Drak Pack
Encyclopedia
Drak Pack was an animated
television series. It aired in the United States
on CBS
Saturday Morning between September 6, 1980 and September 12, 1982. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera
's Australia
n subsidiary, listed in the credits as "Hanna-Barbera Pty. Ltd". A total of 16 episodes were made.
), Frankie and Howler (both voiced by William Callaway), descendants of Dracula
, Frankenstein's monster
and a werewolf
. To atone for their ancestors' wrongdoings, the three, united as the Drak Pack, became superhero
es.
They appeared initially as normal humans, but when they put their hands together and shouted "Whack-o!" (called the Drak Whack) they would transform into a vampire
, a monster and a werewolf, respectively. Drak's powers included flight
, telekinesis
, and the ability to change shape
. Unlike most cartoon vampires, Drak was able to assume a variety of forms, although he did favor the customary bat
. Frankie had superhuman strength and could release electrical charges. Howler had an ultrasonic howl and super-breath, apparently an homage to the Big Bad Wolf
of The Three Little Pigs
. Oddly, even in human form, they called each other by the same names, calling into question why they had secret identities
.
Their principal mode of transport was an amphibious
flying car
called the "Drakster".
Their principal opponent was Dr. Dred, a blue-skinned evil genius, memorably voiced by Hans Conried
. Dred's henchmen, collectively known as OGRE ("The Organization for Generally Rotten Enterprises [or Endeavours]"). OGRE include the Peter Lorre
-like Toad, Fly, the massive mumbling Mummyman and Vampira. The sycophantic little Toad (a "toady"), voiced by Don Messick
, was Dr. Dred's right hand, but very often would unwittingly assist the Drak Pack. Fly, a humanoid fly
, also voiced by Messick, mostly buzzed and flew and walked on ceilings. Mummyman, a reanimated mummy
, had super-strength and could stretch his wrappings indefinitely, often using them to tie up the Drak Pack. His rather inarticulate voice was provided by Chuck McCann
. Vampira was a female vampire, with shape-shifting powers similar to Drak's and a voice like Eva Gabor
's (provided by Julie McWhirter
). She had something of an unrequited crush on Drak.
OGRE's headquarters were on an artificial island called "Dredquarters" (occasionally called "The Drednought" and "OGRE Island"). They traveled in an airship
called the "Dredgible".
When the Drak Pack needed counsel, they would turn to Drak's granduncle, Count Dracula, whom they referred to as "Big D". Alan Oppenheimer
provided his Bela Lugosi
-like voice. A constant running gag
involved Big D catching his fingers in the closing lid of his coffin as he signed off.
The series had a lighthearted, somewhat satirical tone. The dialogue was rather sophisticated for a Saturday morning cartoon of its time, and made use of alliteration
, rhyming, colorfully-turned phrases and pop culture references. This was most visible in Drak, Jr's regular homages to Get Smart
, including regular use of "the old (fill in the blank) trick".
Drak Pack had a similar premise to a live action
series, Monster Squad
, which had aired a few years earlier. There has been speculation that Drak Pack drew its inspiration from this series. However, one could also argue that both series were inspired by the ten years earlier Groovie Goolies
series.
released Drak Pack: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only) on February 5, 2008. On September 6, 2011, VEI (distributed by Millennium Entertainment
) will release the complete series on DVD in the US.
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
television series. It aired in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
Saturday Morning between September 6, 1980 and September 12, 1982. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
's Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n subsidiary, listed in the credits as "Hanna-Barbera Pty. Ltd". A total of 16 episodes were made.
Premise
The series centred around three young men (apparently in their late teens): Drak (called Drak Jr. in the opening segment, but almost never in the series; voiced by Jerry DexterJerry Dexter
Jerry Dexter is a voice actor best known for voicing heroic young men in Hanna-Barbera cartoons from the 1960s to the 1980s. He is a California native...
), Frankie and Howler (both voiced by William Callaway), descendants of Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
, Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
and a werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
. To atone for their ancestors' wrongdoings, the three, united as the Drak Pack, became superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es.
They appeared initially as normal humans, but when they put their hands together and shouted "Whack-o!" (called the Drak Whack) they would transform into a vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
, a monster and a werewolf, respectively. Drak's powers included flight
Flight
Flight is the process by which an object moves either through an atmosphere or beyond it by generating lift or propulsive thrust, or aerostatically using buoyancy, or by simple ballistic movement....
, telekinesis
Psychokinesis
The term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...
, and the ability to change shape
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
. Unlike most cartoon vampires, Drak was able to assume a variety of forms, although he did favor the customary bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
. Frankie had superhuman strength and could release electrical charges. Howler had an ultrasonic howl and super-breath, apparently an homage to the Big Bad Wolf
Big Bad Wolf
The Big Bad Wolf is a term used to describe a fictional wolf who appears in several precautionary folkloric stories, including some of Aesop's Fables and Grimm's Fairy Tales.-Interpretations:...
of The Three Little Pigs
Three Little Pigs
Three Little Pigs is a fairy tale featuring anthropomorphic animals. Printed versions date back to the 1840s, but the story itself is thought to be much older...
. Oddly, even in human form, they called each other by the same names, calling into question why they had secret identities
Secret identity
A secret identity is an element of fiction wherein a character develops a separate persona , while keeping their true identity hidden. The character also may wear a disguise...
.
Their principal mode of transport was an amphibious
Amphibious vehicle
An amphibious vehicle , is a vehicle or craft, that is a means of transport, viable on land as well as on water – just like an amphibian....
flying car
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
called the "Drakster".
Their principal opponent was Dr. Dred, a blue-skinned evil genius, memorably voiced by Hans Conried
Hans Conried
Hans Georg Conried, Jr. was an American comedian, character actor and voice actor.-Early years:He was born on April 15, 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland to Hans Georg Conried, Sr. and Edith Beyr Gildersleeve. His mother was a descendant of Pilgrims, and his father was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna,...
. Dred's henchmen, collectively known as OGRE ("The Organization for Generally Rotten Enterprises [or Endeavours]"). OGRE include the Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
-like Toad, Fly, the massive mumbling Mummyman and Vampira. The sycophantic little Toad (a "toady"), voiced by Don Messick
Don Messick
Donald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....
, was Dr. Dred's right hand, but very often would unwittingly assist the Drak Pack. Fly, a humanoid fly
Fly
True flies are insects of the order Diptera . They possess a pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax...
, also voiced by Messick, mostly buzzed and flew and walked on ceilings. Mummyman, a reanimated mummy
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
, had super-strength and could stretch his wrappings indefinitely, often using them to tie up the Drak Pack. His rather inarticulate voice was provided by Chuck McCann
Chuck McCann
Chuck McCann is a film actor, television actor, stage actor, and a voice actor from Brooklyn, New York.-Early career:...
. Vampira was a female vampire, with shape-shifting powers similar to Drak's and a voice like Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor was a Hungarian-born socialite and actress. She was widely known for her role on Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, Duchess in the 1970 Disney film The Aristocats, and Miss Bianca in Disney's The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under...
's (provided by Julie McWhirter
Julie McWhirter
Julie McWhirter is an Indiana-born voice actress and impressionist best known for her work as Kanga in "Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore". Her voice acting also includes numerous Hanna-Barbera cartoons, such as Jeannie, Jabberjaw, Casper and the Angels, Drak Pack and The Smurfs...
). She had something of an unrequited crush on Drak.
OGRE's headquarters were on an artificial island called "Dredquarters" (occasionally called "The Drednought" and "OGRE Island"). They traveled in an airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
called the "Dredgible".
When the Drak Pack needed counsel, they would turn to Drak's granduncle, Count Dracula, whom they referred to as "Big D". Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
provided his Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
-like voice. A constant running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
involved Big D catching his fingers in the closing lid of his coffin as he signed off.
The series had a lighthearted, somewhat satirical tone. The dialogue was rather sophisticated for a Saturday morning cartoon of its time, and made use of alliteration
Alliteration
In language, alliteration refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of Three or more words or phrases. Alliteration has historically developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to...
, rhyming, colorfully-turned phrases and pop culture references. This was most visible in Drak, Jr's regular homages to Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
, including regular use of "the old (fill in the blank) trick".
Drak Pack had a similar premise to a live action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
series, Monster Squad
Monster Squad
Monster Squad is a television series that aired Saturday mornings on NBC from 1976-1977 that is unrelated to the later movie of the same name....
, which had aired a few years earlier. There has been speculation that Drak Pack drew its inspiration from this series. However, one could also argue that both series were inspired by the ten years earlier Groovie Goolies
Groovie Goolies
Groovie Goolies is an American animated television show that had its original run on network television between 1970 and 1972. Produced by Filmation, Groovie Goolies was a spinoff of Sabrina the Teenage Witch...
series.
DVD releases
Visual EntertainmentVisual Entertainment
Visual Entertainment Inc. is a home video/television distribution company that is based in Toronto, Ontario Canada. It is an independent label but has managed to release quite a few well-known TV series on DVD.-Children:* The Big Adventure Series...
released Drak Pack: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only) on February 5, 2008. On September 6, 2011, VEI (distributed by Millennium Entertainment
Millennium Entertainment
Led by CEO Bill Lee, Millennium Entertainment is a leading independent supplier that acquires and distributes feature films, television series and specialty programming...
) will release the complete series on DVD in the US.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Region 1 (CAN) | Region 1 (US) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drak Pack: The Complete Series | 16 | February 5, 2008 | September 6, 2011 |