collection of short films in different innovative styles of animation, bridged by the characters Henry and June, who introduce the short animations and have adventures of their own in between.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ryan (cartoonist)</span> British animator and cartoonist

John Gerald Christopher Ryan was a British animator and cartoonist. He was best known for his character Captain Pugwash.

<i>Tom & Jerry Kids</i> American animated television series

Tom & Jerry Kids is an American animated television series co-produced by Hanna-Barbera and Turner Entertainment Co., and starring the cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry as toddlers. It premiered on Fox on September 8, 1990, airing as the first program of the children's programming block, Fox Kids, and was the second Tom and Jerry TV series to be produced by Hanna-Barbera following The Tom and Jerry Show in 1975.

<i>The Little Lulu Show</i> Television series

The Little Lulu Show is an animated series based on Marjorie Henderson Buell's comic book character Little Lulu. The series first aired in 1995 and ended in 1999 after the cartoonist's death in 1993.

<i>How to Play Baseball</i> 1942 film by Jack Kinney

How to Play Baseball is a cartoon produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures in September 1942, featuring Goofy. The short was produced at the request of Samuel Goldwyn and first shown to accompany the 1942 feature film The Pride of the Yankees.

<i>Earthworm Jim</i> (TV series) American animated television series

Earthworm Jim is an American animated television series based on the video game series of the same name and created by series creator, Doug TenNapel. The series aired on the Kids' WB for two seasons from September 9, 1995, to December 13, 1996. It follows the adventures of the titular character who battles the forces of evil using a robotic suit.

The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers is a 2D Flash animated television series created by Dan Chambers, Mark Huckerby, and Nick Ostler. Starting off as online shorts in 2002, it was eventually commissioned as a full series by CITV and Cartoon Network in the UK, S4C in Wales, YTV and VRAK.TV in Canada and is a co-production between UK studio Pesky and Studio B Productions in Vancouver, British Columbia. 26 episodes were produced.

<i>The New Adventures of Superman</i> (TV series) 1966-1970 animated television series

The New Adventures of Superman is a half-hour series of six-minute animated Superman adventures produced by Filmation that were broadcast Saturday mornings on CBS from September 10, 1966, to September 5, 1970. The 68 segments appeared as part of three different programs during that time, packaged with similar shorts featuring The Adventures of Superboy and other DC Comics superheroes.

<i>Shorty McShorts Shorts</i> American TV series or program

Shorty McShorts' Shorts is an American animated anthology series, which consisted of 4-/5-minute shorts. It aired from July 28, 2006, to May 25, 2007.

The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure is a Saturday morning Filmation animated series that aired on CBS from 1967 to 1968. Premiering on September 9, 1967, this 60-minute program included a series of six-minute adventures featuring various DC Comics superheroes.

<i>Crime Time</i> American TV series or program

Crime Time is a series of animated shorts produced by Future Thought Productions, produced by Jay Zaveri and Steve Kasper, directed by Nassos Vakalis

The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo is a Canadian animated television series of five-minute cartoons produced in 1975 by Rainbow Animation in Toronto, Ontario. The series follows the underwater adventures of Captain Mark Nemo and his two young assistants, Christine and Robbie, in their nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus.

<i>Squatters Rights</i> 1946 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Squatter's Rights is a 1946 animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions. The cartoon is about a confrontation between Pluto and Chip and Dale who have taken up residence in Mickey Mouse's hunting shack. It was the 119th short in the Mickey Mouse film series to be released, and the only one produced that year.

<i>Toon In with Me</i> American live-action/animated anthology comedy television series

Toon In with Me is an American live-action/animated anthology television series created by Neal Sabin for MeTV and MeTV Plus. A special preview episode aired on January 1, 2021, with the main series officially debuting on January 4, 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 153–154. ISBN   0-8108-1651-2.
  2. Kennedy's TV SF Guide Archived September 26, 2005, at the Wayback Machine , accessed 29 September 2007
  3. "Comic Book Resources - Comic Book News, Reviews and Commentary - Updated Daily!". www.comicbookresources.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2003. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  4. TVcom: Felix & Diver Dan
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20031119133114/http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2003-05-20 [i]Comic Book Resources[/i], Issue #791, May 20, 2003
  6. Grand Comics Database (GCD) - "Diver Dan"