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Jabberjaw
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Jabberjaw was a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from September 11, 1976 to September 3, 1978 on ABC.
a great deal of Hanna-Barbera's output in the 1970s, the format and writing for Jabberjaw was similar to that for Scooby-Doo and Josie and the Pussycats. The show also drew inspiration (in the use of a shark as a character) from the overall shark mania of the 1970s and the then-recent film Jaws.
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Encyclopedia
Jabberjaw was a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from September 11, 1976 to September 3, 1978 on ABC.
Premise
Per a great deal of Hanna-Barbera's output in the 1970s, the format and writing for Jabberjaw was similar to that for Scooby-Doo and Josie and the Pussycats. The show also drew inspiration (in the use of a shark as a character) from the overall shark mania of the 1970s and the then-recent film Jaws. It also shared The Flintstones penchant for making use of puns as the names of locations, people, etc., in this case, ocean-themed puns (such as "Aqualaska" instead of Alaska).
Sixteen 30-minute episodes of Jabberjaw were produced, which aired on ABC Saturday Morning from September 11, 1976 to September 3, 1977 and rebroadcast for a second season of reruns on Sunday Morning from September 11, 1977 to September 3, 1978. In the 1980s, repeats of the kooky Carcharodon were shown on USA Cartoon Express and later resurfaced on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. For whatever reason, this is one of a number of shows made before the mid-1980s seen on the Cartoon Network and Boomerang to have been taken from PAL prints.
Plot
Jabberjaw is a great white shark who has the brain of a sardine and the courage of a guppy. He is also a drummer for The Neptunes, a rock group made up of four teenagers — Biff, Shelly, Bubbles and Clamhead — who live in an underwater civilization in the year 2076. Jabberjaw and The Neptunes travel to various underwater cities where they encounter and deal with diabolical villains who want to conquer the undersea world.
Characters
- Jabberjaw (voiced by Frank Welker) is an air-breathing great white shark whose voice and mannerisms were similar to Curly Howard of the Three Stooges. Jabberjaw found it hard to get respect in a society where "shark ejectors" (robots that would guard various buildings or cities against sharks being allowed to enter) were commonplace, prompting him to frequently utter his catchphrase (borrowed from comedian Rodney Dangerfield): "No respect!"
- Biff (voiced by Tommy Cook) is a brunette-haired young man who was the band's guitar player and level-headed leader who booked all the gigs, similar to
Scooby-Doo's Fred and Josie and the Pussycats' Alan.
- Shelly (voiced by Pat Parris) is a dark-haired young woman who played tambourine for The Neptunes. Shelly was intelligent, haughty and abrasive (similar to
Josie and the Pussycats' Alexandra) and while she held a great deal of contempt for Jabberjaw (or "blubberhead" as she would call him), she did have some fondness for him deep down and occasionally showed it. Also, she's sometimes irritated by Bubbles' idiocy.
- Bubbles (voiced by Julie McWhirter) is a blonde-haired young woman who played keyboard for The Neptunes. She was extremely ditzy and dimwitted, has a cute giggle, similar to
Josie and the Pussycats' Melody. Shelly sometimes nicknames her "Ding-a-Ling" or "Bubblehead". Her voice and mannerisms were similar to Gracie Allen, wife of George Burns. Whenever she volunteers to help, she blows it.
- Clamhead (voiced by Barry Gordon) is a young man who played bass for The Neptunes. His catchphrases were crying out "Abba-abba-abba!" and "Wowee-wow-wow-wow!" whenever he got excited. Clamhead was Jabberjaw's best friend, and bore a strong resemblance to
Scooby-Doo's Shaggy and to Josie and the Pussycats' Alexander.
Reception
As Jack Shaheen notes, the first episode of the show contains a negative racial stereotype, an oriental villain who looks similar to Fu Manchu.
Broadcast history
Original ABC broadcast:
- Telecast: ABC Saturday Morning September 11, 1976 - September 3, 1977
- Retelecast: ABC Sunday Morning September 11, 1977 - September 3, 1978
Broadcast schedules (all EDT):
- September 1976 - November 1976, ABC Saturday 9:00-9:30 am
- December 1976 - September 1977, ABC Saturday 8:30-9:00 am
- September 1977 - September 1978, ABC Sunday 10:30-11:00 am
Episodes
- JBJ-1. Dr. Lo Has Got to Go (prod. #84-1, September 11, 1976)
- JBJ-2. There's No Place Like Outer Space (#84-2, September 18, 1976)
- JBJ-3. Atlantis, Get Lost (#84-4, September 25, 1976)
- JBJ-4. Run, Jabber, Run (#84-3, October 2, 1976)
- JBJ-5. The Sourpuss Octopuss (#84-5, October 9, 1976)
- JBJ-6. Hang Onto Your Hat, Jabber (#84-6, October 16, 1976)
- JBJ-7. The Great Shark Switch (#84-7, October 23, 1976)
- JBJ-8. Claim-Jumped Jabber (#84-8, October 30, 1976)
- JBJ-9. Ali Jabber and the Secret Thieves (#84-9, November 6, 1976)
- JBJ-10. Help, Help, It's the Phantom of the Kelp (#84-10, November 13, 1976)
- JBJ-11. No Helpin' the Sculpin' (#84-11, November 20, 1976)
- JBJ-12. The Bermuda Triangle Tangle (#84-12, November 25, 1976*)
- JBJ-13. Malice in Aqualand (#84-13, November 27, 1976)
- JBJ-14. The Fast-Paced Chase Race (#84-14, December 4, 1976)
- JBJ-15. The Piranha Plot (#84-16, December 11, 1976)
- JBJ-16. There's No Heel Like El Eel (#84-15, December 18, 1976)
*Telecast at Noon (EST), Thursday afternoon, November 25, 1976, as part of ABC's Thanksgiving Funshine Festival.
Production credits
- EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: JOSEPH BARBERA AND WILLIAM HANNA
- CREATED BY: Joe Ruby AND Ken Spears
- DIRECTOR: Charles A. Nichols
- CREATIVE PRODUCER: Iwao Takamoto
- ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Alex Lovy
- STORYBOARD DIRECTION: Don Jurwich, Michael O'Connor, Paul Sommer, Kay Wright
- RECORDING DIRECTOR: Alex Lovy
- STORY EDITOR: Ray Parker
- STORY: George Atkins, Haskell Barkin, John Bates, Larz Bourne, Tom Dagenais, Robert Fisher
- VOICES: Tommy Cook, Regis Cordic, Ron Feinberg, Barry Gordon, Gay Hartwig, Hettie Lynn Hurtes, Casey Kasem, Keye Luke, Julie McWhirter, Don Messick, Pat Parris, Vic Perrin, Barney Phillips, Hal Smith, John Stephenson, Janet Waldo, Lennie Weinrib, Frank Welker
- PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR: Victor O. Schipek
- GRAPHICS: Iraj Paran
- CREATIVE DESIGN SUPERVISOR: Bob Singer
- CHARACTER DESIGN: Donna Zeller
- UNIT DIRECTOR: Volus Jones
- MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Hoyt Curtin
- MUSICAL SUPERVISOR: Paul DeKorte
- LAYOUT: Mike Arens, Dale Barnhart, Hak Ficq, C.L. Hartman, Alex Ignatiev, Ray Jacobs, Homer Jonas, Bill Lignante, Jim Mueller, Tony Rivera, Linda Rowley, Tony Sgrol, Al Wilson
- ANIMATION: Frank Andrina, Tom Barnes, Bill Carney, Rudy Cataldi, Lillian Evans, Otto Feuer, Hugh Fraser, Fernando Gonzalez, Jack Hadley, Bob Hathcock, Dan Mills, Ken Muse, Constantin Mustatea, Floyd Norman, Eduardo Olivares, Don Patterson, Tom Ray, Morey Reden, Lenn Redman, Ken Southworth, Leo Sullivan, Dick Thompson, Carlo Vinci, Russ Von Neida
- BACKGROUNDS: Fernando Arce, Fernando Montealegre, Phil Phillipson, Robert Schaefer, Marilyn Shimokochi, Dennis Venizelos
- TECHNICAL SUPERVISOR: Frank Paiker
- CHECKING AND SCENE PLANNING: Evelyn Sherwood
- INK AND PAINT SUPERVISOR: Billie Kerns
- XEROGRAPHY: Star Wirth
- SOUND DIRECTION: Bill Getty, Richard Olson
- SUPERVISING FILM EDITOR: Larry Cowan
- MUSIC EDITORS: Pat Foley, Chip Yaras
- EFFECT EDITORS: Richard Allen, Terry Moore
- NEGATIVE CONSULTANT: William E. DeBoer
- POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR: Joed Eaton
- PRODUCTION MANAGER: Jayne Barbera
- CAMERA: George Epperson, Charles Flekal, Curt Hall, Ron Jackson, Jerry Smith, Norman Stainback, Roy Wade
- A HANNA-BARBERA PRODUCTION
- © 1976 Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.
Cartoon Groovie on Boomerang
A music video (known as a Cartoon Groovie) for Jabberjaw airs on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. It showcases various clips from the show. The Punk Rock-inspired song is performed by the band Pain. To listen to the song, go here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/66870638/8b4d47f6/Jabberjaw_571_kbps.html
Yogi's Space Race (1978-79)
In 1978, Jabberjaw was featured in a new NBC Saturday morning program called Yogi's Space Race, in which he participated in intergalactic racing competitions with Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and several new characters. Jabber's racing partner was a lazy bloodhound named Buford (from The Buford Files of Buford and the Galloping Ghost).
Other appearances
Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue (1977) hosted by Roy Clark and Bonnie Franklin.
- Jabberjaw made special appearances as a guest announcer on
Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics (1977) and Scooby's All-Stars (1978).
- Jabberjaw made a guest appearance in the Adult Swim animated television series
Sealab 2021 in the episode, "Return of Marco" (2004), where he was one of the many sharks impaled with spears by the underwater cave tribe called The Snarkells.
- Jabberjaw appeared later still in sporadic appearances on Cartoon Network's
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (2002) where the Neptunes were accused of stealing Shouyu Weanie's song. It is also referenced that in the late 1990s, Jabberjaw was briefly engaged to budding filmmaker Madeline Austin-Kulat. In this show, Frank Welker reprises his role of Jabberjaw and also voices Biff. Clamhead made another appearance in the episode "Identity Theft" where he was voiced by Steven Blum.
- Jabberjaw also appeared on Cartoon Network (and later Boomerang) in a music video set to Pain's "Jabberjaw (Running Underwater)" with Jabberjaw and The Neptunes portrayed as a ska band, with the group dressed in modern clothing, and with Jabberjaw sporting a goatee and nose ring. Also in this version. Biff is the lead guitar and singer, Shelly is rythm guitar, Bubbles is keyboard, Clamhead plays the trumpet Jabberjaw still plays the drums.
Merchandising
In 1977-79, merchandising for Jabberjaw included:
Jabberjaw Out West A read & color book: Jabberjaw and the Rustlers Puzzles Presto Magix Dry transfer game Bubble maker set by Imperial Toy A school tablet
A comic book series was originally scheduled by Charlton Comics (in association with Hanna-Barbera) in 1977, but was later cancelled; however, in France, Jabberjaw was featured in comic books under his French language name Mantalo in 1978-80.
In July 1988, an 85-minute videocassette containing four episodes of Jabberjaw was released by Worldvision Home Video; this cassette has long been out of print and Jabberjaw has not been released on DVD.
In 2005, Funko company released a Jabberjaw Wacky Wobbler bobblehead toy.
Jabberjaw in other languages
Tutubarão Spanish: Mandibulín Italian: Lo squalo Jabber French: Mantalo German: Sharky
External links
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- - cached copy from Internet Archives
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