The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie

Infobox Television
show_name = The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie
show_name_2 = The New Saturday Superstar Movie
genre = Movie of the week
country = USA
num_seasons = 2
num_episodes = 20
runtime = 1 hour
network = ABC
first_aired = September 9, 1972
last_aired = November 17, 1973
imdb_id = 0348892
tv_com_id = 4662

"The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie" — renamed "The New Saturday Superstar Movie" in its second season — was 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.

List of movies

eason 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".

* "Yogi's Ark Lark" (Hanna-Barbera; September 16, 1972): In this ecologically-minded feature, dozens of Hanna-Barbera animal characters — led by Yogi Bear, of course — 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".

* "The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters" (Rankin/Bass; September 23, 1972): An animated feature in the same vein as "Mad Monster Party".

* "Nanny and the Professor" (Fred Calvert Productions; September 30, 1972): In this animated feature, the cast of "Nanny and the Professor" get caught up in a mystery involving a microdot.

* "Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter" (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.

* "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.

* "Oliver and the Artful Dodger: Part 1" (Hanna-Barbera; October 21, 1972): An animated reworking of the story of “Oliver Twist”.

* "Oliver and the Artful Dodger: Part 2" (Hanna-Barbera; October 28, 1972)

* "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".

* "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".

* "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.

* "The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park" (Hanna-Barbera; November 25, 1972): An animated/live-action special starring The Banana Splits.

* "Tabitha and Adam and the Clown Family" (Hanna-Barbera; 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.

* "The Red Baron" (Rankin/Bass; December 9, 1972): This animated feature casts the Red Baron as a hero, in a world of heroic dogs and villainous cats (all anthropomorphic, of course).

* "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 [http://youtube.com/watch?v=hIP36Rc_CIo seen here] .

* "Luvcast U.S.A." (Depatie-Freleng; January 6, 1973): A mini-anthology, loosely based on "Love, American Style".

* "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”.

eason 2

For the second season, the series was retitled "The New Saturday Superstar Movie".

* "Lost in Space" (Hanna-Barbera; 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.

* "The Mini-Munsters" (Fred Calvert Productions; October 27, 1973): Animated feature based on "The Munsters", involving a car that’s “fueled” by music.

* "Nanny and the Professor and the Phantom of the Circus" (Fred Calvert Productions; November 17, 1973): Animated feature in which the cast of "Nanny and the Professor" get involved in a mystery about a traveling circus.

Availability

Only two of the above movies have been released on VHS videocassette:

# "The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters"
# "The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park"

As of this writing, both of these titles are out of print, and none of the above movies have been released on DVD.

ee also

* "Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10"
* "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" (another hour-long Saturday morning “movie” series, on CBS)
* "ABC Weekend Special"

External links

*
** [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348892/episodes Episode list (with links to the individual movies)]
*
* [http://www.toontracker.com/satsup/satsup.htm Toon Tracker: The ABC Saturday Superstar Movies]
** [http://www.toontracker.com/satsup/ssm1.htm Filmation features]
** [http://www.toontracker.com/satsup/ssm2.htm Hanna-Barbera features]
** [http://www.toontracker.com/satsup/ssm3.htm Features by other producers]