| The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The New Saturday Superstar Movie |
| Genre | Movie of the week |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 45–48 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | September 9, 1972 – November 17, 1973 |
The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie — renamed The New Saturday Superstar Movie in its second season — is a series of one-hour animated TV-movies (some of which also contained live action), broadcast on the ABC television network on Saturday mornings from September 9, 1972, to November 17, 1973.
Intended as a "Movie of the Week" for kids, this series was produced by several production companies — including Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, and Rankin/Bass — and mostly contained features based on popular cartoon characters and TV shows of the time, such as Yogi Bear, The Brady Bunch, and Lost in Space. Some of the features served as pilots for new TV shows.
Contents |
| № | Title | Produced by: | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island" | Filmation, Paramount Television |
September 9, 1972 |
| Based on the characters from The Brady Bunch, this was the pilot for The Brady Kids. The Brady kids enter a balloon race but they end up accidentally going on a mysterious island. They meet some strange people there, and even though they have a fun time with them, they have to find out a way to get home. | |||
| 2 | "Yogi's Ark Lark" | Hanna-Barbera | September 16, 1972 |
| In this ecologically-minded feature, dozens of Hanna-Barbera animal characters — led by Yogi Bear — travel around the world, and even into outer space, in a flying version of Noah's Ark in search of "the perfect place" (i.e., a land free of pollution, deforestation, and other forms of mankind's despoilment). Pilot for Yogi's Gang. | |||
| 3 | "The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters" | Rankin/Bass | September 23, 1972 |
| An animated feature in the same vein as Mad Monster Party. | |||
| 4 | "Nanny and the Professor" | Fred Calvert Productions, 20th Century Fox Television |
September 30, 1972 |
| In this animated feature, the cast of Nanny and the Professor get caught up in a mystery involving a microdot. | |||
| 5 | "Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter" | Hal Seeger Productions, King Features |
October 7, 1972 |
| Fourteen years before Defenders of the Earth, this feature united a wide range of newspaper comic strip characters — including Popeye, Blondie, Hi and Lois, Snuffy Smith, Beetle Bailey, Jiggs and Maggie, Steve Canyon, The Phantom, Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, The Little King, and The Katzenjammer Kids — against a common enemy. | |||
| 6 | "Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid" | Rankin/Bass | October 14, 1972 |
| This animated feature stars the famous baseball player Willie Mays, who voices his own character. A guardian angel agrees to help Willie win the National League Pennant if he agrees to take care of an orphan girl. | |||
| 7 | "Oliver and the Artful Dodger: Part 1" | Hanna-Barbera | October 21, 1972 |
| An animated sequel to the story of "Oliver Twist". Oliver is adopted by Mr. Brownlow. When Mr. Brownlow dies, his will cannot be found so his nephew Sniperly tries to just take the money. Oliver has to stop him. Meanwhile, Artful Dodger now helps children escape from workhouses. | |||
| 8 | "Oliver and the Artful Dodger: Part 2" | Hanna-Barbera | October 28, 1972 |
| Continuation; see Part 1 above. | |||
| 9 | "The Adventures of Robin Hoodnik" | Hanna-Barbera | November 4, 1972 |
| A retelling of the legend of Robin Hood, with a cast of all animal characters. Broadcast one year before the release of Disney's Robin Hood. | |||
| 10 | "Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain" | Filmation | November 11, 1972 |
| Based on the tremendously popular Lassie character, this was the pilot for the animated series Lassie's Rescue Rangers. Someone tries to frighten the people of Thunder Mountain away, and Lassie has to get to the bottom of it. | |||
| 11 | "Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection" | Hanna-Barbera, Screen Gems |
November 18, 1972 |
| Animated feature in which the characters from Gidget run afoul of seagoing gold smugglers. | |||
| 12 | "The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park" | Hanna-Barbera | November 25, 1972 |
| An animated/live-action special starring The Banana Splits. The Splits give Susie, a little girl, a tour of an amusement park. They follow a balloon that goes into a billboard and they chase after it. In there is a witch that kidnaps Susie and the Splits have to save her. | |||
| 13 | "Tabitha and Adam and the Clown Family" | Hanna-Barbera, Screen Gems |
December 2, 1972 |
| Animated feature in which the children from Bewitched (depicted as teenagers) use their magical powers to save a circus; intended pilot for a series that never materialized. | |||
| 14 | "The Red Baron" | Rankin/Bass | December 9, 1972 |
| This animated feature casts the Red Baron as a hero, in a world of heroic anthropomorphic dogs and villainous cats. | |||
| 15 | "Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies" | Filmation, Warner Bros. |
December 16, 1972 |
| In this unusual cartoon crossover, for which Filmation obtained the right to use Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes characters, the Groovie Goolies help Daffy, Porky, and the other Looneys to solve a spooky mystery (in the style of Scooby-Doo). Mostly animated, but includes a live-action segment, which can be seen here. | |||
| 16 | "Luvcast U.S.A." | DePatie-Freleng Enterprises | January 6, 1973 |
| A mini-anthology, loosely based on Love, American Style. | |||
| 17 | "That Girl in Wonderland" | Rankin/Bass | January 13, 1973 |
| In this animated feature, the main character from That Girl imagines herself in the stories "Alice in Wonderland", "Goldilocks", "The Wizard of Oz", and "Cinderella". | |||
For the second season, the series was retitled The New Saturday Superstar Movie.
| № | Title | Produced by: | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | "Lost in Space" | Hanna-Barbera, 20th Century Fox Television |
September 8, 1973 |
| Based on the series Lost in Space, this was meant to be the pilot for an animated version of the show, but it didn't take off. | |||
| 19 | "The Mini-Munsters" | Fred Calvert Productions, Universal Television |
October 27, 1973 |
| Animated feature based on The Munsters, involving a car that's "fueled" by music. | |||
| 20 | "Nanny and the Professor and the Phantom of the Circus" | Fred Calvert Productions, 20th Century Fox Television |
November 17, 1973 |
| Animated feature in which the cast of Nanny and the Professor get involved in a mystery about a traveling circus. | |||
Only three of the above movies have been released on VHS videocassette:
As of this writing, all of these titles are out of print, and none of the above movies have been released on DVD. A few Hanna-Barbera movies from this series have aired on Boomerang.