Sunday, September 19, 2010

From our past...

I don't want to sound like a old man, hell I am still in my 30s. Whatever happened to Saturday morning cartoons, they do not exist from what I can tell. Well you have Teletoon and Teletoon retro which has cartoons broadcasted 24/7. You can own last season on DVD and play it Saturday morning... still, it is just not the same. For years I never called Saturday by its proper name, my brother and I called it "Cartoon day"
The morning started at 6 a.m., we ate bowls of cereal, loved ever commercial they played and wanted every toy they advertised.
After moving from Montreal to Toronto in 81, we went with out cable television for a while and only had about 3 channels to choose from. That is when we discovered Rocket Robinhood, we were hooked because it reminded us of the old Spiderman and Mighty Hercules cartoon. Not to mention I can remember this cartoon being on during the weekdays in the afternoon.
So years have past, and numerous times I would bring up and argue why this was not released on DVD. I see all types of odd and forgotten stuff released on DVD, so why not this. Well last year it was released, prior to that I was really researching the hell out of this show. In fact the company that use to own it, "Trillium", had sold of their rights to it and they now make score boards for sporting events... different.

I still have a bunch of info I kept from my research, if you are a fan of the show you may get a kick out of this.


-Rocket Robin Hood was produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and later in New York City from 1966 to 1969. Al Guest of Toronto had been founder and leader of "The Guest Group", a team of cartoon animators that formed into Trillium Productions to bring the Merry Men of the future to television. Krantz Films of New York, the company also responsible for the second and third seasons of Spiderman (1967-70)


- Ralph Bakshi (Cool World, Wizards, Fritz the cat) replaced Shamus Culhane of "The Guest Group" as the Rocket Robin Hood in-animation-studio producer, and the style of the television series underwent a distinctly noticable change at this time. Differences of opinion on matters creative and financial and consequent quarrels in Trillium offices resulted in Bakshi departing Toronto and moving production of remaining episodes to New York City.  Ralph Bakshi was accused of steeling reels of film that did not belong to him that had finished and unfinished  animatio. A warrent was put out for his addresss, this is not 100% though.  


-It has been speculated that  background artists for the third season were "tripping" on LSD while they were working. Use of bizarre milieu of the kind that made the last segment of 2001- A Space Odyssey a psychedelic experience, is Rocket Robin Hood's most defining trait, and it is precisely these episodes that are best remembered by young viewers of the series. 
-in the mid-1970s, A housing subdivision in Mississauga, Ontario,  has the dinstinction of streets named in honor of the Rocket Robin Hood characters. 


Kids today are? spoiled, ever try to sit a child down and have them watch a episode of this?
This is by far my favorite episode... for sure they were on LSD for this one...


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