Part One:
FILMATION ASSOCIATES
THE BRADY KIDS ON MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
The Saturday Superstar Movies first appeared in September, 1972 with The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island (9/9/72), an hour long pilot for Filmation Associates series The Brady Kids, an animated version of Paramount's live-action The Brady Bunch. The cartoon featured Barry Williams, Christopher Knight, Michael Lookinland, Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb, and Susan Olsen, the original child actors from the primetime series, supplying the voices for their animated counterparts. Larry Storch also loaned his voice, as Marlon the magical myna bird. The uninspired tale had the kids chasing down spooks and performing as a rock band.
LASSIE AND THE SPIRIT OF THUNDER MOUNTAIN
Filmation also supplied the series with the pilot for the Lassie's Rescue Rangers series, an animated version of Jack Wrather's live-action Lassie series. Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain (11/11/72) presented the adventures of television's most famous collie and his new family, the Turners. Ted Knight narrated the mini-feature and also supplied the voice of Ben Turner, father of the Turner clan. Jane Webb was the voice of his wife, Laura. Nepotism apparently played a role in casting the juvenile voices for Lassie. Lane Scheimer, daughter of Filmation producer Lou Scheimer supplied the voice of Susan Turner, and Filmation director Hal Sutherland's son, Keith, was the voice of Jackie Turner.
DAFFY DUCK AND PORKY PIG MEET
THE GROOVIE GOOLIES
The third, and final Filmation contribution to the series was Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies (12/16/72). The show has Daffy Duck in Hollywood, producing a movie about King Arthur and his Knights of the Roundtable. The movie is set to star such classic Warner Brothers characters as Daffy himself, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety and Sylvester, Petunia Pig, Yosemite Sam, Elmer Fudd, Pepe Le Pew, Charlie Dog, and the Road Runner and Coyote (Warner's main star, Bugs Bunny, doesn't appear at all).
Meanwhile, Filmations' Groovie Goolies - Drac, Frankie, Wolfie, Mummy, and Hagatha - are back at Horrible Hall, watching TV. A ghoulish villain, the Phantom of the Flickers, suddenly appears on the screen and threatens to "destroy every frame of film Daffy Duck and his friends ever made, including their full-length flop, 'King Arthur!'" The Goolies, who happen to be big Daffy Duck fans, depart Horrible Hall and set off for Hollywood to foil the plot of the Phantom.
This odd team-up of characters ends with a bizarre live-action segment of the Goolies, featuring the writers of the show, Chuck Menville and Len Janson. The director of the show was Hal Sutherland and one of the animators was Warners veteran Virgil Ross, then working at Filmation.
Above is the live-action segment from the episode that I
posted on YouTube
Mel Blanc supplied the sped up voices for Daffy, Porky, and most of the Warner Brothers characters, while Jane Webb, Larry Storch, Howard Morris, and Larry D. Mann voiced the Goolies and other incidental characters.
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