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Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids

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Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
File:Fatalbert.jpg
Created byBill Cosby
Directed byHal Sutherland
Presented byFilmation
Voices ofBill Cosby
Country of origin United States
Production
Executive producerBill Cosby
ProducersNorm Prescott
Lou Scheimer
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 9, 1972 –
December 14, 1984

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids was an animated television series created, produced, and hosted (in live action bookends) by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a number of characters, including the titular one. Filmation was the production company for the series.

Origins

Fat Albert first appeared in Cosby's stand-up comedy routine "Buck Buck," as recorded on his 1967 album Revenge. The stories were based upon Cosby's tales about growing up in the inner city of Philadelphia. In 1969, Cosby and veteran animator Ken Mundie brought Fat Albert to animation in a one-shot prime-time special entitled Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert.

The special, which aired on NBC, was a hybrid of live-action and animation. The music for the special (and later the series) was written and performed by jazz pianist/keyboardist Herbie Hancock in 1969 and was released on the Warner Bros. album Fat Albert Rotunda.

The producers wanted NBC to bring Fat Albert to Saturday mornings, but they refused because the series was too educational [1]. So, Bill Cosby and a new production company, Filmation Associates, took the property to CBS.

The series, now titled Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, premiered on September 9, 1972 on CBS for a 12-year run. It also spent another season in first-run syndication in 1984-1985. Several prime-time holiday specials featuring the characters were also produced. Like most animated series at the time, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids contained a laugh track.

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids received an Emmy nomination in 1974.

  • In 2002, Fat Albert was placed at number 12 on TV Guide's list of the 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time.

The Fat Albert Gang's character images were primarily created by the artist Randy Hollar with the assistance of one-time Disney animator Michelle McKinney, under the direction of Ken Brown.

Educational lessons and songs

Fat Albert was honored and noted for its educational content. During each episode, Fat Albert and his friends, collectively known as The Junkyard Gang, dealt with an issue or problem commonly faced by young children, ranging from stage fright, first loves ("puppy love"), medical operations, and skipping school to harder, more serious themes (toned down somewhat for young children) including smoking, stealing, racism, being scammed by con artists, child abuse, drug use, and gun violence.

At the end of each episode, the gang would sing a song about the theme of the day. This sequence, similar to those seen in other Filmation shows including The Archie Show, has often been parodied.

Despite the reputation of educational children television series for being unpopular on commercial television, the series enjoyed one of the longest runs in the history of the Saturday morning cartoon timeslot.

Revamps and renames

In 1979, the show was re-titled The New Fat Albert Show and featured a new segment titled "The Brown Hornet" detailing the adventures of a larger-than-life African-American crime fighter in outer space whose design resembled a caricature of Bill Cosby, who also performed vocal talents on the character.

In 1984, the show was syndicated and renamed The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. In those episodes, the lack of network restrictions allowed the producer to delve into previous forbidden subject matter such as when the kids have an inadvertent brush with the law and are given a terrifying Scared Straight!-style tour of an occupied maximum security prison. Another new segment was added: "Legal Eagle", a crime-fighting eagle with a pair of bumbling police squirrels. The new episodes ended in 1985. In 1989, NBC aired reruns for a few months during that summer.

Cultural influences

  • In the mid-90s to early 2000s, Fat Albert and the Junkyard Gang were prominently displayed on clothing from urban clothier FUBU as well as other T-shirt producers.
  • Animaniacs featured a parody of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids in the episode "Back in Style", where they mocked Filmation's cheap animation techniques.
  • In 1998, a profane parody of Fat Albert appeared on an episode of South Park where he was referred to as "Fat Abbot." Another episode features a potential gang war between the Crips and Bloods being resolved peacefully through a Fat Albert-style musical number.
  • Saturday Night Live did a comedy sketch in 1999 entitled Fat Albert: Behind the Music. In the sketch Albert, played by former castmember Tracy Morgan, recalls the downfall of the junkyard gang.
  • In 2000, Fat Albert made a brief cameo appearance in the Family Guy episode I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar; thinking he'll be the first guy on Spooner Street to own a boat, Peter Griffin is dismayed to learn his neighbors have gotten the same offer. He then says "Well, at least I'm the fattest guy on Spooner Street to own a boat", only to see Fat Albert standing down the street, proclaiming "Hey Hey Hey, I'm getting a boat!". Peter then grumbles "Oh man, even Doc is getting a boat." In 2001, the Junkyard Gang (minus Fat Albert) made a brief cameo appearance in the Family Guy episode "Peter Griffin: Husband, Father...Brother?", in which Peter finds out that one of his ancestors was black; the gang cheers Peter on as he makes a speech proclaiming his empathy for the plight of black television characters.
  • The 1999 action film The Boondock Saints has a scene where one character pulls on a homemade ski mask and is incorrectly told he resembles "Mush Mouth from Fat Albert" (the character mistakes Mush Mouth for Dumb Donald, who was always shown wearing a pink stocking cap pulled down to the bridge of his nose, with eyeholes cut into it so that he could see). Another character then jokingly asks if he is "O-bee kay-bee."
  • NewsRadio featured an episode ("Zoso") where Beth came up with a scheme to produce face-covering hats with eye-holes like the one Donald wore. Donald was continually confused with Mushmouth by the characters (done intentionally by the writers as a joke) in descriptions of the hat.
  • In 2005, Mad TV did a spoof of Fat Albert entitled "Morbidly Obese Albert".
  • Japanese character Koni, from the series Dotto Koni Chan, shows the influence of Fat Albert.
  • The standup comedian Anthony Frosh used to use the Fat Albert theme as entrance music for his standup acts.
  • In "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife, and Her Homer", a 2006 episode of The Simpsons, the Simpson family is introduced to Fat Tony's son, Michael, while carpooling and Lisa quickly befriends the quiet boy after all of the other kids avoid him." Whilst Homer is eating at Fat Tony's mansion, he says that the Italians speak like "that kid from Fat Albert" (Mushmouth), and then imitates how Mushmouth speaks. (Ubah-Ebah-Eebah)
  • In a first season episode of Scrubs titled, "My Day Off", Turk makes a few jokes that J.D. thinks sound like they come from Fat Albert. Each time Turk makes one of these jokes J.D. imagines Turk and The Junkyard Gang laughing at the joke.
  • In the television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force when Master Shake becomes "Drizzle"(A Superhero); Frylock and Meatwad make a Prank phone call based on the "Prince Albert in a Can" pranks. Meatwad ruined the prank by repeatedly asking for "Fat Albert in a Can".

Characters

  • Fat Albert - Catchphrase: "Hey Hey Hey"
  • Mushmouth - spoke in virtual Ubbi Dubbi
  • Dumb Donald - Wore a pink stocking cap over part of his face. Prone to poor judgment.
  • Russell - Bill's laid back younger brother (named for Cosby's real-life brother Russell), always dressed for the winter. His catchphrase: "No class." (usually used to insult Rudy).
  • Old Weird Harold - Serves as Mushmouth's translator, a tall skinny kid who always wears a shirt and jacket, clumsy except on the basketball court
  • Bill - based on Bill Cosby himself
  • Rudy - Flamboyantly dressed smooth talker. His family is significantly more well off than the others; he is the only band member with a real musical instrument (the others use homemade variations). Bill Cosby originally intended to introduce Rich Rudy on The Cosby Show as one of the Huxtable children. While the character did not actually carry over, the name "Rudy" was given to youngest daughter played by Keshia Knight Pulliam.
  • Bucky - A kid with buck teeth
  • MudFoot - A tramp in the park that gives advice to the kids.

Seasons and specials

(Total: 109 episodes + 4 specials)

DVD releases

Urban Works has released several Fat Albert DVDs including all episodes of the original animated series in 3 volumes, as well as all the Fat Albert specials. Ventura Distribution released a Greatest Hits 4-disc box set and a 5-best episodes set in 2004, while the Urban Works releases came out starting in 2005, after they had obtained the distribution rights to the show. As of July 2007, all DVD releases are now out of print.

Original Animated Series (1972–73)

DVD Name Ep # Release Date
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids - Vol 1 12 March 8, 2005
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids - Vol 2 12 October 11, 2005
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids - Vol 3 12 July 11, 2006

Specials

DVD Name Ep # Release Date Additional Information
Fat Albert's Easter Special 1 March 8, 2005
Fat Albert's Halloween Special 1 September 6, 2005 During the movie theater scence, the screen is not seen but the music and dialogue heard in the film indicate that the movie being shown is actually an episode of Space Academy (another Filmation show).
Fat Albert's Christmas Special 1 October 11, 2006

Other

  • Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids - Fat Albert's Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection 4 Disc Set: (released December 14, 2004)

Miscellanea

  • In the original network episodes, the microphone Fat Albert used in the introduction featured a "CBS" sign. In later versions, the microphone has no label.
  • Gold Key Comics did a comic book adaptation of Fat Albert, which ran for 29 issues, from 1974–79.
  • Contrary to what the movie suggested, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids has never aired on TV Land, though many other shows produced by Bill Cosby, including The Cosby Show and Fatherhood, have.
  • Bill Cosby based the Fat Albert character after his friend Albert Robertson; Russell was based on Cosby's brother Russell.

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
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