Wednesday, August 15, 2018

From Comics to Toons: An episode+ of Heathcliff & Marmaduke (1981)

In 1981, Ruby-Spears, as we indicated yesterday, had been sold by Filmways to Taft Entertainment, making it a sister company to Hanna-Barbera. In reformatting Heathcliff by making Brad Anderson's great dane, Marmaduke, 'Cliff's new co-star (Dingbat & The Creeps was cancelled after 1 season), R-S reached back to the 60's by putting the headline star, Heathcliff, in this case, in the middle feature.

The Dailymotion poster who provided this video added an extra short, to replace the commercials.

1. "Kitty Sitter": Marmaduke rescues four kittens from a condemned building in the midst of demolition. The kitties appear to be orphaned, and thus follow Marmaduke home.

2. "New Kit on The Block": Heathcliff (Mel Blanc)  recalls his first days in the neighborhood.

3.  "Babysitting Shenanigans". The title speaks for itself. I should note the first two Marmaduke shorts are in reverse order.

4. "Barking For Dollars" is a quasi-remake of an old Jetsons cartoon. Seems someone thinks Marmaduke is their dog. I'm sure you'll figure out which Jetsons episode I am thinking of.

Paul Winchell provides Marmaduke's vocal effects, in addition to voicing Phil Winslow.



Unfortunately, the series was cancelled, with Marmaduke another one year wonder. R-S' other freshman entry for ABC, Goldie Gold & Action Jack, which we featured yesterday, met the same fate. Heathcliff, of course, would return two years later at DIC, and you'd think that despite the live-action movie bombing out a few years ago, Marmaduke would be worth bringing back, along with 'Cliff.

Rating: B.

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