Clutch Cargo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Clutch Cargo
Title card
Created by	Clark Haas
Written by	Clark Haas
Voices of	Richard Cotting Margaret Kerry Hal Smith
Theme music composer	Paul Horn
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	52
Production
Producer(s)	Dick Brown
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	Cambria Productions
Release
Original release	March 9, 1959 (1959-03-09) – 1960 (1960)

Clutch Cargo was an American animated TV show that first aired on March 9, 1959. It was created by cartoonist Clark Haas and produced by Cambria Productions. The show became famous for its simple animation style and exciting stories. It was also one of the first shows to widely use a special technology called Syncro-Vox. This technique made animated characters look like they were talking by using live-action mouths. Clutch Cargo was a big surprise hit, showing on 65 TV stations across the United States by 1960.

What the Show Was About

The stories in Clutch Cargo followed a brave adventurer named Clutch Cargo. He traveled all over the world on dangerous missions. With him on his adventures were his young friend, Spinner, and his pet Dachshund dog, Paddlefoot.

The show used a mix of animation and real-life video. For example, you would see real footage of a 1929 Bellanca C-27 Airbus airplane. The show's creator, Clark Haas, used to be a jet pilot, which explains his interest in planes!

Each adventure was split into five short parts, called chapters. Each chapter was about 5 minutes long. The first four chapters always ended with a "cliffhanger," meaning something exciting happened that made you want to know what happened next. The fifth chapter then finished the story. This way, TV stations could show one chapter each weekday. Then, on Saturday, they could show all five chapters together as a half-hour special.

Episodes

The Clutch Cargo series had a total of 52 exciting adventures. Here are the names of all the episodes:

• The Friendly Head Hunters
• The Arctic Bird Giant
• The Desert Queen
• The Pearl Pirates
• The Vanishing Gold
• The Race Car Mystery
• The Rocket Riot
• Mystery in the Northwoods
• Twaddle in Africa
• The Lost Plateau
• The Ghost Ship
• The Rustlers
• The Missing Train
• The Devil Bird
• Pipeline to Danger
• Mister Abominable
• Operation Moon Beam
• Air Race
• The Haunted Castle
• The Elephant-Nappers
• Dragon Fly
• Sky Circus
• The Midget Submarine
• Cliff Dwellers
• Jungle Train
• Space Station
• The Swamp Swindlers
• The Dinky Incas
• Kangaroo Express
• The Shipwreckers
• The Ivory Counterfeiters
• Dynamite Fury
• Alaskan Pilot
• Swiss Mystery
• Pirate Isle
• Crop Dusters
• The Smog Smuggler
• Global Test Flight
• Dead End Gulch
• The Missing Mermaid
• Flying Bus
• Road Race
• Feather Fuddle
• Water Wizards
• The Terrible Tiger
• The Circus
• Bush Pilots
• Cheddar Cheaters
• The Blunderbird
• The Case of Ripcord Van Winkle
• Fortune Cookie Caper
• Big "X"

Home Video Releases

You can find Clutch Cargo on DVD. Here's a look at the DVD sets:

How Clutch Cargo Influenced Pop Culture

Clutch Cargo left its mark on other TV shows and movies:

• The TV show Late Night with Conan O'Brien had a funny part where Conan would "interview" famous people. Their faces would be still pictures, but their mouths would move and talk, just like in Clutch Cargo. People often called these bits "Clutch Cargo" pieces.
• In 1987, during a strange TV signal hijacking, a person dressed as Max Headroom hummed the Clutch Cargo theme song.
• A short clip from Clutch Cargo appears in the 1994 movie Pulp Fiction.
• A live music place called Clutch Cargo's opened in Pontiac, Michigan, in 1996.
• In 2013, Clutch Cargo was shown on TruTV Presents: World's Dumbest. It was ranked #19 on their list of "dumbest TV shows."

See also

In Spanish: Clutch Cargo para niños