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Yabba Zonkers Zoinks! Animal HijinX!
17 Plays2 months ago
When we were kids, we got up extra early for a morning session of cereal and the wacky antics of a parade of animal cartoons. Whether they were solving a mystery, taking down bad guys or playing the drums in a band, there was no end of hilarious animal characters to laugh with. Join Josh and Tyler as they stroll through memory land with just a few of their favourite creatures. Who was your favourite? Drop in to genx4life_podcast on Instagram or look for us on Facebook and share your fave animated beast.
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Transcript
Introduction to Yabba Zunkers Winx
00:00:00
Speaker
So John writes to us on Facebook, it wasn't all animals, but I love the wacky races one with all the characters. Well, thanks, John. We love wacky races too. And not just for blubber bear and the anthill mob. Welcome to Yabba Zunkers Winx, the Saturday morning podcast where your host Josh Downing, that's me, will yap with guests about their awesome Gen X childhood. You know, in front of the TV, in pajamas, eating bowls of crunchy sugar. I'm a Gen-Xer, toy collector, theater creator. Well, and now I'm a podcast host with a series on pop culture stuff from the 70s and 80s, like cartoons and toys and TV shows. So if you remember the Jetsons or H.R. Puff and Stuff, or even the Groovy Ghoulies, well, you're on the right channel. So put on your fluffy slippers and your cowboy pajamas and join us on a Saturday morning ride through our childhood.
Meet the Guest: Tyler
00:00:53
Speaker
So welcome back to Yebzankar Zoinks, the Saturday morning podcast where we are going to talk about cool stuff that we grew up with as Gen Xers. I'm here today with my buddy, Tyler. Hi, Josh.
00:01:10
Speaker
Hello, and we're really excited today because Christmas is done, Boxing Day is done, and now we can get down to the really cool stuff.
Nostalgic Desk Items
00:01:18
Speaker
We're going to be talking about one of our favorite things. um We both grew up on cartoons, and we love cartoons.
00:01:27
Speaker
um to put it mildly, and I think that there's there's so much to talk about. It's probably one of the things where we're gonna talk about just one thing today, but I think there's so many more things that we could dig into. But the first thing I'm gonna do, now you said this recently, but I'm gonna play this right now. I'm gonna say, what pop culture thing do you have on your desk right now?
00:01:48
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Well, because we're just through the holidays, I've almost completely cleared off my desk, but I'm not gonna lie, because aside from some music that's on here,
00:02:03
Speaker
um When I was going through some stuff over the holidays, um I found, I'm going to hold this up for Josh to see, all my digum oh whoops all my real Johnny Quest cards and all my Digimon cards, including this CD-ROM.
00:02:20
Speaker
Have you played it? No, let's play it now. um Yeah, so I got some music and I've got these cards because I was going to sell them online if they're worth anything. Digimon might be worth something. Yeah, yeah probably yeah they're digital monsters.
00:02:35
Speaker
Um, but other than that, I don't have anything that's pop culture on my desk other than the recent Band-aid CD single out of the UK. Very cool. How about you? Okay, you know, so funny, I'm looking around my desk and I'm like, well, I don't really, and then like, oh yeah, cause my desk has shelves built into it above my head. I'm like, oh yeah, that's like three shelves full of toys. So I won't go through everything, but I mean, right there on my little book stand, I've got a Boba Fett sticker. So that's a start. I've got a Lego Santa Claus. I got two Lego Santa Clauses stuck to the back of my my my desk. And I have a um a magnet of Han Solo in carbonite. cool So my nerd level is already through the ceiling. I've got a Power Ranger magnet holding up a picture of Gary Newman.
00:03:31
Speaker
This just gets crazier and crazier. And I didn't even got to the first show. Seriously. So yeah, there's ah there's lots. I've got all my ah my um Peanuts characters. I've got a bunch of little figures of the Peanuts gang on my desk. And I've got a bunch of Wonder Woman figures.
00:03:51
Speaker
Cool. And my, my original Polaroid camera, which I'm going to have to bring up in an episode because I think there's some really good stories there, but, uh, about photography in the seventies. Okay. So one of the things that I found over the holidays was the retail box for my spice cam. hold Oh, yeah. You remember that box. Yeah. The camera must be somewhere else, but I kept the the box and the stickers that came with it's in mint.
00:04:17
Speaker
ah condition, of course. And I pulled out the bag and went, what's in this? I'm like, yeah, it's the spice cam. And, you know, you know, that's so cool. And sorry, do you remember our adventure in Vancouver where I got hauled over by security because of that camera? Do you remember that? No, I don't remember. You have to tell me the security guard was angry because she's like, what is this? What is this?
00:04:43
Speaker
Cause it was, it was a unique looking camera. It was a snap cam, right? No, it's a, it's a proper Polaroid. Okay. And it's purple and gray. Yeah. And she refused to believe, you know, that it was a camera and I had the cool black and white film in there and she was like, prove it, prove it. I'm like, I don't want to waste a picture in here. Right. So I had to do it. I'm like, Oh, you wasted a picture anyway.
00:05:08
Speaker
that that That is familiar now. Totally familiar. Very 90s moment. Such a 90s moment. Oh my goodness. I loved that film. That was so cool. Oh, ah totally. I took tons of pictures. yeah All those black and white Polaroids. Anyway. Yeah. I went into debt to get film for those Polaroid cameras. Oh my goodness. Apparently you can use your phone now, but anyway. i Yeah.
00:05:36
Speaker
Yeah, but it's just not as fun to get that printed picture spitting out. Yeah, in under 10 minutes. I've got my Fuji Instax camera still, and it's loaded with film. And I have a pile of film right here, and i've just I'm so precious about it. I'm afraid to use it. Well. I'm like, well, what if I go and take a picture and I don't like it? Too late. That cost me a lot of money.
00:06:00
Speaker
That's crazy. That's why Henry's is still in business. Yeah, and totally for Polaroid film. Yeah. And the new Polaroid film is amazing, but it it is also really expensive. Yeah, I get it. Everything is now though, right?
00:06:14
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. It's cool. Food or Polaroids, which one? Living in general, very expensive. Yeah, totally. So yeah, so on another episode, we'll talk about the more things on the next level up on my desk. Yeah, because it just keeps going. I dug all things around my room. Okay, that's awesome.
Animal Hijinks in Cartoons
00:06:33
Speaker
All right, so today, you know what we're, we call this episode animal hijinks because what we grew up on animal cartoons, like animals talking, and there were so many of them. And it's funny because when I was doing my research, it seemed like it was just all Hanna Barbera.
00:06:53
Speaker
Well, they ruled, right? They were the kings. There was all those other studios too, putting out a lot of products. But, you know, at the end of the day, Hannah Robert were king.
00:07:06
Speaker
they They really were, and they they just they they just didn't seem to run out of ideas. And even though they recycled a lot of ideas, they were still just doing things. and And you could see that so much of what they were doing was reflected in you know current time. If there was a big blockbuster hit movie,
00:07:28
Speaker
they would take something from that and they would build a character around that. And it would be a talking animal of some sort. And that's all mysteries, right? Because if you're talking animals, they started with Tom and Jerry, right? So, you know, that was that's their roots right there. Yeah. Yeah, totally. And there was just so much. And there's so many great memories of of those cartoons. And I tried to think of, you know, all the ones that I would sit there and just like, I have to watch this show.
00:07:57
Speaker
And I think throughout the years of my childhood, because a lot of these shows didn't last more than a season, they were just like, here's your 16 episodes, we're done. yeah But then we saw them repeat, you know, for the next 10 years of our lives.
00:08:13
Speaker
Yeah, it wasn't until Scooby that you got actual new episodes, you know, in the following years. Yeah. Yeah. And and a lot of the shows, um, they were either done in the late sixties or the early mid seventies, but if they only had that one or two seasons, there was immediately something else to replace it.
00:08:35
Speaker
And you better like it. And you better, you know what we did. We did. We, we loved it. Hold onto those coloring books and those view master reels kids. Cause that's the only way you're going to remember. I know. You know, it's so weird because I was thinking about that too. And I'm like, we didn't have toys. No, it was all paper goods. You know, Oh yeah. We, those, those pop out, uh,
00:08:58
Speaker
Uh, like cutout character books too. Yep. Yep. Like a dress up. Yeah. So all that stuff I treasured, cause that was the only thing you had. You had comic books.
00:09:10
Speaker
You know, it wasn't until like the show and all those Kenner projectors where you might get a snippet, you know, of a 16 second film on your wall. I had the Scooby one and it actually scared me when I was little, which is funny, but I won't get into that. But, uh, yeah, like you, you held onto those memories because there was nowhere else to have them, you know?
00:09:34
Speaker
and And I don't even think we were thinking that we needed it anymore. Like everything had, you know, Scooby stamped on it or, you know, um, squiddly diddly was on something because it just was. There just wasn't physical toys. Yeah. It's incredible. Like when something launches now, all the merch is just everywhere. So if you're a kid and you like something, your mind really blown.
00:10:00
Speaker
Whereas when I was a kid, it was like, well, there isn't anything. You don't even look for it. You know, if you got the jigsaw puzzle, it's like, Oh, you're doing pretty good there. yeah And if you got the magic slate. Yes, exactly. and you were sad exactly the magic f plate or Or the cereal. Yeah. If there was premiums, you know, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because a lot of that, a lot of that stuff, uh, that's the, the toy we got was the cereal toy. Yep. Right. Yep. So what, um,
00:10:29
Speaker
Sorry, go ahead. i' say All those pencil toppers. Yes. And all those cardboard records. Oh yeah. We had to cut them out. Yeah. And of course I always did. Mom would say, wait until the cereal's done. I'm like, I could not wait. I have to rock out right now, mother. Exactly.
00:10:48
Speaker
I had to go and cut that thing out and go and play it on my, on my record player. And of course it would, the needle would just stick in it and they would just drag it around on the the altern table. Oh no. The monkeys don't sound like this.
00:11:03
Speaker
Oh my goodness. So just off the top of your head, what were some of the most memorable animal cartoons for you? Okay, so I'm not a wet blanket, don't worry. But for me, it's all about ah the young adults, heroes. you know i Cartoons blew my mind as a kid because I lived through all those teenagers solving mysteries, going to the beach, being in bands, driving around, you know, in tomb buggies. That's the life I wanted. Um, so for me, a lot of the animals were the sidekicks, but I do have a strong, I do have fond memories of a lot of the earlier Hanover Bear stuff. Like right now I'm actually watching Peter Pontimis.
00:11:47
Speaker
Oh, nice. I'm on disc two of three. um And I don't know what it is about it. You know, and it's so funny how violent they are. Like everything is all with guns. Guns, guns, guns are just going off all the time. I'm like, wow, is this is really violent. Not that anybody gets hurt, of course, even though, you know, they're under siege. But um Peter Potomac comes with sneezy and breezily and Yippee. Oh, no, Yippee. Yeah.
00:12:16
Speaker
I'm getting it wrong. Do you remember them? No, I don't remember the names. The Three Musketeer Dogs. Oh, yeah. Anybody else would know this. If it was if it was if it was kids, a band, I would know the answers. Yes, thats the animals. I'm a little rough. But, you know, if we're talking animals, then it's like, yes. OK, so Bandit from Johnny Quest, Sebastian from Josie Scooby from Scooby Doo, Elvis from Butch Cassidy. You know, those are the animals I care about. You know, Elmo and Boo from Funky Fandom. But Adam Ant,
00:12:51
Speaker
awesome. Secret squirrel. Awesome. Yeah. Blip from Space Ghost. The Herculoids, which, you know, were animals. Yes. You know, the Vanna splits were animals. Half of the wacky races was animals. Um, so there's quite a bit, um, even like Dino and Hoppy from yeah stones. You know what I mean? If you like the style,
00:13:17
Speaker
And you like the humor, you know, then to me, they're not all rinse and repeat. They're all very unique characters. Like you mentioned squiddly. I love it. And they they were just so modern. You know what I mean? Like the the jokes were funny. You know, I don't care about the the the style of animation. I love it. I love that thick black outline. I love the repeat backgrounds. I have no issue with anything because The voice actors brought everything to life and there was no shortage of humor, you know, and music and settings. You know, this is the spooky episode. This is the music episode. This is the carnival episode. Like, you know, it's not all just sitting in the living room every episode. But yeah, you know, um,
00:14:07
Speaker
hanna barber were king like filmation I can't think fast enough, but we had things like the Pink Panther you know or the Houndcats. I'm trying to think of other studios quickly, Alvin and the Chipmunks.
00:14:23
Speaker
rocky bowinkle You know, yeah, exactly. The J ward stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Like it was all animals, right? We call animals sort of until Johnny quest and then the superheroes, you know, space yeah bird man. And, you know, um, then things started to change. And that's where I pick up because that's for me, that's pure entertainment, worship it, love it. Can't get enough of it.
00:14:47
Speaker
Um, but animals is where it all began, right? You know, I was going to see even with Walt Disney, but I'm wrong. Aren't I? Well, maybe with the mice, but you know, you had to get to Snow White and Pinocchio before the animals started to pop up, I guess. But anyway, we're talking about.
Impact of Animal Cartoons on Gen X Childhood
00:15:04
Speaker
Yeah, totally. Yeah. So anyway, yeah. So yeah, it's, it's amazing how many animals there were. And when I think to myself, Oh, I don't care for the funny animal shows or the funny animal comics.
00:15:15
Speaker
It's like, well, actually I do, you know, cause they certainly own everything, however, ever put out on physical media. And a lot of it are the animals. Yeah. Lady and the Tramp. Loved that when I was a kid. that Beautiful Christmas opening. Beautiful, beautiful. The Aristocats. Love the Aristocats. That was one of my all time favorite movies ever when I was a kid. And that darn cat. Don't we love that darn cat? That darn cat. That darn cat. And the cat from Outer Space. Yeah. And then don't forget the Shaggy DA. But those weren't cartoons, so we'll come back to those. Right.
00:15:54
Speaker
the story. Yeah, that's okay. Adam Ant was one of my favorites. Oh, incredible I remember just running. I would, I don't even know if I had any sort of orange clothing, but I would just put on something and run around, you know, beating up everything because I'm like a banana madam ant. I just, I loved that character. He was so amazing. You have one of these, don't you? I sure do. I thought you did. Yeah. I'm holding up the Funko Adam Ant.
00:16:23
Speaker
love Funko, you know, Funko's really kind of just stamped out all those um ah amazing memories of, of the cartoon, uh, the cartoon library that we grew up with. And I have my little adamant sitting right there on my shelf. I also have a little plush one as well from, I want to say this one from the Warner store. I think he is. He's like a beanie, right? Yes, he is. Yeah. I want the record. I've never had the record, but you know, I would like to have the record one day.
00:16:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's so cool. Yeah. Cause the art on that is beautiful. Okay. So I'm shaking the cereal box here. I'm shaking the cereal box. I'm nervous. Oh, here we go. What was your favorite animal cartoon theme song? hu So if it's strictly animals, we're talking.
00:17:17
Speaker
off the top of my head and I hope I don't get this wrong. It's probably banana splits. Yeah. You know, I can't really think like maybe the cat and nougat cats, you know, the hair bare bunch was a good one too. But, you know, I'm thinking it's probably banana splits. Like how can you go wrong with that song? No, that was a classic. Dink, dink, dink, dink, dink, dink, dink, dink, dink.
00:17:44
Speaker
wacky opening, amazing show. Yeah. So much energy and not on physical media. No, isn't that weird? Very weird. So I'm not getting very weird Arabian nights. I'm not getting green musketeers, you know, so that needs to come out on DVD or Blu-ray.
00:18:04
Speaker
So yeah it's funny you say that too, because one of the things that that I was finding in my research was that a lot of times the the the people who made these things, um there were so many different hands in the the creation of it.
00:18:21
Speaker
So in one case there was a serial company that was basically like we need to sell more cereal so start making cartoons. So we can sell you know ads between our our you know our this show for our cereal and sell more cereal to kids. Yogi bear and uncle berry hound. those are yeah so But then what happened was these these creative people split off and started their own studios or started their own companies. And now everything was split between them for rights. And then at some point, maybe somebody got the rights for this one and somebody got the rights for that one. But because they're in the same show, they can't do anything with it now. The the rights are divided. So i'm I'm reading about all these different shows that because of all the different owners, we're just never going to see them again.
00:19:08
Speaker
Yeah, there's there's a few, like I'm a Hanover Barra nut and collector. And there are a few that apparently I'm never going to see. Yeah. Harlem Globetrotters is one of them. Godzilla proper. You know, I can't think fast enough. There's not a lot, but there's a few fantastic four. Um, you know, there's some Hanover Barra ones that they tell us are never going to come out.
00:19:31
Speaker
I don't know if that's really true. Oh, genie. That's another one. Oh yeah. Um, the apple dapple, but others, you know, sometimes it happens. Studios can come together. Like we got, you know, the 1960s Batman release on Blu-ray and it's like, that was never going to happen, but it happened. You know, um, anyway, I'm interrupting. No, no, it's that's not, I mean, it's a great conversation. It's it's, I guess it's just a lot of paperwork and a lot of money to kind of separate those things and make them available again.
00:20:00
Speaker
Yeah. And for what profit, you know what I mean? If it's not there, move on. you know Exactly. And, and, and that's what, I mean, I, I often complain about the fact that there's nobody playing any of the vintage black and white movies anymore. And it's because, well, who wants to pay for that? Like nobody wants to give money to that. So the studios are like, I don't have time for this. I have to keep moving on and, you know, put something that people are going to watch.
00:20:24
Speaker
That's when you gotta go to physical media, you know, like people like Warner archive doing a great job of releasing black and white films on Blu-ray, you know, but everything is niche now. Yeah. know So click them all. Yeah. All right. Cool. So let's play a game. Okay. Okay. We're going to play guess who I'm going to give you a clue.
00:20:50
Speaker
And if you can't guess them, then we'll give you another clue and then I'll give you one last clue. All right. Okay. You ready? I'm ready. Okay. This character wore a red costume. This is an animal? Yep. Don't forget. It's an animal. And when you say costume, does that mean head to toe? Yeah. In this case, it's a head to toe costume. Yes. Red. Isn't that funny? I'm sure people are like, don't you know what it it's so easy. I'm going to need another clue, Josh. Okay.
00:21:22
Speaker
Also had a blue cape. Wow. I don't keep going. Stumped. Okay. War a ring of power. This is an animal? Yep. All red, blue cape.
00:21:39
Speaker
Oh, oh, Ring of Power. I was going to say Underdog, but I don't know enough about him. Yeah, you are right. That's Underdog. and Yes. 1964 to 1967, there were 62 episodes. and His powers were basically Superman's powers. he he He was pretty invincible. But he had a ring?
00:22:00
Speaker
Yes, he had a big ring with a U on it. And then he would kind of fly with the ring facing like forward. it was He was really cool. I loved Underdog. So he would he would punch you and leave that U on your face. Yeah, I think that would happen. So he had an alter ego. Violent little pup. Yeah, no, a shoeshine boy. Was he? Yeah, he was a shoeshine boy.
00:22:24
Speaker
His, uh, his love interest was sweet Polly pure bread. Yeah. Yeah. And he always, what was that? That's a cute name. Yeah. It was really awesome. And he always spoke in rhyming couplets. Oh, like an infomercial. There's no need to fear underdog is here.
00:22:44
Speaker
ah And this was that I was just mentioning about the serial strategy. General Mills wanted this. They were looking for a show to help sell their cereal. And there's actually episodes that were never re-aired and also never put on any kind of media because of how dangerous they were. So it was probably a lot of, you know, machine guns and, you know,
00:23:10
Speaker
Yeah. If, if kid will would repeat the action, then they would have to cut it. yeah Yeah. So there's been a few episodes that just completely disappeared because of their, uh, their dangerous, you know, possibilities, but can you, which is too bad. Like back in the day, like all that hands on hard work, you know, only to just end up in the trash. I mean, yeah, you got paid, but really that would be heartbreaking.
00:23:37
Speaker
And this this is also what I was mentioning too about when General Mills ah pulled away from from the sponsorship of this particular cartoon series. It had already evolved into three other shows, like it was part of ah a block.
00:23:55
Speaker
And, uh, the artists themselves also split off and did their own things. So all three of those segments ended up under different ownership. And that's also why we can't, we can't get those together again anymore for, uh, for even media or for any kind of no retro viewing. What a mess, huh? Yeah.
00:24:13
Speaker
Yeah. So it's too bad. Um, I have an underdog action figure, not on my desk, but on the shelf beside my desk. Sweet. Yeah. He's really cool. I loved underdog when I was getting another there a character where I would put a, I would put a towel around my neck and I'd run around the house pow with my ring po that he wore for reasons we're not sure. Totally. I didn't have the red tights though. Most dogs don't wear jewelry, but Well, this dog did. He was very special. Yes, he did. OK, so our next animal character wore an orange robe. Orange robe. Are we talking like a like a housecoat? Yeah, orange robe.
00:25:02
Speaker
Did he wear anything else? Your second clue is that he also wore a black mask.
00:25:11
Speaker
And an orange robe. It's the orange robe that's throwing me. So it's not a secret squirrel. No. A black mask. Sorry, folks. I'm not trying to drag this out. You better give me another clue. All right. Last clue. He used martial arts on the bad guys. Well, you're not talking about Hong Kong phooey.
00:25:34
Speaker
Why wouldn't I be talking about hon movie or red? No, it's a the picture i say no, the pictures that I saw where he was wearing orange. You Google him right now. He's wearing white. Okay. Sorry. All right. Okay. Hang on folks. All right. Place your bets. Oh, see this picture is orange. See all the pictures and maybe it's just bad red, but Those are orange. All right, I'm googling it. Orange and yellow. I'm googling it. Oh, sorry, it's orange and white. But I didn't say second color, I just said he wore an orange. Right, yeah, like a prison uniform. but See, look, it's his martial arts. he's He's orange. Okay, I'm looking it up to make sure I'm not wrong. That one looks red. Why would it be orange? See, even in this modern version, he's he's orange. Okay, the picture I'm looking at is red.
00:26:34
Speaker
Okay. So I didn't do enough research. It's supposed to be red. No, I get, I get the pictures you're looking at. I totally do. And for the folks at home listening, I am sending Josh a link ah to a picture of Hong Kong food wearing his red and white robe. And if I owned anything in Hong Kong food, cause they don't, I hold up actually.
00:27:00
Speaker
I would hold up the Funko Hong Kong fu where he's in his car because that is an incredible toy. I just, I've actually never seen it in person, but I think I probably would actually buy it anyway.
00:27:12
Speaker
Okay. So I screwed that one up. So you you can have the points for that, you but you didn't yes but it's Hong Kong. fu Yeah. I'm seeing other ones where it's kind of orange. I'm like, well, why I know orange. And I looked, I was looking stuff up and I had a bunch of pictures and I'm like, they're orange. And I, my brain is not, you know, my, my kid brain is, is not quite that good with memory. Remembering the details, but I'm like, yeah, orange. That makes sense. I'm playing it on YouTube right now, just to see, you know,
00:27:44
Speaker
Well, it's definitely read on YouTube. Anyway, I'm sorry. okay That's good. No, don't apologize. maybe yeah that was whole part out if you want it was It was a learning moment. All right. So let me, let me, uh, fill in some facts here about Hong Kong. 1974 to 1976. The character's name was Penrod pooch. That is such a weird name. He was a janitor at a police station yeah and he fought crime using his instruction handbook.
00:28:13
Speaker
And that was the problem is that he would always have to rely on his martial arts instructional handbook and he was really bad at it. He would get changed in the filing cabinet, know get up or was cool get stuck in the filing cabinet and spot would always have to let him out.
00:28:29
Speaker
Spot was a cat. Spot was the cat. Totally awesome. strange Striped cat. And he usually ended up saving the day directly or by accident, just by his, his, you know, whatever he's doing. The opening theme was done by Scatman Cruthers.
00:28:48
Speaker
yeah And he was also the voice of of Hong Kong Fu, which i I kind of knew, but I didn't. And he's also the voice of Metal Lark Lemon from Harlem Globetrotters, Jazz from the Transformers, yeah and of course Scat Cat and Aristocats.
00:29:02
Speaker
Oh, he probably made the most money. Yeah, yeah probably. So that's pretty cool. he He did some cool stuff. Well, immediately recognizable voice, right? Like, yeah. Yeah. And he was doing Hong Kong, you know, like that was a good voice for him. Yeah. And I remember that cartoon. I remember it was a fun show to watch. It was like really action packed. Yeah. Like we were getting a little older at that point, but I watched it.
00:29:30
Speaker
Yep. Totally. Okay. So here's your next one. Okay. Played the drums in a band. You better know this one. Uh, okay. But we're talking an animal, right? It's an animal. Are we back to the banana splits? No.
00:29:46
Speaker
Okay. Uh, are we talking cat and Nuka cats? No. Okay. Uh, are we talking Alvin and the chipmunks? No. Oh, you can tell there's a lot of them, right? Um, are we, oh, well we could be talking about the hillbilly bears.
00:30:06
Speaker
but we're not Okay. Um,
00:30:12
Speaker
Okay. Can I get a hint? Yes. Your next hint is he had four groovy band mates. Yeah. That's not doing it for me. Um, and it's the animal that's playing the drums. Yeah. Um, I was gonna say, is it animal from Muppet Show? No. Okay. Can I please have another? Yes. Last clue lived under the sea.
00:30:38
Speaker
Oh, Jabberjaw.
00:30:42
Speaker
How did I that? You're going to get this one for sure. There's a band. it Folks, Jabberjaw playing the drums is actually my my my phone, what he call it ah wallpaper what do you call it? that? It is. It's wallpaper. is wall paper Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. So yeah. i I saw that. I'm like, okay, you got to get this one. That's so funny. cause You know why? Cause I'm picturing, I was going back too far. Okay. 1976. I was going, I was going too far back and I'm picturing dogs. Oh, dog is playing the drums between like 1970 or sorry, 1968, 1972.
00:31:19
Speaker
You know, I'm like, I, all I had was whatever I said, you know. Oh, good one. Good one. So, Hannah Barbera, 76 to 78. There was only 16 episodes. Yeah. It's actually a decent series because the the music was original, you know, yeah another another group performing original songs, which I always appreciate.
00:31:44
Speaker
And they ripped a lot of stuff off though. They used a lot of model sheets from Josie and from Scooby. And it's like, wait a minute, that's the villain from this. And that's the weapon from that. But I don't care because it was a decent show and it was a music one for me when it wasn't being done anymore. You know what I mean? Like I was kind of surprised even as a kid, I'm like, well, how are we still getting this? You know?
00:32:08
Speaker
Because at that point, all we really had was the Croft Super Show with Captain Cool and the Kongs. There wasn't much music anymore, you know? So I was happy about that. And I won't go further into it, but there's one song by the Neptunes that I get stuck in my head every single day. So it's kind of funny the effects. Here we are a few years later. Yeah, a couple. The music is still going around in my head. That's awesome. Yeah. but so question Good question. Okay. So bonus points. What are then what are his bandmates names? Oh, Biff, Shelly, Bubbles, and Clamhead. Oh, bingo. You got that. That's awesome.
00:32:46
Speaker
So, and of course, you know, he was inspired by shark mania and Jaws, yeah which wouldn't have been a show that we would have seen as kids. And Curly from, from the three Stooges. Yes. Yeah. But yeah, like Jaws mania, holy. Yeah. Like like they, they catch them pretty fast. Yeah. Yeah. And every episode ended with a musical chase sequence while the band played in the background. Yep. Yep. That's awesome.
00:33:16
Speaker
I was just going to say like when they would play and my mind just went blank all all the all the takeoffs on all the the names like oh I wish I could remember.
00:33:26
Speaker
um Pressures on folks, I can't remember. But like what what a pop apocalyptic event happened that they're all living under the ocean? Right? Isn't that weird? And they weren't water breathers. No. It's like, did it recently happen? You know, what happened? You know? Yeah. All right, listeners, if you know the secret to the the underwater world where the Neptune's band played, you got to let us know. Exactly.
00:33:50
Speaker
Okay, we got one more. Oh, I'm happy. Okay, I feel better. one Okay, good. Yes, that was a good one. Pellet cleanser. yeah Okay, so this character wore a green mask. Green mask. You know, I just realized maybe the colors are wrong. Oh, that's so funny. That's really funny. Maybe I don't know the difference. ah josh We had a mask. Can you see my dog? Yes, I can see your dog. Little puppy. ah He's like, no one's paying attention to me. Hey, sweetheart. OK, I'm really sorry, folks. OK, green mask, green, green. So secret swirls, I think, was purple. Elkabongs was black.
00:34:31
Speaker
Uh, I think I'm going to need another clue. Okay. Had a letter D on his chest. Oh, dynamite dog. one yeah ding ding ding Thank you. With his blue costume, super hero sidekick. Yes. Dynamite, also known as dog wonder. right Yeah. Hannah Barbera, 76 to 77. Yep.
00:34:53
Speaker
Blue Falcon and Dino the robotic dog. So he was a robot with all kinds of machinery inside. With Gary Owens playing Blue Falcon. And years later there would be a comic book that shows the origin of Dino Mutt. Now that's a heartbreaker.
00:35:09
Speaker
but we all Oh yeah. Oh, it's sad. Oh, I didn't know if I needed to know that, but that's cool. thinking Yes. Oh, those are the stories they think we need. I'm like, no, I don't know. Well, it's cause of story. Nobody's told. It's like, well, no, I don't, there's a reason why it wasn't told. I was only 10. I did not know need to know that. And God bless them. Dynamite was Frank Welker. Yes, of course. Has been working around the clock since you know he was a kid.
00:35:41
Speaker
Yep. And, and he also often appeared with Scooby-Doo characters. There was lots of crossovers. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. Cause it was the dynamite Scooby-Doo hour. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, yeah. Like I, I like, Oh, I liked blue Falcon. I didn't like dynamite.
00:36:00
Speaker
I liked the Falcon car, no but to me it was too goofy. It's like, I need those shows to be serious. yeah It's it's serious more serious. Well, yeah it's funny because they they often related that this one to the whole Batman thing, like the 1960s Adam West Batman. Oh yeah, that makes sense. And so the show followed that same kind of format where like 10 minutes in there'd be a cliffhanger like, Oh no, what's going to happen to our heroes? Yeah. Yeah.
00:36:27
Speaker
And then, of course, you know, Dynamite would always fail because his machinery just wasn't quite there, but everything would get saved in the end anyways. Well, if you knew how he came to be, ah and but no crying on the show. Yeah, way too sad. I don't want to hear about that. It is dark. Oh, well, on that note. Yeah, exactly. Josh, I'll give you a clue as to anyway. We won't discuss.
00:36:56
Speaker
dog wonder anymore. Okay. No more dog wonders. So that was, that was an awesome episode. Like I said, there's so much to talk about. I think we gotta, we gotta have an episode and I didn't put it in yet, but I think we have to have an episode where we talk about just the bands, the music and the bands from the cartoons, because I think that was huge. That's all I cared about. Yeah. I'm music. I mean, I was singing all the time. I was a little performer.
00:37:23
Speaker
So having all these cartoons with, with bands and music was just incredible. And music was always kind of part of our music, of our sort of culture, uh, cartoon culture, oh yeah because we had Looney tunes and, and musical melodies, those, those amazing, uh, Warner cartoons. Yeah. Everything music was, well, it was entertainment, right? So you pack it all in and there was all that talent, like,
00:37:50
Speaker
yeah Holy crap, all the writing, all the musicians, you know just everything. was just It just seemed just unstoppable. you know Just multi, multi-talent people coming together to create so many incredible shows you know and so quickly and all right on US soil. you know yeah Pretty impressive. That's a lot of cells that got washed, a lot of paint going down the drain.
00:38:21
Speaker
Awesome.
Closing Remarks and Social Connection
00:38:22
Speaker
Well, thank you so much listeners. Thank you for joining us at Yebesankar Zoinks. Another awesome episode. We'll see you next Saturday morning promptly at seven. Make sure you've got your favorite pajamas on and your little fluffy slippers. Cause you know, the floors get cold in the morning. Thank you. And we will see you next time. And ah ah as always have a Yebesankar Zoinks day and afternoon.
00:38:48
Speaker
You've been listening to Yaba Zonker Zoinks, a Gen X for Life podcast. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any exciting episodes. You can reach out on Instagram at Gen X for Life podcast. That's Gen X number four life underscore podcast, or send an email at Gen X for Life podcast, all one word at gmail.com. I'd love to hear about your favorite Gen X Saturday morning memory, maybe a favorite toy or the cereal you just couldn't wait to tear into.
00:39:17
Speaker
Until then, have a yabba zonkers wings day and I'll be back right and early next Saturday morning.