Harlem Globetrotters - The 1970s animated series
Harlem Globetrotters is a 1970s cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera studios and CBS Productions, featuring animated versions of players from the basketball team of the same name.
Aired from September 12, 1970 to October 16, 1971 on CBS Saturday Morning, repeated from September 10, 1972 to May 20, 1973 on CBS Sunday Morning, and subsequently re-broadcast from February 4 to September 2, 1978 on NBC as The Go-Go Globetrotters . Show team members included Meadowlark Lemon, Freddie "Curly" Neal, Hubert "Geese" Ausbie, JC "Gip" Gipson, Bobby Joe Mason and Paul "Pablo" Robertson, all in animated form, along with their fictional bus driver. and manager Granny. and their dog mascot Dribbles.
The series tells of the basketball team that travels somewhere and usually gets involved in a local conflict, which leads one of the Globetrotters to propose a basketball game to solve the problem. To ensure the defeat of the Globetrotters, the bad guys organize the race; however, before the second half of the match, the team always finds a way to equalize the odds, become nearly invincible and win the match.
Characters
Meadowlark Lemon: is the team captain.
Freddie "Curly" Neal: is the bald of the team.
Hubert "Geese" Ausbie: is the athlete with the mustache.
JC "Gip" Gipson: he is the tallest and most muscular on the team.
Bobby Joe Mason: he has a complexion similar to Curly Neal.
Paul "Pablo" Robertson: he is the shortest on the team.
Granny: is the nice old lady and driver of the Harlem Globetrotters. [6]
Dribbles: is the Harlem Globetrotters' mascot dog.
Production
A total of 22 Harlem Globetrotters episodes were eventually produced: 16 for the 1970-71 season and another six for the 1971-72 season. Harlem Globetrotters has a place in history as the first Saturday morning cartoon to feature a predominantly African American cast. Filmation's The Hardy Boys was the first to feature an African American character the previous season (1969-1970) and Josie and the Pussycats (1970-1971), another Hanna-Barbera series that premiered 30 minutes earlier on the same day and network, he was the first to feature an African American female character. Like many other Saturday morning cartoons of the time, the first season used a laugh track. In the second season, the full laugh track was replaced by an inferior version created by the studio.
Following the cancellation of their show, the animated Globetrotters made three appearances on Hanna-Barbera's The New Scooby-Doo Movies in 1972 and 1973. Dribbles, who did not appear on the show, was in the theme song sequence; There were also several references made to Granny, who also did not appear on the show. Hanna-Barbera produced a second animated series starring the Globetrotters in 1979 called The Super Globetrotters, this time with the players as superheroes. In the spring of 1999, TV Land aired reruns of Harlem Globetrotters on Saturday mornings as part of its TV Land Super Retrovision Saturdaze lineup. The series hasn't been replicated since.
The series was a co-production of Hanna-Barbera and CBS Productions (one of the few animated TV series produced directly by CBS). The syndication rights were originally held by Viacom Enterprises and later by Paramount Domestic Television, previously owned by CBS as the syndication arm. They are currently held by CBS Media Ventures.
Technical data
Original title Harlem Globetrotters
Language original English
Country United States
Regia William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
Producer William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Alex Lovy (co-producer)
Music Ted Nichols, Don Kirshner (supervisor)
Studio Hanna-Barbera
Network CBS
1st TV September 12, 1970 - October 16, 1971
Episodes 22 (complete)
Episode duration 30 min
Italian network Hi Hi, Local TVs
