The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan

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The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan is an American Saturday morning animated cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1972, based upon the Charlie Chan movie series of the 1930s. It is noteworthy for the fact that the star, Keye Luke, is the only actor of Chinese descent to play the title character.

In it, Mr. Chan (whose first name is never given, but is clearly Charlie) and his ten children solve mysteries around the world, with the children helping their father in every episode (or at least trying to). The older children also had their own music group, The Chan Clan; every episode featured a song, either being played over the action or with the characters playing instruments and performing. Vocals for the group were provided by former Archies lead singer Ron Dante, with music supervision by Don Kirshner (who had supervised the music for The Archie Show). The show lasted for two seasons in 1972 on CBS, and is today often rerun on Cartoon Network's sister network, Boomerang.

[edit] Episodes

Scotland Yard: A priceless stone is stolen and the Chan Clan must help get it back.
The Crown Jewel Caper: The Crown Jewels have disappeared from their case.
To Catch a Pitcher: A famous pitcher is missing and feared kidnapped.
Will The Real Charlie Chan Please Stand Up?: The Chan Clan must find the impersonator who is framing Mr. Chan for the hotel robberies.
The Phantom Sea Thief: A mysterious thief steals a painting during the Chan Clan's performance aboard a cruise ship.
Eye of the Idol: A thief uses a smoke bomb to distract the Chan Clan and everyone in the room while he steals a jeweled idol's eye.
Fat Lady Caper: The fat lady seems to disappear when a bank robber is on the loose.
Captain Kidd's Doubloons: While in Trinidad, the Chan Clan must solve the theft of the doubloons.
Bronze Idol: A con artist uses the idol to trick the villagers into giving it more pearls. Also, a prince is kidnapped and then replaced by an impostor.
The Great Illusion Caper: A magician's dog has been stolen and the Chans help find her.
The Mummy's Tomb: A golden coffin of a famous pharaoh is stolen.
The Mardi Gras Caper: A valuable ring has been stolen.
The Gypsy Caper: A mural has been stolen. While on the case, Stanley accidentally makes Henry swallow a clock.
The Greek Caper: A statue of the winged goddess Athena is stolen in Greece and replaced by a plaster copy. Mr. Chan enlists Alan's help to find it.
White Elephant: The Maharaja's white elephant Sing Ha disappears from the elephant enclosure when they are feeding it, and is feared stolen.

[edit] Trivia

Prolific voice actor Don Messick, the voice of Scooby-Doo and many other well known cartoon characters, provided the voice of the Chan family dog, Chu Chu.

Gene Andrusco, who provided the voice of "Flip," went on to be a successful record producer and musician fronting the band Adam Again.

In an episode of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, a Japanese band called "Shoyu Weenie" sued another band ("The Neptunes" from the Jabberjaw animated series) for plagiarism. "Shoyu Weenie" was based on the Chan Clan, with Mr. Chan as their semi-tyrannical band manager.