The Comic Strip (TV series) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Comic Strip |
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| Voices of | Donald Acree Josh Blake Camille Bonora Gary V. Brown Jim Brownold Eddie Castrodad Danielle DuClos Seth Green Earl Hammond Maggie Jakobson Larry Kenney Carmen de Lavallade Bob McFadden Jim Meskimen Gordy Owens Gerrianne Raphael Ron Taylor Tanya Willoughby Daniel Wooten |
| Music by | Bernard Hoffer |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 65 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jules Bass Arthur Rankin, Jr. |
| Running time | 20 min. |
| Production company(s) | Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment Pacific Animation Corporation |
| Distributor | Lorimar-Telepictures |
| Release | |
| Original network | Syndicated |
| Original release | September 7 – December 4, 1987 (first run) Fall 1988 (repeats) |
The Comic Strip was an American animated TV show that aired in 1987. It was special because it featured four different cartoon stories in each episode! These stories were called The Mini-Monsters, Street Frogs, Karate Kat, and TigerSharks.
This 90-minute series was shown in a way called syndication. This means it was sold directly to many different TV stations across the country, instead of just one big network. It was the very last TV series made by the famous company Rankin/Bass Productions.
Contents
Meet the Cartoon Segments!
The Comic Strip brought you four exciting and funny cartoon segments. Each one had its own unique characters and adventures. Usually, two different 10-minute stories were shown in each broadcast.
The Mini-Monsters: Camp for Monster Kids
Imagine going to summer camp and finding out it's full of monster kids! That's what happens to normal human twins, Sherman (voiced by Seth Green) and Melissa. They are sent to Camp Mini-Mon, which is run by a mysterious camp director.
At this camp, they meet the children of famous monsters:
- Dracky, son of Dracula
- Franky, son of Frankenstein
- Wolfie, son of The Wolf Man
- Lagoon, son of The Creature from the Black Lagoon
- Mummo, son of The Mummy
- Blanko, son of the Invisible Man
- Klutz, who might be Godzilla's son
- Jynx the Witch (voiced by Maggie Wheeler)
- Melvin, son of Merlin, with his talking crow Cawfield (voiced by Earl Hammond)
The camp also has a doctor who is the grandson of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It sounds like a wild camp experience!
Street Frogs: Musical Adventures
Street Frogs followed a group of cool, street-smart frogs and their friends. These teen frogs, like Big Max (voiced by Bob McFadden), Spider, Moose The Loose, "Honey Love" Loretta (voiced by Tanya Willoughby), and Dr. Slick, always found themselves in fun situations.
They were good friends with Snappy Sam (voiced by Ron Taylor), a turtle who ran the diner where Loretta worked. A fun fact about this segment is that every episode included a musical song! Ron Taylor, who voiced Snappy Sam, also sang the theme song.
=Karate Kat: Crime-Fighting Feline!
In a world where cats act like people, a private investigator cat uses his amazing karate skills to fight crime. This hero, Karate Kat (voiced by Bob McFadden), works for McClaws's Detective Agency. His boss is Katie "Big Mama" McClaw (voiced by Gerrianne Raphael).
Karate Kat often faces off against a gang leader named Big Papa and his helpers, Boom-Boom Burmese and Sumo Sai. Luckily, Karate Kat has friends to help him, like the inventor Dr. Katmandu (voiced by Larry Kenney), Ciaobaby and Meowbaby (voiced by Maggie Jacobsen), his sparring partner Katgut, and Katatonic.
TigerSharks: Underwater Heroes
TigerSharks was an action-packed segment about a team of human-sea animal hybrids. These heroes could transform into powerful half-human, half-sea creature forms! The team included Mako (voiced by Peter Newman), Walro (voiced by Earl Hammond), Dolph (voiced by Larry Kenney), Octavia (voiced by Camille Bonora), Lorca, Bronc, Angel, and Gupp.
They went on exciting underwater adventures, often battling villains like T-Ray and Captain Bizzarly. Each episode of TigerSharks was split into two parts, giving you double the adventure!
Where Else Was The Show Seen?
The Comic Strip wasn't just popular in the United States! It was also shown in many other countries around the world. Kids in places like Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia, The Middle East, Trinidad and Tobago, Hong Kong, Jamaica, and Italy also got to enjoy these fun cartoons.
For example, in Malaysia, it was shown right after the popular children's show Sesame Street. In Hong Kong, it was part of a children's TV block called Tube Time.
