The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo is an American animated television series produced by United Productions of America that aired for one season on NBC from September 19, 1964 to April 24, 1965. It is the follow-up to the 1960/61 series Mister Magoo, with Jim Backus reprising the title role.

Premise

Unlike the theatrical cartoons, which focused on the extremely nearsighted Quincy Magoo's bumbling, the show features the Magoo character as an actor in adaptations of such literary classics as Don Quixote and "Gunga Din". Each of these roles is played seriously, with few, if any, references to Magoo's nearsightedness. However, introductory segments in each program feature Magoo backstage stumbling into scenery and talking to props, thus connecting the older cartoons to this series. Some stories are contained in a single half-hour episode, but others run for two to four episodes. As UPA did not have its own studio facility, the production was farmed out to the Grantray-Lawrence and Format Films studios.

Stories adapted Among the most ambitious adaptations mounted in this format were the four-part Robin Hood, in which he took the role of Friar Tuck; Treasure Island, in which he played the villainous Long John Silver; and a version of Snow White in which he portrayed all seven of the Seven Dwarfs.

Background The series was inspired by the success of the 1962 television special Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, a serious remake of the Charles Dickens classic novel with Magoo playing Ebenezer Scrooge.

Reruns The series was re-shown in the early 1970s on early Saturday mornings and the early 1980s as part of certain channels' weekday afternoon cartoon blocks. Certain episodes were released on VHS, but these have since gone out of print.

Material not intended for children The series was originally shown in prime time and not as part of an animated block for juvenile viewers. Therefore, certain more mature elements were present. These included death threats (William Tell, Robin Hood, Don Quixote, The Three Musketeers, Sherlock Holmes), children in danger (Treasure Island, Gunga Din, William Tell), insanity (Don Quixote, Moby Dick), heroic self-sacrifice (Gunga Din), religious themes (Noah's Ark), and realistic, although mostly bloodless, violence; including swordplay, shooting, clubbing, drowning and character deaths in most of the episodes.

Episodes # Broadcast date Title Adapted for Television by01 September 19, 1964 "William Tell" Barbara Chain02 September 26, 1964 "Treasure Island"— Part 1 Walter Black 03 October 3, 1964 "Treasure Island"— Part 2 Walter Black 04 October 10, 1964 "Gunga Din" Sloan Nibley05 October 17, 1964 "Moby Dick" True Boardman06 October 24, 1964 "The Three Musketeers"— Part 1 Joanna Lee07 November 7, 1964 "The Three Musketeers"— Part 2 Joanna Lee08 November 14, 1964 "Robin Hood"— Episode 1 Walter Black 09 November 21, 1964 "Robin Hood"— Episode 2 Walter Black 10 November 28, 1964 "Robin Hood"— Episode 3 Walter Black 11 December 5, 1964 "Robin Hood"— Episode 4 Walter Black 12 December 19, 1964 "Don Quixote de la Mancha"— Episode 1 True Boardman13 December 26, 1964 "Cyrano de Bergerac" True Boardman14 January 2, 1965 "Snow White"— Episode 1 Barbara Chain15 January 9, 1965 "Snow White"— Episode 2 Barbara Chain16 January 16, 1965 "Rip Van Winkle" Barbara Chain17 February 6, 1965 "Dick Tracy and the Mob" Sloan Nibley18 February 13, 1965 "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Barbara Chain19 February 27, 1965 "The Count of Monte Cristo" Walter Black 20 March 13, 1965 "Doctor Frankenstein" Sloan Nibley21 March 20, 1965 "Don Quixote de la Mancha"— Episode 2 True Boardman22 March 27, 1965 "Captain Kidd" Walter Black 23 April 3, 1965 "Noah's Ark" Barbara Chain24 April 10, 1965 "Sherlock Holmes" True Boardman25 April 17, 1965 "King Arthur" Sloan Nibley26 April 24, 1965 "Paul Revere" Jerry D. Lewis

Home video In November 2011, Shout! Factory released Mr. Magoo: The Television Collection 1960-1977 on DVD in Region 1. This 11-disc collection contains all the episodes from all three Mr. Magoo television series, including all 26 episodes of The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo.

References

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