The Super 6

The Super 6 is an animated cartoon series which was produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and Mirisch-Rich Television Productions in 1966, and shown on the NBC television network from 1966 to 1969. This was DePatie–Freleng's first vehicle for Saturday morning.

The Super 6 theme song was performed by Gary Lewis & the Playboys.[1]

Plot

The show was a superhero spoof which featured half a dozen diverse characters under the supervision of a cranky dispatcher. Each episode consisted of three 5-6 minute segments, with the introductory segment featuring Super Bwoing and the last featuring one of the other five heroes. The middle segment featured the totally unrelated The Brothers Matzoriley.

The Super Six Membership

The Super 6 consisted of the following:

  • Super Bwoing: Noted for his rather unremarkable physique, extreme clumsiness, and a rather odd pot-shaped red helmet with wings on it, echoing the helmet worn by the Graeco-Roman deity Mercury. His preferred mode of transportation was to fly through the air on his guitar (his "Super Bwoinger"), using the strings like reins on a horse. The guitar was equipped with a signal light which flashed an alert from the Super Service Headquarters when his services were required, on top of a variety of other special abilities. His primary super-power was the ability to emit a super "laser beam" from his eyes, although he does possess super-human strength as well. When in attack mode he would call out "ZIP, ZAM, ZOWIE and SWOOSH!". Due to his being an apprentice hero in addition to the clumsiest of the Super Service heroes, he seemed to only get jobs if the others were busy or on holidays; in essence, he was the last choice and, in any case, better than nothing. Despite his bumbling, however, he would always manage to catch his villains. His voice was a caricature of Jimmy Stewart's.
  • Granite Man: Composed entirely of gray granite rock, and possessed the expected powers of near-invulnerability, incredible strength and a powerful uppercut. When not working for the Super Service, Granite Man served a role as a statue in a local park. His assistant was Percival, a messenger pigeon who would wake him from his statue mode with the words "Granite Man, oh rock of power, awake and face this dangerous hour!".
  • Magneto Man: As the name implies, his powers were based on magnetism. He had blond hair, and wore a red suit with a magnet drawn on his chest. His assistant was a young sidekick named "Cal", and in addition to being the brains of the pair, also gave kids at home some minor educational tidbits in science. Both heroes were from London, and had exaggerated English accents; Magneto Man's accent was virtually identical to that of actor Cary Grant.
  • Elevator Man: Ironically the shortest of the Six, he wore a pale gray safari suit and a large belt. By pressing one of two elevator buttons on the buckle, he could shrink to the size of an ant or grow into a giant. Other than his size-changing powers, no other special abilities were ever shown, and without his belt he would be stuck at whatever size he was at that moment. With his intense tough-guy narration and the occasional moment where a bad guy was killed, Elevator Man was the closest the show had to a serious, or at least minimally absurd, detective hero.
  • Super Scuba: An ocean-based hero who spoke like Dean Martin, Super Scuba wore green SCUBA gear and lived in an underwater cave with his secretary "Bubbles" the mermaid. Bubbles was infatuated with Super Scuba and would also accompany Scuba on his missions. Despite being relaxed, overconfident and self-centered, he managed to use his brains and wits to defeat his opponents.
  • Captain Whammo/Zammo: This muscular, long-haired blond hero was usually dispatched to fight villains of a more military nature. His uniform consisted of a peaked cap with cap badge, dark sunglasses, a thin red ruff (clothing) about his neck, a long-sleeved red imported shantung silk/Kashmir shawl/lion's wool shirt with frill (fashion), a black sleeve-less plunging V-neck jerkin (garment) vest, red Gauntlet (glove), red leather lappets that hung from his waist, darker maroon braccae, and pointy-toed black jackboots-. His powers included flight and incredible strength, and he used the catchphrase of "Thither, Yonder and Away!" as he leapt to the skies. The Captain also had the power to travel back in time to various historical events as part of his assignments, in which he was also assisted by Private Hammo. Private Hammo was fiercely loyal to the Captain, usually jumping in front of him to protect him from danger. Whammo would then usually award the carbonized Private with a medal, only to immediately confiscate it "for having a dirty uniform".

Captain Whammo vs. Captain Zammo

This character appeared in the smallest number of segments of any of the other members of the Six. After the first appearance, however, his name was changed from "Whammo" to "Zammo". According to Friz Freleng in a [1982] interview, the name change occurred when Wham-O, creators of such wonders as the Super Ball, filed a legal grievance against DePatie-Freleng over trademark infringement. Reportedly, the first commercial to air after the first televised “Captain Whammo” segment was, ironically, for the Super Ball.

The Brothers Matzoriley

This third segment was unrelated to the Super Six, and starred a bizarre, three-headed character known collectively as "The Brothers Matzoriley" a parody in name, of The Brothers Karamazov. They were "Siamese triplets" who were Three Stooges-style bumblers, always looking for a new job. Their names (Weft, Wight and Wong) were a play on "left", "right" and "wrong". Although occupying one body, each head had its own distinct personality, one head (Weft) being that of a tough guy or ruffian with a Brooklyn accent. another (Wight) being a wimpy coward with a very nervous delivery, and the middle head (Wong) being a smart alecky Chinese, who dispensed absurd parodies of Confucius proverbs beginning with "Confusion say...". All three personalities were of a broad, stereotypical nature.

A prototype version of the Brothers Matzoriley first appeared in the credits of A Shot in the Dark (1964 film) and were seen again in Depatie-Freleng's first feature film, Mitzi in 1965, as well as the sequels, then again in The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation the first short in The Inspector series. In the cartoon, the brothers steal a precious diamond in the oddest ways from the Inspector. In a comic plot twist ending, they wind up winning the day after the Inspector accidentally drinks a glass of water with the diamond in it. The brothers (disguised as a nurse) steal it after a surgeon removes it during an emergency operation. This version of the character was quite different from its later incarnation, however. The first head was a suave British-type (Pat Harrington Jr. was the original voice for the left side spy) and the third head had a Soviet-Russian accent (Paul Frees was the voice of the right head as well as the middle Chinese head). They had different voices but similar personalities - although the middle Chinese head bore some resemblance to the version that would later appear in The Super 6.

Data

The series was broadcast by NBC from September 10, 1966 to January 21, 1967. NBC continued to air reruns until August 31, 1969.

20 episodes (each containing three cartoons) were made.

TGG Direct (under license from MGM Home Entertainment) has released the entire series on DVD.

Voices

Staff

  • Supervising Director: Gerry Chiniquy
  • Directors: Steven Clark, Hawley Pratt, Norm McCabe, George Singer, Robert McKimson, John Walker
  • Story Supervision: John Dunn
  • Writers: Tony Benedict, Alan Dinehart, Don Jurwich, Walter Black, John Freeman, Lee Mishkin, Homer Brightman, Dale Hale, Jack Miller, Bill Danch, Bill Hamilton, Michael O'Conner, Art Diamond, Cal Howard, Jim Ryan
  • Storyboard & Layout: Corny Cole, Burt Freund, Bob Givens, Norm Gottfredson, Jan Green, Dave Hanan, Lin Larsen, Marty Murphy, Tony Rivera, Jacques Rupp, Al Wilson
  • Animation: Frank Andrina, Bob Goe, Bob Matz, Dale Case, Manny Gould, Murray McClellan, Herman Cohen, Lee Halpern, Morey Redan, Jim Davis, Bill Hutten, Ed Soloman, Xenia Demattia, Art Leonardi, Ken Southworth, John Garling, Ed Love, Don Williams
  • Backgrounds: Shelia Brown, Gloria Wood, Roger Collins, Tom Yakutis
  • Supervising Film Editor: Lee Gunther
  • Film Editors: Lou Gordon, Chuck McCann, Joseph J. Reitano
  • Voices: Daws Butler, Pat Carroll, Paul Frees, June Foray, Joan Gerber, Artie Johnson, Lynn Johnson, Diana Maddox, Charles Smith, Paul Stewart
  • Music: Bill Lava
  • Production Managers: Basil Cox, Bill Orcutt
  • Asst. Production Managers: Armand Shaw, Harry Love
  • Title Sung by: Gary Lewis
  • Produced by: David H. DePatie & Friz Freleng

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gary Lewis (I)
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