The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo
| The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animation |
| Written by | Walter Black Barbara Chain |
| Directed by | Abe Levitow (supervising) Bob McKimson Grant Simmons Steve Clark (sequence) Ray Patterson (sequence) |
| Voices of | Jim Backus Marvin Miller Paul Frees Dal McKennon Joan Gardner Howard Morris Shep Menken Everett Sloane Julie Bennett |
| Theme music composer | Carl Brandt |
| Composer | Carl Brandt |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Henry G. Saperstein |
| Editor | Sam Horta |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | United Productions of America |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | 19 September 1964 – 24 April 1965 |
The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo is an animated television series, produced by United Productions of America, which aired for one season (1964 –1965) on the NBC network (usually on Sunday nights from 6:30-7:00PM Eastern).[1] The television series was based on the original cartoon of the same name, with Jim Backus reprising the voiceover of the role he did on TV: while doing this show, he continued with the prime time TV show Gilligan's Island. This was a follow-up to the original Mister Magoo series which aired from 1960-1961.[2]
Unlike the theatrical cartoons, which focused on the extremely nearsighted Quincy Magoo's bumbling, the show featured the Magoo character as an actor in adaptations of such literary classics as Don Quixote and "Gunga Din".[3] Each of these roles was played seriously, with few if any references to Magoo's nearsightedness; however, introductory segments in each program featured Magoo backstage stumbling into scenery and talking to props, thus connecting the older cartoons to this series. Some stories were contained in a single half-hour episode, but others ran to two and even four episodes. As UPA did not have its own studio facility, the production was farmed out to the Grantray-Lawrence and Format Films studios.
Among the most ambitious adaptations mounted in this format were the four-part Robin Hood, in which he took the role of Friar Tuck; Treasure Island, in which he played the villainous Long John Silver; and a version of Snow White in which he portrayed all seven of the Seven Dwarfs (much easier in an animated setting, with no trick photography needed).
The series was inspired by the success of the 1962 television special Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, a serious remake of the Charles Dickens classic novel with Magoo playing Ebenezer Scrooge.
The series was re-shown in the early 1970s on early Saturday mornings and the early 1980s as part of certain channels' weekday afternoon cartoon blocs. Certain episodes were released on VHS, but these have since gone out of print.
The series was originally shown in prime time and not as part of an animated bloc for juvenile viewers; therefore, certain more mature elements were present. These included death threats (William Tell, Robin Hood, Don Quixote, The Three Musketeers, Sherlock Holmes), children in danger (Treasure Island, Gunga Din, William Tell), insanity (Don Quixote, Moby Dick), heroic self-sacrifice (Gunga Din), religious themes (Noah's Ark), and realistic (although mostly bloodless) violence, including swordplay, shooting, clubbing, drowning, and character deaths (most of the episodes).
Episodes
| # | Broadcast date | Title | Adapted for Television by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | September 19, 1964 | "William Tell" | Barbara Chain |
| 02 | September 26, 1964 | "Treasure Island"— Part 1 | Walter Black |
| 03 | October 3, 1964 | "Treasure Island"— Part 2 | Walter Black |
| 04 | October 10, 1964 | "Gunga Din" | Sloan Nibley |
| 05 | October 17, 1964 | "Moby Dick" | True Boardman |
| 06 | October 24, 1964 | "The Three Musketeers"— Part 1 | Joanna Lee |
| 07 | November 7, 1964 | "The Three Musketeers"— Part 2 | Joanna Lee |
| 08 | November 14, 1964 | "Robin Hood"— Episode 1 | Walter Black |
| 09 | November 21, 1964 | "Robin Hood"— Episode 2 | Walter Black |
| 10 | November 28, 1964 | "Robin Hood"— Episode 3 | Walter Black |
| 11 | December 5, 1964 | "Robin Hood"— Episode 4 | Walter Black |
| 12 | December 19, 1964 | "Don Quixote de la Mancha"— Episode 1 | True Boardman |
| 13 | December 26, 1964 | "Cyrano de Bergerac" | True Boardman |
| 14 | January 2, 1965 | "Snow White"— Episode 1 | Barbara Chain |
| 15 | January 9, 1965 | "Snow White"— Episode 2 | Barbara Chain |
| 16 | January 16, 1965 | "Rip Van Winkle" | Barbara Chain |
| 17 | February 6, 1965 | "Dick Tracy and the Mob" | Sloan Nibley |
| 18 | February 13, 1965 | "A Midsummer Night's Dream" | Barbara Chain |
| 19 | February 27, 1965 | "The Count of Monte Cristo" | Walter Black |
| 20 | March 13, 1965 | "Doctor Frankenstein" | Sloan Nibley |
| 21 | March 20, 1965 | "Don Quixote de la Mancha"— Episode 2 | True Boardman |
| 22 | March 27, 1965 | "Captain Kidd" | Walter Black |
| 23 | April 3, 1965 | "Noah's Ark" | Barbara Chain |
| 24 | April 10, 1965 | "Sherlock Holmes" | True Boardman |
| 25 | April 17, 1965 | "King Arthur" | Sloan Nibley |
| 26 | April 24, 1965 | "Paul Revere" | Jerry D. Lewis |
DVD release
On November 8, 2011, Shout! Factory released Mr. Magoo: The Television Collection 1960-1977 on DVD in Region 1.[4] This 11-disc collection contains all the episodes from all three Mr. Magoo television series, including all 26 episodes of The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo.
References
- ^ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. pp. 193–196. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 401–403. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 554–559. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- ^ "Mr. Magoo DVD news: Box Art and Contents for Mr. Magoo on TV Collection: 1960-1977". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2012-06-13.