Rod Rocket is an American animated television series, the first produced by Filmation, and debuted in syndication in 1963. The show was produced in five-minute cliffhanger segments, with five segments making a full story. Television stations could broadcast the single-segment version daily on their local children's afternoon show, or package them together to make 26 weekly half-hour shows.[1]

Rod Rocket
GenreAnimation, Adventure
Written byDick Robbins
Directed byLou Scheimer
Hal Sutherland
StarringSam Edwards
Hal Smith
Pat Blake
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes65[citation needed]
Production
Executive producersMark Lipsky
Walter N. Bien
Running time5 minutes
Production companiesFilmation Associates
Sib Tower 12 Productions
Original release
Release1963 (1963)

History

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Rod Rocket was originally produced by True Line, a small Los Angeles animation studio that subcontracted it the newly formed Filmation Associates created by Lou Scheimer and Hal Sutherland in 1963.[2][3] Scheimer and Sutherland had met while working at Larry Harmon Productions on the made-for-TV Bozo the Clown and Popeye cartoons. They produced the series for SIB Productions, a Japanese company.[3]

Plot

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A boy named Rod Rocket and his best friend, Joey, are sent by wise codger Professor Argus on an exploratory mission in a spaceship called the Little Argo. He waits for them at home with his teenage granddaughter, Cassie. While in space, Rod and Joey constantly battle two bumbling cosmonauts.[4]

Voices

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The voice cast included:[5]

Episodes

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  • "Slave Labor in Space"
  • "The Lava Trap"
  • "Lost in a Lunar Mist"
  • "Lights On"
  • "The Acid Test"

References

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  1. ^ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. p. 241. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  2. ^ Scheimer, Lou; Mangels, Andy (2012). Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 38–39.
  3. ^ a b Rod Rocket at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 9, 2017.
  4. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 685–686. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  5. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 516. ISBN 978-1538103739.
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