Samson & Goliath facts for kids

Samson & Goliath
Genre	Superhero
Created by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Written by	Tony Benedict Walter Black Dalton Sandifer Ed Brandt
Directed by	Joseph Barbera William Hanna
Voices of	Tim Matheson Don Messick John Stephenson
Narrated by	Don Messick
Theme music composer	Ted Nichols
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	20
Production
Producer(s)	Joseph Barbera William Hanna Art Scott (associate producer)
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Hanna-Barbera Productions
Distributor	Dancer Fitzgerald Sample
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 9, 1967 (1967-09-09) – August 31, 1968 (1968-08-31)

Samson & Goliath, also known as Young Samson, is an exciting American cartoon show. It was made by Hanna-Barbera Productions and first shown on NBC on September 9, 1967. The show was mainly paid for by General Mills. In April 1968, its name changed to Young Samson. This was to make sure people didn't confuse it with another show called Davey and Goliath.

Twenty-six episodes were made, each about 12 minutes long. Six of these episodes are now missing. Samson & Goliath cartoons were often shown with other General Mills-sponsored shows. These included Tennessee Tuxedo and Go Go Gophers. Together, they made a full half-hour TV show. Later, Young Samson was shown again with The Space Kidettes. This new show was called The Space Kidettes and Young Samson.

What the Show Is About

The show follows a teenager named Samson and his dog, Goliath. They travel around the country on a motorbike. When they find trouble, usually a big villain or a bad scientist, Samson can change into a superhero. He does this by hitting his golden wristbands together. When he hits them a second time, Goliath also changes into a super-strong lion. Samson can also send out shock waves from his wristbands. If he twists his bracelets, he can make himself and Goliath even more powerful!

Shows Like This One

Samson & Goliath is a lot like other adventure cartoons from Hanna-Barbera. These include Space Ghost, Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor, and Shazzan. They all have similar speeds, stories, voices, music, and art. Many of these characters were created by the comic artist Alex Toth. But Samson was a show on NBC, not CBS.

This show is also very similar to a cartoon from the 1980s called He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. In He-Man, a teenager named Prince Adam turns into the strong superhero He-Man. He uses a magical object, just like Samson uses his bracelets. Also, like Samson's dog Goliath, Adam's pet tiger Cringer turns into a bigger, stronger tiger called Battle Cat. Both Samson & Goliath and He-Man are similar to an older superhero called Captain Marvel. Samson hitting his bracelets to change is like how Rick Jones changes places with the Marvel Comics version of Captain Marvel.

Main Characters

• Samson, voiced by Tim Matheson, is a teenager. He rides his motorbike with his dog, Goliath. When things get tough, Samson touches his bracelets together and says, "I need Samson Power" or "Time for Samson Power." Then, he becomes a super-strong hero, like the Samson from the Bible.
• Goliath is Samson's brave white Airedale Terrier. He is about 12 inches (30 cm) tall and weighs around 25 pounds (11 kg). He has black eyes, black ears, and a black spot on his back. Goliath wears a brown leather collar. When he transforms, Goliath becomes a huge lion, about 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm) tall and weighing 800 pounds (363 kg). His eyes turn green, and his fur becomes tan with a dark brown mane. Even as a lion, he still has his black right front paw. Goliath is smart and helpful, both as a dog and as a lion. As a dog, he can climb very well. As a lion, he has many super abilities:
  • He is super strong and hard to hurt.
  • He can climb very well, even as a lion.
  • His roar is so powerful it can break rocks.
  • His claws can rip through steel.
  • He can grab enemies with his strong tail.
  • He can make amazing leaps with his powerful legs.
  • He can shoot blasts of energy.
  • He can create hot blasts or clouds of smoke.
  • He has heat-ray vision, shooting destructive beams from his eyes.
  • Sometimes, he can shoot energy blasts from his mane.
  • He can aim energy blasts at the ground to quickly dig tunnels.

Bad Guys and Villains

• Monatabu is an evil witch doctor. He was punished by his tribe and jumped into a volcano. Instead of dying, he found a giant lizard called the Iguanasaurus. Samson and Goliath sealed them both inside the volcano forever.
  • The Iguanasaurus is a giant lizard monster controlled by Monatabu.
• The Aurora Borealis Creature is an electrically charged monster from the Northern Lights. It attacked an Inuit village. Samson and Goliath tricked it onto an ice floe, and it sank into the water.
• The Colossus of Rhodes is a huge statue, 100 feet (30 meters) tall. It came to life because of meteorites and went on a rampage. Samson and Goliath sent it back to the bottom of the sea.
• The Venusian Ice Men are robots from Venus. They came to Earth to freeze a valley so their kind could live there. They could shoot ice-spears and hailstones. Samson and Goliath used a mirror to send their freeze ray back at their ship, destroying it.
• Terrorists tried to steal a special experimental plane called the STX-19. They even switched Samson's power bracelets with fake ones. But Goliath found the real bracelets, and they stopped the terrorists.
• P.E.R.I.L. is an evil spy group. They tried to capture Professor Talos to stop him from sharing his plans for a Solar Jet. Samson and Goliath rescued the professor and caught the bad guys.
  • Monarch is the leader of P.E.R.I.L.
  • The Living Element is a fire monster created by Monarch. Goliath used his power beams to melt it through the ship's hull, making it fall into the water.
• Boltor is an evil scientist on Evil Island. He had mechanical sharks and had stolen American missiles. Samson and Goliath stopped his plan to launch the missiles, and Boltor sank the island.
• Zarno the Cruel is an alien on an asteroid. He sent a deadly ray to Earth. Samson and Goliath went to the asteroid and defeated Zarno and his Monsteroids.
  • The Monsteroids are asteroid monsters that work for Zarno.
• General Tong and Ramu used a robot idol called Rama-Keesh to scare people away from a mountain village. Samson and Goliath destroyed the idol and captured the villains.
• Salamandro is a mutant catfish in an undersea lab. He sent two hijackers to steal from ships. Samson and Goliath found their lab and stopped them.
• Baron Von Skull is an old pilot from World War One. He created evil war machines. Samson and Goliath destroyed his machines.
• Kunev Khan stole a device called the Graviton and gave it to the Moon Leader, an alien. The Moon Leader tried to trick Kunev Khan. Samson and Goliath defeated the Moon Leader and took Kunev Khan and the Graviton back to Earth.
• The Dragon Men live in an underground city. Samson and Goliath went into their city to rescue Professor Kinkaid. Goliath's roar broke a dam, and the water swept the Dragon Men away.
• Dr. Zuran is a mad scientist who stole Samson's strength and gave it to a robot. Goliath helped Samson get his strength back, and they stopped Zuran.
• Darvo and his helper brought back the Coral Creature, a coral monster. It attacked a city in Australia. Samson and Goliath made the creature turn against its masters, destroying them.
• The Dome and his helper planned to launch nuclear missiles. Samson and Goliath stopped them.
• Nerod loves Roman history and acts like the Roman emperor Nero. He invited Samson and Goliath to fight robot gladiators in a fake Colosseum. The heroes won and destroyed his mansion.
• Dr. Desto experimented with time travel. He brought monsters from the past to fight Samson and Goliath. All the monsters were defeated, and Desto himself was pulled into the past forever.
• Narton and The Gill Men came from the ocean floor to take over the surface world. Samson and Goliath defeated them, but Narton escaped.
• The Thing from the Black Mountains is a reptile monster. A missile woke it up from a lake. Samson and Goliath fought it and sent it back into the lake.

Episodes