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Flipper | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Created by |
|
Directed by | Ricou Browning |
Starring | |
Music by | Henry Vars Samuel Matlovsky Ruby Raksin |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 88 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producers | Ivan Tors James Buxbaum |
Cinematography | Howard Winner Clifford H. Poland Jr. |
Running time | approx. 25 minutes |
Production companies | Ivan Tors Films, Inc. MGM Television |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | September 19, 1964 – April 15, 1967 |
Related | |
Flipper is an American television program broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1964, until April 15, 1967. [1] Flipper, a bottlenose dolphin, is the pet of Porter Ricks, chief warden at Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve (a fictional version of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, Florida), and his two young sons, Sandy and Bud. The show has been dubbed an "aquatic Lassie ", and a considerable amount of children's merchandise inspired by the show was produced during its first run.
The television show is an extension of the 1963 film Flipper starring Chuck Connors and Luke Halpin as Porter and Sandy Ricks, and of its 1964 sequel, Flipper's New Adventure . For the second film, the producers scripted that Mrs. Ricks had died, making Porter now a single parent, with Brian Kelly taking over the role as Porter Ricks, but now as a trainee park ranger rather than a fisherman. In adapting the films to a television series, the producers gave Porter a second, younger son, Bud, portrayed by Tommy Norden, and the TV series has Porter returning permanently to the Florida Keys as the park ranger of the Coral Key Marine Preserve. The producers also departed from the films by endowing Flipper with an unnatural degree of intelligence and an extraordinary understanding of human motives, behavior, and vocabulary. [2]
The show was created, by way of the creation of the first film, by Jack Cowden and Ricou Browning, the latter of whom had experience in underwater filming and underwater performance, notably as the monster in Creature from the Black Lagoon . In Browning's second filmed portrayal of the creature, Revenge of the Creature , a scene showcases one of the film's shooting locations, Marineland of Florida (depicted with a fictionalized name), presenting several stunts performed by "Flippy, the Educated Porpoise", in a form of product placement. Browning also wrote the book Flipper based on the ancient legend of Taras, a mythical founder of the Spartan city-state of the same name (on the coast of Italy where modern day Taranto is located), who was rescued from shipwreck by a dolphin sent by Poseidon, which was picked up and adapted by famous producer Ivan Tors into the first Flipper movie.
Flipper was filmed in Miami at Greenwich Studios (at the time called Ivan Tors Studios) at 12100 Ivan Tors Boulevard in Miami, Florida, and at Key Biscayne, Florida. Nassau was an occasional location, especially for underwater footage. The show was produced in co-operation with the Miami Seaquarium, an aquarium also located on Key Biscayne in Miami.
The show used two different Thunderbird Iroquois boats as picture boats, a 22' model with all white upholstery and a single porthole on the sides of the cuddy for the first two seasons, and upgraded to a 23' model in the third season with two-tone upholstery and two portholes on the sides of the cuddy. [3]
Miami Seaquarium still presents the Flipper Show, a dolphin show in the lagoon that served as the film location for the show. [4]
The Miami Seaquarium set where Flipper was filmed also served as the set of another Ivan Tors production, Gentle Ben ; the house where the Ricks family lived was the same house used for the Wedloe family on Gentle Ben.[ citation needed ] Flipper was moved to Jimbo's Shrimp (also known as Jimbo's Place), located across from Miami Seaquarium, into the care and exercise of James "Jimbo" Luznar. Sr. Flipper lived in a pen in the cove behind Jimbo's Shrimp.
Flipper was portrayed at first by a female dolphin named Susie, though mostly by another female, Kathy, and occasionally by other females named Patty, Scotty, and Squirt. Female dolphins were chosen because they are less aggressive than males and their skins (unlike the skins of male dolphins) are usually free from scars and other disfigurations acquired in altercations with other dolphins, making their passing for the identical "Flipper" easier. The five dolphins performed all of Flipper's scenes except the famous tail walk, a trick they were unable to master completely. A male dolphin named Clown was brought in for scenes involving the tail walk. [5] The famous "voice" of Flipper was actually the doctored song of a kookaburra bird. [6]
The show's theme tune was credited to Henry Vars with lyrics by By Dunham. In France, the melody was known as "La Romance de Paris" ("The Love Song of Paris"). The first five episodes of the second season featured a different version of the theme, with Frankie Randall singing new lyrics. After those episodes, the original style of the theme was brought back. The background music of the long underwater sequences was inspired by Ravel's "Daphnis and Chloe".
Filming began in the early summer of 1964, and the first episode of season one was broadcast on September 19, 1964, with the series ending with the 28th episode of season three being broadcast on April 15, 1967, showing on NBC Saturday nights 7:30–8:00 pm, making 88 episodes in total. NBC continued broadcasts with repeats from season three until September 1967. One episode (episode three in season one, called "SOS Dolphin") was filmed earlier in 1964 as a pilot immediately after the filming of Flipper's New Adventure was completed. Brian Kelly appeared in all 88 episodes, Luke Halpin was in 85, and Tommy Norden was in 84. Later, reruns of the first two seasons aired January 1968 – June 1968, NBC, Sunday 6:30–7:00 pm and June 1968 – September 1968, NBC, Sunday 7:00–7:30 pm.
In its debut season in the 1964–65 United States network television schedule, Flipper was a considerable ratings success, rating in the top 25, especially going up against the long-standing and popular The Jackie Gleason Show on CBS. Ratings declined only slightly in season two 1965–66 United States network television schedule buoyed by its proximity to NBC's popular new Saturday night shows I Dream of Jeannie and Get Smart . Ratings fell sharply in season three against a strong rise in ratings for Gleason's show.
Flipper was notable for the casting of a number of guest actors, several of whom went on to stardom in later years or had already had a stellar career.
The series follows a bottlenose dolphin named Flipper who is the wild pet of Porter Ricks, a park warden, and his sons, Sandy (15) and Bud (10). Flipper lives in a lagoon near the Ricks cottage at Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve. With the Ricks family, Flipper helps protect the park and preserve and its wild inhabitants. He is also instrumental in apprehending criminals and thugs in the park. Flipper is generally recognized by the characters in the show (and the theme song) as being a particularly intelligent and capable dolphin. Flipper is the special companion of the youngest member of the Ricks family, Bud, and several episodes feature Flipper rescuing Bud from dangerous situations. Flipper is able to somehow communicate through different chatter-like tones, head nods and shakes, and other attention-seeking antics with Sandy and Bud, and draw their (and Porter's) attention to danger or in the direction of people needing help. Few women are in the lives of the Ricks males, but in the first season, Porter does have a date, and Sandy falls for the girl operator of a floating zoo, who appears in four episodes. A female oceanographer enters the series in the second season to add a feminine touch to the proceedings, but little more than mild flirtations and fondness between Porter and her ensues. Promotional material for the third season announced a new girlfriend for Sandy, although she only appeared in one episode, and he has an innocently flirtatious scene with another girl in a separate episode. The series is distinguished for its lush photography of subtropical Florida and its colorful underwater sequences.
The last first-run episode of Flipper aired April 15, 1967. In the conclusion of a two-part episode, the characters of Sandy and Bud are written out of the show (by that time, both Halpin and Norden had grown out of their roles), as it is detailed how each plans to leave Coral Key — Sandy has been accepted to the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, and Bud will be attending a private school to study oceanography in Boston, Massachusetts, as arranged by their Aunt Martha. At the same time, a new family (the Whitmans) moves to the area: a widowed mother (portrayed by Karen Steele) and her young son and daughter (portrayed by Stuart Getz and Chris Charney). The two new children are depicted as unfamiliar with maritime life, but they promptly befriend Flipper, and promise to be his new companions after Sandy and Bud leave. Plans were made for a fourth season, revolving around the Whitman children taking the role of Flipper's guardians/playmates and their mother becoming involved in a serious relationship with Porter. Sandy and Bud presumably would have made a cameo visit in an episode or two. All this was for naught, however, as Ivan Tors chose not to continue to make a fourth season in this new format, so NBC cancelled it. [7]
Flipper has seen periodic syndication since its NBC cancellation. The show has aired on Family Channel, Nickelodeon, Animal Planet, Discovery Kids, in high-definition on satellite provider Voom's Family Room channel, and on digital subchannel Antenna TV. Most of the images of Flipper jumping against a skyline were not in the originally aired version, as the filming took place in an enclosed lagoon. They were filmed at the end of the series and added for syndication. [7]
The rights to Flipper were later acquired by The Samuel Goldwyn Company, later becoming a subsidiary of Orion Pictures, which in turn would later be acquired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (whose MGM Television division originally produced the series), now officially owned by Amazon under Amazon MGM Studios division. As a result, MGM owns distribution rights to the series; the series copyright is held by Orion Pictures (whose own holdings include the Goldwyn library). It is also one of the few pre-1985 MGM Television programs in MGM's pre-May 1986 library that is not currently owned by Warner Bros. through Turner Entertainment Co. Thus, the physical home video rights of this series is currently distributed also by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (since 2020, under the joint venture division, Studio Distribution Services in which after Fox and MGM Worldwide home media deal expired).
As of November 2016, Flipper airs as one of a handful of classic TV series (alongside Ivan Tors' earlier series Sea Hunt ) on the primarily movie-oriented digital subchannel This TV. [8] In 2017, Flipper and Sea Hunt began airing together on Light TV.
On August 29, 2017, Olive Films re-released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1. They also released seasons one and two on Blu-ray. [9] Season three was released on October 31, 2017, on DVD and Blu-ray. [10]
Gentle Ben is a bear character created by author Walt Morey and first introduced in a 1965 children's novel, Gentle Ben. The original novel told the story of the friendship between a large male bear named Ben and a boy named Mark. The story provided the basis for the 1967 film Gentle Giant, the popular late 1960s U.S. television series Gentle Ben, a 1980s animated cartoon and two early 2000s made-for-TV movies.
Flipper is a 1996 American adventure film and a remake of the 1963 film of the same name. Written and directed by Alan Shapiro, the film stars Elijah Wood as a boy who has to spend the summer with his uncle, who lives on the Florida Gold Coast. Although he expects to have a boring summer, he encounters a dolphin whom he names Flipper and with whom he forms a friendship.
Luke Austin Halpin is a former American actor, stuntman, marine coordinator, diver and pilot. He became a child actor at the age of eight and is widely known for his role as Sandy Ricks in the feature films Flipper and Flipper's New Adventure, as well as for reprising his role for the NBC television series adaptation, Flipper.
Flipper is a 1963 American adventure film written by Arthur Weiss based upon a story by Ricou Browning and Jack Cowden. Produced by Ivan Tors and directed by James B. Clark, the film centers on a 12-year-old boy living with his parents in the Florida Keys who befriends an injured wild dolphin. The boy and the dolphin become inseparable, eventually overcoming the misgivings of the boy's fisherman father.
Lolita, also called Tokitae or Toki for short,, was a captive female orca of the southern resident population captured from the wild in September 1970 and displayed at the Miami Seaquarium in Florida. She was retired from performing and taken off public display in 2022, and subsequently died in August 2023. At the time of her death, Lolita was the second-oldest orca in captivity after Corky at SeaWorld San Diego.
Ivan Tors was a Hungarian playwright, film director, screenwriter, and film and television producer with an emphasis on non-violent but exciting science fiction, underwater sequences, and stories involving animals. He started a Miami-based film studio now known as Greenwich Studios, and later a music company.
The Miami Seaquarium is a 38-acre (15 ha) oceanarium located on the island of Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay, Miami-Dade County, Florida located near downtown Miami.
Flipper's New Adventure is a 1964 American feature film released on June 24, 1964 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, written by Art Arthur, and directed by Leon Benson. It was a sequel to the 1963 film, Flipper and was based on characters created by Ricou Browning and Jack Cowden.
Brian Kelly was an American actor and producer widely known for his role as Porter Ricks, the widowed father of two sons on the NBC television series Flipper.
Flipper is an American revival television series of the original 1964 Flipper television series. The first two seasons aired in first-run syndication; seasons three and four aired on the PAX network.
Tommy Norden is an American businessman and retired actor, most widely-known as Bud Ricks, the red-haired, younger brother of Sandy Ricks on the television series Flipper.
The Everglades is an American crime-adventure television series that aired in syndication for one season from 1961–62 and in reruns. Ron Hayes starred as Constable Lincoln Vail, a law enforcement officer of the fictional Everglades County Patrol who traveled the Florida Everglades in an airboat, a vehicle which was often the focus of the program. Hayes, a northern California actor and stuntman, was an avid outdoorsman and conservationist.
Hello Down There is a 1969 American comedy-adventure film starring Tony Randall and Janet Leigh that was released by Paramount Pictures. It was produced by George Sherman and Ivan Tors and directed by Jack Arnold and Ricou Browning. The screenplay was written by John McGreevey and Frank Telford.
Richard "Ric" O'Barry is an American animal rights activist and former animal trainer who was first recognized in the 1960s for capturing and training the five dolphins that were used in the TV series Flipper. O'Barry transitioned from training dolphins to instead advocating against industries that keep dolphins in captivity, after one of the Flipper dolphins died. In 1996, a dolphin was seized from the Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary, a corporation O'Barry worked for, for violating the Animal Welfare Act of 1966. In 1999, he was fined for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act as the result of illegally releasing two dolphins that were not able to survive in the wild. The dolphins sustained life-threatening injuries.
The film history has a long history in Miami and greater South Florida and continues to grow as the entertainment industry expands throughout Florida. Miami is home to one of the largest production and distribution centers in the world for the film, television, commercial advertising, still photo, music and new media industries. The industry's combined economic impact in the local economy is about two billion dollars annually, with $100 to $150 million coming from more than 1,000 location filming shoots each year. There approximately 3,000 companies working in film and entertainment in Miami-Dade County, employing an estimated 15,000 workers.
Flipper was a mascot for the Miami Dolphins from 1966 to 1968. She was situated in a fish tank in the open (east) end of the Orange Bowl, and was trained to jump in the tank when a touchdown or field goal was scored.
This Is Us is an American drama television series created by Dan Fogelman that aired on NBC from September 20, 2016, to May 24, 2022. The series follows the lives and families of two parents and their three children in several different time frames. It stars an ensemble cast featuring Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullivan, Ron Cephas Jones, Jon Huertas, Alexandra Breckenridge, Niles Fitch, Logan Shroyer, Hannah Zeile, Mackenzie Hancsicsak, Parker Bates, Eris Baker, Faithe Herman, Lonnie Chavis, Melanie Liburd, Lyric Ross, Asante Blackk, Griffin Dunne, Caitlin Thompson and Chris Geere. This Is Us was filmed in Los Angeles.
Warren Day is a former American actor best known for his role as Curtis in Andrew Marton's comedy film Birds Do It (1966). He additionally guest starred on the NBC television series Flipper (1965).
The Flipper franchise consists of American family-adventure installments including three theatrical films, and two television shows. Based on original an original story created by Arthur Weiss, Ricou Browning and Jack Cowden, the plot centers around a family who becomes friends with a notably intelligent bottlenose dolphin they rescued from injuries, which they name Flipper. Through the events of the franchise, Flipper regularly gives aid to his human friends and selflessly comes to their rescue to return the favor.