Fangface facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fangface
Genre	Animation Mystery
Created by	Joe Ruby Ken Spears
Written by	Norman Maurer Mark Jones Cliff Ruby Elana Lesser
Directed by	Rudy Larriva
Voices of	Frank Welker Bart Braverman Susan Blu Jerry Dexter
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	32 (1978–80)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Joe Ruby Ken Spears
Producer(s)	Jerry Eisenberg
Running time	30 minutes (1978) 15 minutes (1979–80)
Production company(s)	Ruby-Spears Productions
Distributor	Filmways
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	September 9, 1978 (1978-09-09) – September 27, 1980 (1980-09-27)

Fangface is a fun Saturday morning cartoon that first aired in 1978. It was made by Ruby-Spears Productions for the ABC network. The show was about a group of teenagers who solved mysteries with the help of their friend, who could turn into a werewolf!

Meet the Gang and Fangface!

The cartoon is a lot like Scooby-Doo, which was also created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. It also has a bit of the wild energy of the Tasmanian Devil.

The show follows four main characters:

• Biff: The strong and handsome leader of the group.
• Kim: Biff's smart and pretty girlfriend.
• Puggsy: A short, tough, and sometimes grumpy friend.
• Sherman "Fangs" Fangsworth: A tall, skinny, and a bit clumsy friend.

Fangs has a secret! He turns into a wild werewolf named Fangface whenever he sees the full moon, a picture of the moon, or anything that looks like the moon. Fangface has brown fur, a big fang in the middle of his top jaw, and a wolf-like tail.

The friends drive around in a cool car called the Wolf-Buggy. They use it to catch bad guys and solve mysteries involving monsters and evil masterminds. When Fangs turns into Fangface, he often rides on Puggsy's shoulders.

Fangface's Powers and Quirks

Even though Fangface sometimes attacks Puggsy when he first transforms, the gang often makes Fangs change on purpose. They use Fangface's super strength to help them get out of trouble. They even call him their "secret weapon"!

Fangface and Fangs don't know about each other. When Fangs turns into Fangface, he lives in the moment and doesn't wonder why he's suddenly somewhere new. But when Fangface turns back into Fangs, Fangs is always confused about where he is.

Here are some funny things about Fangface:

• Food Frenzy: If Fangface sees food or hears a food word like "turkey," he tries to eat Puggsy! He doesn't chew or swallow him, though. Puggsy just gets stuck in Fangface's big, bulging cheeks. To get Puggsy out, Biff or Kim have to rub Fangface's foot to calm him down.
• Mirror Madness: If Fangface sees his reflection in a mirror, he goes completely wild and howls like crazy! This makes him act on instinct, which can sometimes be bad for Puggsy, but other times it can help the gang.

Even though Fangs and Fangface have different personalities, they share some things. Both wear a backwards orange cap. Also, both Fangs and Fangface say "Ooh! Ooh!" before they have an idea, just like the famous actor Joe E. Ross.

Fangs is mostly there for laughs. He doesn't do much as himself and usually gets changed into Fangface when the gang needs help. However, when Fangs gets super scared, he becomes really smart and comes up with great ideas to save himself!

Puggsy also has a funny habit of making up words, like 'scramify' and 'rescuefy'. You'll hear these words throughout the series!

In one episode, we learn that Fangs has an uncle named Arnie. He runs a video arcade in New York City called Arnie's Arcade.

During the first season, Fangface would sometimes see the Sun or a picture of it. This would make him turn back into Fangs at bad times, and he wouldn't remember anything. So, the gang would have to change him back to Fangface to finish their case.

There were 16 episodes of Fangface made for the 1978 season. The show is rated TV-G, which means it's suitable for all ages.

Opening Narration

Each episode of Fangface starts with a special narration by John Stephenson. It tells you how Fangface came to be:

Every 400 years, a baby werewolf is born into the Fangsworth family, and so when the moon shined on little Sherman Fangsworth, he changed into Fangface, a werewolf! Only the sun can change him back to normal, and so little Fangs grew up and teamed up with three daring teenagers – Kim, Biff and Puggsy – and together they find danger, excitement and adventure! Who can save the day, who can wrong the rights and right the wrongs .... none other than Fangface!

Fangface and Fangpuss (Season 2)

In 1979, the show came back for a second season called Fangface and Fangpuss. It was part of The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show. This season introduced a new character: Baby Fangs, who is Fangs' baby cousin. Baby Fangs also turns into a baby werewolf named Fangpuss!

This new character might make you wonder, because the opening narration says only one werewolf is born into the family every 400 years. But maybe Baby Fangs is from a different part of the family!

The second season kept the same mystery-adventure style, but the episodes were shorter, only 15 minutes long. Sixteen episodes of Fangface and Fangpuss were made for the 1979–80 season.

Baby Fangs/Fangpuss didn't appear in two episodes: The Creepy Goon from the Spooky Lagoon and Dr. Lupiter and the Thing from Jupiter.

Just like Fangs doesn't know he's Fangface, he also doesn't know his cousin Baby Fangs is Fangpuss. In one episode, when Fangs sees Fangpuss, he gets scared and runs away!

In Season 2, Fangface and Fangpuss never saw the sun or anything that looked like it. This meant they didn't turn back to normal before the gang's case was solved.

Fangface and Fangpuss aired until September 1980. Later, it even became its own separate show in 1981, but it only lasted one season. After that, Fangface and his friends weren't seen much until reruns started airing on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

Series Overview

Here's a quick look at the two seasons of Fangface:

Episodes

Fangface (1978)

Fangface and Fangpuss (1979–80)

Voice Actors

The talented people who gave voices to the characters:

• Frank Welker – Fangs/Fangface, Baby Fangs/Fangpuss
• Susan Blu – Kim
• Bart Braverman – Puggsy
• Jerry Dexter – Biff

Additional Voices

• Lewis Bailey
• Ted Cassidy
• Henry Corden – Abdul the Giant
• Joan Gerber
• Hettie Lynn Hurtes
• Larry D. Mann
• Allan Melvin
• Alan Oppenheimer – Vulture-Man, Disastro
• Michael Rye – Dr. Lazarus Web, Skullman, Mysto the Magician
• John Stephenson – Main Title Narrator, Ironmask, Zorak

Fangface Merchandise

Like many popular cartoons, Fangface had some cool merchandise for fans:

• A Parker Brothers board game called "FANGFACE – Parker Brothers' Wacky Werewolf Game" came out in 1979.
• Peter Pan Records released a Fangface 12-inch LP record in 1979. It had four audio stories: Mirage, Ghost of the High Sierras, The Stowaway, and Superfrog.
• Other items included an activity book, a 3D View-Master reel set, a soft plush toy, a Halloween costume, and even a sleeping bag!
• Tempo Books released two Fangface paperback books based on episodes: A Heap of Trouble (1979) and A Time Machine Trip to the Pirate's Ship (1980).