"The Herculoids" (1967) TV series 1967-1969

Creator:

Alex Toth
(more)

Seasons:

1 | unknown

Release Date:

9 September 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Animation

Tagline:

Somewhere out in space live the Herculoids!

Plot:

In this widely syndicated cartoon, King Zandor and a group of bizarre creatures protect their futuristic kingdom from creatures from other galaxies.

Plot Keywords:

Futuristic | Rock Ape | Alien World | Outer Space | Blob Creatures

Cast

Mike Road	...	Zandor, Zok (1 episode, 1967-1969)
Virginia Gregg	...	Tarra (1 episode, 1967-1969)
Ted Eccles	...	Dorno (1 episode, 1967-1969)
Don Messick	...	Gloop, Gleep (1 episode)

Series Directed by
Joseph Barbera		(1 episode)
William Hanna		(1 episode)

Series Writing credits
Joe Ruby		(unknown episodes, 1967)
David Scott		(unknown episodes, 1967)
Ken Spears		(unknown episodes, 1967)
Alex Toth		(unknown episodes)

Series Produced by
Joseph Barbera	....	producer (1 episode)
William Hanna	....	producer (1 episode)
Art Scott	....	associate producer (unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Larry C. Cowan		(unknown episodes)
Geoffrey Griffin		(unknown episodes)
David M. Horton		(unknown episodes)

Series Production Management
Howard Hanson	....	production supervisor (unknown episodes)
Victor O. Schipek	....	assistant production supervisor (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Bill Perez	....	story director (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Paul Sommer	....	story director (2 episodes, 1967-1968)

Series Sound Department
Bill Getty	....	sound director (unknown episodes)
Richard Olson	....	sound director (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Cliff Shirpser	....	camera operator (1 episode, 1967)
Gene Borghi	....	camera operator (unknown episodes, 1967)
Bill Kotler	....	camera operator (unknown episodes, 1967)
Byron McRae	....	camera operator (unknown episodes, 1967)

Series Animation Department
Edwin Aardal	....	animator (unknown episodes, 1967)
Charles A. Nichols	....	animation director (unknown episodes, 1967)
Alex Toth	....	character designer (unknown episodes, 1967)
Ray Abrams	....	animator (unknown episodes)
Richard Bickenbach	....	layout artist (unknown episodes)
Cathleen Braver	....	background artist (unknown episodes)
Rudy Cataldi	....	animator (unknown episodes)
Nick Gibson	....	layout artist (unknown episodes)
Dick Hall	....	animator (unknown episodes)
Harry Holt	....	animator (unknown episodes)
Jack Huber	....	layout artist (unknown episodes)
Paul Julian	....	background artist (unknown episodes)
Lou Kachivas	....	animator (unknown episodes)
Tony Love	....	animator (unknown episodes)
Gary Niblett	....	background artist (unknown episodes)
Bill Perez	....	layout artist (unknown episodes)
Tony Sgroi	....	layout artist (unknown episodes)
John Sparey	....	animator (unknown episodes)
Al Wilson	....	layout artist (unknown episodes)

Series Editorial Department
Warner E. Leighton	....	supervising editor (unknown episodes, 1967)

Series Music Department
Joseph Barbera	....	composer: theme music (1 episode)
William Hanna	....	composer: theme music (1 episode)
Ted Nichols	....	musical director (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Frank Paiker	....	technical supervisor (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Hanna-Barbera Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1967-1969)
• Taft H-B Program Sales (1973-1979)
• Telepictures Distribution (1996-)
• Turner Program Services (TPS) (1992-1996)
• Warner Home Video (2011) (USA) (DVD) (DVD-R) (complete series)
• Worldvision Enterprises (1979-1992)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

10 min (39 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Hanna-Barbera Productions

Quotes:

[Opening title narration]
Narrator:Somewhere out in space live The Herculoids! Zok, the laser-ray dragon! Igoo, the giant rock ape! Tundro, the tremendous! Gloop and Gleep, the formless, fearless wonders! With Zandor, their leader, and his wife, Tara, and son, Dorno, they team up to protect their planet from sinister invaders! All-strong! All-brave! All-heroes! They're The Herculoids!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: 8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter (#4.8)" (2005)

Pulp Sci-Fi Classic

The Herculoids might be the only great example of pulp sci-fi animation. Every episode featured a host of new alien nemeses with little or no explanation. Delightfully however it also featured little or none of the "master of the obvious" dialogue that plagued all the later Hanna Barbera cartoons; "Zoiks Scoob it's a sea monster..." The art has a very warm comic book feel. You won't find the nightmarish rainbow palette that many of todays toons are subjected to. The quality of each episode is consistently high given the archetypal characters, stories etc... In fact, it is precisely the simplistic pulpiness that keeps me wide awake even at ridiculous hours of the morning. The imaginative landscapes and creatures hooked me as a boy, and have yet to let go.