The Brown Hornet
The Brown Hornet was a show-within-a-show (or more accurately, a cartoon-within-a-cartoon) on the Filmation animated series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids from 1979 to approximately 1984. The Brown Hornet was a show that Fat Albert's gang watched on a barely-working television in their clubhouse. Originally the Brown Hornet was presented on a radio program by Cosby as an African-American version of the Green Hornet. During the cartoon the character was rewritten as a space superhero.
The Brown Hornet was a bumbling superhero who always seemed to thwart the evil-doers and teach viewers a valuable lesson in the process. In each opening, The Brown Hornet and his sidekicks Stinger and Tweeterbell the Robot were facing certain doom until the Brown Hornet used his superpowers to save them all. Their victory would be fleeting, however, as the episode would often end with a new threat emerging.
In one episode of "Fat Albert", Weird Harold is seen playing a Brown Hornet arcade cabinet at a video arcade. In another episode, Fat Albert and his friends make their own Brown Hornet movie to submit to a film festival. The Brown Hornet also features prominently in the Fat Albert Easter special, where the Brown Hornet teaches Fat Albert and his friends the spirit of giving and rejuvenation the springtime holiday provides.
Inspiration
The Brown Hornet's name is a play on the name of the old time radio hero The Green Hornet; in fact, Bill Cosby had done a syndicated radio Brown Hornet series around 1970 that directly parodied the old program. However, this Brown Hornet is closer to a parody of Space Ghost - a space-faring, caped superhero.
Fictional theatrical film
The fictional film The Brown Hornet: The Great Galaxy World Adventure Movie was featured in Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids: The Movie.
A feature film is rumored to be in the works.
Voice cast
The Brown Hornet - Bill Cosby
Stinger - Lou Scheimer
Tweeterbell - Erika Scheimer
Announcer - Norm Prescott/Lou Scheimer
Other media
The Brown Hornet appeared in the South Park episode "Imaginationland."
Black Thought of the hip hop band The Roots mentions the Brown Hornet in the lyrics to Thought @ Work.
The Artists
- Produced By Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott
- Vice President In Charge Of Production: Joseph Mazzuca
- Executive Vice President/Creative Affairs: Arthur H. Nadel
- Production Manager: Joseph Simon
- Director In Charge of Animation: Gwen Wetzler
- Animation Directors: Bob Arkwright, John Allan Armstrong, Kent Butterworth, Ed Friedman, Lou Kachivas, Marsh Lamore, Ernie Schmidt, Kay Wright, Lou Zukor
- Story Director: Karl Geurs
- Supervising Storyboard Artist: Mike Joens
- Unit Supervisor: Wendell Washer
- Storyboard Artists: Barry Caldwell, Paul Fennell, Sharon Forward, Mike Hazy
- Production Designer: Bob Kline
- Layout Director: Jim Fletcher
- Asssistant Layout Supervisor: Irma Rosien
- Layout: Alberto DeMello, Larry Eikleberry, Sharon Forward, Sergio Garcia, Wes Herschensohn, Carol Lundberg, Lorenzo Martinez, Greg Nocon, Norly Paat, John Perry, Rocco Pirrone, Virgil Raddatz, Louise Sandoval, Cliff Voorhees, David West
- Color Director: Ervin L. Kaplan
- Backgrounds: Barbara Benedetto, Alan Bodner, Sheila Brown, Dianne Erenberg, Vern Jorgensen, Ellen Kashan, Pat Keppler, Rolando Oliva, Tom O'Loughlin, Curt Perkins, Don Peters, Don Schweikert, Don Watson
- Animators: Tom Baron, Arland Barron, James Brummett, Bill Carney, Pat Clark, Richard Coleman, James A. Davis, Ed DeMattia, Zeon Davush, Jeff Etter, Lillian Evans, Rick Farmiloe, Kennetha Gaebler, Miguel Garcia, Michael Gerard, Lee Halpern, Karen Haus, Brett Hisey, Chrystal Klabunde, Stephen Marsh, Larry Miller, Gale Morgan, Frank Nakielski, Eduardo Olivares, Jack Ozark, Bill Pratt, William Recinos, Bill Reed, Sonja Ruta, Don Schloat, Cheryl Selleck, Larry Silverman, James Simon, Kamoon Song, Michael Toth, Richard Trueblood, Bob Tyler, Dardo Velez, Larry White
- Assistant Animation Supervisor: Marlene Robinson-May
- Animation Check Supervisor: Joyce Gard
- Xerography Supervisor: John Remmel
- Paint Supervisor: Alla Marshall
- Director Of Animation Photography: R.W. Pope
- Camera: Gary Gunther, Richard Haas, Roncie Hantke, Dan Larsen, David J. Link, Craig Littell-Herrick, Jeffery Mellquist, Lin-Z Rogers, Dean G. Teves, David Valentine, Steven Wilzbach, F.T. Ziegler
- Film Editors: Ron Fedele, Joe Gall, Hector C. Gika, Tom Gleason, Jim Puente, Robert Waxman
- Film Coordinators: June Gilham, Toni Christiansen
- Production Controller: Robert W. Wilson
- Sound By Glen Glenn Sound
- Color By Technicolor
- Supervising Film Editor: George Mahana
- Film Transfer: Paul Galloway
- Background Music Composed By Ray Ellis And Norm Prescott
- Music Published By Shermley Music Company, ASCAP
- Educational Advisor: Dr. Gordon L. Berry from the Graduate School of Education at UCLA
- Live Action Sequences Directed By Arthur H. Nadel
- Executive Producer: William H. Cosby, Jr.
- (c)Copyright 1980 Filmation Associates - Bill Cosby
- A FILMATION PRODUCTION
External links