Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
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| Back of the box. |
Sunbow
Productions, Jetlag Productions, Graz Entertainment (season 1), Créativité et Développement,
AB Productions (season 2)
After a trip to the Rio Grande in
1932, Robert E. Howard
fully conceived of his latest character: Conan the Barbarian. Upon his return,
he rewrote his rejected story “By This Axe I Rule!” and replaced the star
character, Kull, with Conan to
call it “The
Phoenix on the Sword”, as well as wrote an original story called “The
Frost-Giant’s Daughter.” He submitted both to Weird
Tales magazine, and after some editing “The Phoenix on the Sword”
appeared in the December 1932 issue.
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| The first appearance of Conan. |
Series editor Farnsworth Wright
had Howard write a personal essay detailing the world of Conan for his own
personal use and future reference. Conan is a Cimmerian, a tribe descended from
the ancient Atlanteans based on the Celts or Gaels. He was born the son of a
blacksmith and became an adept fighter by the age of 15. Living in the
fictional Hyborian Age (which was the title of Howard’s essay), Conan began
wandering the lands and spent time as a thief, outlaw, mercenary and pirate
until he eventually sized his own kingdom in his later years. While often
depicted as an incredibly strong, muscular man, Conan has intelligence to back
up his skill making him an excellent commander as well as a skilled warrior.
Originally, Conan was depicted as having a keen sense of humor, although in
future adaptations of Howard’s work that was largely downplayed or removed.
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| The beginning of Marvel's 30-year relationship with Conan. |
Howard published 17 out of 21
completed stories, with numerous others left in unfinished fragments before his
suicide in 1936. Since then, other writers have taken up the Cimmerian’s
adventures in pulp and book form. In 1952, Conan made the leap to comics in the
Mexican anthology series Cuentos de Abuelito from #8
through #61, featuring adaptations of Howard stories as well as original works
(and Conan as a blonde, rather than a brunette as Howard intended). In 1970, Marvel Comics acquired the license to the
character and consistently published him in various
titles, primarily written by Roy Thomas, and crossed
over with their other characters until 2000. Some of the comics were also
adapted into daily newspaper
comic strips.
In 1982, Conan made the transition
to film with Conan the Barbarian. Directed
by John Millus and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the film
featured Conan escaping enslavement by Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) and seeking
revenge against him for the death of his family and people. Despite mixed
reviews, the film was a box office success and led to the 1984 sequel Conan the Destroyer. Directed
by Richard Fleischer, the
film had a less positive reception than the first but was still a box office
success. A third film, Conan the
Conqueror, was planned, but with Schwarzenegger committed to Predator and unwilling to negotiate a
new contract with producer Dino De
Laurentis, the film fell into development hell. In a bit of history
repeating itself, the script was repurposed for Howard’s other character Kull
in 1997’s Kull the Conqueror starring Kevin
Sorbo.
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| Conan and his horse, Thunder. |
In 1992, Conan entered the world of
animation in an American-French-Canadian adaptation. Developed by Christy Marx, who also served as sole
story editor, the series focused on the discovery of star metal made from
meteors that fell from the sky. Conan’s father (Garry Chalk) would forge the
metal into tools and weapons that would never dull, break or rust; including a
sword for Conan (Michael Donavan) that he placed in a sealed crypt for Conan to
claim when he was strong enough to open it. The evil wizard Wrath-Amon (Scott
McNeil) learned about the metal and laid siege to Conan’s village to get it,
turning his parents into stone. Conan began a quest across Hybornia to find a
cure for his family’s condition and prevent Wrath-Amon from building pyramids
needed to unleash his Serpent-god Set (Richard Newman) upon the world.
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| Snagg, Zula, Conan, Jezmine and Greywolf. |
Conan was joined on his quest by
several allies; Thunder, Conan’s willful and loyal horse with star metal
horseshoes who often tossed Conan from his back rather than enter a city; Needle
(Michael Beattie), a phoenix who resided on his shield, spoke in the third
person, and was often required to disguise himself as a parrot (which he
resented); Zula (McNeil), Prince of the Wasai who wielded star metal bolas that
the later reforged into a more useful boomerang; Jezmine (Janyse Jaud), a circus
performer and thief who wielded star metal throwing stars and had strong
feelings for Conan; Greywolf (McNeil), a wizard from Xanthus whose staff was
eventually given the star metal Claw of Heaven topper that increased his power;
Snagg (Chalk), a Viking-like barbarian with a sense of humor who wields a star
metal axe and grapnel and is often at odds with Conan because of their opposing
cultures; and Falkenar (Alec Willows), champion of the kingdom of Kusan armed
with a star metal whip who is able to fly using the Mantle of Wind. Sometimes
joining them were Greywolf’s older brother and sister Sasha (Kathleen Barr) and
Misha (McNeil), who had become transformed into wolves by Mesmira (Barr).
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| The demon Set. |
The primary villains of the series were
the Snake Cult that worshipped Set. The Snake Cult was comprised of Serpent-Men
who could take the shape of ordinary humans, hiding amongst the populace. Only
unprotected exposure to star metal could reveal their true identities or cause
them to be banished to an alternate dimensional limbo known as the Abyss (a way
of sanitizing enemies being killed for the benefit of the cartoon-viewing
audience). Wrath-Amon was the leader of the Cult. Originally a gila monster
transformed into a man-like creature, Wrath-Amon overthrew his master, Ram-Amon
(also McNeil), to become the high priest of the Cult. His Black Ring protected
him from the more harmful effects of star metal.
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| Wrath-Amon. |
Serving Wrath-Amon was his assistant, Dregs (Doug Parker), a sneaky Naga
who was essentially Needle’s opposite and nemesis; Skulkur (also Parker), an
undead warrior empowered by the Black Ring that could animate skeletons to
fight for him; Windfang (Parker again), an enslaved four-armed winged dragon
man that could breathe fire and sought his freedom from Wrath-Amon; Mesmira,
the evil queen of Stygia and a powerful sorceress; and Gora (Chalk), Zula’s
cousin, a Prince of Wasai and a sorcerer who worked as a spy for Wrath-Amon and
sought to eliminate Zula in order to inherit his throne. Yang Doo (McNeil) was
an exiled warlord who frequently joined Windfang on his own independent
schemes.
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| Ready for sacrifice? |
Produced by Jetlag Productions
and Sunbow
Entertainment, Conan the Adventurer premiered in syndication on
September 12, 1992. Although it was criticized for the taming of the Conan
character and the world in which he lived, the series proved popular with fans
of the character and general audiences. It was also highly praised for staying
close to Howard’s original material. The series ran for two seasons, written by
Marx, Buzz Dixon, Roy Thomas, Carla Conway, Roger Slifer, Lloyd Goldfine, Katherine Lawrence, Larry DiTillio,
Bridget McKenna, Doug Booth, Jean Chalopin, George Bloom, Richard Mueller, Marv Wolfman and Richard Merwin. The first season
ran on Saturday mornings produced by Graz Entertainment, while the
second season ran daily and was produced by AB Productions and Créativité
et Développement. Animation Korea Movie
(AKOM) Productions handled the animation duties throughout. The series’ music
was composed by Chase/Rucker
Productions.
In 1992, Hasbro produced a line of action figures
based on the series. Included was Conan in four different outfits, Greywolf,
Skulkur, Wrath-Amon, Zula, Thunder and a horse for Wrath-Amon. Each figure came
with a pull-cord battle action. In the United Kingdom, Maximum
Entertainment released several
episodes in 2004 and the complete
first season in 2008 on DVD. Maximum also released episodes as part of a
three pack in Action
Man/RoboCop/Conan the Adventurer. Force Entertainment released the complete
series in Australia in 16 single-disc volumes of four episodes per disc. From
2011 to 2012, Shout! Factory released
the complete
first season followed by second
season across two volumes.
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| Taki, Miyagi and Daniel. |
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| The shrine in sinister hands. |
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was an illustrated novel first published in 1900 by the George M. Hill Company. Written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W.W. Denslow, the novel was inspired Baum’s personal life and experiences, as well as his desire to capture the wonder of the stories of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen without all the horror. He recognized from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that its ultimate source of popularity was the titular Alice herself, giving children a character they could identify with, and that children’s books should be lavishly illustrated, pleasurable to read, and devoid of moral lessons (something expected of kids’ books at the time).
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| The cover to the first edition of the book. |
The book was about a young Kansas farmgirl named Dorothy Gale who was swept away in a tornado with her dog, Toto, to the magical Land of Oz. Her house landed on and killed the evil Wicked Witch of the East, freeing the Munchkin people—diminutive inhabitants of Oz adorned from head-to-toe in blue, their favorite color—from her rule. The Good Witch of the North gave Dorothy the Wicked Witch’s Silver Shoes and sent her to the Emerald City so that the powerful Wizard of Oz could send her home. While following the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy met, befriended and was joined on her journey by the Scarecrow, who wanted a brain, Tin Woodman, who wanted a heart, and the Cowardly Lion, who wanted courage. The Wizard agreed to give them what they wanted in exchange for freeing the Winkies—expert tin-smiths who loved the color yellow—from the rule of the Wicked Witch of the West. After doing so, they learned that the Wizard was actually an ordinary man from Nebraska who was stranded in Oz when his hot air balloon was blown off course. The Wizard granted Dorothy’s friends their wishes, but Dorothy was still stuck until Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, revealed that the Silver Shoes had the power to send Dorothy home. The novel ended with Dorothy finally returning home; the Woodman becoming king of the Winkies; the Lion king of a forest he rescued from a giant spider; and Scarecrow the new ruler of the Emerald City.
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| The final Thompson book. |
Publisher George Hill didn’t have much faith in the book and had given a skeptical prediction of selling around 250,000 copies; although he initially only produced 10,000. He only agreed to publish it at all when Fred R. Hamlin, manager of the Chicago Grand Opera House, agreed to turn the book into a musical stage play for publicity. The book ended up becoming a phenomenon, selling out that initial print run and every printing afterward, and the musical, which opened in 1902, did just as well. Baum had never planned beyond the first book, but by popular demand he ended up writing 13 sequels and 6 short stories until his death in 1919. Ruth Plumly Thompson was named Baum’s successor by the publisher, and she wrote 21 more sequels that were released every Christmas until she left the series in 1939 and was replaced by various other authors. As the books remained popular, they were translated into many other forms of media from radio plays to films, both live and animated. The most famous adaptation of Baum’s work came with 1939’s The Wizard of Oz by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
The musical film was directed by Victor Fleming with music written by Yip Harburg and composed by Harold Arlen. It starred Judy Garland as Dorothy, Billie Burke as Glinda, Ray Bolger as Scarecrow, Jack Haley as Tin Man, Bert Lahr as the Lion, Frank Morgan as the Wizard, and Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West. While the most faithful adaptation at that point, the film strayed from the original book by combining, condensing or omitting several elements. Glinda’s character was merged with the Good Witch of the North, appearing at both the beginning and end of the story. Many of Dorothy’s side adventures were eliminated, with the focus placed on her meeting her friends and journeying to the Emerald City. The Wicked Witch’s role was enlarged to become a looming threat, whereas she only appeared in one chapter of the book. Dorothy’s Silver Shoes were changed to Ruby Slippers in order to take full advantage of the Technicolor process used during all the Oz scenes of the film (the Kansas scenes were shot in a sepia tone, later made pure black and white). Dorothy herself was also older than the book depicted.
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| 1949 re-release poster. |
The film, while critically acclaimed, was actually a financial loss for MGM in relation to its budget until its re-release in 1949, where it made an additional $1.5 million. It went on to become one of the first movies MGM/CBS Home Video released on VHS and Betamax in 1980, as well as the basis for several other Oz adaptations. One of those, to commemorate the film’s 50th anniversary, was an animated series produced by DiC Entertainment and Turner Entertainment.
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| Scarecrow, Lion, Dorothy, Toto and Tin Man. |
Titled simply The Wizard of Oz, the series saw Dorothy (Liz Georges) and Toto (Frank Welker) returning to Oz by using the Ruby Slippers after they appeared on her doorstep, reciting the reverse of her famous line: “There’s no place like Oz.” The slippers were sent by Glinda (B.J. Ward) to recruit Dorothy to help Oz rid itself of the Wicked Witch of the West (Tress MacNeille), who was revived by her minions, the evil winged monkeys, and conquered the Emerald City; stealing her friends’ gifts. Reunited with the Scarecrow (David Lodge), Tin Man (Hal Rayle) and the Lion (Charlie Adler), Dorothy and her friends set out to find a way to free Oz from the Wicked Witch once and for all and rescue the Wizard (Alan Oppenheimer), who was trapped on his balloon and constantly being blown around by a magical wind created by the Witch.
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| Hyena captures the friends. |
The Wizard of Oz debuted on September 8, 1990 on ABC and ran for a single season before it was cancelled. The introduction depicted the backstory on Dorothy’s return to Oz and was produced in the same way as the movie; with the Kansas scenes in black and white except for the Ruby Slippers. The series was adapted by Cliff Ruby and Elana Lesser and written by Pat Allee, Gordon Bressack, Bob Carrau, Jules Dennis, Ben Hurst, Lisa Maliani, Michael Maroney, Michael Maurer, Richard Merwin, Doug Molitor, Michael O’Mahony, Laurie Sutton, Chris Weber and Karen Willson, with Molitor serving as story editor. Animation was handled by Pacific Rim Productions, Inc.
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| Dorothy and Glinda. |
Despite the visual similarities to the 1939 film and the use of several
of its songs (with additional music by Tom Worral), a few things were
changed for the show. For starters, the entire premise was closer to the books
in that Oz was a real and vast place and not the trauma-induced delusion it was
suggested as being at the end of the film. The Witch’s demise was changed to
her becoming a statue, rather than having been melted when Dorothy doused her
with water; which was how her monkey minions managed to revive her. In order to
keep the Ruby Slippers from being the dues ex machina of every story, their
magic was shown to be unreliable because Dorothy didn’t know how to use them
properly. The Slippers also shouldn’t have been able to be removed from
Dorothy’s feet until her death, even though they were several times during the
show’s run. The Witch’s crystal ball was also limited, only able to work once a
day due to its creator sabotaging it when she first stole it.
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| DVD cover art. |
Shortly after its conclusion, Turner
Home Entertainment released 11 episodes on VHS between 1991
and 1995. Lions Gate/Trimark Home
Entertainment brought three episodes to DVD as The Rescue of the Emerald City in 2002. In 2003, United American Video
released The Continuing Story as part of the “Animation Station”
line. Although it had the same cover art as the previous volume, it featured
four different episodes. They next
released four more episodes on We’re Off to Save the Wizard in 2005 under their new name of Sterling
Entertainment Group. The only episode not released on DVD was “The
Marvelous Milkmaid of Mechanica”.
