Tooter Turtle

Last updated
Tooter Turtle
Voices of Allen Swift
Sandy Becker
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes39
Production
Executive producerPeter M. Piech
Running time5 minutes
Original release
Network NBC
ReleaseOctober 15, 1960 (1960-10-15) 
July 22, 1961 (1961-07-22)

Tooter Turtle is an American animated television series about a turtle which first appeared on TV in 1960, as a segment of the King Leonardo and His Short Subjects program. "Tooter Turtle" debuted on NBC, on Saturday, October 15, 1960, and ran for 39 original episodes through July 22, 1961. [1] These episodes were later rerun as backups on other cartoon shows, [2] but no more original episodes were made.

Contents

Plot

The plots followed the same general format. [3] [4] Tooter (voiced by Allen Swift) calls on his friend Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voiced by Sandy Becker), an anthropomorphic lizard wearing a wizard cone hat, a robe, and pince-nez eyeglasses. Mr. Wizard lived in a tiny cardboard box at the base of a tall tree. The introductory segment had Tooter knocking on the cardboard box, having "another favor to ask." From inside the box, Mr. Wizard would shrink Tooter small enough to enter through the box's front door and invite him in. Mr. Wizard has the magic to change Tooter's life to some other destiny, usually sending him back in time and to various locales.

As Tooter is fulfilling his destiny, Mr. Wizard narrates the story. When Tooter's trip finally became a catastrophe, Tooter would request help with a cry of "Help me, Mr. Wizard, I don't want to be X any more!" where X was whatever destiny Tooter had entered. Mr. Wizard would then rescue Tooter with the incantation, "Drizzle, Drazzle, Druzzle, Drome, time for this one to come home." [5] Then, Mr. Wizard would always give Tooter the same advice: "Be just what you is, not what you is not. Folks what do this has the happiest lot." [6]

Critical reception and impact

Mr. Wizard's phrase "Drizzle, Drazzle, Druzzle, Drome; Time for this one to come home" [7] is echoed in the phrase "Razzle, dazzle, drazzle, drone, Time for This One to Come Home" that was used later by the band The Replacements as a lyric in Hold My Life from the album Tim . [8]

Created and aired during the Vietnam War, although before the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the episode featuring Tooter traveling back to World War I as a fighter pilot ("Tailspin Tooter") includes what one historian has called some of "the most gruesome pro-war imagery" in cartoons of the period. [9]

The 1984 novel Bright Lights, Big City includes childhood recollections of the cartoon series by a narrator while in a similar predicament. [10]

In the 1999 film The Matrix , Neo (Keanu Reeves) calls his operator Tank for an exit from the Matrix, saying, "Mr. Wizard, get me the hell out of here!". [11]

List of episodes

(ran as part of King Leonardo & His Short Subjects from October 15, 1960 to July 22, 1961)

Related Research Articles

<i>The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan</i> American animated television series

The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, animated by Eric Porter Studios in Australia and broadcast on CBS from September 9, 1972, to December 30, 1972, with reruns continuing through the summer of 1973 and in syndication from 1976 to 1982. The show was loosely based on the Charlie Chan series of mystery novels and films, which began with the 1925 novel The House Without a Key.

The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo is an American animated television series produced by United Productions of America that aired for one season on NBC from September 19, 1964 to April 24, 1965. It is the follow-up to the 1960/61 series Mister Magoo, with Jim Backus reprising the title role.

Mister Magoo is an American animated television series which was produced from November 7, 1960 to February 2, 1962. Each episode includes five four-minute shorts and was either aired together with bumpers as a single half-hour show, or was split up with one short airing each weekday, along with other cartoons. It was produced by United Productions of America. The series' voices were Jim Backus, Mel Blanc, Jerry Hausner, Benny Rubin, Paul Frees, and Frank Nelson.

<i>Wally Gator</i> American animated television series

Wally Gator is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that originally aired as one of the three segments from the syndicated block The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series. The other two segments that compose the series are Touché Turtle and Dum Dum and Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har. The segment consisted of 52 episodes that aired from September 3, 1962, to August 26, 1963.

<i>The Roman Holidays</i> American animated TV series

The Roman Holidays is a half-hour Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972. Reruns were later shown on the USA Cartoon Express during the 1980s, Cartoon Network during the 1990s and Boomerang during the 2000s.

<i>Yogis Gang</i> 1973 American animated television series

Yogi's Gang is an American Saturday-morning cartoon, and the second incarnation of the Yogi Bear franchise, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, which aired for 16 half-hour episodes on ABC from September 8, 1973, to December 29, 1973. The show began as Yogi's Ark Lark, a special TV movie on The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie in 1972. Fifteen original episodes were produced for broadcast on ABC, with the hour-long Yogi's Ark Lark thrown in as a split-in-half two-parter. The show confronted social and cultural issues like ecology and bigotry, with villains named Mr. Waste, Dr. Bigot, the Envy Brothers, Lotta Litter, the Greedy Genie and Mr. Cheater.

<i>King Leonardo and His Short Subjects</i> American animated television series

King Leonardo and His Short Subjects is an American Saturday-morning animated television series that aired on NBC from October 15, 1960 to December 23, 1961; the original Short Subjects package last aired on the network on September 28, 1963, when new segments of The King & Odie and The Hunter aired as part of Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales. The show was initially sponsored by General Mills. It was produced by Total Television Productions and Leonardo Productions, named after the main character, and has been referred to as the second original color Saturday-morning cartoon program after "The Ruff and Reddy Show". Leonardo Productions was actually Producers Associates for Television, aka P.A.T.

<i>Touché Turtle and Dum Dum</i> American animated television series

Touché Turtle and Dum Dum is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired as one of the three segments from the anthology show The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series. The show's other two segments were Wally Gator and Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har.

<i>Clutch Cargo</i> American animated television series

Clutch Cargo is an American animated television series created by cartoonist Clark Haas and produced by Cambria Productions, syndicated beginning on March 9, 1959. The series was notable for its limited animation yet imaginative stories, as well as for being the first widely-known use of Syncro-Vox technology.

<i>Jeannie</i> (TV series) 1973 American animated television series

Jeannie is an American animated television series that originally aired for a 16-episode season on CBS from September 8 to December 22, 1973. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera in association with Screen Gems, and its founders William Hanna and Joseph Barbera are the executive producers. Despite being a spin-off of sorts of the television sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, Jeannie has little in common with its parent show. In this version, the title character is rescued on the beaches of southern California by a high school student, Corey Anders. Jeannie is accompanied by genie-in-training Babu, and they become companions to Corey and his best friend, Henry Glopp, both of whom also help Jeannie and Babu adjust to their new home as well as life in Los Angeles. The series was marketed towards a younger demographic than I Dream of Jeannie.

<i>Inch High, Private Eye</i> 1973 American TV series or program

Inch High, Private Eye is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 8 to December 1, 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Becker</span> American announcer, actor, comedian (1922–1996)

George Sanford "Sandy" Becker was an American television announcer, actor, and comedian who hosted several popular children's programs in New York City. The best known of these was The Sandy Becker Show, which ran from 1955 to 1968 on WABD-TV and WNEW-TV, channel 5.

The Dick Tracy Show is an American animated television series based on Chester Gould's comic strip crime fighter. The series was produced from 1961 to 1962 by UPA.

<i>The Littles</i> (TV series) Animated television series

The Littles is an American animated television series originally produced between 1983 and 1985. It is based on the characters from The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John Peterson, the first of which was published in 1967. The series was produced for the American broadcast network ABC by the French/American studio DIC Audiovisuel. It was post-produced by a Canadian animation studio, Animation City Editorial Services.

Total Television was an American animation studio founded in 1959 by Buck Biggers, Chester "Chet" Stover, Joe Harris, and Treadwell D. Covington. They were executives in the advertising agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample who had the account for the General Mills food corporation. Total was formed to create cartoon characters encouraging children to buy General Mills breakfast cereals and other products. The company mostly created cartoons for television networks such as NBC. Underdog, King Leonardo and His Short Subjects, and Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales were among the most popular series made by the studio.

<i>Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales</i> American cartoon TV series

Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales is an animated television series that originally aired Saturday mornings on CBS from 1963 to 1966 as one of the earliest Saturday morning cartoons. It was produced by Total Television, the same company that produced the earlier King Leonardo and the later Underdog, and primarily sponsored by General Mills. A co-sponsor was Pillsbury's Funny Face Drinks. The title is a play on the “tuxedo” dinner jacket worn as formal wear.

Off to See the Wizard is an American television anthology series, partially animated but mostly live action, produced by MGM Animation/Visual Arts and telecast on ABC-TV between 1967 and 1968 that was narrated by Hal Holbrook.

What's New, Mr. Magoo? is an American animated television series which aired on Saturday mornings from September 10 to December 24, 1977, on CBS. It was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and United Productions of America. The series has the voices of Jim Backus, Bob Ogle, Casey Kasem, Hal Smith and Frank Welker.

<i>The Reluctant Dragon & Mr. Toad Show</i> 1970 Rankin/Bass animated television series

The Reluctant Dragon & Mr. Toad Show is a 1970 American animated television series that aired on ABC's Saturday morning schedule. The show features two characters created by British children's writer Kenneth Grahame: the Reluctant Dragon from the 1898 short story of the same name, and Mr. Toad from the 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows. The show was created by Rankin/Bass Productions in New York City, who produced 17 episodes. The show was a flop and canceled midway through its first season, airing from September 12 until December 26, 1970. ABC aired reruns of the show on Sunday mornings during the 1971–72 season. Copies of all 17 episodes were deposited at the Library of Congress, but only 10 episodes from other sources have been made publicly available as of 2024.

References

  1. Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981 . Scarecrow Press. pp.  165-166. ISBN   0-8108-1557-5 . Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  2. Brown, Arthur (2010-12-01). Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from Cartoons!. Arthur Brown. pp. 69–. ISBN   9781435732483 . Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  3. Vernezze, Peter J. (2011-04-30). Socrates in Sichuan: Chinese Students Search for Truth, Justice, and the (Chinese) Way. Potomac Books, Inc. pp. 97–. ISBN   9781597977487 . Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  4. Woolery, George W. (1991). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981: Part I: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. ISBN   9780810815575 . Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  5. Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television . Watson-Guptill Publications. p.  250. ISBN   978-0823083152 . Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  6. "Mr. Wizard, get Me Out of Here," by S.D. Smith, The Rabbit Room (30 July 2009). Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6coPVnJSsPg, Uploaded on Oct 25, 2008, from Season One 1960 Episode "The Unteachables", troydog's original 16mm color film stock.
  8. Burke, Timothy; Burke, Kevin (1998-12-15). Saturday Morning Fever: Growing up with Cartoon Culture. Macmillan. pp. 94–. ISBN   9780312169961 . Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  9. Lehman, Christopher P. (2006). American Animated Cartoons of the Vietnam Era: A Study of Social Commentary in Films And Television Programs, 1961–1973. McFarland. pp. 14–. ISBN   9780786428182 . Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  10. McInerney, Jay (1984). Bright Lights, Big City. New York: Vintage Contemporaries. p. 33.
  11. "Mr. Wizard, get me out of here!". Yarn. Retrieved September 19, 2022.