The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle is a 1979–1980 animated television series featuring newly produced Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle cartoons. The series was produced by Filmation, and aired from 1979 to 1980 on CBS with 96 episodes produced. It was the second Mighty Mouse cartoon series, following the original Mighty Mouse Playhouse from 1955 to 1967, and followed by Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, which aired from 1987 to 1988.
Production CBS was looking to bring Mighty Mouse back to television for the first time since Mighty Mouse Playhouse went off the air in 1967. They had purchased the Terrytoons studio back in 1955 and eventually closed it in 1972. Without an animation studio of their own to produce new content, they licensed out their works to Filmation.
In the Mighty Mouse segments, Mighty Mouse protected the world and his love interest, Pearl Pureheart, from the evil machinations of Oil Can Harry and his new bumbling henchman, Swifty, a fat cat who could still run extremely fast. Their encounters could happen in any time period, with Pearl and the villains adopting roles specific for the era, though Mighty Mouse remained the same.
Several changes were made to the Mighty Mouse formula for Filmation's series. The characters' operatic dialogue from the theatrical shorts was removed because producer Norm Prescott did not think that it would be acceptable to contemporary audiences. It was also removed to reduce the necessity to hire additional actors that could sing for roles that producer Lou Scheimer would fill in the various episodes (although Mighty Mouse would still belt some lines out, like his catchphrase, "Here I come to save the day!").
Filmation also abandoned the faux serialization tradition of starting off each entry as if it were a continuation of some non-existent previous part. Instead, events would unfold as Mighty Mouse usually watched for trouble through a giant telescope from his fortress on a cheese-like planet in space. One all-new story, the science fiction serial "The Great Space Chase", was serialized across the entire season in 16 parts. In keeping with broadcast standards of the time, the violence was toned down or non-existent.
For the Heckle and Jeckle segments, the magpies' antics were toned down to reduce their malevolent and sadistic nature, though they still remained somewhat madcap in their antics, particularly with fourth wall breaks. Jeckle was portrayed as the smarter of the pair. The series also introduced a new segment, Quacula. Quacula was a pale blue vampire duck with a Daffy Duck-like bill and fangs, dressed in a blue jacket and a black cape with a red lining, who slept by day in a white egg-shaped coffin, in the basement of a house owned by an anthropomorphic bear named Theodore. Every night Quacula would rise from his coffin and try to terrify Theodore and others, but he would never really succeed; his antics tended to be more comical than frightening. Also, Theodore would come up with one plan after another to rid himself of Quacula, but always fail to do so.
Each hour of The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle consisted of two Mighty Mouse cartoons, two Heckle and Jeckle cartoons, one Quacula cartoon, and one episode of "The Great Space Chase". Also included were "Mighty Mouse Environmental Bulletins" and Heckle and Jeckle's "Homonyms" (to add a little educational karma).
Filmation hired several animators and artists, including storyboard artists John Kricfalusi, Tom Minton, Eddie Fitzgerald, and screenwriter Paul Dini, who got their start working on the show and other productions such as Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids The Brown Hornet. Kricfalusi, Kent Butterworth and other animators did not understand the limitations put on by network strictures and economic realities, and wanted to rebel against Filmation's mandates of reusable animation and their strict "on-model" policies (where model sheets had to be traced).
Fitzgerald, Minton, and other storyboard artists drew humorous and lively boards as reference for the animators. As a result, the animation and art was a lot more energetic than the original Terrytoons. For example, Fitzgerald storyboarded a scene in the episode "Movie Mouse" where Oil Can Harry does a wild take in response to Swifty telling him that he used handcuffs to tie up a snake. Scheimer and Prescott claimed that the scene could not be animated, but Butterworth insisted that it could, and spent a week working on it to prove it. The scene wound up in the finished episode.
Kricfalusi, Fitzgerald, Minton and Butterworth would later go on to work on Ralph Bakshi's Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, with Minton describing his work on that series as "revenge for what [they] couldn't do at Filmation". When he was first hired, Paul Dini was lighting models for Filmation. His father was a friend of Prescott's. During college, Dini was doing freelance scripts for Filmation. He sent the studio a script, and was given some work, writing some Quacula and Heckle and Jeckle episodes.
A panel of children's television experts assembled by TV Guide criticized the series, referring to it as "mindless and monotonous" with "relentless violence-based humor". After the series premiered, cartoonist Scott Shaw! filed suit against Filmation due to the fact that he had created a character named Duckula for the comic book Quack! #1 (July 1976), published by Star*Reach. Shaw! had been alerted by friends at Filmation that they had copies of Quack! on hand during production, and that Quacula's character model sheet seemed to be one of Bob Clampett's Daffy Duck with Duckula's features overlaid onto it (Shaw! would recruit Clampett as an expert witness).
Additionally, Duckula had his own bear supporting character named Bearanboltz, a dim-witted pastiche of Frankenstein's monster. The matter was settled out of court by Filmation with Shaw! for $30,000, and after 16 episodes Quacula was dropped from the show. The show was shortened to a half-hour in 1980, and was moved to Sundays in its final season. In 1982, "The Great Space Chase" was re-edited into an 80-minute movie which had a limited release to theaters. It later appeared on home video.
Voice cast and their characters Alan Oppenheimer – Mighty Mouse, Oil Can Harry, Swifty, Narrator, Additional Voices Diane Pershing – Pearl Pureheart, Additional Voices Frank Welker – Heckle, Jeckle, Quacula, Theodore H. Bear, Additional Voices Lou Scheimer (uncredited) – Additional Voices Erika Scheimer (uncredited) - Additional Voices (episode 4)
Episodes
+No.Original air dateTitleWritten by:1September 8, 1979Mouse of the Desert (Mighty Mouse)Sam SimonThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 1Stop...Pay Troll (Mighty Mouse)Sam SimonGoldfeather (Heckle & Jeckle)Bill DanchStar Boars (Quacula)Ted PedersenThe Golden Egg (Heckle & Jeckle)Dan DiStefano2September 15, 1979Planks a Lot (Mighty Mouse)Sam SimonThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 2The Exercist (Mighty Mouse)Marc RichardsThe Heroes (Heckle & Jeckle)Ron CardHouse for Sale (Quacula)Ron CardCavebirds (Heckle & Jeckle)Ted Pedersen3September 22, 1979The Star of Cucamonga (Mighty Mouse)Ron CardThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 3Gypsy Mice (Mighty Mouse)Ted PedersenShow Business (Heckle & Jeckle)Bill DanchWeird Bear (Quacula)Bill Danch & Ted PedersenSpurs (Heckle & Jeckle)Ron Card4September 29, 1979Loco Motivations (Mighty Mouse)Dave BascomThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 4Buzz DixonCats and Robbers (Mighty Mouse)Bill DanchBirds of Paradise (Heckle & Jeckle)Ted PedersenMonster Mash (Quacula)Ted PedersenThe Open Road (Heckle & Jeckle)Ted Pedersen5October 6, 1979Blimp with the Wind (Mighty Mouse)Dave BascomThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 5Catula (Mighty Mouse)Bill DanchRobot Factory (Heckle & Jeckle)Creighton BarnesUncle Ferenc (Quacula)Ron CardFarmer and the Crows (Heckle & Jeckle)Ted Pedersen6October 13, 1979Mouserace (Mighty Mouse)Bill DanchThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 6The Sun Harnesser (Mighty Mouse)Ron CardForeign Legion Birds (Heckle & Jeckle)Dan DiStefanoThe Magic Lamp (Quacula)Ron CardMail Birds (Heckle & Jeckle)Creighton Barnes7October 20, 1979Movie Mouse (Mighty Mouse)Sam SimonThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 7Mick Jaguar in Concert (Mighty Mouse)Buzz DixonThe Malcon-tents (Heckle & Jeckle)Ron CardRoom for Rent (Quacula)Ron CardBellhops (Heckle & Jeckle)Nancy Schipper8October 27, 1979Pheline of the Rock Opera (Mighty Mouse)Bill DanchThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 8Buzz DixonCaptain Nemo-oh-oh (Mighty Mouse)Bill DanchSphinx! (Heckle & Jeckle)Ted PedersenMorgana La Duck (Quacula)Paul DiniHang Two (Heckle & Jeckle)Ted Pedersen9November 3, 1979Snow Mouse (Mighty Mouse)Ted PedersenThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 9Haunted House Mouse (Mighty Mouse)Bill DanchWitch Way Outta Here (Heckle & Jeckle)Dan DiStefanoReturn of Star Boars (Quacula)Ted PedersenC.B. Birds (Heckle & Jeckle)Nancy Schipper10November 10, 1979Cat Ness Monster (Mighty Mouse)Creighton BarnesThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 10Sam Simon & Buzz DixonRugged Rodent (Mighty Mouse)Buzz DixonShopping Center (Heckle & Jeckle)Ted PedersenTime and Before (Quacula)Ted PedersenWhere There's a Will (Heckle & Jeckle)Ron Card & Bill Danch11November 17, 1979Gorilla My Dreams (Mighty Mouse)Bill DanchThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 11Cattenstein (Mighty Mouse)Bill DanchIdentity Problem (Heckle & Jeckle)Creighton BarnesBungled Burglary (Quacula)Paul DiniTime Warped (Heckle & Jeckle)Paul Dini12November 24, 1979Cat of the Baskervilles (Mighty Mouse)Sam SimonThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 12Pearl of the Jungle (Mighty Mouse)Invisible Birds (Heckle & Jeckle)Shanghai Salty (Quacula)Ted PedersenMarathon Bird (Heckle & Jeckle)Nancy Schipper13December 1, 1979Moby Whale (Mighty Mouse)Buzz DixonThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 13Big Top Cat (Mighty Mouse)Supermarket (Heckle & Jeckle)Ted PedersenPyramid (Quacula)Ron Card & Bill DanchFlowered Knighthood (Heckle & Jeckle)Ted Pedersen14December 8, 1979The Disorient Express (Mighty Mouse)Sam SimonThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 14 The Maltese Mouse (Mighty Mouse)Buzz DixonAstrobirds (Heckle & Jeckle)Haunted House (Quacula)Ron CardApartment Birds (Heckle & Jeckle)15December 15, 1979Beau Jest (Mighty Mouse)Bill DanchThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 15Curse of the Cat (Mighty Mouse)The 25th Century (Heckle & Jeckle)Magic Duck (Quacula)Ron CardSafari Birds (Heckle & Jeckle)Sam Simon16December 22, 1979Around the World in 80 Ways (Mighty Mouse)Ted PedersenThe Great Space Chase: Chapter 16Tugboat Pearl (Mighty Mouse)Wonderland (Heckle & Jeckle)The Fantastic 2½ (Quacula)Ted PedersenArabian Nights and Days (Heckle & Jeckle)
References
External links