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Jabberjaw

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This article is about the television series. For the 1999 EP, see Pain (U.S. band) § Jabberjaw EP.
Jabberjaw
Created byJoe Ruby and Ken Spears
Directed byCharles A. Nichols
Voices ofTommy Cook
Barry Gordon
Julie McWhirter
Pat Parris
Frank Welker
Music byHoyt Curtin
Opening theme"Jabberjaw" (Jabberjaw and The Neptunes)
Ending theme"Jabberjaw" (instrumental)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes16
Production
Executive producersWilliam Hanna
Joseph Barbera
ProducerAlex Lovy
Running time23 minutes
Production companyHanna-Barbera Productions
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseSeptember 11, 1976 –
September 3, 1978

Jabberjaw is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired on ABC from September 11, 1976, to September 3, 1978.

Premise

Like a great deal of Hanna-Barbera's output in the 1970s, the format and writing for Jabberjaw was similar to that for Scooby-Doo,[1] Josie and the Pussycats and Speed Buggy. The show also drew inspiration (in the use of a shark as a character) from the overall shark mania of the mid 1970s[2] caused by the then-recent film Jaws. It also shared The Flintstones' penchant for making use of puns as the names of locations, people, etc., in this case, ocean-themed puns (such as "Aqualaska" instead of Alaska).

Sixteen 30-minute episodes of Jabberjaw were produced, which aired on ABC Saturday Morning from September 11, 1976, to September 3, 1977, and rebroadcast for a second season of reruns on Sunday Morning from September 11, 1977, to September 3, 1978. In the 1980s, repeats resurfaced as part of USA Cartoon Express on USA Network, in the 1990s on Cartoon Network and in the 2000s on Boomerang. This is one of a number of shows made before the mid-1980s seen on the Cartoon Network and Boomerang to have been taken from PAL prints.

Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contained a laugh track created by the studio.

Plot

Jabberjaw is a 15-foot great white shark and a drummer for The Neptunes, a rock group made up of four teenagers — Biff, Shelly, Bubbles and Clamhead — who live in an underwater civilization in the year 2076. Jabberjaw and The Neptunes travel to various underwater cities where they encounter and deal with diabolical villains who want to conquer the undersea world.

Characters

Jabberjaw and The Neptunes. Counterclockwise: Jabberjaw (drums), Bubbles (keyboard), Biff (guitar), Shelly (tambourine) and Clamhead (bass).
  • Jabberjaw (voiced by Frank Welker) – Jabberjaw is an air-breathing, anthropomorphic great white shark whose voice and mannerisms were similar to Curly Howard of The Three Stooges. Jabberjaw found it hard to get respect in a society where "shark ejectors" (robots that would guard various buildings or cities against sharks being allowed to enter) were commonplace, prompting him to frequently utter his catchphrase (borrowed from the comedian Rodney Dangerfield): "No respect! I get no respect!"
  • Biff (voiced by Tommy Cook) – Biff is an athletic, handsome, brown-haired young man who is the band's guitar player and level-headed leader who books all the gigs.
  • Shelly (voiced by Pat Parris) – Shelly is a dark-haired young woman who plays tambourine for The Neptunes. She is attractive, intelligent, haughty, vain and abrasive (like Josie and the Pussycats' Alexandra) and considers herself to be the star of the band. And while she holds a great deal of disdain for Jabberjaw (or "Blubberhead" as she calls him), she does have some fondness for him deep down and occasionally shows it.
  • Bubbles (voiced by Julie McWhirter) – Bubbles is a young woman with blonde, curly hair who plays keyboard for The Neptunes. She is extremely ditzy and dimwitted, has a cute giggle, similar to Josie and the Pussycats' Melody. Shelly sometimes nicknames her "Ding-a-Ling" or "Bubblehead". Whenever she volunteers to help, she usually ends up messing it up.
  • Clamhead (voiced by Barry Gordon) – Clamhead is a young man who plays bass for The Neptunes. His catchphrases are crying out "Abba-abba-abba!" and "Wowee-wow-wow-wow!" whenever he gets excited. Clamhead is Jabberjaw's best friend.[3]

Broadcast history

Original ABC broadcast:

  • ABC Saturday Morning: September 11, 1976 – September 3, 1977
  • ABC Sunday Morning: September 11, 1977 – September 3, 1978

Broadcast schedules (all EDT):

  • September 11, 1976 – November 27, 1976, ABC Saturday 9:00-9:30 AM
  • December 4, 1976 – September 3, 1977, ABC Saturday 8:30-9:00 AM
  • September 11, 1977 – September 3, 1978, ABC Sunday 10:30-11:00 AM

Episodes

Nº Title Original air date PC
1"Dr. Lo Has Got to Go"September 11, 1976 (1976-09-11)84-1
Jabber and the gang have to stop the evil Dr. Lo from unleashing his Gorgon on the city of Aquahama.
2"There's No Place Like Outer Space"September 18, 1976 (1976-09-18)84-2
Aliens land in the undersea city of Hydrostan. It's up to Jabber and the gang to stop their invasion.
3"Atlantis, Get Lost"September 25, 1976 (1976-09-25)84-4
Jabber and the gang get mixed-up in Dorsal's plan to overthrow the queen of Atlantis and become king himself.
4"Run, Jabber, Run"October 2, 1976 (1976-10-02)84-3
Jabber competes in the 2076 Undersea Olympics against a robot in order to unmask Z, the leader of a worldwide criminal organization.
5"The Sourpuss Octopuss"October 9, 1976 (1976-10-09)84-5
Jabber and the gang accidentally join Professor Acosta's expedition to find the treasure of Panaqua, and have to protect him from the villainous Octopus.
6"Hang Onto Your Hat, Jabber"October 16, 1976 (1976-10-16)84-6
The Brotherhood of Evil threatens the undersea world when it learns that the Power Helmet, invented by Professor Ortega, grants its bearer's every wish.
7"The Great Shark Switch"October 23, 1976 (1976-10-23)84-7
The Ambassador of Aquatania suspects the Neptune's of kidnapping Commander Shark so Jabberjaw must prove their innocence.
8"Claim-Jumped Jabber"October 30, 1976 (1976-10-30)84-8
The evil Coldfinger is after all the richest mines in Aqualaska. When Jabberjaw gets in the way, Coldfinger puts our favorite shark on ice!
9"Ali Jabber and the Secret Thieves"November 6, 1976 (1976-11-06)84-9
Jabber and The Neptunes, touring the undersea kingdom of Hydrabia, meet Volton, an evil mass of energy who lives inside the magic Electrolamp.
10"Help, Help, It's the Phantom of the Kelp"November 13, 1976 (1976-11-13)84-10
The Phantom, with the aid of a powerful growth ray, plans to raise an army of ferocious prehistoric plants to make the Aqua International Corporation bow to his demands.
11"No Helpin' the Sculpin'"November 20, 1976 (1976-11-20)84-11
Jabber and The Neptunes encounter the sinister Sculpin, who has stolen an unfinished time machine from the brilliant Professor Thorstein.
12"The Bermuda Triangle Tangle"November 25, 1976 (1976-11-25)84-12
Jabberjaw and the Neptunes accidentally go through the Bermuda Triangle and are taken prisoner by Sorceress Madame Sargasso.
Note: Telecast at noon (ET) on a Thursday, as part of ABC's Thanksgiving Funshine Festival.
13"Malice in Aqualand"November 27, 1976 (1976-11-27)84-13
While participating in a rodeo at Aqualand, Jabberjaw sees Dr. Cybron's henchmen kidnap the Rajah, and replace him with a robot duplicate. He tells the Neptunes, and Cybron tries to silence them by sending a runaway stagecoach over a cliff. When that fails, he captures Bubbles, and sends a duplicate of her to capture the others. The group rescues Bubbles and the Rajah, and discovers that Dr. Cybron himself is a robot....
14"The Fast-Paced Chase Race"December 4, 1976 (1976-12-04)84-14
The Neptunes try to win the top spot in the Petrolaqua Trans-Marine Race while attempting to foil the evil plans of Dr. Robek.
15"The Piranha Plot"December 11, 1976 (1976-12-11)84-16
Biff books the group on a tanker to Amsteraqua after another gig falls through, this being the cheapest way to go straight there. The Piranha has designs on ruling the Underwater States of America and captures the tanker for its load of special rocket fuel. The Neptune's scuttle the Piranha's rocket practically dismantling the control center and messing with the rocket's fuel delivery system. Jabber manages to launch the rocket accidentally to a different destination, with its cargo of sleep dust....
16"There's No Heel Like El Eel"December 18, 1976 (1976-12-18)84-15
The eerie El Eel threatens to turn the entire undersea world to stone, and there's only one guy who can stop him: the great El Jabbo!

Other appearances

File:Jabberjaws.jpg
Jabberjaw was also featured in comic books such as this issue of Cartoon Network Presents #23 from 1999.
  • Jabberjaw made special appearances as a guest announcer or referee on the half-hour "Laff-A-Lympics" segment of Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics / Scooby's All-Stars in the episodes "Acapulco and England" (1977), "India and Israel" (1977), "Africa and San Francisco" (1977), "New York and Turkey" (1978) and "New Orleans and Atlantis" (1978).
  • Jabberjaw (voiced by Don Messick) made a special guest appearance at a celebrity roast honoring Fred Flintstone on the TV special Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue (1978).
  • Jabberjaw starred in a new Saturday morning animated series on NBC called Yogi's Space Race (1978–79) in which he participated in intergalactic racing competitions with Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and several new characters. Jabber is still on his search for respect from his original series; his racing partner is a lazy bloodhound named Buford (from The Buford Files of Buford and the Galloping Ghost) and their race ship contains a track on which Buford runs to increase speed. Frank Welker reprised his role of Jabberjaw and also voiced Buford.
  • A Jabberjaw comic book series was originally planned by Charlton Comics in 1977 but was cancelled; however, Jabberjaw has made appearances in Laff-A-Lympics issues #8, #9, #10, #11 and #12 published by Marvel Comics in 1978–79. He also appeared in Hanna-Barbera Presents issue #6: Superstar Olympics published by Archie Comics in 1996 and Cartoon Network Presents issue #23: Jabberjaw, Speed Buggy, Captain Caveman published by DC Comics in 1999. In France, Jabberjaw was featured in various French comic books titled Télé Junior, Télé Parade and Télé BD (1978–81).
  • Jabberjaw made a cameo appearance in the episode "Goodbye, Mr. Chump" on Yogi's Treasure Hunt (1986).
  • Jabberjaw and The Neptunes appeared on Cartoon Network Groovies in a music video set to Pain's "Jabberjaw (Running Underwater)" (1999) in which they are portrayed as a ska band with the group dressed in modern clothing. In this version, Jabberjaw still plays the drums and has a goatee and a nose ring; Biff is the lead guitar and singer wearing a bowling shirt and jeans; Shelly is dressed in a tank top and jeans, plays bass guitar and assists on vocals; Bubbles is dressed in a black top with a Catholic schoolgirl-style skirt and Mary Jane shoes and still plays the keyboard; and Clamhead is dressed in an updated version of what he wore in the original series, plays the trumpet and also assists on vocals. The Neptunes are animated in 3D escaping a lunch box decal and waging battle with an evil eel and his lobster robots who kidnap Shelly from one of The Neptunes' concerts.
  • Jabberjaw appeared on the Halloween TV special Night of the Living Doo (2001) trying to take out Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang so he can finally get his respect.
  • Jabberjaw made sporadic appearances on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: Jabberjaw and The Neptunes were accused of stealing a hit song by a Japanese rock band called Shoyu Weenie (portrayed by the Chan Clan from The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan) in the episode "Shoyu Weenie" (2002). Frank Welker reprised his role of Jabberjaw and also voiced Biff; Jabberjaw made cameo appearances in the episodes "The Dabba Don" (2002), "Back to the Present" (2004), "Peanut Puberty" (2004), "Juror in Court" (2007) and "The Death of Harvey" (2007); Clamhead (voiced by Steve Blum) made a cameo appearance in the episode "Identity Theft" (2005); Bubbles made non-speaking cameo appearances in the episodes "Droopy Botox" (2004) and "Juror in Court" (2007).
  • Jabberjaw made a cameo appearance on Johnny Bravo in the episode "Johnny Bravo Goes to Hollywood" (2004).
  • Jabberjaw made a guest appearance on Sealab 2021 in the episode "Return of Marco" (2004) where he was one of many sharks impaled with spears by an aquatic tribe of cave dwellers.
  • Jabberjaw and The Neptunes appeared on Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated in the episode "Mystery Solvers Club State Finals" (2011) alongside other Hanna-Barbera mystery teams in a fever dream of Scooby-Doo's. When the teen sleuths are kidnapped by a flaming skeletal spirit called Lord Infernacus, Scooby-Doo, Jabberjaw, Speed Buggy, Captain Caveman and The Funky Phantom are left to solve the mystery. Frank Welker reprised the roles of both Jabberjaw and Speed Buggy.
  • Jabberjaw made a cameo appearance in a MetLife commercial entitled "Everyone" (2012) which aired during Super Bowl XLVI commercial breaks.[4]

Merchandising and video releases

  • In 1977–78, Rand McNally released two Jabberjaw coloring books (Jabberjaw and the Neptunes and Jabberjaw Does It Again), a story book (Jabberjaw Out West by Jean Lewis, illustrated by Jim Franzen) and a read & color book (Jabberjaw and the Rustlers).
  • Other merchandise in the late 1970s included a lunch box and thermos, iron-on transfers, jigsaw puzzles, Presto Magix dry transfer sheet, bubble maker set, a school tablet, Avon pendant and Hanna-Barbera Marineland Jabberjaw picture viewer.[5]
  • Four episodes of the series, "Dr. Lo Has Got to Go", "There's No Place Like Outer Space", "The Sourpuss Octopuss" and "The Great Shark Switch", were released on a Jabberjaw videocassette by Worldvision Home Video on July 28, 1988.
  • In 2005, a Jabberjaw Wacky Wobbler bobblehead figure was released by Funko.
  • On February 15, 2011, Warner Archive released Jabberjaw: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection. This is a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.[6]

In other languages

References

  1. ^ Crandol, Michael (1999). "The History of Animation: Advantages and Disadvantages of the Studio System in the Production of an Art Form". Digital Media FX. Joe Tracy. Retrieved 2009-01-31. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ Mallory, Michael (1998). Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. Warner Bros., Hugh Lauter Levin Associates Inc. ISBN 0-88363-108-3. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ America Toons In: A History of Television Animation By David Perlmutter page 154
  4. ^ "MetLife: "Everyone" Game Day Commercial". YouTube. 2012-02-03. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  5. ^ Marineland Jabberjaw Picture Viewer (1980)
  6. ^ "Jabberjaw - 'The Complete Series' MOD Title Now Available: Cost, Contents, High-Res Box Art".
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