| The Herculoids | |
|---|---|
The Herculoids title card. |
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| Genre | Animated series |
| Created by | Alex Toth |
| Voices of | Mike Road Virginia Gregg Ted Eccles Don Messick |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 18 (36 segments, 1967–1969) 11 (1981–1982) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 min.: two 11 min. segments (1967–1969) 6 min. segments of Space Stars (1981–1982) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 9, 1967 – January 6, 1968 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Space Stars |
The Herculoids is a Saturday morning animated television series that was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The show debuted on September 9, 1967 on CBS. Hanna-Barbera produced one season for the original airing of the show, although the original 18 episodes were rerun during the 1968–69 television season, with The Herculoids ending its run on September 6, 1969.
Eleven new episodes were produced in 1981 as part of the Space Stars show. The plotlines are rooted in science fiction, and have story direction and content similar to Jonny Quest and Space Ghost. This series is set on the distant planet Amzot (renamed Quasar in the Space Stars episodes). The name "Amzot" was first mentioned in the Space Ghost episode "The Molten Monsters of Moltar" (in which the Herculoids made a brief guest appearance) and in the series proper in the "Time Creatures" episode.
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The Herculoids battled to defend their planet from menaces on Amzot/Quasar and from outer space. All of the Herculoids displayed Human-level intelligence - employing precision teamwork and complex tactics - as well as emotions, and Zandor and Tara both displayed a working knowledge of complex alien technologies as well as the ability to pilot interstellar spacecraft—but essentially, Zandor, Tara, Dorno, and the Herculoids were fighting to keep Amzot/Quasar a technology-free, primitive planet. This is further indicated by the pseudo-barbarian outfits of Zandor, Tara, and Dorno and the fact that technology was used mainly by the various villains, but rarely if ever by the heroes. Although the "speech" of their companions was limited and repetitive, Zandor, Tara and Dorno demonstrated that Gloop and Gleep, at least, had a comprehensive mode of communication, and that they could at least understand and interpret this language (c.f. "The Mutoids:" "Gleep says that the aliens who landed are attacking Dorno and Tundro"). The "voices" used in the shows were actually brief tracks supplied by two actors and reused throughout the series, in keeping with Hanna-Barbera's thrifty ethos.
A number of episodes featured alien invaders who came to Amzot/Quasar to seek revenge against Zandor for an unspecified battle or adventure from the past. All were apparently technocratic and the alien's grudges seemed to basically boil down to them being stymied in their attempts at bringing technology to Amzot/Quasar, which the apparently primitivistic Zandor wanted to avoid.
The show's opening theme was a fully orchestral composition, suggesting uncommon heroism. An alternate opening theme was also utilized for some episodes. All of the show's incidental music was recycled from Jonny Quest.
In some of the seasons, the episodes opened with the following narration: "Somewhere out in space live The Herculoids...Zok the laser-ray dragon! Igoo the giant rock ape! Tundro the tremendous! Gloop and Gleep, the formless fearless wonders! With Zandor their leader, and his wife, Tara, and son, Dorno, they team up to protect their planet from sinister invaders! All-strong! All-brave! All-heroes!! They are The Herculoids!!!"
The Space Stars series included the Herculoids in its canon to show that Zandor and his family and friends were well-known throughout the galaxy, and good friends of Space Ghost and the Teen Force.
There are eight regular characters:
The three humanoid characters were the only ones who could communicate in English.
The five creature characters of The Herculoids are:
Outside of their own TV series, the Herculoids made appearances in various comic books through the years. In 1968-1969 they appeared in issues #1-#2, and issues #4-#6 of the series Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes. In 1978 they appeared in issue #3 of the Marvel Comics book TV Stars. Finally between 1997-1999 they appeared in issues #5, #9, #13 and #17 of the series Cartoon Network Presents.
Roughly contemporaneous to their own series premiere, the Herculoids made an appearance in an episode of Space Ghost, "The Molten Monsters of Moltar" (sources are unclear and/or inconsistent as to exact airdates). In the "Council of Doom" story arc, Space Ghost, while battling the combined might of all of his enemies, meets a number of Hanna Barbara heroes just as they were debuting in their own respective series. Along with the Herculoids were Shazzan, Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor, the last two sharing one series.
Several episodes of Space Ghost Coast to Coast mention or show the Herculoids. In "Lawsuit" Space Ghost mentions the Herculoids planet. In the episode "Sequel" he goes to their planet and refers to it as a "rotten hippie monster commune" after they demand he leave while pelting him with stones.[1]
Gloop is mentioned by name and features prominently in the Sealab 2021 episode "Hail, Squishface".
Gloop makes several guest appearances on Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law as well, Gleep is mentioned at one point, and Zok makes an appearance in one episode (Phil Ken Sebben throws a graph chart at him). Tundro makes an appearance firing his energy rocks at Phil Ken Sebben, who forgot to close the hot tub time portal to prehistoric times.
The Herculoids is mentioned in an episode of The Venture Bros., where an old "fan letter" of Dr. Venture to the show is discovered. Upon reading, the letter is revealed to be more akin to hate mail; young Rusty Venture called the Herculoids hippies for not fighting in Vietnam.
Tundro and Gloop appear in an episode of Family Guy, "8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter". In the scene, Gloop fails to get a babysitting job from Lois. In protest, Tundro shows up and fires his energy rocks at Lois. (NOTE: The Herculoids is owned by Hanna–Barbera, not FOX parent News Corp..)
| Episode | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Beaked People |
| 2 | The Raiders |
| 3 | The Pod Creatures |
| 4 | Sarko the Arkman |
| 5 | The Mole Men |
| 6 | The Pirates |
| 7 | The Spider Man |
| 8 | Mekkor |
| 9 | The Lost Dorgyte |
| 10 | Destroyer Ants |
| 11 | Defeat of Ogron |
| 12 | The Android People |
| 13 | Temple of Trax |
| 14 | The Swamp Monster |
| 15 | Laser Lancers |
| 16 | The Raider Apes |
| 17 | Tiny World of Terror |
| 18 | Prisoners of the Bubblemen |
| 19 | The Time Creatures |
| 20 | The Gladiators of Kyanite |
| 21 | Mekkano, the Machine Master |
| 22 | Invasion of the Electrode Men |
| 23 | Mission of the Amatons |
| 24 | Queen Skorra |
| 25 | Attack of the Faceless People |
| 26 | The Zorbots |
| 27 | Return of Sta-Lak |
| 28 | Revenge of the Pirates |
| 29 | Ruler of the Reptons |
| 30 | The Island of the Gravites |
| 31 | Malak and the Metal Apes |
| 32 | The Return of Torrak |
| 33 | The Antidote |
| 34 | Attack from Space |
| 35 | The Mutoids |
| 36 | The Crystalites |
| Episode | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Ice Monster |
| 2 | The Purple Menace |
| 3 | The Firebird |
| 4 | The Energy Creature |
| 5 | The Snake Riders |
| 6 | The Buccaneer |
| 7 | The Thunderbolt |
| 8 | Return of the Ancients |
| 9 | Space Trappers |
| 10 | The Invisibles |
| 11 | Mindbender |
On June 14, 2011, Warner Bros. released The Herculoids: The Complete Original Animated Series on DVD in region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the US.[2]
The dvd set has been released June 2011 and does not feature the 11 episodes of the Space Stars Revival.
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