Recently I read this news piece about how CW had discontinued what was the last Saturday morning cartoon programming block. Seeing as how so many Saturday morning cartoons were adapted from movies and live action shows, let’s mourn the tradition’s passing by discussing what MST3K movies could be reimagined as Saturday morning cartoons. I’ll start by suggesting Master Ninja, which would probably be a lot like the cartoon version of The A-Team.
I have to go with The Pumaman. The flying scenes might seem more believable than the movie. I can see myself sitting in my parents’ living room eating a bowl of Froot Loops while everybody else is asleep and watching that.
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Wild Wild World of Batwoman is already half cartoon, but being fully animated might make it more bearable and coherent. Imagine Heathcliff drawn as a sort of tousle-headed Gollum, and all the dancing scenes in vivid ’60s psychedelic colors and exaggerated movements! And Ratfink would be much more ominous…maybe. And how exciting would the séance scene be! Maybe.
Well, they’ve already made Godzilla into a cartoon, so I’ll go with Gamera. Now I love the riffing on those episodes, but I think a lot of those movies are actually kind of fun already. In the end you just can’t say no to giant monsters duking it out, even if the movie is pretty stupid. Plus, anyone who hasn’t seen the 90s trilogy doesn’t know what they’re missing. I could easily see Gamera having success as an anime.
As a kid, (dating myself here) one of the shows that came later on in the morning was The Archie Show and later, Archie’s Funhouse. So with that, I think Teenagers from Outer Space would fit the bill. There would be Derek and Thor constantly vying for the love of Betty as they fly around the universe. They’d have a wise cracking lobster named Gargy and a grumpy manager (oh yeah they had a band complete with a multi-channel mixer) who always threatened torture if they didn’t make their gigs. Throw in a song or two and Gramps showing everyone a new dance every week and there you have it, Saturday morning bliss.
I was thinking something like “Star Wolf!”, featuring Ken the “enhanced” soldier and the crew of the Bacchus 3 (was it 3, or just Bacchus?…can’t remember). Anyway, they would have continuing adventures across the galaxy, kind of like “Star Trek” mixed with “Serenity” or “Farscape”.
What do you think, sirs and ma’ams?
In the tradition of Incredible Hulk, The Further Adventures of She Creature. Each week, we follow an ex-carnival girl who travels around the country battling evil hypnotists. Whenever she gets mad, She Creature appears and kicks butt. Because her scientist boyfriend never changes expression, it will save money on animation. Of course King the dog talks in order to cash in on Scooby Doo.
I agree that Gamera would make a good cartoon. They could add a bunch of plucky kids (like the bunch in “Neptune Men”, but less annoying) as his standard sidekicks, and they’d learn important life lessons as they watch Gamera knock around bad guy monsters.
With a bit of adjustment, you re-tool “Pod People” into a cartoon. The first episode would be a remake of the original, removing Trumpy’s murderous lookalike and the killings. Young Tommy learns valuable life lessons as he tries to keep his magical pal Trumpy secret from the authorities and other non-understanding adults. The rock group serve as his Archies-like pals, sing a song in every episode, and provide comic relief. Hanna-Barbera would produce it, of course.
If you want to go way back, I’m sure there’s a series that can be made from “Invaders from the Deep”. I mean you have a hero, a sidekick, underwater adventures, and a kid-friendly tone. You could even do it with puppets for extra kid appeal. Okay, it’s not a cartoon, but it’s close. You could name it after the good guys’ sub: “Stingray”.
Wait a minute…
Let’s try a block of shows:
I could so see a cartoon made out of Eegah! Tom and Roxy and their big pal Eegah tooling around the desert in his dune buggy, solving mysteries, getting into adventures with Arthur I. Miller, and occasionally – a song will break out! A little big Captain caveman, a little bit Josie and the Pussycats – all fun!
The New Adventures of Zap and Rowsdower. Nuff said.
Prince of Space – again, this one almost needs no set up. Weekly hijinks as the Phantom of Krankor finds another plot to conquer the Earth foiled by a humble shoe-black, who in reality is….the Prince of Spaaaaaace!
and to round out our Saturday Morning Fun, let’s try…
The Magical World of Mr B Natural! that’s right, follow Mr. B as she…er….he visits a new kid each week and whisks them away to a magical musical land to learn about music and how much fun it can be. Sort of a Care Bears meets Kid Video meets a Omega-man with a motorcycle and…….aauuughhhh *Mad’s hand sweep*
Pewmaman of course. Finally some realistic special effects.
@7, The New Adventures of Zap and Rowsdower would have a very Johnny Quest feel about it, as they fight all sorts of exotic enemies. They would have to have a dog sidekick, too, because that is kind of a Saturday morning cartoon rule. Of course, this would be a difficult idea to pitch to the network suits – they might want it set in Alabama and change Zap and Rowsdower into girls.
I’m gonna go with The STARFIGHTERS – endless refueling action meets the Hanna Barbara looping background painting.
Or maybe that can be just one of thr recurring cartoon segments on The Petey Plane Amazing Adventures Hour.
Mr. B Natural, produced by John Kricfalusi (with a full budget so it can be at its most Bob Clampett-like.
Kitten With a Whip, produced by Warner Brothers in a Looney Tunes style. At one point, there’s a show on a TV screen: A live-action Sylvester & Tweety short, of course! Needless to say, this would air during Adult Swim.
Monster a Go Go. It would start out being done by Filmation, but have to be finished by the people responsible for Clutch Cargo.
King Dinosaur, of course. Lots of dinosaur adventures for the two chaste couples to encounter (although they might want to hold off nuking the planet). Precocious children could be discovered stowing away in the rocket (hey, it’s a cartoon). Btw, watch out for snakes!
Radar Men from the Moon. Perfect for the 1940’s-1950’s cartoons. The moon might not look like Arizona.
Another recurring segment: Megaweapon Adventures. It’d be one of the more popular parts of the show, too (besides Petey himself, of course).
Two words: Rowsdower Babies.
“The Adventures of Prince of Space.” I like it very much!
The cartoon at the beginning of “Catalina Caper” gets spun off into its own series of cartoons, which adapt well to Saturday morning TV in the early ’70s. The addition of a laugh track c. 1973 was a mistake, however. Produced by DePatie-Freleng.
How about the Misadventures of Zap and Troy. (Zap and Rowsdower are the same person). However, Zap and Rowsdower as fighting twins might be interesting.
Let’s not go there.
Devil Fish could be adapted into a cartoon series. Dr Stella, Dr West, and the TV repair guy could battle sea monsters and foil Dr Davis evil plans to rule the oceans.
‘Horror of Party Beach’ would be perfect Saturday morning fodder since the monsters already appear to have been designed by Sid and Marty Kroft. Replace the dull, middle-aged leads with Jimmy from ‘HR Puff-n-Stuff’ and Holly from ‘Land of the Lost,’ throw Charles Nelson Reilly in there somewhere, and you’re on a collision course to wackiness! Of course every episode ends with a beach party and a groovy new Del Aires tune!
Wait a minute. How about a cartoon series featuring Coily and his relatives from Hell. One episode could
feature the consequences of having “No Petroleum”[sponsorship by the Koch Brothers] another “No Zippers!” as hilarity ensues and young children learn valuable, if traumatic, lessons.
San Francisco International. “My cartoon, my way!” Ideally, his way would include an animated music video at the end of each episode not unlike Josie and the Pussycats and so on. A repetitively animated Pernell Roberts happily strumming his guitar is something that needs to be in this world. Also, what airborne wackiness will Davey get into this week?
Also, Ator, a la The Herculoids. If he was huge in live action, imagine how big he can be as a cartoon! Plus, they’d save money by not having to worry about finding a voice for Thong, and the plots wouldn’t need much more than vague references to a “geometric nucleus” to get things movin’!
Cave Dwellers all the way! Ator, Mila, and Thong hang-glidering all over the world, defeating villains with goofy hats and disposing of nukes—it’s basically Thundarr the Barbarian 2.0. Budgetary bonus: Since Thong never speaks, that’s one less voice actor to cast! (ETA: Ha, I see Larry P. and I had the same thought about Cave Dwellers at almost the same time. Semi-jinx!)
Hobgoblins is SO Scooby-Doo, and they even have a Mystery Machine in Nick’s van. Amy = Velma, Daphne = Daphne, and the Scooby role could be played by either Old Man McCreedy or, I don’t know, Bounce-Bounce. Goofy chase sequences can be scored with “Fish Picker” and other groovy Fontanelles hits.
Angels Revenge is a no-brainer and already has the Hanna-Barbera sound effects. Each episode can end with an anti-drug PSA because knowing is half the battle.
A few things I would NOT want to see attempted as cartoons: Manos (duh), Castle of Fu Manchu, Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, and Coleman Francis anything.
Great minds!
Angels’ Revenge would make a great cartoon in the style of GI Joe, lots of action and explosions, but also sexier.
#24: Petey Plane could have his own show, though!
‘Torgo And The Master’ (a la ‘Pinky And The Brain’)
“It’s Torgo and the Master!
It’s Torgo and the Master!
One is a goatman
The other a satanic bastard!
They’re at the Valley Lodge!
So pull over in your Dodge!
It’s Torgo! It’s Torgo and the Master!
Master! Master! Master! Master!”
“Gee Master, what are we going to do tonight?”
“Same thing we do every night Torgo. Pray to Manos and threaten to kill you a hundred times.”
(I would heartily endorse this, if the “You can do magic!” gimmick wouldn’t skirt it so dangerously close to Rubik, the Amazing Cube…)
Well, ‘Space Children’ would make sense: A bunch of kids (We’d have to make them multi-ethnic, of course) team up with a giant brain from outer space who gives them special missions to Save The World! Maybe for the cartoon the brain can also give them special powers, karate skills, and color-coordinated outfits.
But if you wanna go avant-garde, how about ‘The Beast of Yucca Flats’? Minimalist animation, no synched dialogue, random scenes, and every now and then Tor Johnson waddles through swinging his cane at people.
Attack of the the Eye Creatures – done as a Fritz the Cat style adult cartoon. The eye creatures would be refigured into the more literal definition of such, based on the comics of late underground cartoonist Rick Griffin. It’d make even less sense than the movie, but this time on purpose, being a psychedelic stream of conscience continuity. And this time…… they *did* care.
Jack Frost is already kind of cartoony. Perhaps we could have “The Further Adventures of Marfusha” as she looks for a husband and terrorizes the countryside in the process.
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians would be an interesting cartoon from the 60’s (1960’s). would have each week Billy and Betty go to Mars with Santa and his toy robot (the one that was sent into Santa’s workshop) and there many adventers on Mars (with Momar) in stopping Voldar plans (each week its a different plan) to take over Mars.
Space Mutiny is already so cartoonish it wouldn’t be much of a stretch, would it? Every week see the Balerians frolic under Santa’s robes while people explode in Zamboni races and then see the disabled guy set on fire… wait, maybe not such a good kiddie cartoon.
So then I’ll agree with everyone who’s mentioned those wacky guys Zap & Troy. Don’t forget Pipper!
“Mitchell: The Animated Series”
@35
also
Final Justice: The Misadventures of Sheriff Geronimo
the plot is we see each week Sheriff Geronimo fight his brand of Justice (and also him eating a lot of food too).
Scooby-Doo Meets Fu Manchu (No – but it rhymes :) )
Time of the Apes – a rip-off of Planet of the Apes, with Johnny forever not caring. See, it wasn’t a dream and they are trying to get back to their past.
It Conquered the World – AGAIN! Giant pickles and flying bat thingees from space!
Far Out Space Travelers. It was supposed to be a three month tour, but, they’re just…stuck.
The Amazing Adventures of – HERCULES! (He mostly just sleeps).
Undersea Kingdom (for you and for me!) Di–YAANA!
The Rocky Jones Chronicles (lots of gay nightlife – in SPACE!)
Warrior of the Lost…no, forget that :P
Secret Agent Super Dragon! (with Joel and the ‘Bots’ theme music, natch). He gets a new female sidekick each week.
The Continuing Magical Voyages of Sinbad – to see your LAND! (what useless quest will he go on THIS week? will his crew throw him overboard? will he ever just settle down with Luberia? will the jealous Morgiana help him, or drown him? what wacky nonsense will Neptune and wife engage in in their under-the-sea realm?)
All cartoon segments introduced by Servo and Crow
Goalieboy:
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. But do it as Claymation.
What do you think, Sirs?
“Coleman Francis ‘n’ His Pals” coming soon on Adult Swim …
“The Viking Women and Their Sea Serpent” (Beany & Cecil reboot)
“Merlin and Santa’s Shop of Mystical Wonders”
Robniles, you took my idea — Hobgoblins! But they’re going to need a real dog. I suggest Lassie, because someone has to be the brains of the outfit.
How about the shorts? “Design for Dreaming” — Every night the dancing lady has a dream about a new space-age product — plexiglass! mylar! velcro! sphagnum! — and she and the masked man go on a whirlwind dancing fantasy tour of its uses. This would, of course, be designed to sell stuff, just like real cartoons.
Or that hygiene short with the sloppy girl? In every episode, the narrator nags her to CONFORM! by presenting her with a bland new chunkheaded would-be beau. At the last minute she squirms away and goes back to designing rockets or curing cancer, or whatever the hell it is she thinks she’s doing rather than getting a maaa-yaaaan.
Oh, and cartoon or sitcom, whatever:
“Melissa, The Centuries-Old Witch”
I imagine that High School Big Shot would be cool if Ralph Bakshi remade it in his own cartoon style.
I prefer the old school cartoons, ala Tex Avery and Chuck Jones. So I’m thinking maybe Final Justice, with Joe Don “Geronimo” Baker playing an inept, dimwitted slob who keeps getting outsmarted by the wacky Screwy Squirrel-type mob guy.
Or maybe Riding With Death, done up like a Road Runner cartoon. Ben Murphy constantly tries to catch the elusive Robert Denby but always ends up at the bottom of a cliff, under a boulder/anvil, or getting blackened when his truck blows up.
How about having all the “MST3K,” characters as animated?? Also, Scooby, Shaggy, Velma Daphne and Fred team up with Joe Don Baker as a guest star on one of those hour-long Saturday morning movies during the CBS years in his “Mitchell,” persona much like they did with Don Adams, Don Knotts and Jonathon Winters. For extra fun, Mike Connors a-k-a “Touch,” should appear in his “Mannix,” persona. “Hangar 18,” could be great animated, even with an alien resembling Tor Johnson!!!
How about the Creeping Terror? Barney and the married couple can chase the monster as it tries to demolish dances, drive-in movies and makeout spots. Also, after the monster is thwarted it can eat the grandpa as a consolation prize. Grandpa, of course, will return Kenny-like the next week.
Man, now I really want to see a Rankin-Bass Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. Same Santa, maybe replace Billy and Betty with Rudolph and Hermie the Elf. But really, with the exact same script a stop-motion version would be a beloved (rather than cult) classic. Is SCCTM all that much stupider than most of those classic specials?
In reflecting on comment 4 way up near the top, I managed to remember I’ve pondered what “Star Wolf” might have looked like as a 1970s anime rather than a 1970s Japanese live-action show. It might yet have been turned into “Fugitive Alien” by Sandy Frank (he turned “Science Ninja Team Gatchaman” into “Battle of the Planets”); the trick might have been not how to slam some widely separated episodes together into a movie-like product but what vaguely related series could be attached to make it “syndication length.” As characters can die in anime series but not in Saturday morning cartoons, awkward voiceovers would have Rita “pass out” and be “sent to a hospital planet” and suggest the traitorous alien colonel “escaped just before the bomb went off”; the regular Wolf Raiders might have been called “robots,” perhaps.
Anyone notice that T-Mobile is using “Hooray for Santy Claus” in their commercials this year?
The intro to “Moon Zero Two” looks like something out of “The Electric Company” anyway, so why not turn it into an educational show? The animated characters could have wacky adventures while words flashed over their heads. On the moon! In the future!
A few years ago on Little Steven’s Underground Garage Christmas Show I heard a fun, punkish cover of Hooray For Santy Claus that I wouldn’t mind adding that to my rather eclectic holiday music playlist. Never caught who did it, though. Google says it might be The Sloppy Seconds. And yes, I do have an MP3 of Milton DeLugg’s original. Hey, it’s not half as irritating as some Christmas “classics.” (I’m looking at you, Eartha Kitt.)