The Kwicky Koala Show
The Kwicky Koala Show is a 30-minute Saturday-morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Hanna Barbera Pty, Ltd. that aired on CBS from September 12 to December 26, 1981.[1][2] This series is notable for being among cartoon director Tex Avery's final works; he died during production in 1980.[3][4] As it was produced in Australia, the Cartoon Network and later Boomerang broadcasts were sourced from PAL masters, rather than NTSC masters like many other Hanna-Barbera productions. Each segment has also been shown separately as filler between shows on Boomerang.
| The Kwicky Koala Show | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Animation Comedy Slapstick |
| Created by | Tex Avery |
| Written by | Bob Ogle |
| Directed by | George Gordon Carl Urbano Rudy Zamora |
| Voices of | Bob Ogle John Stephenson Michael Bell Peter Cullen Marshall Efron Matthew Faison Jim MacGeorge Allan Melvin Don Messick Frank Welker |
| Country of origin | United States Australia |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Producer | Art Scott |
| Editor | Gil Iverson |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna Barbera Pty, Ltd. |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | September 12 – December 26, 1981 |
The Kwicky Koala Show contained four short segments: Kwicky Koala, The Bungle Brothers, Crazy Claws and Dirty Dawg.[5]
Segments
Kwicky Koala
Kwicky Koala (voiced by writer Bob Ogle) is similar to Avery's Droopy, except that Kwicky can escape his pursuer Wilford Wolf (voiced by John Stephenson), who closely resembles the earlier Hanna-Barbera character Mildew Wolf (to the point that Stephenson impersonates Mildew's voice actor Paul Lynde for Wilford). The difference is that Kwicky moves at super-speed, which looks more like vanishing into thin air with an accompanying "beep" sound effect, much like Speedy Gonzales (the animation shortcut used to facilitate this often went to extremes by making Kwicky disappear from one spot and reappear instantly in the next, with no intermediate smear frames).
Episodes
| Nº | Title | Story by: | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| K.1 | "Sink or Swim" | Bob Ogle | September 12, 1981 |
| K.2 | "Robinson Caruso" | Chuck Couch and Lew Marshall | September 19, 1981 |
| K.3 | "In a Pig's Eye" | Tex Avery and Chuck Couch | September 26, 1981 |
| K.4 | "Robin Hoodwink" | Bob Ogle | October 3, 1981 |
| K.5 | "Kwicky Goes West" | Bob Ogle | October 10, 1981 |
| K.6 | "Collectors Item" | Larz Bourne | October 17, 1981 |
| K.7 | "The Incredible Lunk" | Steve Clark, Lane Raichert, and Don Dougherty | October 24, 1981 |
| K.8 | "Race to Riches" | Carl Fallberg, Lane Raichert, and Don Dougherty | October 31, 1981 |
| K.9 | "Kangaroo Kapers" | Carl Fallberg, Lane Raichert, and Don Dougherty | November 7, 1981 |
| K.10 | "Double Trouble" | Tom Dagenais | November 14, 1981 |
| K.11 | "Around the World in 80 Seconds" | Tex Avery, Chuck Couch, and Don Jurwich | November 21, 1981 |
| K.12 | "Kwicky's Karnival Kaper" | Bob Ogle | November 28, 1981 |
| K.13 | "Scream Test" | Carl Fallberg, Lane Raichert, and Don Dougherty | December 5, 1981 |
| K.14 | "Disguise the Limit" | Don Jurwich, Lane Raichert, and Don Dougherty | December 12, 1981 |
| K.15 | "Museum Mayhem" | Jack Hanrahan, Lane Raichert, and Don Dougherty | December 19, 1981 |
| K.16 | "Hunger Pangs and Pzings" | Dale Hale | December 26, 1981 |
The Bungle Brothers
A pair of beagles named George (voiced by Michael Bell) and Joey (voiced by Allan Melvin) seek vaudeville stardom. This segment is mostly short wraparounds.
Episodes
| Nº | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| B.1 | "Hat Dance / Dry Run / Cheap Trick" | September 12, 1981 |
| B.2 | "High Rollers / Teeter Totter Act / The Circus Cannon Act" | September 19, 1981 |
| B.3 | "Trapeze Act / Saw in Two / Unicycle" | September 26, 1981 |
| B.4 | "Big Pie Jump / Honk If You Love Joey / Sound Off" | October 3, 1981 |
| B.5 | "Joey Juggling George / The Toe Dancing Beagle or Whats Nureyev / The Barrel Jump" | October 10, 1981 |
| B.6 | "Karate Chop Act / Tarzan Swing Act / The Ventriloquist" | October 17, 1981 |
| B.7 | "Rope Twirling Act / High Wire Harness / The Marionette Act" | October 24, 1981 |
| B.8 | "Cream Pie / Ballonitics / Escape Artist" | October 31, 1981 |
| B.9 | "Rock Band / Circus Car / Dueling Trombones" | November 7, 1981 |
| B.10 | "Quiz Whiz Kid / Stilts / The Romeo and Juliet Act" | November 14, 1981 |
| B.11 | "Animal Trainers / Double Jump / Pie Faced" | November 21, 1981 |
| B.12 | "The Plumbers Helper / Bungle Ballet / Hang 20" | November 28, 1981 |
| B.13 | "The Big Bang / Flipped Out / Bucking Bull" | December 5, 1981 |
| B.14 | "Hamlet Lays an Egg / The Magic Ring Act / The Fly" | December 12, 1981 |
| B.15 | "Weight Weight Lifter / Droop the Loop / Heavy Ending" | December 19, 1981 |
| B.16 | "Ice Follies / Punchy Pirates / Spring Is in the Air / Concert Pianist" | December 26, 1981 |
Crazy Claws
A wildcat named Crazy Claws (voiced by Jim MacGeorge impersonating Groucho Marx) uses his sharp wits and equally sharp claws to evade the fur trapper Rawhide Clyde (voiced by Don Messick) and his dog Bristletooth (voiced by Peter Cullen) in a U.S. National Park run by Ranger Rangerfield (voiced by Michael Bell).
Episodes
| Nº | Title | Story by: | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C.1 | "Crazy it's Cold Outside" | Jim Ryan | September 12, 1981 | |
| Crazy Claws stays in Clyde's shack in Winter time. | ||||
| C.2 | "The Claws Conspiracy" | Cliff Roberts | September 19, 1981 | |
| Clyde tries using Glue, Fleas, and Cement to trap Crazy Claws. | ||||
| C.3 | "Crazy Challenges" | Glenn Leopold | September 26, 1981 | |
| Clyde has Crazy Claws compete with Bristletooth, as an excuse to capture Him. | ||||
| C.4 | "Clyde's Birthday Surprise" | Bryce Malek | October 3, 1981 | |
| It's Rangerfield's birthday and Crazy Claws hopes to throw one for Him as Clyde intends to get Crazy Claws. | ||||
| C.5 | "The Ice Rage" | Coslough Johnson | October 10, 1981 | |
| While Crazy Claws and Rangerfield brings a sign on top of a snowy mountain, Clyde tries to get Crazy Claws. | ||||
| C.6 | "Claws Encounters of the Worst Kind" | Glenn Leopold | October 17, 1981 | |
| Crazy Claws encounters Aliens who are really Clyde and Bristletooth, but when real aliens come... | ||||
| C.7 | "Lookout Crazy" | Nancy Clements | October 24, 1981 | |
| While helping Rangerfield make repairs on a park tower, Crazy Claws has to avoid Clyde. | ||||
| C.8 | "Crazy Camping" | Glenn Leopold | October 31, 1981 | |
| Crazy Claws camps out, as Clyde intends to capture Him nearby. | ||||
| C.9 | "Gold Crazy" | Doug Booth | November 7, 1981 | |
| Clyde searches a mine for gold. | ||||
| C.10 | "See Saw Claws" | Cliff Roberts | November 14, 1981 | |
| Clyde and Bristletooth try to capture Crazy Claws in a playground. | ||||
| C.11 | "Choo Choo Crazy" | Cliff Roberts | November 21, 1981 | |
| Chaos ensues when Crazy Claws and Rangerfield are in a runaway miniature train. | ||||
| C.12 | "Bearly Asleep" | Bryce Malek | November 28, 1981 | |
| A grumpy bear who tries to hibernate stands between Clyde and Crazy Claws. | ||||
| C.13 | "Old Blowhard" | Nancy Clements | December 5, 1981 | |
| Clyde uses a geyser called Old Blowhard to capture Crazy Claws. | ||||
| C.14 | "Snow Biz" | Cliff Roberts | December 12, 1981 | |
| Clyde tries to capture Crazy Claws around the snowy forest. | ||||
| C.15 | "Claws Ahoy" | Cliff Roberts | December 19, 1981 | |
| Crazy Claws tags along with the ranger on a boat, who is marking the park's sights. | ||||
| C.16 | "Rattletrap Rawhide" | Cliff Roberts | December 26, 1981 | |
| Clyde uses an automobile in hopes of capturing Crazy Claws. | ||||
Dirty Dawg
A vagrant Labrador Retriever named Dirty Dawg (voiced by Frank Welker impersonating Howard Cosell) seeks to improve life for himself and his friend Ratso the Rat (voiced by Marshall Efron) while staying ahead of a police officer named Officer Bullhorn (voiced by Matthew Faison).
Episodes
| Nº | Title | Story by: | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D.1 | "Pigskin Pooch" | Jim Ryan | September 12, 1981 | |
| Dirty helps sneak Ratso and a few Pups to the Super Duper Bowl. | ||||
| D.2 | "Dirty's Debut" | Patsy Cameron | September 19, 1981 | |
| Dirty enters Ratso in a canine competition as they go up against Officer Bullhorn and his dog Fang. | ||||
| D.3 | "Dirty Dawg's Faux Paw" | Jim Ryan | September 26, 1981 | |
| Dirty and Ratso infiltrate a Private Party while a burglar is on the loose. | ||||
| D.4 | "Calling Dr. Dirty" | Len Udes Jr. and Warren T. Taylor | October 3, 1981 | |
| Dirty and Ratso infiltrate a hospital to get free food. | ||||
| D.5 | "Lo-Cal Pals" | Patsy Cameron | October 10, 1981 | |
| Dirty and Ratso infiltrate a building, not knowing it's a weight-loss Place! | ||||
| D.6 | "A Close Encounter of the Canine Kind" | Creighton Barnes and Ted Pederson | October 17, 1981 | |
| Dirty and Ratso encounter a minuscule alien. | ||||
| D.7 | "Pie-Eyed Pooch" | Earl Kress | October 24, 1981 | |
| Dirty hopes to acquire some pie from a fair's pie-eating contest, but how can he get any without funds? | ||||
| D.8 | "Dirty Money" | Earl Kress | October 31, 1981 | |
| Rasto digs up a case of money, which is targeted by two crooks. | ||||
| D.9 | "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Zoo" | Patsy Cameron | November 7, 1981 | |
| For Ratso's Birthday, Dirty brings him to the Zoo. | ||||
| D.10 | "Urban Cowdawg" | Len Udes Jr. and Warren T. Taylor | November 14, 1981 | |
| Dirty and Ratso find themselves in a rodeo. | ||||
| D.11 | "Dirty-O and Juliet" | Patsy Cameron | November 21, 1981 | |
| Dirty falls for a regal and clean female canine. | ||||
| D.12 | "Sea Dawg Dirty" | Creighton Barnes and Ted Pederson | November 28, 1981 | |
| Dirty and Ratso stow away on a cruiseliner, but they didn't know Officer Bullhorn is here as well! | ||||
| D.13 | "Little White Lie" | Earl Kress | December 5, 1981 | |
| Dirty covers Ratso in chalk dust so that he'd trade places with a white mouse at a research laboratory. | ||||
| D.14 | "The Great Dirtini" | Patsy Cameron | December 12, 1981 | |
| Dirty in hopes of getting food, finds himself in a magic show. | ||||
| D.15 | "Disco Dawg" | Doug Booth | December 19, 1981 | |
| Dirty opens His own restaurant using a jukebox, but Bullhorn intends to get the Jukebox for the Policeman's Ball. | ||||
| D.16 | "Marathon Mutt" | Bryce Malek | December 26, 1981 | |
| Dirty enters Ratso in a marathon to win $1,000 cash prize. | ||||
Voice Cast
- Michael Bell as George, Ranger Rangerfield
- Peter Cullen as Bristletooth
- Marshall Efron as Ratso
- Matthew Faison as Officer Bullhorn
- Jim MacGeorge as Crazy Claws
- Allan Melvin as Joey
- Don Messick as Rawhide Clyde
- Bob Ogle as Kwicky Koala
- John Stephenson as Wilford Wolf
- Frank Welker as Dirty Dawg
Additional voices
- Marlene Aragon
- Joe Baker
- Jered Barclay
- Hamilton Camp
- Henry Corden
- Jack DeLeon
- Joan Gerber
- Danny Goldman
- Bob Holt
- Annie Potts
- Paul Ross
- Bob Sarlatte
- Marilyn Schreffler
- Hal Smith
- Lennie Weinrib
Home media
A VHS release of the series was issued by Worldvision Home Video during the late 1980s, and several episodes were released on DVD by Warner Home Video as part of Saturday Morning Cartoons: The 1980s Collection, Volume 1 on May 4, 2010.[6] The episodes on this set are "Dry Run", "Robinson Caruso", "High Roller", "The Claws Conspiracy", "Hat Dance" and "Dirty's Debut".
On October 11, 2016, Warner Archive released The Kwicky Koala Show: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 for the very first time, as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.[7]
Other appearances
- In the Cartoon Network bumper "Sick Days", a majority of cartoon characters call in sick to work, resulting in a programming problem due to the talent shortage. The result was CN airing a 24-hour Kwicky Koala Marathon, much to the viewers' dismay.
- Kwicky Koala makes some cameo appearances in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. He appears as a tattoo in the episode "Deadomutt Part 2". He also appears in "SPF", where he, along with Dirty Dawg, appears as one of the victims of Cybersquatting, and in "The Death of Harvey" during the riots, laying in a road crater and moving his head. Additionally, Officer Bullhorn appears as a jury candidate in "Juror in Court".
- Kwicky Koala and Dirty Dawg make appearances in Jellystone! with Kwicky Koala voiced by Paul F. Tompkins and Dirty Dawg voiced by Jeff Bergman. Dirty Dawg was seen in the episode "It's a Mad Mad Mad Rat Race" where he works as a caricature artist and is an old friend of Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har.
References
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003. McFarland & Company. p. 485. ISBN 978-0-7864-2099-5. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- Terrace, Vincent (1985). Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials. VNR AG. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-918432-61-2. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- Hahn, Matthew (2017). The Animated Marx Brothers. BearManor Media. p. 45. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 349. ISBN 978-1-5381-0374-6. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- Sennett, Ted (1989). The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. Studio. p. 218. ISBN 978-0670829781. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- "Saturday Morning Cartoons: The 1980s Collection, Volume 1". DVD Talk. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- "'The Complete Series' of the 1981 Saturday Morning Cartoons". Archived from the original on 2016-10-02.
External links
- The Kwicky Koala Show at IMDb
- The Kwicky Koala Show at The Big Cartoon DataBase
- Kwicky Koala at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on December 2, 2015.