Roger Ramjet

Roger Ramjet
Genre	animated
Written by	Gene Moss, Jim Thurman
Directed by	Fred Crippen
Voices of	Gary Owens, Bob Arbogast, Dick Beals, Gene Moss, Jim Thurman, Joan Gerber, Paul Shively, Ken Snyder
Narrated by	Dave Ketchum
Theme music composer	Charles Koren (music), Paul Shively (lyrics)
Composer(s)	Ivan Ditmars
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Kenneth C.T. Snyder
Producer(s)	Fred Crippen
Editor(s)	Dee Futch
Camera setup	Roger Brown, Jerry Smith, Larry Hogan
Running time	30 minutes(incl. commercials)
Production company(s)	Pantomime PicturesHero Entertainment
Distributor	Image Entertainment
Broadcast
First shown in	1965
External links
Website

Roger Ramjet is an animated American children's television comedy series that first ran in 1965 and has aired in syndication since. Starring Roger Ramjet and the American Eagle Squadron, the show was known for its crude animation, frenetic pace, and frequent references to popular culture, which allowed the show to entertain various age groups.

Plot

Roger Ramjet is a patriotic and highly moral — if not very bright — hero, who is typically out to save the world, with help from his Proton Energy Pills ("PEP"), which give him "the strength of twenty atom bombs for a period of twenty seconds". The world is invariably saved by dispensing violence towards the various recurring criminals who populated the series.

On government missions assigned by General G.I. Brassbottom, Ramjet encounters various nemeses during his missions. Typically he is caught, and must be rescued by his crew of sidekicks, the American Eagles: Yank, Doodle, Dan and Dee (a play on Yankee Doodle Dandy). Although his Eagles appear to be children, each of them, except for Dee, flies his own individual ramjet aircraft expertly, and are obviously much more savvy than their leader.

The various recurring criminals include:

• The Solenoid Robots, who talk in barely understandable electronic voices
• Gangster Noodles Romanoff, and his evil organization N.A.S.T.Y. (National Association of Spies, Traitors and Yahoos)
• Red Dog the Pirate
• Foreign spy femme fatale Jacqueline Hyde
• Tequila Mockingbird

Most of the criminals had nearly identical bands of three or four henchmen who all mumbled different phrases at once, resulting in incomprehensible chatter.

Along the way, Lance Crossfire, Ramjet's rival for the affections of Lotta Love, is also likely to get in the way. Lance's face looks like (and his voice sounds like) actor Burt Lancaster. Inevitably when Lance and Roger cross paths neither wins (in one cartoon Lotta ends up going out with General Brassbottom, who promises the two men that he will take care of her). As is his way, Roger does not realize that they have both lost. Unlike Lance, who inevitably ends these cartoons with the phrase, "Oh, Roger — shut up!"

Episodes

Season One

1. "Dr. Evilkisser"
2. "The Sheik"
3. "Bat Guy"
4. "The Shaft"
5. "Kokomo"
6. "Baseball"
7. "The Cowboy"
8. "Dee Kidnap"
9. "Drafted"
10. "TV Crisis"
11. "Miss America"
12. "The Pirates"
13. "Revolution"
14. "Torture"
15. "The Race"
16. "Jack the Nipper"
17. "Ma Ramjet"
18. "The Cockroaches"
19. "Moon"
20. "Hi Noon"
21. "Bank Robbers"
22. "Sun Clouds"
23. "Football"
24. "Bullfighter"
25. "Bathysphere"
26. "Skydiving"
27. "Monkey"
28. "Dr. Frank N. Schwein"
29. "The Martins and the Coys"      
30. "Planets"
31. "Orbit"
32. "Tennis"

Season Two

1. "Werewolf"
2. "Flying Saucers"
3. "Skateboards"
4. "Scotland Yard"
5. "Long Joan Silver"
6. "Moonshot"
7. "Treasure in Sierra's Mattress"
8. "Tarzap"
9. "Comics"
10. "Jet Boots"
11. "Little Roger"
12. "Cycles"
13. "Air Devil"
14. "Spy in the Sky"
15. "Hollywood"
16. "Track Meet"
17. "Surf Nuts"
18. "Dry Dock"
19. "Machines"
20. "Coffee"
21. "Stolen"
22. "Assassins"
23. "Genie"
24. "Airplane"
25. "Woodsman"
26. "K.O. at the Fun Fight Corral"      
27. "Mars"
28. "Puck"
29. "Pirate Gold"
30. "Fox"
31. "Super Mother"
32. "Dr. What"

Season Three

1. "Party"
2. "Large Leslie"
3. "Gamey"
4. "Time Machine"
5. "Horse"
6. "Pool"
7. "Ancestors"
8. "Hoop-dee-Doo"
9. "Big Woof"
10. "Robot Plants"
11. "Robot Plot"
12. "Turkey"
13. "Fishing"
14. "Purloined Pinky"
15. "Snow"
16. "Ripley"
17. "Monster Masquerade"      
18. "Lompoc Diamond"
19. "School"
20. "Vaudeville"
21. "Coffee House"
22. "Pirate Games"
23. "Horse Race"
24. "Missing"
25. "Dentist"
26. "Rip Van Ramjet"
27. "Desert Ox"
28. "Ad Game"
29. "Lotsa Pizza"
30. "Land Rush"
31. "Show Business"
32. "The Catnapper"

Season Four

1. "Opera Phantom"
2. "Pies"
3. "Small World"
4. "Cousin"
5. "Doodle League"
6. "Ark"
7. "Sauce"
8. "Whale"
9. "For the Birds"
10. "Abominable Snowman"
11. "Hero Training"
12. "Lompoc Cannonball"
13. "Safari"
14. "Tiger"
15. "Rodeo"
16. "Dumb Waiter"
17. "Blast Off"
18. "Twas the Night Before"
19. "Portrait of Roger"
20. "Prince and the Doodle"
21. "Water Sucker"
22. "Volcano"
23. "Limberlost"
24. "General Kidnap"
25. "Drought"
26. "How's Your Pass?"
27. "Rabbit Man"
28. "Pill Caper"
29. "Three Faces of Roger"
30. "Private Eye"
31. "Espionage Express"
32. "Winfield of the Infield"      

Season Five

1. "Branch Office"
2. "Wedding Bells"
3. "Bunny"
4. "Hynochick"
5. "Doctor"
6. "Jolly Rancher"
7. "Little Monster"
8. "Flying Town"
9. "Daring Young Man"
10. "Crown Jewels"
11. "April Fool"
12. "Dry Sea"
13. "Pay Cut"
14. "Killer Doodle"
15. "Polar Bear"
16. "Ruggers"
17. "Nut"
18. "The Law"
19. "Hassenfeffer"
20. "Manhole"
21. "Blockbuster"
22. "Sellout"
23. "Scout Outing"
24. "Love"
25. "Decorator"
26. "Lompoc Lizards"
27. "Blunderosa"
28. "General Doodle"

Theme song

The theme song's lyrics were sung to the tune of "Yankee Doodle", like the Barney and Friends version, and it was written and composed by Paul Shively and Charles Koren, and performed at the organ by Ivan Ditmars (of Let's Make a Deal fame). The first and third verses were sung over the opening credits. The second and third verses were sung over the closing credits. The chorus was sung after each verse.

Roger Ramjet and his Eagles
Fighting for our freedom
Fly through in and outer space
Not to join 'em, but to beat 'em

CHORUS:

Roger Ramjet, he's our man

Hero of our nation

For his adventures just be sure

And stay tuned to this station

So come and join us all you kids
For lots of fun and laughter
As Roger Ramjet and his men
Get all the crooks they're after

(CHORUS)

When Ramjet takes a Proton Pill
The crooks begin to worry
They can't escape their awful fate
From Proton's mighty fury

(CHORUS)

So come and join us all you kids
For lots of fun and laughter
As Roger Ramjet and his men
Get all the crooks they're after

(CHORUS)

When the series aired on Cartoon Network in the 1990s, the original opening sequence and theme music was replaced with a sequence made by Cartoon Network, consisting of animation from the series set against a new background and a re-recorded theme in a rock & roll style. The new theme song kept the basic structure of "Yankee Doodle", though played faster than the original, and many of the words were spoken rather than sung, and added lyrics for a new chorus:

Roger Ramjet, he's our man

If he can't do it, nobody can!

Beatin' up the bad guys where they lurk

Right here on Cartoon Network!

Cast and crew

• Gary Owens — Roger Ramjet
• Dave Ketchum — Narrator
• Bob Arbogast — General G.I. Brassbottom, Ma Ramjet
• Dick Beals — Yank and Dan of the American Eagles
• Gene Moss — Doodle of the American Eagles, Noodles Romanoff
• Joan Gerber — Dee of the American Eagles, Lotta Love, Jacqueline Hyde
• Paul Shively — Lance Crossfire, Red Dog the Pirate
• Jim Thurman — additional voices
• Ken Snyder — additional voices

• Gene Moss and Jim Thurman were the writers of the series.
• Paul Shively wrote the lyrics for the show's theme song.
• Dick Beals provided the voice for "Speedy Alka-Seltzer".

Air dates

Roger Ramjet first aired on syndication in 1965, then on NBC in 1978 to 1986, then on Nickelodeon in 1988 to 1994 and on Cartoon Network in 1994 to 1997. The show was also on the BBC from 1979 to 1994 in the UK and Europe wide on Sky Channel from 1985 to 1989. In Australia, in 1966 the show appeared on the ABC in the afternoon, and has been shown regularly on Australian television ever since. Selected Minisodes of the show are available to view for free on Crackle.

Production notes

• The creators of the series were from Lompoc, California^{[citation needed]} and worked in many references to the town into the series, including setting several episodes there. Invariably, the name of the town was mispronounced.
• The name "Roger" came about after producer Fred Crippen had an interview with a reporter named Roger Smith. Fred was asked about his new TV series and Roger joked that the main character should be named Roger.

Other credits

• Associate Producers: Dick Reed, Paul Shively
• Production Coordinator: Fred Calvert
• Animation: Don Schloat, Alan Zaslove, Bill Hutton, George Nicholas, Fred Crippen
• Background: Jack Heiter
• Layout: Rosemary O'Connor, Sam Weiss, Joe Bruno, Dave Hanan, Bob Kurtz
• Sound Effects: Phil Kaye
• Ink and Paint: Constance Crawley
• Checking: Dottie Mullens
• Sound: TV Recorders, Western Recorders

DVD release

On February 8, 2005, Classic Media (distributed by Sony Wonder) released Roger Ramjet: Hero Of Our Nation (Special Collector's Edition), a 3-Disc box set containing 119 of the 156 episodes of the series (although the box incorrectly states that 120 episodes are included). Another company, Image Entertainment, previously issued two single DVDs (Roger Ramjet: Hero Of Our Nation and Roger Ramjet: Man Of Adventure), each including 15 cartoons not featured in the three-disc set. This leaves seven cartoons unreleased on DVD (as of November 2007): #36 (Scotland Yard), #125 (Bunny), #128 (Jolly Rancher), #152 (Air Devil), #154 (Dry Dock), #155 (Machines), and #156 (Stolen).

External links

• Roger Ramjet at the Internet Movie Database
• RogerRamjet.com-The Official Site of Roger Ramjet
• Roger Ramjet Intro YouTube