IRON MAN: ARMORED ADVENTURES

 

IRON MAN: ARMORED ADVENTURES

(Nicktoons, April 24, 2009-July 25, 2012)

 

Marvel Animation, Marvel Entertainment, Method Animation, DQ Entertainment, LuxAnimation (season 1), Fabrique D’Images (season 2), Onyx Lux (season 2)

 

 

            Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe there was Iron Man, which became a bigger hit than anyone could have anticipated for such a widely unknown character. Naturally, Marvel Entertainment sought to capitalize on that momentum and commissioned the creation of an animated series; only the second after 1994’s Iron Man, although the character has appeared in other shows. Developed by Alexandre de La Patelliére, Craig Kyle, Romain van Liemt and Christopher Yost, Iron Man: Armored Adventures was a French co-production that followed a teenaged Tony Stark (Adrian Petriw). Unlike the comics and film, Tony was injured in a plane crash that seemingly killed his father, Howard (Fred Henderson). He was saved by his Iron Man armor which he used to investigate Obadiah Stane’s (Mackenzie Gray) possible involvement in the crash. That leads him into superheroics with the aid of his best friend, James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Daniel Bacon), and a girl he meets at his new school, Pepper Potts (Anna Cummer). They eventually get their own armor and become War Machine and Rescue, respectively.

Tony, Pepper and Rhodey in their armors.

            Iron Man: Armored Adventures debuted on Nicktoons on April 24, 2009, breaking the network’s record of the highest-rated original series. The CGI-animated series ran for two seasons, with Yost serving as head writer for the first and Brandon Auman assuming the role for season 2. The series loosely adapted several storylines from the comics, making changes to account for the characters’ reduced ages and integrating elements introduced in the Iron Man films and blossoming MCU; such as Tony’s armor resembling the film version and even changing his chest beam from round to triangular as in Iron Man 2. Unlike the MCU, the series was able to incorporate characters licensed at the time to other studios; such as Fantastic Four villain Doctor Doom (Christopher Britton) and X-Men villain Magneto (Ron Halder), both with 20^th Century Fox (which later became a part of Disney). The series’ theme was written by Robert Schwartzman and recorded by his band, Rooney.

Kids on a mission, even without their armor.

            A third season was planned, but following Disney’s acquisition of Marvel the series was quietly and informally cancelled in favor of moving the character over to a show that brought him more in line with the MCU. However, instead of a solo effort, that ended up being Avengers Assemble which replaced Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on Disney XD. The month following the final episode, Armored Adventures began airing on The CW’s Vortexx Saturday morning programming block until that December. The entire series was made available to stream on Disney+ in 2020.

FELIX SILLA DEAD AT 84

 

You can read the full story here.

He played Polka Dotted Horse and various other characters in H.R. Pufnstuf and Colonel Poom in Lidsville.

UNIKITTY!

 

UNIKITTY!

(Cartoon Network, October 27, 2017-August 27, 2020)

 

The LEGO Group, Warner Bros. Animation

 

            The LEGO Movie was first conceived of by Dan Lin in 2008 before he left Warner Bros. to form his own production company, Lin Pictures (now Rideback). In 2013, then-studio chairman Kevin Tsujihara saw the value of the LEGO franchise and engineered the studio’s purchase of TT Games, who had already been producing successful LEGO-based games up to that point, and championed the development of a film. Written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, The LEGO Movie followed unassuming ordinary minifigure Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt) who ended up becoming embroiled in the conflict between Lord Business (Will Ferrell), who wanted to bring his idea of order to the chaos of the LEGO multiverse, and the Master Builders, who believed creativity was the most important thing and could build anything, when an object Business needed became fused to Emmett’s back. The Master Builders included their leader Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), tech-savvy fighter Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), her boyfriend Batman (Will Arnett), steampunk pirate MetalBeard (Nick Offerman) who had to rebuild his own body when Business stole his pieces, 1980-something space guy Benny (Charlie Day) who loved building spaceships, and the malleable happy-go-lucky magic-using unicorn cat Princess Unikitty (Alison Brie). The film proved a hit when it released on February 7, 2014, earning a worldwide gross of $468.1 million.

Promo image of Unikitty, Richard, Hawkodile, Puppycorn and Dr. Fox.

            With resounding critical and commercial success, WB and LEGO were quick to turn the film into a franchise that included a sequel, spin-off films, and more video games. One aspect of that was a spin-off animated series centered around Unikitty (Tara Strong). Unikitty was the ruler of the Unikingdom (instead of Cloud Cuckoo Land) and had misadventures with her brother, Prince Puppycorn (Grey Griffin), resident scientist Dr. Fox (Kate Micucci), hawk/crocodile hybrid bodyguard Hawkodile (Roger Craig Smith) and sentient LEGO brick Richard (also Smith), who spoke in a monotone voice and the others often found boring. On the flipside of the flat planet the kingdom was located was Frowntown; a miserable and depressing place run by Master Frown (Eric Bauza) and his best friend/sidekick, anthropomorphic headstone Brock (H. Michael Croner). Frown was a Doom Lord whose only goal in life was to spread pain and misery throughout the world; however, Unikitty and her friends frequently foiled his schemes and had fun doing it.

Primary villains Brock and Master Frown.

            Unikitty! was developed by Ed Skudder and Lynn Wang. It debuted on Cartoon Network on October 27, 2017. Unlike the movie that spawned it, the series was rendered in traditional 2D animation by Snipple Animation. Also, while the characters maintained a blocky LEGO aesthetic, the settings bore no resemblance to the LEGO-built kind seen in other LEGO media. Further, Batman (Arnett) was the only other character from the film to appear on the show, rendered in the original 3D faux stop-motion style used there. After 3 seasons and 104 11-minute episodes, Cartoon Network decided to cancel the series; likely due to the dissolution of the partnership between LEGO and parent company Warner Bros after the films experienced diminishing returns at the box office. The network would continue airing Unikitty! reruns for a time--with a few showings on Saturday mornings--before it was eventually taken off the air. Episodes were still available to view on Cartoon Network’s website.

IN REMEMBRANCE: 2020

 

2020 was a hard year for many of us, but as always, we do our final round-up of those we lost that provided us with some of the many hours of entertainment on Saturday mornings. Because many of these people aren’t household names, we’re only finding out about and getting to honor them now. For others, this is our second and final farewell. See anyone we missed? Let us know.

 Here are the Saturday morning all-stars we lost in the nightmare year 2020:

 

Shozo Uehara (January 2) – Writer. Wrote for several versions of the Ultraman franchise, including Ultraman Tiga which was broadcast on Saturday morning.

 

Denise Blakely-Fuller (January 5) – Animator. Worked as a background designer on Jackie Chan Adventures and a key background painter on Coconut Fred’s Fruit Salad Island!

 

Blair Kitchen (January 5) – Animator. Worked as a character layout artist on The Ripping Friends and character designer on Busytown Mysteries.

 

Buck Henry (January 8) – Actor, writer, director and comedian best known as the co-creator of Get Smart. He played Cupid in an episode of Eek! The Cat.

 

Lan O’Kun (January 9) – Writer and composer. He was one of the writers on The Shari Lewis Show.

 

Andrea Arruti (January 11) – Actor and singer. Provided the Mexican dubs for Diamond Tiara, Fleur De Verre and Cloudchaser in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic; Flora in Pokémon: Black and White; Frankie Greene in Transformers: Rescue Bots; Pip in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal; Sid Chang in The Loud House; Elise in Pokémon XY; Shasa Guten in Beyblade Burst: Evolution; and Makini in The Lion Guard.

 

William Bogert (January 12) – Actor. Appeared as Mr. Smith in both The Contest Kid episodes of ABC Weekend Specials.

 

Robert Sampson (January 18) – Actor. Appeared as Mr. Harrison in “The Ghost of Thomas Kempe” episode of ABC Weekend Specials.

 

John Karlen (January 22) – Actor. Appeared as Bill Leggett in the “My Dear Uncle Sherlock” episode of ABC Weekend Specials.

 

Jack Burns (January 26) – Actor, writer, producer and comedian. As a writer, he wrote an episode of The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine. As an actor, he played a police officer and bank president in an episode of Darkwing Duck and Sid the Squid in episodes of Animaniacs, and also provided additional voices to Mother Goose and Grimm.

 

Fred Silverman (January 30) – Television executive and producer. Along with having worked for all three major networks, Silverman played a large role in the growth of Saturday morning television when he was put in charge of revitalizing CBS’ morning line-ups. He also helped usher along the creation of Scooby-Doo (for which the character of Fred was named after him). After becoming an independent producer in 1981, he created the shows Pandamonium and Meatballs and Spaghetti and produced The Mighty Orbots and Piggsburg Pigs!

 

Joseph Shabalala (February 11) – Actor and composer. Played a Zulu Chief in several episodes of Sesame Street and was a caroler and choir leader for two episodes of Rugrats.

 

Esther Scott (February 14) – Actor. Voiced Shodu in Star Wars: Ewoks.

 

Jason Davis (February 16) – Actor. Voiced Mikey Blumberg in Disney’s Recess franchise.

 

Maureen Mlynarczk (February 16) – Animator. Served as a timing director on the Recess films, Fillmore! and What’s New, Scooby-Doo?, and sheet timer for Craig of the Creek, Victor & Valentino and Summer Camp Island.

 

Nicola “Nick” Cuti (February 21) – Artist, comic book writer and editor, and science-fiction novelist. He worked as an assistant art director on Conan the Adventurer; background layouts for Street Fighter: The Animated Series and Biker Mice From Mars (1993); and as a layout designer on Gargoyles, Mighty Ducks, Jungle Cubs and 101 Dalmatians: The Series.

 

Allison Katzman (February 25) – Toy designer. Created the Blythe doll that eventually wound up in the ownership of Hasbro and combined with their Littlest Pet Shop toyline. Blythe would also become a character in the 2012 Littlest Pet Shop cartoon as a result.

 

Jens Nygaard Knudsen (February 25) – Toy designer. Developed the figurines that have been featured in LEGO sets since 1978. Those figurines have since appeared in adapted media such as video games, movies and television, like LEGO City Adventures.

 

Betsy Byars (February 26) – Writer. Her books The Winged Colt and Trouble River were adapted into episodes of ABC Weekend Specials.

 

Al Budnick (February 29) – Animator. Worked as a background artist on an episode of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie and Jeannie; layout artist on The All-New Super Friends Hour, Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics, Casper and the Angels and The Dukes; color background stylist on Camp Candy; and key background artist on Garfield and Friends.

 

Luis Alfonso Mendoza (February 29) – Actor. Provided the Latin America dubs for Winston in Thomas and Friends; Winston Zeddemore in The Real Ghostbusters; Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) and his appearances in the 2012 version; Daniel LaRusso in Karate Kid: The Animated Series; Barney Rubble in Flintstone Kids; Newton in Ned’s Newt; Daffy Duck, including Duck Dodgers; Dr. Stable and Ponet Fantastique Director in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic; Octagon Vreedle in the Ben 10 franchise including Omniverse; and GoiGoi in The Lion Guard.

 

David Wise (March 3) – Writer. He worked on Star Trek: The Animated Series, The Secrets of Isis, Space Sentinels, The New Archie/Sabrina Hour, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, Godzilla (1978), The Smurfs, The Biskitts, The Mighty Orbots, Kissyfur, Jem, Cyber COPS, Batman: The Animated Series and Wild C.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams. In addition to writing for, he also served as story editor on Space Stars, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Conan and the Young Warriors, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) and Mighty Ducks.

 

Curtis Cim (March 10) – Animator. Worked as a character designer for The World’s Greatest SuperFriends, The Super Globetrotters, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, Laverne & Shirley in the Army, Super Friends (1981) and The Dukes; layout artist on Godzilla (1978) and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids; storyboard artist on Pinky and the Brain, Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain, Xiaolin Showdown, Ozzy & Drix, Static Shock, Loonatics Unleashed, Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! and Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps.

 

William Balash (March 12) – Grip. Worked on “The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin” episode of ABC Weekend Specials.

 

Stuart Whitman (March 16) – Actor. Voiced Mule Morgan in an episode of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.

 

Roman Arambula (March 19) – Artist. He got his start in animation at Gamma Productions, working on the various Jay Ward Productions and Total TeleVision productions series that originated from there. Later, he provided layouts for Scooby Doo, Where Are You!, Josie and the Pussycats, Help!...It’s the Hair Bear Bunch!, The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, The Roman Holidays, Jeannie and Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch. He did storyboards for Little Shop, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, The Addams Family (1992), Droopy: Master Detective, Madeline, Taz-Mania, Pinky and the Brain, The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries and 101 Dalmatians: The Series. He also provided art for six issues of Marvel Comics’ Laff-a-Lympics comic series.

 

Bill Wolf (March 24) – Animator, director and producer. Worked as a storyboard artist on The Get Along Gang; animation director for Alvin & the Chipmunks (1983); animation timer for Aaahh!! Real Monsters and Rugrats; did lip assignment for All Grown Up!; and wrote, produced, was a supervising director and animation director for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987).

 

Frederick “Curly” Neal (March 26) – Professional basketball player. He played 22 seasons with the Harlem Globetrotters from 1963-85 and was the team’s featured ballhandler. His name and likeness were used in the Hanna-Barbera Productions cartoons Harlem Globetrotters, The New Scooby-Doo Movies and The Super Globetrotters; although his voice was done by professional actor Stu Gilliam. He also appeared with the rest of his team in the live-action Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine.

 

David Schramm (March 28) – Actor. Played Bellerophon in an episode of Hercules: The Animated Series.

 

Beryl Bernay (March 29) – Actor, journalist, photographer, painter and show creator. Appeared as Betty in an episode of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.

 

Julie Bennett (March 31) – Actor. Known as the long-time voice of Cindy Bear, Yogi Bear’s girlfriend, which included appearances in Yogi’s Gang, Laff-A-Lympics, and Yogi’s Treasure Hunt. She also portrayed a fisherman’s wife, a little princess and Princess Irene in episodes of The Bullwinkle Show; the second voice of Lois Lane in The New Adventures of Superman; Wonder Girl in the Teen Titans portions of Aquaman; Lady Constance and Queen Anne in The Banana Splits Adventure Hour; Kitty Jo and Chessie in Cattanooga Cats; Monica in Dinky Dog, which began as part of The All-New Popeye Hour; Boo in The Mighty Orbots; reporter Cynthia Crawford in two episodes of The Real Ghostbusters; and was the second voice of May Parker in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. She also provided voices for Jeannie, The Funky Phantom, Fred Flintstone and Friends, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, The Little Rascals (1982), The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show, and Garfield and Friends.

 

Honor Blackman (April 6) – Actor. Best known for her turn as a Bond girl and as one of the Avengers (the British ones), she also played Mrs. Medlock in “The Secret Garden” episode of ABC Weekend Specials.

 

Victor A. Young (April 8) – Actor. Appeared as the headmaster in “The Perfect School” two-parter of Goosebumps and voiced King Glaucus, 2^nd Brigand and the king’s prophet in an episode of Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend.

 

Saul Turtletaub (April 9) – Producer and writer. Wrote for The Shari Lewis Show.

 

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Diane Rodriguez (April 10) – Actor. Served as a cultural advisor for Elena of Avalor.

 

Paul Haddad (April 11) – Actor. Among his various roles, he played Quicksilver and Arkon in X-Men: The Animated Series, Willy in Free Willy, Theseus and a fisherman in Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend, Shrimplips in Medabots, and Burford and Mr. Needlenose in Flying Rhino Junior High. He also provided additional voices for Wish Kid and Tales From the Cryptkeeper.

 

Keiji Fujiwara (April 12) – Actor. Provided the Japanese dubs for Fred Deadman in Toonsylvania, Spellbinder in Batman Beyond, Stu Pickles in The Rugrats Movie, Pongo in Disney’s House of Mouse, Ragdoll in The Batman, Traximus in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) and Grimlock in Transformers: Animated.

 

Danny Goldman (April 12) – Actor. Primarily an on-screen actor, Goldman supplied the voice for Brainy Smurf in Hanna-Barbera’s original Smurfs productions (and a couple of parodies after) and Sam Giddell in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series.

 

S. Ann Sullivan (April 13) – Animator. Worked as a painter on The All-New Super Friends Hour.

 

Bonnie Brooks (April 15) – Actor. Provided additional voices for The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3.

 

Nick Rijgersberg (April 20) – Animator. He was the assistant animation director on The Raccoons and the overseas supervisor for Conan: The Adventurer.

 

Dimitri Diatchenko (April 21) – Actor. Voiced Vulko, Lead Knight and Lone Knight in two episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012).

 

Bruce Allpress (April 23) – Actor. Played Master Phant/The Elephant Ranger on Power Rangers Jungle Fury.

 

Cesar Romero (April 23) – Prop maker. Made puppets for an episode of The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police and special props for an episode of SpongeBob Squarepants.

 

Rob Gibbs (April 24) – Writer, artist, animator and director. Storyboarded two episodes of Life with Louie.

 

Bobby Lewis (April 28) – Musician. Made two appearances on American Bandstand playing his hit songs.

 

Michael Keenan (April 30) – Actor. Voiced several minor characters in three episodes of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and a professor and Conan McNulty in two episodes of Rugrats.

 

Allen Stewart-Coates (May 3) – Actor. Voiced Gus in Ned’s Newt, Ares in Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend and Voltaire and a flight attendant in Beyblade. He also provided voices for RoboCop (1988), Piggsburg Pigs!

 

Richard Wayne Penniman, a.k.a. Little Richard (May 9) – Singer, songwriter and musician hailed as one of the “Founding Fathers of Rock”. He had made appearances on American Bandstand, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures and Sesame Street, and the music he wrote was featured in The Beatles (“Long Tall Sally”) and The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper (“Casper the Friendly Ghost”). He also composed the theme for the original Magic School Bus.

 

Martin Pasko (May 10) – Writer and editor. Along with a notable stint in comic books, including working on DC Comics’ first Batman Adventures series and Marvel Comics’ Gargoyles, he wrote episodes of Thundarr the Barbarian, Blackstar, Goldie Gold and Action Jack, The Incredible Hulk (1982), Mister T, The Berenstain Bears, Teen Wolf (1986), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), Superman (1988), Batman: The Animated Series (including the film Mask of the Phantasm), and The Tick (1994). He also served as a story editor for the second season of Thundarr, Batman: The Animated Series, and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, which he also helped develop.

 

Jerry Stiller (May 11) - Actor and comedian. Probably best known as half of the comedy duo Stiller & Meara, Frank Costanza from Seinfeld, or Arthur Spooner from King of Queens, depending on what generation you’re from. But, on Saturday morning, he was an eagle in an episode of Hercules: The Animated Series and Pretty Boy in Teacher’s Pet.

 

Dominic Orlando (May 14) – Artist. Did storyboards for Rugrats, Digimon: Digital Monsters and SpongeBob SquarePants.

 

Fred Willard (May 15) – Actor and comedian. He appeared as the Award Show Host in an episode of The Weird Al Show; Mr. Brown in an episode of City Guys; Cassandra’s father Vic in several episodes of Hercules: The Animated Series; Pa Munchapper in three episodes of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command; Mt. Paulson in Teamo Supremo; Ross Darren and a speedway announcer in two different episodes of The Batman; Swindle in Transformers: Animated; Grandpa Murphy in Milo Murphy’s Law; and Pop-Pop in The Loud House. He also provided voices for The Emperor’s New School and appeared with his comedy troupe, Ace Trucking Company, in the 1974 ABC Funshine Saturday Sneak Peak preview special.

 

Patricia Blackburn (May 26) – Animator. Worked as an animation checker on Heathcliff (1981), Thundarr the Barbarian, The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show and Goldie Gold and Action Jack.

 

Mark Glamack (May 29) – Animator. Worked on The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour, CB Bears, The All-New Super Friends Hour, Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics, Yogi’s Space Race, Challenge of the Superfriends, Godzilla (1978), The New Fred and Barney Show, Spider-Woman, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Heathcliff (1980), Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) and Life with Louie.

 

Bob Kulick (May 29) – Musician and record producer, known for his work with KISS and W.A.S.P. Composed, produced and performed “Sweet Victory” in the “Band Geeks” episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, which was later included on the series’ The Yellow Album.

 

Michael Angelis (May 30) – Actor. The longest-serving narrator for the Thomas the Tank Engine series, assuming the role from Ringo Starr in 1991 until 2012.

 

Jim Finch (May 31) – Animation checker and continuity coordinator for The Fonz and the Hapy Days Gang, Darkwing Duck, The Little Mermaid, Goof Troop, Raw Toonage, Aladdin, Gargoyles, Timon & Pumbaa, Jungle Cubs, Nightmare Ned, Pepper Ann, 101 Dalmatians: The Series, Hercules: The Animated Series, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and Teamo Supremo. Also served as associate producer on Pole Position.

 

Mary Pat Gleason (June 2) – Actor. Appeared as Madame Oeuf in an episode of Saved by the Bell.

 

Dan Danglo (June 6) – Artist. Was a story director for Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, provided layouts for Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling and storyboards for Taz-Mania.

 

Dennis J. “Denny” O’Neil (June 11) – Comic book writer and editor. His work on the Batman family of books is particularly notable, forming the foundation on which many future writers would build their stories on and some of which would be adapted into other media. He was involved in the creation of numerous characters that would go on to appear on Saturday morning; including Ra’s al Ghul, Talia al Ghul, the League of Assassins, Anthony Lupus, Professor Ojo, Lady Shiva, Green Lantern John Stewart, Dr. Leslie Thompkins, Maxie Zeus and the “Matches Malone” identity for Batman for DC Comics, and Calypso, Lady Deathstrike, Hydro-Man and Madame Web for Marvel Comics. A caricature of him known as The Perfesser was featured in the original Batman Adventures comic series.

 

Mel Winkler (June 11) – Actor. Reprised his role of Inspector Henderson from Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in an episode of Superman: The Animated Series and played Lucius Fox in The New Batman Adventures.

 

William Dennis Hunt (June 14) – Actor. Lent his voice to an episode of Bobby’s World.

 

Robert Newton Peck (June 23) – Author. Wrote three books adapted into episodes of ABC Weekend Specials: Soup and Me, Soup for President and Mr. Little.

 

William F. Phillips (June 24) – Producer and executive. Served as the executive in charge of production for Saved by the Bell (1989) and Gravedale High.

 

Kelly Asbury (June 26) – Artist and director. Worked on storyboards for The Littles at the beginning of his career.

 

Carl Reiner (June 29) – Comedian, actor, writer, producer, director and publisher. More known for his various television shows and movies, the legendary funnyman has lent his voice to a few projects. Among them was Prometheus in an episode of Hercules: The Animated Series, Santa Claus in an episode of The Penguins of Madagascar and Shimmer and Shine, Captain Treasure Tooth in Jake and the Never Land Pirates, and the wizard Shazam in an episode of Justice League Action.

 

Danilo Tolentino (July 16) – Artist. Worked on storyboards for X-Men: The Animated Series and Avengers: United They Stand.

 

Jacek Czyż (July 24) – Film, theater and dubbing actor. He provided the Polish dubs for Chief Quimby in Inspector Gadget; a giant in Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears; Lord Stoneheart in The Care Bears; minor characters in two episodes of DuckTales; Taz, Yellow street cat, Arnold, Eagle and Dr. Hi IQ in episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures; several minor characters in episodes of Tom and Jerry Kids; Randy in an episode of Back to the Future; Maximilian Zeus in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series; several characters in Eek! The Cat including General Galapagos, Big Foot, Junk, Professor Wiggly and leader of the live potatoes; Ace of Hearts in Dog City; Captain Mel, a dictator and a director in episodes of Animaniacs; Rosey’s father and Grandpa Rosey in Little Rosey; several minor characters in episodes of Life with Louie; Beast and Mysterio in Spider-Man: The Animated Series; Captain Albatross in an episode of Aladdin; Rafiki in Timon and Pumbaa and The Lion Guard; several minor roles in episodes of The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries and Pinky and the Brain; Byzonius in Freakazoid!; Kurt Bowman in an episode of Superman: The Animated Series; Fatso in Casper; Henry in Sesame Street; Skinner, Jeffrey, Mr. Lasalle and Streak in Reccess; Mr, Rudetski in an episode of X-Men: Evolution; Colonel Trabajl in Gadget and the Gadgetinis; Spirit of Honor, Family and Tradition in Mucha Lucha; Father Rekuta in Yu-Gi-Oh!; and General Grievous in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He also provided voices for The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, Doug, The Addams Family, Dumb and Dumber and Cubix.

 

Regis Philbin (July 24) – Media personality, actor, singer, talk show and game show host. Known as “the hardest working man in show business”, he earned the Guinness World Record for most time spent on American television. Part of that time was as Typhon in an episode of Hercules: The Animated Series and himself in Lilo & Stitch: The Series.

 

Gordon Masten (July 26) – Actor. Played Big Mouth Koopa in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World; Rembrandt in Piggsburg Pigs!; Chauncey in Saban’s Adventures of the Little Mermaid; and Skin Man in Swamp Thing (1990). He also provided voices for Star Wars: Droids and RoboCop (1988).

 

Tom Pollock (August 1) – Producer and studio executive. Served as an executive producer on Alienators: Evolution Continues.

 

James L. Aicholtz (August 16) – Sound engineer. Worked as a mixer on ABC Weekend Specials, Dragon’s Lair, Mister T, Alvin & the Chipmunks (1983), Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), Darkwing Duck, The Addams Family (1992), The Pirates of Dark Water, Droopy: Master Detective and the Saved by the Bell film, Hawaiian Style.

 

Ben Cross (August 18) – Actor. Played Dr. Mindstrong in the Space Heroes show within a show from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012).

 

Allan Rich (August 22) – Actor. Played "King" Barlowe in an episode of The New Batman Adventures.

 

Joe Ruby (August 26) – Animator, editor, writer and producer. He worked for Hanna-Barbera Productions, where he co-created Scooby-Doo with his partner, Ken Spears. He also did work for Krofft Television Productions and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises before ABC set them up with their own studio, Ruby-Spears Productions.

 The shows he worked on include Space Ghost, The Herculoids, The Adventures of Gulliver, Cattanooga Cats, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Help!...It’s the Hair Bear Bunch, The Funky Phantom, The Barkleys, The Houndcats, Bailey’s Comets, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, Jabberjaw, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Wonderbug, Magic Mondo, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Bigfoot and Wildboy, ABC Weekend Specials (episodes), Fangface, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, Heathcliff (1980), Thundarr the Barbarian, Goldie Gold and Action Jack, The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour, Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, The Puppy’s Further Adventures, Saturday Supercade, Rubik, The Amazing Cube, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Dragon’s Lair, Turbo Teen, Mister T, It’s Punky Brewster, Lazer Tag Academy, Superman (1988), Dink, the Little Dinosaur, Piggsburg Pigs!, and Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa.

 

Norm Spencer (August 31) – Actor. Best known as Cyclops, aka Scott Summers, in X-Men: The Animated Series and Spider-Man: The Animated Series. He was also Drax in Silver Surfer, Hades in Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend, and Billy Blazes in Rescue Heroes, and provided voices for Piggsburg Pigs! and Ultraforce.

 

Sue C. Nichols (September 1) – Artist. Served as a model designer on Muppet Babies (1986).

 

Cathy Zar (September 1) – Animator. Worked on “The Puppy’s Amazing Rescue” and “The Trouble With Miss Switch” episodes of ABC Weekend Specials.

 

Jim Janes (September 4) – Artist. He worked as a character designer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) and Swamp Thing: The Animated Series; storyboard artist for Ninja Turtles, Peter Pan and the Pirates, Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men: The Animated Series, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Biker Mice From Mars (1994) and Sherlock Holmes in the 22^nd Century; and a prop designer for The Karate Kid: The Series.

 

Michael Dean Jacobs (September 11) – Actor. Appeared as Al in an episode of Big Bad Beetleborgs.

 

Phil Walsh (September 30) – Writer and producer. Wrote and produced for Recess and Teamo Supremo and wrote for Beakman’s World, House of Mouse and Pound Puppies (2010).

 

Donald Douglas (October 3) – Editor. Worked on Space Ghost and Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor.

 

Conchata Ferrell (October 12) - Actor. Played Aunt Jill in the “Runaway Ralph” episode of ABC Weekend Specials, Williamina Bubask in an episode of The Mask, Simpah in an episode of Aaahh!! Real Monsters, Ma Munchapper in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and Dr. Greer in an episode of The Zeta Project.

 

Martin Strudler (October 15) – Artist. Worked on character designs for Lidsville; layouts for Doctor Dolittle (1970), The Houndcats and Bailey’s Comets; storyboards for Dungeons & Dragons; backgrounds for Dungeons & Dragons, Muppet Babies (1984), Jim Henson’s Little Muppet Monsters, Rude Dog and the Dweebs, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs (1993), Freakazoid!, The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries and Pinky & the Brain; and as a graphic designer on Baggy Pants & the Nitwits, What’s New, Mr. Magoo?, The All-New Pink Panther Show.

 

Alan Barzman (October 21) – Actor. Provided the voice of Herb the penguin on Beakman’s World.

 

Dorris Bergstrom (October 24) – Animator. Worked on U.S. of Archie, The New Tom & Jerry Show and The Flintstone Comedy Show.

 

Leanza Cornett (October 28) – Actor. Played Carol in an episode of Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

 

Linda Lutz (October 28) – Actor. Appeared as Nurse Schmeckman in an episode of California Dreams. She also provided a voice for an episode of Bobby’s World.

 

Hana Kukal (November 5) – Animator. Worked on The Raccoons and Rupert, and also did storyboards for Max & Ruby and Pound Puppies (2010).

 

Ken Spears (November 6) – Writer, editor and producer. He worked for Hanna-Barbera Productions, where he co-created Scooby-Doo with his partner, Joe Ruby. He also did work for Krofft Television Productions and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises before ABC set them up with their own studio, Ruby-Spears Productions.

 The shows he worked on include Space Ghost, The Herculoids, The Adventures of Gulliver, Cattanooga Cats, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Harlem Globetrotters, Help!...It’s the Hair Bear Bunch, The Barkleys, The Houndcats, Bailey’s Comets, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, Jabberjaw, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Wonderbug, Magic Mondo, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Bigfoot and Wildboy, ABC Weekend Specials (episodes), Fangface, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, Heathcliff (1980), Thundarr the Barbarian, Goldie Gold and Action Jack, The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour, Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, The Puppy’s Further Adventures, Saturday Supercade, Rubik, The Amazing Cube, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Dragon’s Lair, Turbo Teen, Mister T, It’s Punky Brewster, Lazer Tag Academy, Superman (1988), Dink, the Little Dinosaur, Piggsburg Pigs!, and Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa.

 

Norm Crosby (November 7) – Actor and comedian. Voiced Mr. Hayman in two episodes of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.

 

Alex Trebek (November 8) – Game show host, best known for his 36-year stint as the host of Jeopardy! He also made appearances as himself om episodes of The Weird Al Show and Pepper Ann, as well as Alan Quebec in an episode of Rugrats.

 

David Hemblen (November 16) – Actor. Played Magneto in X-Men: The Animated Series; the Vaultkeeper and several minor roles in the second season of Tales from the Cryptkeeper; Baron DeKlaus in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective; The Supreme Intelligence and Husserl in Silver Surfer; Mack Salmon in an episode of The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police; and Hephaestus, a royal hunter and a villager in Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend. He also provided additional voices for WildC.A.T.S.: Covert Action Teams and The NeverEnding Story (1995).

 

Kirby Morrow (November 18) – Actor. Played Van Fanel in Escaflowne; Zadam in B.R.A.T.S. of the Lost Nebula; Redline in NASCAR Racers; Jimmy Woo in Action Man; Cyclops/Scott Summers in X-Men: Evolution; Dr. Ira Kane in Alienators: Evolution Continues; ElecMan and Dave in MegaMan: NT Warrior; Champ Bear in Care Bears: Adventures in Care-A-Lot; and Cole and several minor roles in LEGO Ninjago. He also provided voices for Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!

 

Nancy Lane (November 20) – Animator. Worked on Schoolhouse Rock!, Doug and 101 Dalmatians: The Series.

 

Dena Dietrich (November 21) – Actor. Played the Countess in an episode of The Ghost Busters, Marcia Giddings in an episode of Space Academy, Umbra in an episode of The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, Stormfront in an episode of The Flintstone Comedy Show, and Norma Deathman and additional voices in The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries. She also provided voices for CBS Storybreak and Gravedale High.

 

Malcolm Marmorstein (November 21) – Writer. Wrote several episodes of CBS Storybreak and ABC Weekend Specials.

 

David Dinkins (November 23) – 106^th Mayor of New York City. He made an appearance on a 1991 episode of Sesame Street.

 

Daria Nicolodi (November 26) – Actor and writer. Provided the narration and voice of Queen Camillia for the Italian version of Saban’s Adventures of the Little Mermaid.

 

Victoria Racimo (November 29) – Actor. Appeared as Star Fire, Painted Bear’s wife in the “Tales of the Nunundaga” episode of ABC Weekend Specials.

 

Lester Pourier (December 2) – Animator. Worked on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Josie and the Pussycats, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, ABC Weekend Specials, Heathcliff (1980), The Smurfs and Garfield and Friends.

 

David Lander (December 4) – Actor. Best known as Andrew “Squiggy” Squiggman from Laverne & Shirley, he also had an extensive career in voice acting as well as additional roles on screen. He starred as Jerry Lewis in Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down; Milo De Venus in Galaxy High School; Arthur in Jungle Cubs; and Horace Badun in 101 Dalmatians: The Series. He guest-starred as Jud in the “Gidget Makes a Wrong Connection” episode of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie; Nitro in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series; Da Shrimp in The Little Mermaid: The Animated Series; Filth #1 in an episode of The Tick (1994); Sqweek in two episodes of Superman: The Animated Series; a miner on an episode of The Weird Al Show; Leonard Weems in Recess; and Donnie in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. He also provided additional voices for ProStars, Tom & Jerry Kids Show and Camp Candy.

 

Bev Bergeron (December 5) – Magician and comedian. He portrayed the silent Rebo the Clown on The Magic Land of Allakazam.

 

Brendan McKane (December 29) – Actor. Voiced Deputy Chief O’Malley in an episode of The Real Ghostbusters.

 

Brenda Banks (December 30) – Animator. Worked on The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, The Smurfs, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, Tiny Toon Adventures, Gravedale High, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures, The Pirates of Dark Water and Tom & Jerry Kids Show.

 

Dawn Wells (December 30) – Actor and producer. Best known as Mary Ann Summers from the Gilligan’s Island franchise, she would reprise the role and assume that of Ginger Grant for Filmation’s second animated spin-off, Gilligan’s Planet. She was unable to do so for the first, The New Adventures of Gilligan, due to being in a play at the time of production.

 

Virginia S. Ellsworth (????) – Music and sound editor. Worked on Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling.