Jabberjaw

Jabberjaw
Created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears
Directed by Charles A. Nichols
Voices of Tommy Cook
Barry Gordon
Julie McWhirter
Pat Parris
Frank Welker
Music by Hoyt Curtin
Opening theme "Jabberjaw" (Jabberjaw and The Neptunes)
Ending theme "Jabberjaw" (instrumental)
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 16 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Producer(s) Alex Lovy
Running time 23 minutes
Production company(s) Hanna-Barbera Productions
Distributor Taft Broadcasting
Release
Original network ABC
Audio format Mono
Original release September 11 – December 18, 1976

Jabberjaw is a Saturday morning animated series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired on ABC from September 11 to December 18, 1976. Reruns continued on ABC until September 3, 1978.

Premise

Jabberjaw, a 15-foot air-breathing great white shark, is the drummer for The Neptunes, a rock group made up of four teenagers — Biff, Shelly, Bubbles and Clamhead — who live in an underwater civilization in the year 2035. Jabberjaw and The Neptunes travel to various underwater cities where they encounter and deal with assorted megalomaniacs and supervillains who want to conquer the undersea world.

Like a great deal of Hanna-Barbera's 1970s output, the format and writing for Jabberjaw was similar to that for Scooby-Doo,[1] Josie and the Pussycats and Speed Buggy. The show also drew inspiration (in the use of a shark as a character) from the overall shark mania of the mid 1970s[2] caused by the then-recent film Jaws. It also shared The Flintstones' penchant for making use of puns as the names of locations, people, etc., in this case, ocean-themed puns (such as "Aqualaska" instead of Alaska).

Characters

Jabberjaw and The Neptunes. Counterclockwise: Jabberjaw (drums), Bubbles (keyboard), Biff (guitar), Shelly (tambourine) and Clamhead (bass).
  • Jabberjaw (voiced by Frank Welker) – Jabberjaw is an air-breathing, anthropomorphic great white shark whose voice and mannerisms were similar to Curly Howard of The Three Stooges. Jabberjaw found it hard to get respect in a society where "shark ejectors" (robots that would guard various buildings or cities against sharks being allowed to enter) were commonplace. These robots, as well as unpleasant treatment from others, frequently prompt him to utter some variation of his catchphrase (borrowed from the comedian Rodney Dangerfield): "I don't get no respect!" He has the unique ability to change his shape or adapt himself to act like various objects such as a trampoline, parachute, jack, throw rug, etc., either to get himself and the gang out of a jam, or just to hide.
  • Biff (voiced by Tommy Cook) – Biff is an athletic, handsome, brown-haired young man who is the band's guitar player and level-headed leader who books all the gigs. In many episodes, his hair is drawn black. His main catchphrase is "Jumpin' jellyfish!" (occasionally, "Hoppin' halibut!")
  • Shelly (voiced by Pat Parris) – Shelly is a dark-haired young woman who plays tambourine for The Neptunes. She is attractive and intelligent, but haughty, vain and abrasive (like Josie and the Pussycats' Alexandra) and considers herself to be the star of the band. While she holds a great deal of disdain for Jabberjaw (or "Blubberhead" as she calls him), she does have some grudging fondness for him deep down and occasionally shows it.
  • Bubbles (voiced by Julie McWhirter) – Bubbles is a young woman with blonde, curly hair who plays keyboard for The Neptunes. She is extremely ditzy and dimwitted, has a cute giggle, similar to Josie and the Pussycats' Melody. Shelly sometimes nicknames her "Ding-a-Ling" or "Bubblehead". Whenever she volunteers to help, she usually ends up messing it up.
  • Clamhead (voiced by Barry Gordon) – Clamhead is a young man who plays bass for The Neptunes. His catchphrases are crying out "Abba-abba-abba!" and "Wowee-wow-wow-wow!" (or some variation, commonly featuring the word "zowie") whenever he gets excited. Clamhead is Jabberjaw's best friend.[3]

Broadcast history

Sixteen 30-minute episodes of Jabberjaw were produced, which aired on ABC Saturday Morning from September 11, 1976, to September 3, 1977, and rebroadcast for a second season of reruns on Sunday Morning from September 11, 1977, to September 3, 1978. In the 1980s, repeats resurfaced as part of USA Cartoon Express on USA Network, in the 1990s on Cartoon Network and in the 2000s on Boomerang. This is one of a number of shows made before the mid-1980s seen on the Cartoon Network and Boomerang to have been taken from PAL prints.

Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contained a laugh track created by the studio.

Broadcast schedules (all EDT):

  • September 11, 1976 – November 27, 1976, ABC Saturday 9:00-9:30 AM
  • December 4, 1976 – September 3, 1977, ABC Saturday 8:30-9:00 AM
  • September 11, 1977 – September 3, 1978, ABC Sunday 10:30-11:00 AM

Episodes

No.TitleOriginal air dateProd.
code
1"Dr. Lo Has Got to Go"September 11, 1976 (1976-09-11)84-1
Jabber and the gang have to stop the evil Dr. Lo from unleashing his Gorgon on the city of Aquahama.
2"There's No Place Like Outer Space"September 18, 1976 (1976-09-18)84-2
After Biff gets them kicked out for a publicity stunt, aliens land in the undersea city of Hydrostan. It's up to Jabber and the gang to stop their invasion.
3"Atlantis, Get Lost"September 25, 1976 (1976-09-25)84-4
Jabber and the gang get mixed-up in Dorsal's plan to overthrow the queen of Atlantis and become king himself.
4"Run, Jabber, Run"October 2, 1976 (1976-10-02)84-3
Jabber competes in the 2076 Undersea Olympics against a robot in order to unmask Z, the leader of a worldwide criminal organization.
5"The Sourpuss Octopus"October 9, 1976 (1976-10-09)84-5
Jabber and the gang accidentally join Professor Acosta's expedition to find the treasure of Panaqua, and have to protect him from the villainous Octopus.
6"Hang On to Your Hat, Jabber"October 16, 1976 (1976-10-16)84-6
The Brotherhood of Evil threatens the undersea world when it learns that the Power Helmet, invented by Professor Ortega, grants its bearer's every wish.
7"The Great Shark Switch"October 23, 1976 (1976-10-23)84-7
The Ambassador of Aquatania suspects the Neptune's of kidnapping Commander Shark so Jabberjaw must prove their innocence.
8"Claim-Jumped Jabber"October 30, 1976 (1976-10-30)84-8
The evil Coldfinger is after all the richest mines in Aqualaska. When Jabberjaw gets in the way, Coldfinger puts our favorite shark on ice!
9"Ali Jabber and the Secret Thieves"November 6, 1976 (1976-11-06)84-9
Jabber and The Neptunes, touring the undersea kingdom of Hydrabia, meet Volton, an evil mass of energy who lives inside the magic Electrolamp.
10"Help, Help, It's the Phantom of the Kelp"November 13, 1976 (1976-11-13)84-10
The Phantom, with the aid of a powerful growth ray, plans to raise an army of ferocious prehistoric plants to make the Aqua International Corporation bow to his demands.
11"No Helpin' the Sculpin"November 20, 1976 (1976-11-20)84-11
Jabber and The Neptunes encounter the sinister Sculpin, who has stolen an unfinished time machine from the brilliant Professor Thorstein.
12"The Bermuda Triangle Tangle"November 25, 1976 (1976-11-25)84-12
Jabberjaw and the Neptunes accidentally go through the Bermuda Triangle and are taken prisoner by Sorceress Madame Sargasso.
Note: Telecast at noon (ET) on a Thursday, as part of ABC's Thanksgiving Funshine Festival.
13"Malice in Aqualand"November 27, 1976 (1976-11-27)84-13
While participating in a rodeo at Aqualand, Jabberjaw sees Dr. Cybron's henchmen kidnap the Rajah, and replace him with a robot duplicate. He tells the Neptunes, and Cybron tries to silence them by sending a runaway stagecoach over a cliff. When that fails, he captures Bubbles, and sends a duplicate of her to capture the others. The group rescues Bubbles and the Rajah, and discovers that Dr. Cybron himself is a robot....
14"The Fast Paced Chase Race"December 4, 1976 (1976-12-04)84-14
The Neptunes try to win the top spot in the Petrolaqua Trans-Marine Race while attempting to foil the evil plans of Dr. Robek.
15"The Piranha Plot"December 11, 1976 (1976-12-11)84-16
Biff books the group on a tanker to Amsteraqua after another gig falls through, this being the cheapest way to go straight there. The Piranha has designs on ruling the Underwater States of America and captures the tanker for its load of special rocket fuel. The Neptune's scuttle the Piranha's rocket practically dismantling the control center and messing with the rocket's fuel delivery system. Jabber manages to launch the rocket accidentally to a different destination, with its cargo of sleep dust....
16"There's No Heel Like El Eel"December 18, 1976 (1976-12-18)84-15
The eerie El Eel threatens to turn the entire undersea world to stone, and there's only one guy who can stop him: the great El Jabbo!

Other appearances

A rebooted Jabberjaw interacts with Aquaman. From the Aquaman/Jabberjaw Special #1
  • Jabberjaw guest starred on Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics in the episodes "Acapulco and England" (1977), "India and Israel" (1977), "Africa and San Francisco" (1977), "New York and Turkey" (1978) and "New Orleans and Atlantis" (1978).
  • Jabberjaw (voiced by Don Messick) made a special guest appearance at a celebrity roast honoring Fred Flintstone on the TV special Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue (1978).
  • Jabberjaw co-starred on the short-lived 1978 series Yogi's Space Race in which he participated in intergalactic racing competitions with Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and other characters; his racing partner was a lazy bloodhound named Buford (from The Buford Files of Buford and the Galloping Ghost) and their race ship contained a track on which Buford ran to increase speed. Jabber and Buford were both voiced by Frank Welker.
  • Jabberjaw also appeared in the medium of comic books. He made appearances in Laff-A-Lympics issues #8 through #12 published by Marvel Comics in 1978–79. He also appeared in Hanna-Barbera Presents: Superstar Olympics (issue #6) published by Archie Comics in 1996 and Cartoon Network Presents (issue #23) published by DC Comics in 1999. In 1977, a Jabberjaw comic book series was originally planned by Charlton Comics but was cancelled. In France, he was featured in the French-language comic books Télé Junior, Télé Parade and Télé BD (1978–81).
  • Jabberjaw appeared in two 1979 educational filmstrips – "The Silent Hunters" and "A Whale of a Tale" – as part of the Hanna-Barbera Educational Filmstrips series distributed in classroom environments.[4][5]
  • Jabberjaw made a cameo appearance in the episode "Goodbye, Mr. Chump" on Yogi's Treasure Hunt (1987).
  • Jabberjaw and The Neptunes appeared on Cartoon Network Groovies in a music video set to Pain's "Jabberjaw (Running Underwater)" (1999) in which they are portrayed as a ska band with the group dressed in modern clothing.
  • Jabberjaw appeared on the TV special Night of the Living Doo (2001) trying to take out Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang so he can finally get his respect.
  • Jabberjaw made sporadic appearances on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law in the episodes "Shoyu Weenie" (2002), "The Dabba Don" (2002), "Back to the Present" (2004), "Peanut Puberty" (2004), "Juror in Court" (2007) and "The Death of Harvey" (2007).
  • Jabberjaw made a cameo appearance on Johnny Bravo in the episode "Johnny Bravo Goes to Hollywood" (2004).
  • Jabberjaw appeared on Sealab 2021 in the episode "Return of Marco" (2004) where he was one of many sharks impaled with spears by an aquatic tribe of cave dwellers.
  • Jabberjaw and The Neptunes appeared on Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated in the episode "Mystery Solvers Club State Finals" (2011) alongside other Hanna-Barbera mystery teams in a fever dream of Scooby-Doo's. Frank Welker reprised the role of Jabberjaw.
  • Jabberjaw made a cameo appearance in a 2012 MetLife commercial entitled "Everyone".[6]
  • In 2018, DC Comics rebooted Jabberjaw into a less cartoonish character and featured him in a crossover with Aquaman.[7]

Merchandising and video releases

In other languages

References

  1. ↑ Crandol, Michael (1999). "The History of Animation: Advantages and Disadvantages of the Studio System in the Production of an Art Form". Digital Media FX. Joe Tracy. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
  2. ↑ Mallory, Michael (1998). Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. Warner Bros., Hugh Lauter Levin Associates Inc. ISBN 0-88363-108-3.
  3. ↑ America Toons In: A History of Television Animation By David Perlmutter page 154
  4. ↑ Jabberjaw: The Silent Hunters at WorldCat
  5. ↑ Jabberjaw: A Whale of a Tale at WorldCat
  6. ↑ "MetLife: "Everyone" Game Day Commercial". YouTube. 2012-02-03. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  7. ↑ "Aquaman/Jabberjaw #1 Review". AIPT!. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  8. ↑ Marineland Jabberjaw Picture Viewer (1980)
  9. ↑ "Jabberjaw - 'The Complete Series' MOD Title Now Available: Cost, Contents, High-Res Box Art". Archived from the original on 2011-09-14.
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