Ok first off you might be asking why I am writing about an episode of a TV show on a blog called Forgotten and Overlooked Films. This is because I think episodes of TV shows are films. People say there are such things as made for TV films. These are of course future length movies made for TV. However feature films aren't the only type of films. Short films exist too. These include some long running series such as Looney Tunes, Three Stooges, Tom and Jerry, Our Gang, Popeye, Mickey Mouse, etc., all of which were made for theaters. However it seems strange to me that a Looney Tunes cartoon can be called a film yet an episode of the Huckleberry Hound show not be considered such, when a film can be made for TV as well. The fact that this is a completely nonsensical rule, has convinced me that each episode of a TV show is in fact a short film. This is my belief and I'm sticking to it. So with that settled, let's get on to the film at hand.
Hanna-Barbera made so many TV shows that it is no shocker that while they made so made so many shows that are remembered extremely fondly by so many, they also made some that have faded into obscurity. Space Kidetts is one of those shows. Okay, technically half a show. This series was paired with another Hanna-Barbera series called Young Samson to make half an hour of TV. This is an interesting pairing considering that Young Samson was more serious, while Space Kidetts was more comedic. However both are worth checking out for cartoon fans.
The premise of the series involves a group of kids in the future. These kids have a treasure map that the rotten Captain Skyhook and his sidekick Static, want to get their hands on. However since the kidetts are kids, Skyhook doesn't want to hurt them, just to rob them. Static doesn't understand this and come up with schemes that are too gruesome for Skyhook to hear. This specific episode begins when the kidetts hear that their TV hero, Space Hero, could give certain young fans a visit. However Skyhook hears this as well and visits the kids in a Space Hero costume. The kids are not fooled for a second and neither is the real Space Hero, when he actually appears at the kidetts' clubhouse.
This film was done when William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, where still directing nearly all their studio's TV output. Around the 1970's they would only direct a few series while other directors like Ray Patterson, Alex Lovy and Charles Nicholas. Speaking of Charles Nicholas, he served as this series' animation director. Most of the series' voice artists will be familiar to many Hanna-Barbera fans. Daws Butler (Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw Mc Graw, Mr. Jinx, and many more) voiced Captain Skyhook and Static. Janet Waldo (Judy Jetson, Josie, Wilma's Mother, Penelope Pitstop) voiced Jenny (one of the kidettes). Don Messick (Scooby-Doo, Boo Boo, Bamm-Bamm, Papa Smurf, Ranger Smith, Astro, Mr. Peebles, and many more) voiced Countdown (one of the kidetts) and Pupstar (the kidetts' dog). Lucille Bliss (Smurfette) voice Snoopy (not the famous dog but one of the kidetts). Less familiar to Hanna-Barbera fans is Chris Allen (though he did voice a mouse in the studio's made for TV feature Jack and the Beanstalk) who voiced another kidett, Scooter.
The premise of the series involves a group of kids in the future. These kids have a treasure map that the rotten Captain Skyhook and his sidekick Static, want to get their hands on. However since the kidetts are kids, Skyhook doesn't want to hurt them, just to rob them. Static doesn't understand this and come up with schemes that are too gruesome for Skyhook to hear. This specific episode begins when the kidetts hear that their TV hero, Space Hero, could give certain young fans a visit. However Skyhook hears this as well and visits the kids in a Space Hero costume. The kids are not fooled for a second and neither is the real Space Hero, when he actually appears at the kidetts' clubhouse.
This film was done when William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, where still directing nearly all their studio's TV output. Around the 1970's they would only direct a few series while other directors like Ray Patterson, Alex Lovy and Charles Nicholas. Speaking of Charles Nicholas, he served as this series' animation director. Most of the series' voice artists will be familiar to many Hanna-Barbera fans. Daws Butler (Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw Mc Graw, Mr. Jinx, and many more) voiced Captain Skyhook and Static. Janet Waldo (Judy Jetson, Josie, Wilma's Mother, Penelope Pitstop) voiced Jenny (one of the kidettes). Don Messick (Scooby-Doo, Boo Boo, Bamm-Bamm, Papa Smurf, Ranger Smith, Astro, Mr. Peebles, and many more) voiced Countdown (one of the kidetts) and Pupstar (the kidetts' dog). Lucille Bliss (Smurfette) voice Snoopy (not the famous dog but one of the kidetts). Less familiar to Hanna-Barbera fans is Chris Allen (though he did voice a mouse in the studio's made for TV feature Jack and the Beanstalk) who voiced another kidett, Scooter.
This show is simple and very charming. It may not be the funniest thing the studio had ever done, but it makes up for that in it's simple charm.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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