The Mighty Heroes | |
---|---|
Genre | Animation, comedy |
Directed by | |
Voices of | |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 21 |
Production | |
Executive producer | William M. Weiss |
Running time | 30 min |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | October 29, 1966 – March 11, 1967 |
The Mighty Heroes is an American Saturday morning animated television series created by Ralph Bakshi for the Terrytoons company. The original show debuted on CBS, on October 29, 1966, and ran for one season with 21 episodes. [1]
The stories took place in Good Haven, a fictitious city that was continually beset by various supervillains. When trouble occurred, the city launched a massive fireworks display to summon a quintet of high-flying superheroes into action—Strong Man, Rope Man, Tornado Man, Cuckoo Man, and Diaper Man. [2]
In Act 1 of each episode, the team members were portrayed as accident-prone bunglers. A typical scenario involved them getting entangled and clumsily offering stock apologies while falling together, often leading to their capture by the villain. In Act 2, after escaping the villain's deathtrap in the cliffhanger, the team always managed to regroup and fight with proper coordination to emerge victorious. Their roster of villains included the Drifter, [3] the Ghost Monster, the Enlarger, the Frog, [4] the Junker, [5] the Monsterizer, [6] the Toy Man, the Shocker, the Shrinker, [7] and the Scarecrow. [8]
The cartoons originally appeared as a segment of the long-running Mighty Mouse Playhouse during the 1966–67 season, which was renamed Mighty Mouse and The Mighty Heroes in recognition of the new segment. [9] Some weeks during the network run, two complete Mighty Heroes segments would open and close the show with a classic Mighty Mouse cartoon in-between. In other weeks, one Mighty Heroes episode would be split in two to open and close the show, with two Mighty Mouse cartoons broadcast in-between.
The character voices were provided by Herschel Bernardi, who provided all voices of Strong Man, Diaper Man, and Tornado Man, and Lionel Wilson, who provided Cuckoo Man and Rope Man. Bernardi was also the original provider of the "Ho Ho Ho" voice of the Jolly Green Giant and of StarKist's Charlie the Tuna's voice in commercials. Wilson was also the voice of the title character in another famous Terrytoons series, Tom Terrific .
Only 21 episodes of The Mighty Heroes were ever produced; the series came to an end when Bakshi left Terrytoons in 1967.
Reruns of The Mighty Heroes were eventually syndicated by Viacom (now CBS Media Ventures) in the 1970s as part of the Mighty Mouse package. [10] There have also been two licensed VHS releases. Ten of the Mighty Heroes cartoons were also run as theatrical shorts in movie theaters between 1969 and 1971. [11]
The characters appeared in animated form as guest stars in the episode "Heroes and Zeroes" of the late 1980s series Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures , produced by Bakshi, in which they had all retired and were running the accounting firm of Man, Man, Man, Man and Man. Even Diaper Man had grown up, evidenced by his having a mustache. [1] They were later included in the 1999 Terrytoons pilot Curbside. [12]
In 1985 Children's Video Library (under license from Viacom) released VHS tapes with a variety of stars.
Later in 1989 they released two Mighty Heroes VHS Tapes with 6 cartoons on each tape, covering the first 12 cartoons of the series.
In 2022, Amazon FreeVee uploaded the Video Treasures VHS tapes (complete with VHS streaking and glitches) for free streaming on Amazon.com, IMDB, and many cable TV carriers.
There are three comic book adaptations of The Mighty Heroes. The first series was published by Dell Comics in 1967 and ran for four issues. [13] The second series was published by Spotlight Comics in 1987 and ran for one issue. The third series was published by Marvel Comics in 1998 and also ran for one issue; this comic provided an origin story for the Heroes, and also the real names of the four adult members of the team. [14]
All five of the Mighty Heroes had the power to fly. Individually, they were:
None of the real names of the Mighty Heroes were ever revealed, nor were origin stories told for any of them, in any of the animated cartoons. In the 1998 comic book, they got their powers and costumes when a meteor-like being crashed down on Earth; his duty was to grant mighty powers to the most deserving people on the planet, but in this case he made a mistake. Nevertheless, the empowered quintet were determined to prove that they were indeed worthy to be called the Mighty Heroes. [14]
This section needs a plot summary.(April 2022) |
No. | Title | Original air date |
---|---|---|
1 | "The Plastic Blaster" | October 29, 1966 |
2 | "The Frog" | November 5, 1966 |
3 | "The Junker" | November 12, 1966 |
4 | "The Shrinker" | November 19, 1966 |
5 | "The Ghost Monster" | November 26, 1966 |
6 | "The Stretcher" | December 3, 1966 |
7 | "The Monsterizer" | December 10, 1966 |
8 | "The Drifter" | December 17, 1966 |
9 | "The Shocker" | December 24, 1966 |
10 | "The Enlarger" | December 31, 1966 |
11 | "The Toy Man" | January 7, 1967 |
12 | "The Dusters" | January 14, 1967 |
13 | "The Big Freeze" | January 21, 1967 |
14 | "The Timekeeper" | January 28, 1967 |
15 | "The Scarecrow" | February 4, 1967 |
16 | "The Time Eraser" | February 11, 1967 |
17 | "The Return of the Monsterizer" | February 18, 1967 |
18 | "The Paper Monster" | February 25, 1967 |
19 | "The Raven" | March 4, 1967 |
20 | "The Bigger Digger" | March 11, 1967 |
21 | "The Proton Pulsator" | March 18, 1967 |
Ralph Bakshi is an American animator, filmmaker and painter. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1994, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, predominantly urban dramas and fantasy films, five of which he wrote. He has also been involved in numerous television projects as director, writer, producer and animator.
Mighty Mouse is an American animated character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. The character is a anthropomorphic superhero mouse, originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short The Mouse of Tomorrow. The name was changed to Mighty Mouse in his eighth film, 1944's The Wreck of the Hesperus, and the character went on to star in 80 theatrical shorts, concluding in 1961 with Cat Alarm.
Terrytoons was an American animation studio in New Rochelle, New York, that produced animated cartoons for theatrical release from 1929 to 1973. Terrytoons was founded by Paul Terry, Frank Moser, and Joseph Coffman, and operated out of the "K" Building in downtown New Rochelle. The studio created many cartoon characters including Fanny Zilch, Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, Gandy Goose, Sourpuss, Dinky Duck, Little Roquefort, the Terry Bears, Dimwit, and Luno; Terry's pre-existing character Farmer Al Falfa was also featured often in the series.
The Mighty Hercules is an animated television series based loosely on the Greek mythology character of Heracles, under his Roman name Hercules. It debuted on television in 1963. The show ran until 1966, coinciding with the sword-and-sandal genre of films popular between 1958 and 1965. Each stand-alone episode runs 5½ minutes, and in syndication was aired either as part of a block with other cartoons, or with several episodes airing consecutively to fill 30-minute time slots.
Michael John Kricfalusi, known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, and former animator and voice actor. He is the creator of the animated television series The Ren & Stimpy Show, which was highly influential on televised animation during the 1990s. From 1989 to 1992, he was heavily involved with the first two seasons of the show in virtually every aspect of its production, including providing the voice of Ren Höek and other characters. In 2009, he won the Inkpot Award.
Tom Terrific is a 1957–1959 animated series on American television, presented as part of the Captain Kangaroo children's television show.
Spider-Man is a 1967 Canadian-American superhero animated television series that was the first television series based on the Spider-Man comic book series created by writer Stan Lee and by artist Steve Ditko. It was jointly produced in Canada and the United States (animation). The show starred Paul Soles as the voice of Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man. The first two seasons aired on the ABC television network, and the third was distributed in syndication. Grantray-Lawrence Animation produced the first season, and seasons two and three were produced by Krantz Films in New York City. The series aired Saturday mornings from September 9, 1967 to June 14, 1970.
Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse, is a 1960 children's cartoon television show, that was produced by Trans-Artists Productions, and syndicated by Tele Features Inc. The characters were originated and created by authors Bob Kane and Gerald J. Rappoport as a spoof of Kane's earlier creations, Batman and Robin. In many ways, Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse presages the camp aspects of the later Batman live action series, which William Dozier and Howie Horwitz produced as a villain-driven action-comedy lampoon. Storyboard design was by Kane's assistant/ghost Sheldon Moldoff.
Deputy Dawg is a Terrytoons cartoon character, featured on the animated television series of the same name that aired from 1960 to 1964.
Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures is an American animated television series. It is a revival of the Mighty Mouse cartoon character. Produced by Bakshi-Hyde Ventures and Terrytoons, the show aired on CBS on Saturday mornings from fall 1987 through the 1988–89 season. It was briefly rerun on Saturday mornings on Fox Kids in November and December 1992.
Heckle and Jeckle are postwar animated cartoon characters created by Paul Terry, originally produced at his own Terrytoons animation studio and released through 20th Century Fox. The characters are a pair of identical anthropomorphic yellow-billed magpies who usually cause problems to others and for themselves with their bizarre antics. Heckle speaks in a tough New York style manner, while Jeckle has a more polite British accent. They were voiced at different times by Sid Raymond (1947), Ned Sparks (1947–51), Roy Halee (1951–61), Dayton Allen (1956–66) and Frank Welker (1979).
Fanny Zilch is an animated cartoon character, part of the Terrytoons series. She made her debut in 1933. Her cartoons were musical spoofs of melodrama serials like The Perils of Pauline, in which blonde sweetheart Fanny -- "the Banker's Daughter" -- was pursued by the villainous Oil Can Harry, and protected by the heroic J. Leffingwell Strongheart.
Robert Frank Camp is an American animator, writer, cartoonist, comic book artist, storyboard artist, director, and producer. He has been nominated for two Emmys, a CableACE Award, and an Annie Award for his work on The Ren & Stimpy Show.
Christmas in Tattertown is a 1988 animated television Christmas special created and directed by Ralph Bakshi. The special was an unsold pilot episode for a series, Tattertown, about a place where everything discarded in the world came alive. "Christmas in Tattertown" aired on the cable television network Nickelodeon.
The Comic Strip is an American animated series that features four rotating cartoon segments: The Mini-Monsters, Street Frogs, Karate Kat and TigerSharks. The 90-minute series ran in first-run syndication during the 1987 season.
Lionel Wilson was an American voice actor, reader of audiobooks, stage actor, and author of children's books. He was known for his roles from Tom Terrific through to his last role, voicing Eustace Bagge on the Cartoon Network's Courage the Cowardly Dog.
Gandy Goose is a Terrytoons cartoon character who first appeared in the 1938 short Gandy the Goose. He is frequently paired with Sourpuss, a cat, beginning in the 1939 short Hook Line and Sinker. Sourpuss' first appearance was in the 1939 The Owl and the Pussycat, and had appearances without Gandy in the shorts How Wet Was My Ocean (1940), Fishing Made Easy (1941), and A Torrid Toreador (1942). Originally voiced by composer and orchestral arranger Arthur Kay from 1939 to 1941, Gandy spoke in a lyrical vocal parody of radio comedian Ed Wynn while Sourpuss vocally impersonated an impatient Jimmy Durante. Their surreal adventures often showcase extended dreams, bookended by coarse bedroom arguments.
Hector Heathcote is a Terrytoons animated cartoon character. Created by Eli Bauer and Ralph Bakshi, he first appeared on July 18, 1959, in The Minute and a Half Man. He was voiced by John Myhers. Terrytoons created the character for television, but the cartoons also received theatrical distribution.
Milton Knight Jr. is an American cartoonist, animator, comic book artist, writer, painter, and storyboard/layout artist. He directed animation for a variety of cartoon series, including Cool World, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, and The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat. He is known for his Golden Age (1930s) cartooning style.
Mighty Mouse Playhouse is an American Saturday morning television anthology series featuring animated short films starring Mighty Mouse. The series aired on CBS from 1955 to 1967. The series was credited with both popularizing the Mighty Mouse character in popular culture far beyond what the original film shorts had done and putting Saturday morning cartoons on the map.