I *totally* forgot about "Dodo" until I saw a few clips of it again on You Tube recently (the one I saw was about where Professor Fingers threw a first anniversary party for Dodo, and he and Dodo recall how they met each other; unfortunately, the soundtrack was *out of sync* on that You Tube video). One short I remember in particular was the one in which Professor Fingers takes How, Why, and a group of kids to the ice-skating rink; Dodo just sat on the side wall and dangled his feet while everyone else was skating, and the Professor fell flat on the ice!
When "Dodo" premiered in 1965, I was only 3, but I don't recall seeing these shorts until 1967, when I was 5. At that time, they were shown daily as part of the "Bozo the Clown" show on CKLW-TV (now CBET), Channel 9, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada/Detroit; I would watch that every weekday afternoon after coming home from kindergarten.
Although I couldn't find any info on the voice cast, I'll probably bet Dodo was voiced by Lucille Bliss ("Crusader Rabbit" and Smurfette in "The Smurfs"), How and Why by June Foray, and Professor Fingers by Don Messick. As I said, this is only a *speculation,* so once I get more facts about who voiced whom, I'll start a thread on the bulletin board for this show.
I also wondered what that drawing was in the lower right corner of the Halas/Batchelor title card during the opening credits; I thought it was a smiling worm or possibly a representation of an alien from Dodo's home planet. It turned out to be a drawing of an artist's palette with a smiling paintbrush! I also thought the singers sang "lone pixie-dixie" in the theme's lyrics, but it was actually "science fiction pixie" (which I didn't find out until recently).
I believe "Dodo" is now in the public domain, since I discovered somewhere on the web a DVD was put out by one of those small-time video companies that made the disc compatible for all regions; I'll bet they *didn't* remaster the shorts and used scratchy, deteriorating film elements. I can only hope Shout! Factory or some other "TV classics" DVD company might contract with Halas and Batchelor's estates themselves (John Halas and Joy Batchelor were husband and wife; Halas died in 1995 and Batchelor died four years earlier) - perhaps they have archival copies of "Dodo" - and give the series a *proper* treatment for a DVD box set!
("Dodo" was first syndicated by Embassy Television, when Joseph E. Levine was President of the company; the company became Avco Embassy Television in 1968, and held onto the TV syndication rights until the early 1980's, although most stations were no longer airing "Dodo" by then. In 1982, Norman Lear purchased Embassy from Avco and renamed the company Embassy Pictures, then around 1985 Embassy was bought out by Coca-Cola and finally - in 1989, three years before "Dodo"'s copyrights expired - by Sony Pictures Entertainment, who promptly absorbed Embassy Television into Columbia Pictures Television. It is a *real* shame Sony wasn't even aware they had this series in their vast library and didn't even bother renewing the copyrights on it - sad for us baby-boomers!)
In the meantime, *please* be sure to vote for "Dodo" at TV Shows on DVD.com; so far, it has amassed a puny *43* total votes. If the number of votes is 100 or more, then it just might get Shout! Factory's, or another DVD label's, attention. (You might also want to telephone or e-mail Shout! Factory about "Dodo;" their addresses and phone number are given at their website. That should also help influence them to get the DVD rights to "Dodo.")
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