Danger Island (TV series)

Danger Island (TV series)
Danger Island title card

Danger Island is a live-action adventure serial produced by Hanna-Barbera and originally broadcast in 1968 as a segment on the Banana Splits Adventure Hour. It was directed by future Superman, Goonies, and Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner and featured Jan-Michael Vincent as Lincoln 'Link' Simmons.

The series comprises a 3-hour adventure yarn broken down into 36 short chapters. Each chapter is roughly five minutes long and includes a suspenseful cliffhanger ending that is resolved in the next installment.

Contents

Plot

Intended as a live-action version of the animated Hanna-Barbera series Jonny Quest, Danger Island centered around the adventures of a trio of explorers in an unnamed tropical island group. Prof. Irwin Hayden, an archaeologist; Lincoln "Link" Simmons, the professor's youthful assistant; and Leslie, the professor's daughter, who serves as both a love interest for Link and the series' token damsel-in-distress.

Several years earlier, the professor's brother (also an archaeologist) disappeared in the same island chain while searching for the mythical lost city of Tobanya. They are joined on their quest by Morgan, a shipwrecked merchant mariner, and his teenage sidekick Chongo, who speaks only in a series of monkey-like chatters and birdcalls. Pursued by both a group of bumbling, but heavily armed modern-day pirates led by the murderous Captain Mu-Tan, as well as cannibalistic natives known as the Skeleton Men. The show spawned the popular catchphrase "Uh-oh, Chongo!" among children of that time.

Characters

Main characters

Prof. Irwin Hayden - Frank Aletter
Lincoln 'Link' Simmons - Jan-Michael Vincent (as Michael Vincent)
Leslie Hayden - Ronne Troup
Elihu Morgan - Rockne Tarkington
Chongo - Kim Kahana (as Kahana)

Villains

Captain Mu-Tan - Victor Eberg
Chu - Rodrigo Arrendondo