THE JACKSON 5IVE/
THE NEW JACKSON 5IVE SHOW
(ABC, September 11, 1971-September 1, 1973)
Rankin/Bass Productions, Motown Productions, Halas and
Bachelor, Topcraft
MAIN CAST:
If four boys from
Liverpool took America by storm in the 60s, the 70s belonged to five brothers
from Gary, Indiana.
 |
| From top: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. |
The
Jackson brothers Tito, Jermaine and Jackie showed an interest in singing in the
early 60s and formed a musical group, dubbed “The Jackson Brothers” by their
father, Joe. 6-year-old Michael played congas for the group while
childhood friends Reynaud
Jones and Milford Hite played keyboard and drums.
7-year-old Marlon would join in on the tambourine. In 1965, Evelyn LaHaie suggested the group rename themselves The Jackson
Five Singing Group, which would become shortened to The Jackson Five.
 |
| The Jackson Five emerge victorious. |
From
1966-67, Johnny
Jackson and Ronnie Rancifer replaced Jones and Hite as the group went on to win
several talent competitions around the state. Joe booked the group in several
respected music venues including the Regal Theater in Chicago and the Apollo
Theater in New York. After winning the
competition at the Apollo, singer Gladys Knight sent the group’s demo tape to Motown Records. Motown ultimately rejected the demo and the group ended
up signing with Steeltown Records where they recorded and released their first two
singles.
 |
| Diana Ross and the Jacksons in the recording studio. |
In
1968, the group spent a week as the opening act for Bobby
Taylor & the Vancouvers and so impressed
Taylor that he helped them with their next Motown audition. After seeing a tape
of the audition, Motown CEO Berry Gordy requested that the group be signed and
they officially joined Motown Records in 1969. They soon released their first
single written by Motown team The
Corporation, “I Want You Back,” and their first album, Diana
Ross Presents the Jackson 5, dropped in December. Ross introduced the group to television audiences during
the October
18th, 1969 episode of The Hollywood Palace variety
show and provided liner notes for the album. Earlier that August, the group had
opened for Ross' former group The
Supremes.
 |
| Jackie, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and Michael in animated form. |
As
1970 hit, the Jacksons released three more singles; all of which topped the Billboard Hot 100 making them the first act to do so consecutively.
Soon, the Jacksons surpassed The Supremes as Motown’s best-selling group and
became Motown’s main marketing focus. With Jacksonmania in full swing, the time
was ripe to bring their music to the Saturday morning audience.
 |
| Diana Ross model sheet. |
Motown Productions
teamed up with Rankin/Bass
Productions to bring the animated series to
life, with characters designed by Jack Davis. Playing on Gordy’s public relations story that Diana Ross
had “discovered” the Jacksons (hence her name appearing on their first album),
the series opened with the Jacksons encountering Ross (the only character
played by their actual real-life counterpart in the series) and impressed her
enough with their talent to merit an invite to her record label to audition.
After a disastrous first attempt, Gordy (Paul Frees) finally heard the Jacksons
play and signed them on the spot, becoming their manager.
 |
| Animation cel featuring Berry Gordy's cartoon counterpart. |
Similarly
to The
Beatles cartoon several years prior, the series primarily served as a
showcase for the Jacksons’ music from their albums Diana Ross
Presents, ABC, Maybe Tomorrow and Third Album. Each story was made to set-up the two Jackson Five songs
featured each episode, using their studio recordings against an animated music
video-like montage. The songs were the only time that the Jacksons’ voices were
heard on the series, as a busy touring and recording schedule prevented them
from being involved with the show. They did, however, pose for promotional
pictures and their images could be seen during the opening sequence morphing
into their animated counterparts. Occasionally, stylized footage of one of
their concerts would be worked into the musical numbers. Animation was handled
by the London studios of Halas and Batchelor, with some support from Estudios
Moro in Spain. The entire series was
directed by Spanish-American Robert
Balser.
 |
| Rosy, Ray and Charles. |
The Jackson 5ive debuted on ABC on
September 7, 1971, and followed the wacky misadventures of the Jacksons. As the
group’s lead singer, the action tended to focus mostly on Michael (Donald
Fullilove). Joining the brothers were three pets of Michael’s: a pink snake
with different colored eyes named Rosy and two mice named Ray and Charles,
after musician Ray Charles. Despite their
fame, the Jacksons traveled around in Jermaine’s beat-up old roadster. The
series was written by Hal Hackady, William J. Keenan,
Susan Milburn,
Romeo Muller
and Lou
Silverstone, with additional music by Maury Laws.
The series’ theme was a
special mix of four of their #1 hits: “I Want You Back,” “The Love You Save,” “ABC,” and “Mamma’s Pearl,” all written by The Corporation. While utilizing story
title cards like most other cartoons of the time, in an unusual fashion the
title card was made part of the intro; altered each episode with the new title.
The show was renewed for an abbreviated second season and was renamed The
New Jackson 5ive Show. Little else was different from the first season
besides a slightly altered intro and theme song to accommodate the new title.
That season took the majority of its songs from Michael’s solo album Got
to Be There with others being taken from the Jacksons’ album Lookin’
Through the Windows. The rest of the second
season was composed of reruns of earlier episodes.
 |
| Jack Davis concept art of the Jacksons and their jalopy. |
To avoid paying large fees
to Charley
Douglass, who edited laugh tracks onto the
majority of network programming at the time, Rankin/Bass followed Hanna-Barbera’s example and composed their own laugh track for the
series. However, their track contained a wide selection of laughs and wasn’t
properly balanced, resulting in mild chuckles becoming booming laughter.
Because of that, many jokes received a larger laugh than intended, and
sometimes occurred off-cue. Rankin/Bass stopped using their laugh track once
the series ended.
 |
| Ad for The Jackson 5ive. |
In the meantime, 1972 saw
the Jacksons’ sales begin to decline; particularly when The Corporation broke
up in 1973 and the Jacksons no longer had their songs to perform. Growing
disillusioned with Motown’s handling of their careers and in an effort for more
creative control and royalties, the Jacksons, excluding Jermaine, opted out of
recording anything more for Motown and signed with Epic Records in
1975. Randy replaced Jermaine, and Motown, after initially suing
them for breach of contract, allowed the group to record for Epic as long as they
changed their name, which Motown owned. The group became simply The Jacksons.
In 1976, the entire Jackson
family, except Jermaine, starred in a weekly variety series and released their first
album for Epic. Although it went gold, it
failed to generate the same sales as their Motown efforts. They continued to
produce records for Epic, while Michael continued the solo career started by
Motown in 1971 as to help generate more sales for the Jackson brand. In 1983,
Jermaine rejoined his brothers for Motown 25: Yesterday, Today,
Forever and recorded their sixth Epic
album with them. After the friction-filled
and disastrous Victory Tour in 1984, Michael left the group to focus on his solo
career, with Marlon pursuing his own the following year (ultimately leading to
his leaving show business for real estate). As Michael’s popularity began to
rise, Worldvision
Enterprises rebroadcast The Jackson
5ive in syndication during the 1984-85 season on Saturday Morning.
After
the failed release of 2300
Jackson Street and a brief promotional tour, the remaining
Jacksons called it quits in 1989. 17 years later, the Jacksons reunited for two
performances at Madison
Square Garden as part of the 30th
anniversary celebration for Michael’s solo
career. In 2009, Jermaine, Jackie, Marlon and Tito joined together to film a
reality series, The Jacksons: A Family
Dynasty, as an effort to reunite the band for
their 40th anniversary. Initially planned as an hour-long
special, it was expanded to a series following Michael’s death that June. In tribute, the Jacksons provided
background vocals for the unreleased demo “This is It.” The Jacksons reunited again in 2012 for a the Unity
Tour, and continued to perform occasionally afterward.
 |
| Jackson 5ive Action Game. |
In
1974, a year after the series had ended, Shindana Toys released the Jackson 5ive Action Game; a
card game using the cartoon versions of the group. In 2013, DreamWorks Classics released The
Jackson 5ive: the Complete Animated Series on DVD and Blu-Ray.
EPISODE
GUIDE:
Season 1:
“It All Started
With…” (9/11/71) – The origin of the Jackson 5ive.
Songs: ABC, Goin’ Back to Indiana
“Pinestock
U.S.A.” (9/18/71) – The Jacksons participate in a concert sponsored by a
logging camp that will level the forest they’re in right after the show.
“Drafted” (9/25/71)
– Marlon and Michael are mistaken for new recruits at Fort Paratrooper where
they’ve come to perform.
Songs: I Want
You Back, 2-4-6-8
“Mistaken
Identity” (10/2/71) – The Jacksons detour to an Old West town on their way to
Vegas and get mistaken for a gang of bandit brothers.
“Bongo, Baby,
Bongo” (10/9/71) – A clown kidnaps a baby gorilla for his circus act, causing
the mother to use Michael as its replacement.
“The Winner’s
Circle” (10/16/71) – Michael is tricked into buying a seemingly lazy racehorse
until the Jacksons discover he runs like lightning when hearing their music.
Songs: The Love
You Save, How Funky
Is Your Chicken?
“Cinder Jackson”
(10/23/71) – Michael meets his Hairy Godfather who helps him go to a ball to
meet a major star despite his being sick.
“The Wizard of
Soul” (10/30/71) – Michael wanders into the Land of Soul where Wizard of Oz
characters resemble his brothers and journey with him to meet the Wizard of
Soul.
“The Tiny Five”
(11/6/71) – The Jacksons end up shrunken.
“The Groovatron”
(11/13/71) – Marlon invents a musical robot to allow the Jacksons to rest for a
while, but it ends up stolen and used to replace and outsell the Jacksons.
“Ray &
Charles: Superstars” (11/20/71) – Ray and Charles get discovered and become
superstars.
“Farmer
Jacksons” (11/27/71) – Jackie decides they need a break and enters a bet to run
a farm.
“Jackson Island”
(12/4/71) – The Jacksons end up stranded on an island where Michael hits his
head and encounters evil fictional pirates.
“The Michael
Look” (12/11/71) – Two Pearly Kings find their chance to discredit Michael when
he loses his stage clothing and convince him to wear shabby replacements.
“Jackson Street,
USA” (12/18/71) – The Jacksons plan to attend a street dedication ceremony in a
hot air balloon, but end up soaring right out of the city.
“Rasho-Jackson”
(1/8/72) – A car mishap leads to an argument that causes the Jacksons to split
up and go solo.
“A Rare Pearl”
(1/15/72) – The Jacksons all fall for a flight attendant who wants nothing to
do with them.
Songs: Never Can Say Goodbye,
Mama’s Pearl
Season 2:
“Who’s Hoozis?”
(9/9/72) – Michael works to save the nest of a talking “blues bird” from an
eccentric developer.
“Michael White” (9/16/72)
– Michael hits his head in a biking accident and dreams that he’s the male
version of Snow White.
“Groove to the
Chief” (9/23/72) – The Hairy Godfather returns to grant Michael’s wish to be
the Mayor of Los Angeles.
“Michael in
Wonderland” (9/30/72) – Michael goes unconscious while testing a new roller
coaster and dreams he’s in a soul and funk version of Wonderland.
“Jackson and the
Beanstalk” (10/7/72) – Michael discovers magic beans outside their Indiana
apartment and climbs up the beanstalk they produce.
“The Opening
Act” (10/14/72) – The Jacksons are on a heavy radio tour and need an opening
act for their upcoming concert.
Originally posted in 2015. Updated in 2020.
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