PAC-MAN

PAC-MAN

(ABC, September 25, 1982-November 5, 1983)

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Namco America, Inc., Bally-Midway

MAIN CAST:

Marty Ingles – Pac-Man

Barbara Minkus – Ms. Pac-Man

Russi Taylor – Pac-Baby

Allan Lurie – Mezmaron

Barry Gordon – Inky

Chuck McCann – Blinky, Pinky

Neil Ross – Clyde

Susan Silo – Sue

Frank Welker – Chomp Chomp, Morris, adult Pac-Baby

Peter Cullen – Sour Puss

Lorenzo Music – Super-Pac (season 2)

Darryl Hickman – P.J. (season 2)

            You always hear stories about how something doesn’t do so well in America but blows up in popularity overseas. Well, this story goes in reverse. On May 22, 1980, the game we now know as Pac-Man was released to arcades in Japan as Puck-Man to a lukewarm reception. Games like Space Invaders were dominating the Japanese market, and a slow game like Pac-Man held no interest for Japanese gamers.

The original arcade cabinets: North America on the left, Japan on the right.

             Pac-Man was conceived and developed by Toru Iwatani and an eight-man team for Namco as the antithesis to all of the violence-themed games dominating the market. Instead, Pac-Man had a running food theme. The primary goal was to maneuver the titular character around a maze and gobble up all the pellets while avoiding ghostly enemies (chosen because of their frequent use as bad guys) to advance to the next level. Bonus points would be gained from eating fruit that would appear on the screen; a different type each level inspired by the graphics found on slot machines. Levels also featured larger pellets called Power Pellets, inspired by Popeye with his spinach, that gave Pac-Man the ability to ingest the ghosts, leaving them floating eyeballs that had to return to their home base for regeneration. The Power Pellets lasted only for a limited time that decreased the further along in the game a player went to increase difficulty. Pac-Man’s shape was inspired by a pizza with a slice missing, as well as being a rounded simplification of the Japanese character for “mouth”, kuchi. The minimalist design was Iwatani’s attempt to allow the player to use their imagination to define the character. The maze and cute ghost elements were designed to expand beyond the typical demographics and attract female players to the arcades as very few games made were geared towards them at the time.

Pac-Man tabletop game flyer.

Midway picked up the rights to manufacture it for North America. The cabinet art was changed, as was the pace and level difficulty in order to appeal to western audiences. This was also when the name was changed to Pac-Man in order to avoid vandalism with people changing the “P” to an “F”. Midway’s version was released in October of 1980, initially comprised of only 5,000 cabinets due to their limited expectations. Imagine their surprised when it became an unexpected hit; especially with women. 350,000 cabinets sold in the first 18 months, pulling in $1 billion in revenue to become the best-selling game in North America surpassing Asteroids, the highest-grossing arcade game of 1981 and second-highest in 1982, and making it one of the most influential video games of all time. It established the maze chase and stealth game genres; created the first gaming mascot and opened to the door for the potential of characters headlining games and becoming the focus of a series; was the first to feature power-ups, which would become a staple in many games to come; and was the first to feature cut scenes with comical interludes featuring Pac-Man and the ghosts chasing each other. Even Japanese gamers eventually warmed up to it, becoming their highest-grossing arcade game of 1980.

Midway's ad for the North American release.

Pac-Man also became one of the first licensing successes from video games, with the logo and image being plastered on t-shirts, board games and other items, being used in the marketing of other products, as well as receiving many popular song treatments such as Buckner (no relation) & Garcia’s 1981 hit “Pac-Man Fever” and “Weird Al” Yankovic’s Beatles parody, “Pac-Man”. Of course, the inevitable Pac-Man clones unauthorized by Namco hit the market, becoming just as popular as the original though never quite managing to surpassing it. Notable copies included Hangly-Man (an English corruption of the word “hungry”), which featured Japanese names for the ghosts and increased the difficulty by making the inside maze walls vanish after eating a Power Pellet; Lock ‘n’ Chase, which featured a crook stealing gems while avoiding police; and Mighty Mouth, which differed so little from the game that Midway won a summary judgement for copyright infringement.

Some Pac-Man merchandise.

In 1981, Midway was growing impatient waiting for Namco to release the sequel to Pac-Man. A group of programmers from General Computer Corporation developed an enhancement kit for the original game called Crazy Otto. After a lawsuit by Atari over their conversion for Missile Command prevented them from selling kits without manufacturer consent, they showed Otto to Midway. Midway bought the game, modified it, and released it as Ms. Pac-Man. Similar in design to the original, it featured the addition of feminine features on the character sprite, new patterns for the ghosts, new maze designs, moving bonus fruit, new music and other tweaks. Initial plans would have seen it released as Super Pac-Man with Pac-Man still as the lead (that name would end up being used later). Midway’s Stan Jarocki had declared it was a thank you to the patronage of the large number of female players that contributed to Pac-Man’s popularity. Originally, it was going to be named Pac-Woman before they settled on Miss Pac-Man. However, fearing the baby she and Pac-Man received from a stork in a cut-scene would illicit protests of being out of wedlock, they changed it to Mrs. Pac-Man and finally Ms. Pac-Man as it rolled off the tongue easier. It became the most successful American-produced arcade game. 

Flyer for Ms. Pac-Man cabinets.

With all the success in the arcades and in merchandising, the next logical step was to conquer television. ABC needed a program to combat NBC’s monster hit The Smurfs, and they felt that Pac-Man was just what they needed. The network put out the word that “any producer who managed to corral the Pac-Man TV rights would have an ABC commitment.” Ironically, it was Smurfs studio Hanna-Barbera that secured those rights. In order to debut the series while the game was still hot, the network and the studio got right to work and developed the show in half the time it would normally take in order to make it to air in the fall of 1982. The series was developed by Jeffrey Scott after their original choice, Mark Evanier, declined. Inspiration was largely taken from the Ms. Pac-Man cut scenes and a whole Pac-World was built beyond the mazes.

The cast of the cartoon: Sour Puss, Super Pac, Chomp-Chomp, Pac-Man, Pepper, Baby Pac, and P.J.

Pac-Man featured the titular character (Marty Ingles, who was selected when he accidentally phoned the studio after an exhaustive search), his wife Pepper (Barbara Minkus) and their baby (Russi Taylor). Of course, as minimalist circular objects would be boring on television, the Pac-Family was designed with arms, legs, and full faces on their round bodies. Together with their dog, Chomp Chomp (Frank Welker), and cat, Sour Puss (Peter Cullen), they lived in Pac-Land where everything was largely spherical; from the houses to their vehicles. Pac-Man’s primary job was as the head of security for the Power Pellet Forest, where the Pellets that fed the citizens and powered the city grew.

Mezmeron and his ghostly minions.

The Pac-Family fought against the evil Mezmeron (created for the show and played by Allan Lurie), who sought to locate and control the source of the Power Pellets. Mezmaron was assisted by his multi-colored ghost minions: the blue Inky (Barry Gordon), the red Blinky, the pink Pinky (both Chuck McCann, with Pinky’s sex changed to male for the show), the orange Clyde (Neil Ross) and purple Sue (Susan Silo). Sue actually replaced Clyde and assumed his color in Ms. Pac-Man but gained her own color in future Pac-Man installments. Like the games, when any of the Pacs ate a Power Pellet, they gained “Pac-Power” and were able to consume the sheets the ghosts wore forcing them to return to Mezmaron’s lair for a new wardrobe as floating eyes. Also, the ghosts were given hats (or, in Sue’s case, earrings), to further distinguish them.

Comic book ad for ABC's 1982 line-up.

Pac-Man became the first animated series based on a video game. It debuted two weeks late due to an animator’s strike on September 25, 1982 on ABC. To combat NBC’s expansion of the Smurfs to 90-minutes, they put the series with The Little Rascals and Richie Rich to make their own 90-minute The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show programming block. So confident in the series was ABC that it was the central focus of their Saturday morning preview special, Saturday Morning Pac Preview Party hosted by Dick Clark, which aired on the 19^th. ABC was banking on the game’s success to draw in the viewers, and the show itself received so many advertisers who wanted a spot during its run that commercial breaks ended up being longer than usual for the first few months. Because the cartoon was doing so well, ABC broke it free of the block to give it its own half-hour.

Super Pac-Man promo flyer.

A month after the show began airing, Namco finally released their own sequel called Super Pac-Man in Japan (North America saw a December release). Super brought radical changes to the Pac-Man formula. The regular pellets were replaced with fruit which were now sectioned off by doors that Pac-Man had to eat keys to open. A new power-up called Super Pellets allowed Pac-Man to “fly”, symbolized by his becoming larger and the ghosts becoming stretched and squashed to represent the change in perspective. He could also move faster by holding down the “Super Speed” button. Not only did this make him invulnerable to the ghosts, but it allowed him to go through the doors without needing the keys. The changes proved unpopular, making Super the least successful entry in the original franchise. 

Baby Pac-Man's pinball play field.

Subsequently, Midway released their second sequel, Baby Pac-Man, which was a video/pinball game hybrid. The base game was very similar to the original Pac-Man; however, the field was devoid of the Power Pellets (called “Energizers” here) needed to gobble the ghosts. Two chutes were present at the bottom of the screen that transferred the action to a shortened, horizontal mechanical pinball table. Here, players earned bonuses and Power Pellets and increased the speed of the tunnels that connected the sides of the screen. Losing a ball returned to the video field with the chutes now closed off. Only 7,000 units were produced.

Jr. Pac-Man cabinet art.

In January of 1983, Midway released their third sequel called Jr. Pac-Man. Jr. added mazes that were double the screen width, making half of the maze unseen at all times. Toy bonus items, such as bikes and kites, would increase the point value of pellets they came in contact with (but eating them would slow Jr. down) and would cause Power Pellets to explode. Clyde was replaced by new ghost Tim, and the cut scenes focused on Jr.’s budding relationship with a red female ghost named Yum-Yum. Jr. was also given a propeller beanie that would remain behind when the ghosts finally caught up to and touched him.

New characters inspired by these games were incorporated into the cartoon’s second season. Super-Pac (Lorenzo Music) was a superhero from another dimension that appeared via portals from his Super Timewarp Space Home. The portals were inspired by the corridors that allowed Pac-Man to instantly appear on the other side of the mazes in the games. He was more ineffectual than he cared to believe and often a source of exasperation for Pac-Man. P.J. (or Pac Junior, played by Darryl Hickman) was Pac-Man’s nephew who came to stay with his relatives. During its second season, Pac-Man was paired up with Rubik, the Amazing Cube, based on yet another sensation, to become The Pac-Man/Rubik, the Amazing Cube Hour. Unfortunately, the second season failed to yield the same ratings as the first and the series was cancelled at its conclusion. The Smurfs would chug along until 1989. But, Pac-Man’s early success would inspire a slew of cartoons based on video games; particularly on CBS, who commissioned Saturday Supercade to directly compete with it..

The Pacs meet Santa.

The series was largely written by Scott, with Don Dougherty contributing in the second season. The music was composed by Hoyt Curtain and Paul DeKorte. For Halloween in 1982, the episodes “Pacula” and “Trick or Chomp” were combined into the Pac-Man Halloween Special and aired in prime-time on October 30^th. An original special, Christmas Comes to Pac-Land, aired the Thursday before the first season finale and featured a human Santa Claus (Cullen). In 1984, the cast and characters of the series starred in a commercial for Chef Boyardee’s Pac-Man pasta, which came in original, meatball and chicken flavored varieties. 

Games produced immediately following the animated series’ debut featured elements inspired by the show. 1983’s Pac & Pal introduced a green female ghost named Miru who would steal the items Pac-Man needed to eat to progress through the levels. Alternate versions of the game featured Chomp Chomp in Miru’s place under the title Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp. In 1984, Namco released a direct adaptation called Pac-Land. Unlike previous games, it was a side-scrolling platform game whose objective was to get a fairy residing in Pac-Man’s hat home. While the Japanese version used a sprite that resembled their packaging artwork, the American version used the designs straight from the show. Both versions featured the show’s music. 1994’s Pac-Man 2: the New Adventures, a point-and-click adventure game, featured Pac-Man’s family and a main villain leading the ghosts. 

DVD cover.

Reruns of the show would air as part of USA Cartoon Express, on Cartoon Network from 1995-99, and Boomerang from 2000-14 In 1982, Worldvision Home Video Inc. released a VHS called Pac-Man and Family in Australia, which contained several episodes and the two holiday specials. In 2012, Warner Archive released both seasons to DVD several months apart as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection. It was also made available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and on Warner Bros. Discovery’s channel Cartoon Rewind on Amazon Freevee beginning in 2024. Pac-Man would return to television on February 23, 2025 on retro animation network MeTV Toons.

Saves the forest, still gets balled by the boss.

Although Pac-Man Fever is not as strong as it once was, Pac-Man is still the most consistently published game with new games in the franchise, ports of classic games for home consoles, and hand-held versions. Pac-Man has also made appearances in other games, such as Mario Kart Arcade GP, Super Smash Bros., and Street Fighter X Tekken to name a few, and has a permanent place in pop culture. The character was also featured as an alien villain in the 2015 movie Pixels. Not bad for a living yellow ball, huh?

 

EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“Presidential Pac-Nappers / Picnic in Pacland” (9/25/82) – The Pac-President is kidnapped by Mezmaron to force Pac-Man to lead him to the Power Pellet Forest. / The Pac-Family and ghosts decide to picnic at the same time, leading to trouble.
 
“The Great Pac-Quake / Hocus-Pocus Pac-Man” (10/2/82) – Mezmaron gives the ghosts an earthquake-making machine. / Pac-Baby disappears in a magic hat.
 
“Southpaw Packy / Pac-Baby Panic” (10/9/82) – Pac-Man challenges the ghosts to a baseball game to see who leaves town. / The ghosts steal a sack of Power Pellets with Pac-Baby inside.
 
“Pacula / Trick or Chomp” (10/16/82) – Mezmaron’s latest scheme involves transforming a bat into vampire Count Pacula. / The ghosts interrupt the Pac-Family’s trick or treating.
 
“Super Ghosts / The Pac-Man in the Moon” (10/23/82) – The ghosts are given super powers. / Pac-Man and Pepper must reclaim the space shuttle the ghosts steal.
 
“Journey to the Center of Pac-Land / Invasion of the Pac-Pups” (10/30/82) – Mezmeron tries to get to the forest from underground. / Pac-Man tries to get rid of a litter of annoying Pac-Pups.
 
“Sir Chomp-A-Lot / The Day the Forest Disappeared” (11/6/82) – Mezmeron sends the ghosts into the past where they meet Pac-Man’s ancestor. / Mezmeron manages to successfully steal the forest.
 
“Neander-Pac-Man / Backpackin’ Packy” (11/13/82) – Pac-Man tells Pac-Baby about the discovery of Power Pellets. / Pac-Man becomes leader of the Pac-Baby scouts.
 
“The Abominable Pac-Man / The Bionic Pac-Woman” (11/20/82) – Pac-Man and Pepper race the ghosts to Power Pellets where a creature lurks. / Mezmaron makes a robotic clone of Pepper.
 
“Chomp-Out at the O.K. Corral / Once Upon a Chomp” (11/27/82) – The ghosts try to ruin the Pac-Family vacation out west. / The fairy ghostmonster gives the ghosts a book to help trap Pac-Man.
 
“The Pac-Love-Boat / The Great Power Pellet Robbery” (12/4/82) – The ghosts try to ruin Pac-Man’s anniversary. / Mezmaron gives the ghosts a truck to retrieve the Power Pellets.
 
“A Bad Case of the Chomps / Goo-Goo at the Zoo” (12/11/82) – Pac-Man is rushed to the hospital for chompitis. / Pac-Baby frees all the animals at the zoo.
 
“Nighty Nightmares / The Pac-Mummy” (12/18/82) – The ghosts have nightmares about Pac-Man. / Mezmaron uses a mummy to kidnap Pepper and Pac-Baby.
 
Season 2:
“Here’s Super-Pac! / Hey, Hey, Hey…It’s P.J.” (9/17/83) – Super-Pac arrives in Pac-Land and saves Pac-Man from the ghosts. / Pac-Man must convince P.J. to stay in school.
 
“The Super-Pac Bowl / Journey into the Pac-Past” (9/24/83) – Pac-Man and Super-Pac must replace the football team against the ghosts’. / P.J. accidentally turns the washing machine into a time machine.
 
“The Old Pac-Man and the Sea / Public Pac-Enemy No. 1” (10/1/83) – A sunken pellet shipment lands Pac-Man in Paclantis. / Pac-Man is mistakenly sent to prison when confused for criminal Pretty Boy Pac.
 
“The Genie of Pac-Land / Computer Packy” (10/8/83) – Pac-Man and Super-Pac fight the ghosts over a genie’s bottle. / P.J. tinkers with Pac-Man’s computer, trapping Pac-Baby inside it.
 
“The Greatest Show in Pacland / Pac-A-Thon” (10/15/83) – Pac-Baby and ghost cousin Dinky both have their birthdays celebrated at the same circus. / The ghosts are allowed to compete in the Olympics against the Pac-Family.
 
“Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Pac-Man / Around the World in 80 Chomps” (10/22/83) – Mezmaron creates Power Pellets that turn Pac-Man into a werewolf. / Mezmaron tries to find another forest in another part of the world.
 
“Super-Pac vs. Pac-Ape / P.J. Goes Pac-Hollywood” (10/29/83) – A Pac-Monkey eats a Power Pellet and becomes a giant. / Pac-Man is tricked into stunt work on P.J.’s action movie.
 
“Pac Van Winkle / Happy Pacs-Giving” (11/5/83) – Pac-Man drinks a potion that causes him to sleep for 20 years and awaken in a world where the ghosts have won. / The Pac-Family hears a story about the first Pacs-Giving.
 
Specials:
“Christmas Comes to Pac-Land” (12/16/82) – When Santa crash lands in Pac-Land, the Pac-Family tries to help him complete his deliveries.

 

Originally posted in 2015. Updated in 2025.