Irwin the Disco Duck, a.k.a. Irwin the Dynamic Duck, is a fictional character who was featured on a series of children's records from Peter Pan Records. [1] He's depicted as an anthropomorphic white duck with a head of brown hair, usually dressed in 1970s-style clothes (platform shoes, bell-bottoms, et cetera). The character was created by artist George Peed in 1976. [2]
Despite the similarity in both sound and appearance to Donald Duck, Irwin the Disco Duck had no affiliation to the more widely known character of The Walt Disney Company.
Inspired by the novelty song "Disco Duck", Peter Pan put out a series of children's records starting in 1976 [1] that were compilations of popular songs of the time. The fictional "host" of the albums was Irwin the Disco Duck, whose name would be altered to Irwin the Dynamic Duck when disco fell out of fashion. None of the songs were by the original artists; according to the album cover, they were being performed by "The Wibble Wobble Singers and Orchestra." Some of the songs featured Irwin singing, but more often he functioned as the album's disc jockey, introducing the songs. [3]
While numerous voice actors played Irwin throughout this series, the most notable is Don Messick of Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon fame, the original voice of Scooby-Doo and other such characters as Papa Smurf, Boo-Boo, Astro (of The Jetsons), Dr. Benton Quest and Bamm-Bamm. His Irwin voice was similar to many Hanna-Barbera and Rankin/Bass characters, including Pixie, Scrappy-Doo and Snip (in Jack Frost).
Irwin's hair, wardrobe and DJ persona are all reflections of American radio personality Rick Dees, who wrote and recorded the "Disco Duck" song on which this series was based.
![]() |
Album | Year | Pr. # |
---|---|---|
Disco Duck Dance Party [3] [4] | 1976 | 8191 |
Irwin the Disco Duck Dance Party II [4] | 1977 | 8195 |
Alley Cat and Chicken Fat [4] [5] | 1977 | 8196 |
Irwin the Disco Duck Christmas & New Years Party [4] | 1977 | 8203 |
Duck Wars: Big Hits Dance Party [6] | 1978 | 8206 |
Disco Fever for All Ages [1] | 1978 | 8223 |
Irwin the Disco Duck in The Navy [7] | 1979 | 8235 |
Irwin Strikes Back | January 4, 1980 | 1117 |
Big Hits Dance Party | December 10, 1980 | 1112 |
The Flintstones is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the Rubbles. It was originally broadcast on ABC from September 30, 1960, to April 1, 1966, and was the first animated series with a prime-time slot on television.
Pebbles Flintstone-Rubble is a fictional character in the Flintstones franchise. The red-haired daughter of Fred and Wilma Flintstone, Pebbles is born near the end of the third season. She is most famous in her infant form on The Flintstones, but has also appeared at various other ages, including as a teenager on the early 1970s spin-off The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show and as an adult in three television films. She spent most of her time with Bamm-Bamm Rubble, her childhood best friend whom she eventually marries.
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that originally aired for one season on CBS Saturday morning from September 11, 1971, to January 1, 1972. With an ensemble voice cast of Sally Struthers, Jay North, Mitzi McCall, Gay Hartwig, Carl Esser and Lennie Weinrib, the show follows teenage Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble as they encounter problems growing up in the fictional town of Bedrock. The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show is the first spin-off series of The Flintstones. For the 1972–73 season, the show was revamped as The Flintstone Comedy Hour, with more time given to the original Flintstones cast alongside both reruns and newly produced segments of Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm.
Frederick "Fred" Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom The Flintstones, which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintstone and together the family live in their homely cave in the town of Bedrock. His best friend is his next door neighbor, Barney, who has a wife named Betty.
Donald Earle Messick was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Josie and the Pussycats is an American animated television series based upon the Archie Comics comic book series of the same name created by Dan DeCarlo. Produced for Saturday morning television by Hanna-Barbera Productions, 16 episodes of Josie and the Pussycats aired on CBS during the 1970–71 television season and were rerun during the 1971–72 season.
Jabberjaw is an American animated television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired 16 original episodes on ABC from September 11 to December 18, 1976. Reruns continued on ABC until September 3, 1978.
Betty Rubble is a fictional character in the television animated series The Flintstones and its spin-offs and live-action motion pictures. She is the black-haired wife of caveman Barney Rubble and the adoptive mother of Bamm-Bamm Rubble. Her best friend is her next-door neighbor Wilma Flintstone.
"Disco Duck" is a satirical disco novelty song performed by Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots. At the time, Dees was a Memphis disc jockey. It became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in October 1976. It also made the top 20 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart, peaking at number 15. "Disco Duck" was initially released in the south by Estelle Axton's Fretone label, but it was later released by RSO Records for national and international distribution. The song earned a 1977 People's Choice Award for Favorite New Song.
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! is an American animated comedy television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS. The series premiered as part of the network's Saturday morning cartoon schedule on September 13, 1969, and aired for two seasons until October 31, 1970. In 1978, a selection of episodes from the later animated series Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics and The Scooby-Doo Show were aired on ABC under the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! title name, and was released in a DVD set marketed as its third season. It also aired on BBC One in the UK from 1970 to 1973. The complete series is also available on Boomerang, Max, and Tubi streaming services.
Cindy Bear is a cartoon character created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. She is one of the primary supporting characters of the Yogi Bear franchise as well as a regular in the stable of frequently appearing Hanna-Barbera animated personalities. Cindy was originally portrayed by voice actress Julie Bennett, who reprised the part for most of the character's appearances from the 1960s through the 1980s.
John Francis Smith, more commonly referred to as Ranger Smith, is a fictional park ranger first appearing in the 1958 Yogi Bear cartoon series. The character is Yogi's main antagonist, and appears in other Yogi Bear series, including Yogi's Gang (1973), Yogi's Treasure Hunt (1985), and Yo Yogi! (1991), as well as the 2010 live-action Yogi Bear film. The cartoon character has been primarily voiced by Don Messick and Greg Burson.
Fred Flintstone and Friends is an American animated anthology wheel series and a spin-off of The Flintstones produced by Hanna-Barbera and Columbia Pictures Television that aired in daily first-run syndication from September 12, 1977, to September 1, 1978. The series was packaged by Columbia Pictures Television during the 1977–78 television season and was available for barter syndication through Claster Television through the mid-1980s.
Boo-Boo Bear is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character on The Yogi Bear Show. Boo-Boo is an anthropomorphic dwarf bear who wears a blue bowtie. Boo-Boo is Yogi Bear's constant companion, and often acts as his conscience. He tries to keep Yogi from doing things he should not do, and also to keep Yogi from getting into trouble with Ranger Smith – often saying, "Mr. Ranger isn't gonna like this, Yogi." It is not readily apparent whether Boo-Boo is a juvenile bear with a precocious intellect, or simply an adult bear who is short of stature.
Huckleberry "Huck" Hound is a fictional cartoon character, a blue anthropomorphic coonhound dog that speaks with a North Carolina Southern drawl. He first appeared in the series The Huckleberry Hound Show. The cartoon was one of six TV shows to win an Emmy Award in 1960 as an "Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming"; the first animated series to receive such an award.
Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration is a 1989 American live-action/animated television special which premiered on TNT on July 17, 1989.
Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows, and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show.
Hanna-Barbera Educational Filmstrips is a series of animated filmstrips of educational material produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions' educational division. The series ran from 1977 to 1980 for a total of 26 titles, featuring the studio's animated characters from The Flintstones, The Yogi Bear Show, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Banana Splits, Cattanooga Cats, and Jabberjaw.