The Super Globetrotters facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Super Globetrotters
Genre	Cartoon
Developed by	Andy Heyward
Written by	Tom Dagenais Rowby Goren Andy Heyward Robert M. London Larry Parr
Directed by	Ray Patterson Carl Urbano Oscar Dufau George Gordon
Starring	Harlem Globetrotters
Voices of	Scatman Crothers Stu Gilliam Buster Jones Adam Wade Frank Welker Johnny Williams
Narrated by	Michael Rye
Theme music composer	Hoyt Curtin
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Producer(s)	Alex Lovy Art Scott
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Hanna-Barbera Productions
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	Color
Audio format	Mono
Original release	September 22 (1979-09-22) – December 15, 1979 (1979-12-15)
Chronology
Preceded by	Harlem Globetrotters

The Super Globetrotters was a fun Saturday morning cartoon show. It was made by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The show first aired on NBC on September 22, 1979. It had 13 episodes in total. This series was a spin-off from another Hanna-Barbera show called Harlem Globetrotters.

The show aired by itself for a while. Then, starting November 10, 1979, its episodes were shown with Godzilla. This combined show was called The Godzilla/Globetrotters Adventure Hour. It ran until September 20, 1980. Like many cartoons from Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, it included a laugh track.

About the Show's Story

This cartoon was about the famous basketball team, the Harlem Globetrotters. But here, they were also secret superheroes! They could change into their superhero forms by stepping into special magic lockers. Each team member had their own unique super power. They could even fly! The Super Globetrotters got their powers from a special element called Globetron. Sometimes, too much Globetron could make them weaker.

The Globetrotters got their missions from a talking satellite. It looked like a basketball and was called the Crime Globe. In most episodes, the Super Globetrotters would challenge the bad guy to a basketball game. This game would decide who got the treasure or special device the villain wanted. The Globetrotters would often struggle in the first half. But then, they would use their super powers in the second half to save the day! The Crime Globe often reminded them to use their powers.

Meet the Super Globetrotters

Here are the amazing members of the Super Globetrotters:

• Nate Branch/Liquid Man (voiced by Scatman Crothers)
  • He could turn himself into water. He was also sometimes called "Fluid Man."
• Freddie "Curly" Neal/Super Sphere (voiced by Stu Gilliam)
  • He could pull his arms and legs into his head. Then he could bounce, smash things, and even grow! His head looked just like a basketball.
• James "Twiggy" Sanders/Spaghetti Man (voiced by Buster Jones)
  • He could stretch his body like a ladder or a rope.
• Louis "Sweet Lou" Dunbar/Gizmo (voiced by Adam Wade)
  • He had a huge afro hairstyle. Inside it, he kept an endless supply of cool gadgets! He always had the right tool for any situation. He was also known as "Gizmo Man."
• Hubert "Geese" Ausbie/Multi Man (voiced by Johnny Williams)
  • He could make copies of himself. This helped him surround and confuse his enemies.
• Crime Globe (voiced by Frank Welker)
  • This was a basketball-shaped satellite. It warned the Globetrotters about bad guys. It even gave them ideas on how to fight villains!

Some of these superhero ideas were used before. Fluid Man/Liquid Man, Multi Man, and Spaghetti Man (who was called Coil Man before) were similar to characters from another Hanna-Barbera cartoon called The Impossibles.

Villains They Faced

The Super Globetrotters battled many different villains:

• Museum Man (voiced by Herb Vigran)
  • He was a grumpy museum janitor named Cratchit. He could bring fossils and statues to life! He used a special remote called the Skeleton Simulator. His goal was to take over Big City. He had an army of "Fearless Fossils" (dinosaur skeletons) and statues that played basketball against the Globetrotters.
• Bwana Bob
  • A big game hunter who lived on his private island. He liked to hunt people! He tricked the Globetrotters into coming to his island. He had a henchman named Putt Putt and giant turtles that formed his basketball team.
• Facelift (voiced by John Stephenson)
  • This alien ran on nuclear energy. He could steal people's faces and put them on his "Demon Droids." He wanted to steal the faces of world leaders to control the world.
• Whaleman (voiced by Michael Rye)
  • A pirate who used a giant mechanical whale called Moby Whale. He stole huge oil tankers. He wanted to control all the world's oil.
• Robo (voiced by John Stephenson)
  • A mad scientist who created evil robot copies of the Globetrotters called "Globots." He used them to frame the real Globetrotters and get revenge on someone who cut his funding.
• Tattoo Man (voiced by Lennie Weinrib)
  • A space pirate who could make the tattoos on his body come to life! He used these animated tattoos to help him steal gold. His henchmen included Arms the Octopus, Atlas, Glob, and Mercury.
• Movie Man (voiced by John Stephenson)
  • A movie director who used movie-style plots for his crimes. He had a crew of henchmen like Camera Man, Effects Man, Lighting Man, Make-Up Master, Sound Man, and Stunt Woman. His basketball team was called the "Mighty Movie Monsters," including characters like Batula (a vampire), Dink Dong (a giant gorilla), Dinorga (a dinosaur), Globula (a slimy alien), and Peerless Frankenstein (a monster).
• Bad Blue Bart (voiced by Paul Winchell)
  • A western outlaw who used remote-controlled "Phantom Cowboys." He wanted to take over a ranch to get to the steam wells underneath it.
• The Time Lord (voiced by Don Messick)
  • A villain with a special Time Crystal. He could change time and bring criminals from history to help him. He wanted to steal a time machine called T.I.M. (Time Isolation Machine) to take over the world in the past. His historic henchmen included Eagle, Lioness, Tumbler, and Wheels.
• Count Bragula (voiced by Lennie Weinrib)
  • A vampire and leader of the "Transylvanian Terrors." He wanted to take control of Transylvania. His team included Igor, Frightenstein, Old Lovable Mummy, and Wolf Person. He was a parody of Count Dracula.
• Bull Moose (voiced by John Stephenson)
  • A moose-themed villain with fake antlers. He had a "Golden Ray Gun" that turned anything it hit into gold. He stole the Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs to make his gun stronger. His gang was called the Underworld Gang, with members like The Ham, Ponytail, Stomper, Weird Beard, Wise Quacker, and Woolly Woman.
• Merlo the Magician (voiced by John Stephenson)
  • A wizard who led the "Knights of the Crooked Table." They stole famous monuments from around the world, like the London Bridge and the Eiffel Tower.
• Attila the Hun (voiced by Frank Welker)
  • This famous historical figure and his army of Huns traveled from 450 AD to the present day using a Time Transporter. They caused trouble in San Francisco until the Super Globetrotters stopped them. His Huns included Crunch, Draco, and Ox.

Episodes List

There were 13 exciting episodes of The Super Globetrotters:

Voice Actors

Many talented people lent their voices to the characters:

• Scatman Crothers as Fluid Man/Nate Branch
• Stu Gilliam as Super Sphere/Freddie "Curly" Neal
• Buster Jones as Spaghetti Man/James "Twiggy" Sanders
• Michael Rye as the Narrator, Basketball Announcer, and Whaleman
• Adam Wade as Gizmo/Louis "Sweet Lou" Dunbar
• Frank Welker as Crime Globe, Attila the Hun, and many other characters like Igor and Putt Putt
• Johnny Williams as Multi Man/Hubert "Geese" Ausbie

More Voices You Might Know

• Marlene Aragon as Lioness
• Don Messick as Time Lord
• John Stephenson as Bull Moose, Facelift, Merlo the Magician, Movie Man, Robo, and Sound Man
• Herbert Vigran as Museum Man/Cratchit
• Lennie Weinrib as Tattoo Man and Count Bragula
• Paul Winchell as Bad Blue Bart and the Phantom Cowboys