Saturday Supercade
| Saturday Supercade | |
|---|---|
| |
| General information | |
| Format | Children's television series |
| Creator(s) | Joe Ruby Ken Spears |
| Director(s) | Charles A. Nichols John Kimball |
| Writer(s) | Duane Poole Tom Swale Gary Greenfield Michael Maurer Mark Jones Rick Merwin Cliff Ruby Elana Lesser Gordon Kent Jack Enyart Tom Dagenais Matt Uitz Michael Brown Kayte Kuch Richard Murphy James Diamond Sheryl Scarborough Scott Ben-Yashar |
| Starring | Soupy Sales as Donkey Kong |
| Voice actor(s) | Milton Supman Peter Cullen Kenneth Mars Billy Bowles Noelle North Bart Braverman Bob Ridgely Dick Beals Bob Sarlatte Julie Dees B. J. Ward Ted Field, Sr. Frank Welker Marvin Kaplan Judy Strangis Robbie Lee |
| Opening theme | "Supercade" |
| Composer(s) | Haim Saban Shuki Levy Dean Elliott |
| Country of origin | United States of America |
| Original language | English |
| Seasons | 2 |
| Episodes | 97 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Joe Ruby Ken Spears |
| Producer(s) | Larry Huber |
| Editor(s) | P. J. Webb Larry Whelan |
| Production company | Ruby-Spears Productions |
| Distributor(s) | CBS Broadcasting, Inc. |
| Runtime | 50 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Channel(s) | CBS |
| First aired | September 17, 1983[?] |
| Last aired | December 1, 1984[?] |
| Status | Ended |
Saturday Supercade is an animated television series based on several arcade games, including Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, Frogger, Q*bert, Pitfall!, Kangaroo, and Space Ace. Each episode is approximately one hour long and comprises four shorter, self-contained segments based on one arcade game each. The show originally aired on Saturday mornings on CBS Broadcasting Inc. television network beginning on September 17, 1983. After two seasons, the show's original run ended on December 1, 1984. Ruby-Spears Productions produced the series. While the Donkey Kong segments appeared in both seasons, the Donkey Kong Junior segments ended after the first season. In total there are nineteen Donkey Kong segments and thirteen Donkey Kong Junior segments.
Since the show's end, the Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Junior segments have ceased to air on television. Additionally, the series has not been reproduced in any format, and as such only homemade recordings of the segments made during the show's television airing are available to the public. Music Corporation of America Inc., then-owner of Universal City Studios, was the last known holder of the segments (due to a deal made between MCA/Universal and Ruby-Spears in the leadup to Universal's lawsuit against Nintendo),[1][2] but it is unclear if Universal or related entities still have any rights to the segments. The copyright to the segments (excluding the Space Ace segments) was assigned to the owners of the source materials, including the Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Junior segments; it appears that said segments are owned by Nintendo of America.[3] When questioned by a fan on Facebook, the Warner Archive Collection team stated that the accessible segments of the show may be released on DVD in 2011, with "cool vintage footage" replacing any unavailable segments,[4] but this did not come to fruition.
Predating Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen! by nearly three years, Saturday Supercade marked the first animated adaption of any Super Mario-related series. A few months before the series aired, however, TV commercials for Donkey Kong cereal and the Game & Watch included animated Super Mario characters.[5][6][7] It also marked the first appearances of Mario and Donkey Kong in a television series, both of whom would later star in their own television series with The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! in 1989 and Donkey Kong Country in 1996 respectively, as well as the first appearance of Mario's modern color scheme in America (a red hat and shirt with blue overalls). The show also marked the currently only televised appearances of the characters Pauline, Donkey Kong Jr., and Stanley, all from the Donkey Kong series.
Plot synopses[edit]
Donkey Kong[edit]
Similar to the premise of Donkey Kong Circus, the introduction to the Donkey Kong segments show that Mario apparently owns the circus along with his animal trainer Pauline and the star of the show, Donkey Kong. However, the Kong escapes and makes his way down a dock on a motorcycle, pursued by Mario and Pauline in their circus van. Exiting the van, the pair gives chase on foot until Mario slipped on a banana peel laid by Donkey Kong as a trap. The tables turn, and the pair flee from the approaching Kong. However, Mario and Pauline quickly resume pursuit with a net and follow him up the stairway of a building in reference to 25m. Their resultant chase is outlined in the Donkey Kong segments.
Most stories have the trio happening on crime, with criminals usually involved in schemes involving theft, fraud, and deceit, usually for monetary gain. Sometimes, the crooks realize Donkey Kong's slow-wittedness and try to get him to do their dirty work, but in the end, Donkey Kong either realizes the truth himself or Mario and/or Pauline reveal the facts to the Kong, and in the end, the villains' plot is foiled. The chase then continues.
The season two intro starts with Mario chases Donkey Kong across a row of floating barrels holding a net, with the Kong holding Pauline. Donkey Kong then taunts Mario, frustrating Mario. The scene changes to Donkey Kong dressed as a matador in a bullring, who waves a muleta to make a bull charge towards him, who is actually Mario in disguise, referencing "El Donkey Kong". Mario hits a brick wall, dazing him, and the scene transitions to Donkey Kong on a unicycle, who throws a banana peel while holding a bunch of bananas, causing Mario, who is chasing him while holding a net, to slip on it. The scene transitions to Pauline, who is dressed as a princess, waving her handkerchief from a tower in a castle, prompting Donkey Kong, who is dressed as a knight, to rush to her rescue on his horse, referencing "Sir Donkey Kong." However, Mario blocks the entrance to castle, and his horse stops at the drawbridge, launching Donkey Kong into the castle. He hits a wall, resulting in his armor falling off, but Pauline also falls in his lap, now in her normal attire, making Donkey Kong smile. He turns his head towards the camera, and the scene transitions to running off with Pauline on a zigzag path in reference to 25m towards the sunset, with Mario in pursuit.
Donkey Kong Junior[edit]
Outlined in the introduction to the Donkey Kong Junior segments, Donkey Kong Jr. travels from the jungle to Mario's circus to see his father, Donkey Kong. Realizing that his dad has escaped and without means of finding him, Donkey Kong Jr. is reduced to tears. Bones Bailey approaches Junior and consoles him. After hearing his story, Bones suggests that they follow after Donkey Kong in his motorcycle. Overjoyed, Donkey Kong Jr. joyously yells his catchphrase, "Monkey muscle!" and takes the driver's seat. With Bones in the sidecar covering his eyes, the two speed off on their adventures which are outlined in the Donkey Kong Junior segments.
Episodes[edit]
Donkey Kong[edit]
Season 1[edit]
- "Mississippi Madness"
- "Gorilla Gangster"
- "Banana Bikers"
- "The Incredible Shrinking Ape"
- "Movie Mania"
- "Gorilla My Dreams"
- "Little Orphan Apey"
- "Circus Daze"
- "The Great Ape Escape"
- "Apey and the Snowbeast"
- "How Much is That Gorilla in the Window?"
- "Private Donkey Kong"
- "Get Along, Little Apey"
Season 2[edit]
- "Sir Donkey Kong"
- "The Pale Whale"
- "El Donkey Kong"
- "New Wave Ape"
- "Greenhouse Gorilla"
- "Hairy Parent"
Donkey Kong Junior[edit]
- "Trucknapper Caper"
- "Sheep Rustle Hustle"
- "Rocky Mountain Monkey Business"
- "Magnificent Seven-Year Olds"
- "The Ventriloquist Caper"
- "The Great Seal Steal"
- "The Jungle Boy Ploy"
- "Junior Meets Kid Dynamo"
- "The Amazing Rollerskate Race"
- "A Christmas Story"
- "Gorilla Ghost"
- "The Teddy Bear Scare"
- "Double or Nothing"
Voices[edit]
- Bones Bailey - Bart Braverman
- Donkey Kong - Milton Supman
- Donkey Kong Jr. - Frank Welker
- Mario - Peter Cullen
- Pauline - Judy Strangis
Theme song[edit]
- "Supercade"
Well, Saturday Supercade, gather 'round,
We'll get your video friends together.
Yeah, Saturday Supercade, it's time for fun,
And no one else can do it better.
And it feels so right,
Because it's Supercade time!
Let's have some Supercade fun!
Yes, it's Supercade time,
Let's have some Supercade fun, fun, fun!
Come on, to Supercade time,
Join all the Supercade fun.
Yes, it's Supercade time,
Let's have some Supercade fun, fun, fun!
Come on, to Supercade time,
Join all the Supercade fun.
Monkey Muscle!
(Monkey Noises)
Let's have some Supercade fun.
(It's Saturday Supercade!)
Staff[edit]
- Main article: List of Saturday Supercade staff
Gallery[edit]
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Saturday Supercade.
References[edit]
- ^ Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo; United States District Court, S.D. New York; Jul 29, 1985; 615 F. Supp. 838 (S.D.N.Y. 1985)
- ^ Universal City Studios v. Nintendo Co.; United States District Court, S.D. New York; Dec 22, 1983; 578 F. Supp. 911 (S.D.N.Y. 1983)
- ^ Copyright listing for Saturday Supercade : no. 1, copyright registration number PA0000222759
- ^ Saturday Supercade - Could the '80s Coin-Op-Based Cartoons be Coming Home? Warner Says... (Archived)
- ^ William Marshall Donkey Kong Commercial (1983).YouTube. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ Nintendo Game And Watch (Commercial, 1983). YouTube. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ Nintendo - Mario's Cement Factory Video Game Commercial - 1983. YouTube. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
External links[edit]
- Cast and Crew - Full cast and crew on IMDB
- Playlist containing all found episodes of Saturday Supercade
