The Astronut Show is an animated TV series, produced by the Terrytoons animation studio. It first aired on August 23, 1965.[1] In the late 1960s, each episode included Astronut, Hashimoto-san, and Luno the White Stallion.[2] In the early 1970s, the episodes were reprogrammed; these episodes included Astronut, Sad Cat and James Hound.[3]

Astronut first appeared on the Deputy Dawg series.[4] He is a squat, childlike, short, friendly green alien in a tiny flying saucer who frequently gets into mischief on Earth. He has a human friend called Oscar Mild, who was, as his name suggested, a soft-spoken character.[5] Oscar works in an office for Mr. Nicely, whose temperament is the exact opposite of his name.

The series was directed by Art Bartsch, Bob Kuwahara, Connie Rasinski, and David Tendlar. The writers were Larz Bourne, Glan Heish, Tom Morrison, and Bob Ogle. Voices were provided by Dayton Allen and Bob McFadden.

The Astronut cartoons were originally produced by Terrytoons for theatrical distribution by 20th Century Fox from 1964 to 1966. Starting in 1966, the cartoons were solely made for television. In 1989, Video Treasures released three VHS tapes; two included all of the theatrical cartoons and the third had some of the made-for-tv cartoons.

Astronut theatrical cartoons

1964

1965

1966

Astronut TV cartoons

1966

References

  1. ^ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. pp. 26–27. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  2. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 46. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  3. ^ Hamonic, W. Gerald (2018). Terrytoons: The Story of Paul Terry and His Classic Cartoon Factory. John Libbey Publishing Ltd. p. 363.
  4. ^ Markstein, Don. "Astronut". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  5. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 99. ISBN 978-1476665993.

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