Saturday Supercade facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Saturday Supercade |
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| Genre | Animation |
| Written by |
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| Directed by |
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| Voices of |
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| Composer(s) | Haim Saban Shuki Levy |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (98 segments) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Ruby-Spears Enterprises |
| Distributor | Worldvision Enterprises |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | September 17, 1983 – December 1, 1984 |
Saturday Supercade was a cool animated TV show that aired on CBS on Saturday mornings from 1983 to 1984. It was made by Ruby-Spears Productions. This show was special because it brought popular video game characters from the 1980s to life in their own cartoon adventures! It ran for two seasons and had many fun stories.
Contents
Meet the Characters: Video Game Stars on TV!
Each episode of Saturday Supercade was like a mini-show with different cartoon segments. These segments featured characters from some of the most famous arcade and home console games of that time.
The main characters who had their own cartoon stories included:
- Frogger from the Frogger arcade game.
- Donkey Kong with Mario and Pauline from the Donkey Kong arcade game.
- Donkey Kong Jr. from the Donkey Kong Jr. arcade game.
- Q*bert with his friends and rivals from the Q*bert arcade game.
- Pitfall Harry from the Pitfall! home console game.
In the first season, Pitfall! and Q*bert segments took turns each week. The other three, Frogger, Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong Jr., were shown every week.
For the second season, Q*bert became a weekly show, and Donkey Kong stayed weekly too. But Frogger, Donkey Kong Jr., and Pitfall! were replaced by new cartoons featuring:
- Space Ace from the Space Ace arcade game.
- Kangaroo from the Kangaroo arcade game.
Segment Adventures
Frogger's News Stories
Frogger (voiced by Bob Sarlatte) was a super reporter in the swamp. He worked for The Swamp Gazette newspaper. Frogger, his turtle friend Shellshock "Shelly" (voiced by Marvin Kaplan), and his frog pal Fanny (voiced by B.J. Ward) looked for exciting and funny stories. They often wrote about human behavior! Frogger also had to deal with his grumpy boss, Tex Toadwalker (voiced by Ted Field, Sr.). Just like in the game, Frogger sometimes faced alligators or got squished by cars. But don't worry, Shelly always used an air pump to bring him back to life!
Donkey Kong's Escapades
In this cartoon, Donkey Kong (voiced by Soupy Sales) had escaped from the circus. Mario (voiced by Peter Cullen) and Pauline (voiced by Judy Strangis) were always trying to catch the big ape. Just like in the original game, Donkey Kong would often grab Pauline, and Mario had to rescue her. Their adventures usually involved finding criminals. The bad guys would trick the not-so-smart Donkey Kong into helping them. But Mario and Pauline would figure out the truth. Then, the three of them would team up to stop the villains. After that, Donkey Kong would run away again, and the chase would continue!
Q*bert's Teen Life
The Q*bert cartoon took place in a 1950s-style town called Q*Berg. It followed a teenage, furry creature named Q*bert (voiced by Billy Bowles). He hung out with his girlfriend Q*Tee (voiced by Robbie Lee), his brother Q*Bit (voiced by Dick Beals), and his friends Q*Ball, Q*Val, and Q*Mongus (all voiced by Frank Welker and Robbie Lee). They often had to deal with the local bullies: Coily, Ugg, and Wrongway (all voiced by Frank Welker), and Coily's girlfriend Viper (voiced by Julie McWhirter). The cartoon included parts from the video game, like hopping on blocks and "swearing" bubbles. A new thing in the cartoon was Q*bert's "slippy-doos." These were black balls he shot from his nose that made oil slicks. Slick and Sam (both voiced by Frank Welker) also appeared in the show.
Donkey Kong Jr.'s Search
Donkey Kong Jr. (voiced by Frank Welker) was sad because his dad, Donkey Kong, had run away from Mario and the circus. Junior became friends with a cool greaser named "Bones" (voiced by Bart Braverman), who had a motorcycle. Bones offered to help Junior find his dad. Donkey Kong Jr.'s special saying was "Monkey muscle!" He would say it to himself and Bones to feel more confident. Bones often helped Junior think things through when Junior got into too much trouble.
Pitfall Harry's Jungle Quests
Pitfall Harry (voiced by Robert Ridgely), his niece Rhonda (voiced by Noelle North), and their shy pet Quickclaw the Mountain Lion (voiced by Kenneth Mars) went on exciting trips. They explored jungles to find hidden treasures and had many adventures. Quickclaw and Rhonda later appeared in other Pitfall! video games.
Space Ace's Heroic Forms
Space Ace (voiced by Jim Piper) was a confident hero from "Space Command." But when he got hit by the Infanto-Ray, he would turn into a clumsy and weak version of himself named Dexter (voiced by Sparky Marcus). Space Ace and officer Kimberly (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) worked for Space Marshall Vaughn (voiced by Peter Renaday) to keep peace in the universe. They fought the evil alien commander Borf (voiced by Arthur Burghardt), who wanted to invade Earth. Ace and Kim tried to keep his "wimping out" a secret. They pretended Dexter was Kim's little brother to Vaughn. In the video game, Dexter could choose when to turn back into Ace, but in the cartoon, it happened on its own, often at the worst times!
Kangaroo's Zoo Life
Joey Kangaroo (voiced by David Mendenhall), his mom "K.O." Katy Kangaroo (voiced by Mea Martineau), and Sidney Squirrel (voiced by Marvin Kaplan) had to deal with the Monkeybiz Gang. This gang included four mischievous monkeys: Bingo, Bango, Bongo, and Fred (all voiced by Pat Fraley and Frank Welker). They were known for causing trouble at the local zoo, which was run by the zookeeper Mr. Friendly (voiced by Arthur Burghardt). The Monkeybiz Gang often tried to escape from the zoo, and Katy had to help keep them in line.
Voice Actors: The Talented Cast
Here are the amazing voice actors who brought these video game characters to life:
- Soupy Sales as Donkey Kong
- Dick Beals as Q*Bit
- Billy Bowles as Q*bert
- Bart Braverman as Bones
- Arthur Burghardt as Borf, Mr. Friendly
- Nancy Cartwright as Kimberly
- Peter Cullen as Mario
- Ted Field, Sr. as Tex
- Pat Fraley as Bingo
- Marvin Kaplan as Shellshock "Shelly" Turtle, Sidney Squirrel
- Robbie Lee as Q*Tee, Q*Val
- Sparky Marcus as Dexter
- Kenneth Mars as Quickclaw the Mountain Lion
- Mea Martineau as "K.O." Katy Kangaroo
- Julie McWhirter as Q*bertha, Q*Mom, Viper
- David Mendenhall as Joey Kangaroo
- Noelle North as Rhonda
- Jim Piper as Space Ace
- Peter Renaday as Space Marshall Vaughn, Legrin
- Robert Ridgely as Pitfall Harry
- Bob Sarlatte as Frogger
- Judy Strangis as Pauline
- B.J. Ward as Fanny Frog
- Frank Welker as Bango, Bongo, Donkey Kong Jr., Coily, Fred, Q*Ball, Q*Dad, Q*Mongus, Sam, Slick, Ugg, Wrongway
More Voices You Might Know
Many other talented voice actors helped make the show great, including:
- Michael Bell
- Jack DeLeon
- Alan Dinehart - Mac
- Walker Edmiston
- Marshall Efron
- Al Fann
- Teddy S. Field III
- Takayo Fischer
- June Foray
- Linda Gary
- Kelly Glen
- Joe Higgins
- Bob Holt
- David Landsberg
- Lucy Lee
- Shawn Lieber
- Tress MacNeille
- Tysun McMullen
- Shepard Menken
- Nancy Merwan
- Don Messick - Q*Dactyl (in "Q*Historic Days")
- Tim Rooney
- Marilyn Schreffler
- Avery Schreiber
- Hal Smith
- Steve J. Spears
- John Stephenson
- Russi Taylor
- Herb Vigran
- Janet Waldo
- Alan Young
- Cameron Young
Where to Watch Now
The Space Ace cartoon parts from Saturday Supercade sometimes appeared on TV channels like Boomerang and Toonami as short fillers between other shows.
For fans who want to own the show, Warner Archive announced they might release Saturday Supercade on DVD. However, it's tricky because of who owns the rights to the different video game characters. So, some parts of the show might not be able to be released. They are still working on it!
In 2015, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a DVD set called The Best of Q*Bert. This collection has 17 of the 19 Q*bert episodes from the series.
