{"id":1760,"date":"2002-05-02T09:14:36","date_gmt":"2002-05-02T14:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/?p=1760"},"modified":"2002-05-02T09:14:36","modified_gmt":"2002-05-02T14:14:36","slug":"space_ghost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/05\/02\/space_ghost.html","title":{"rendered":"Space Ghost"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Space<\/div>\n

I have many fond memories of Hanna-Barbera action cartoons, a phase the company went through between the early successes of limited animation (Quickdraw McGraw, Huckleberry Hound, the Flintstones) and the later, sadder days when anything that smacked of violence or adventure was considered far too evil for impressionable youths.<\/p>\n

It was the days of Jonny Quest<\/i>. Of The Herculoids<\/i>. And, in 1966<\/a>, of Space Ghost<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I loved Space Ghost<\/a>. He was great. His voice, done by the inimitable Gary Owens, was heroic. His costume design, by Alex Toth<\/a>, was classic and still looks great today — mostly white, with the black cowl and nebulous yellow cape. No boots — that made it look cool, different, sleek and etherial.<\/p>\n

The music <\/a>— an eerie wail, and then the HB jazzy brass mixed with spooky electronic sounds. Great stuff.<\/p>\n

And the power bands. I loved SG’s power bands. No one, single, easily-defeatable power for him. Dozens of rays, dozens of special effects, deus ex machina <\/i>and the perfect gimmick. I used to run around pushing imaginary buttons on my wrist to make energy beams of all sorts shoot out. SG could do anything.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/div>\n

And his ship, the Phantom Cruiser. Way, way, way cool, sleek and sinister.<\/p>\n

The shows were 8 minute episodes, barely long enough for the Sinister Villain to capture SG and\/or his sidekicks, Jan and Jace and Blip, and then for a thrilling rescue\/escape that spelled doom for the villain’s plans (and, often, the villain).<\/p>\n

We’re not talking Homer (the poet) here. Or maybe we are — there was something archetypically simple and straightforward and powerful about those stories. At least for a five-year-old. Today they seem really hokey … but it’d difficult to disentangle my current adult sophistication from the little kid who was awed and amazed.<\/p>\n

It all went downhill from there. First HB was forced out of the “serious” super-hero biz by the same folks who snipped and clipped Roadrunner cartoons for excess violence. SG came back in the early 80s, but it was only a pale specter of himself — the Phantom Cruiser, for example, had taken on the same blocky, chunky lines of the cars of that period (K-Car, anyone?).<\/p>\n

And then, of course, the 90s and 00s have brought “Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast,” a late-night comedic “talk show.” Imagine doing the same with a Franklin Roosevelt look-alike, or a John Kennedy double, or an animated Abraham Lincoln. That’s how much it grates on my nerves every time I see it.<\/p>\n

Because, you see, Space Ghost was my hero<\/i>. He fought hard, he protected the innocent, he defeated the evil. He didn’t give up. He didn’t shrink back from danger. He took his duties seriously. He used brains, brawn, and super-science to take down those who would hurt or enslave others. Even though the producers of SGC2C have loads of yucks poking fun at that simplistic earnestness, it really meant something to me in those days.<\/p>\n

Space Ghost was my hero. In some ways, he still is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have many fond memories of Hanna-Barbera action cartoons, a phase the company went through between the early successes of limited animation (Quickdraw McGraw, Huckleberry Hound, the Flintstones) and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-cartoons"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10582,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/12\/19\/bad_week_for_classic_anim.html","url_meta":{"origin":1760,"position":0},"title":"Bad week for classic animation","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 19-Dec-06 9:58am","format":false,"excerpt":"Joe Barbera (of the Hanna-Barbera team) died Monday at 95. With his partner, they created Tom & Jerry, and the whole H-B line (Flintstones, Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Scooby-Doo,...","rel":"","context":"In "Animation \/ Cartoons"","block_context":{"text":"Animation \/ Cartoons","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-cartoons"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129582,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/31\/dc-conjures-some-new-comics-from-old-hanna-barbera-cartoons.html","url_meta":{"origin":1760,"position":1},"title":"DC conjures some new comics from old Hanna-Barbera cartoons","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 31-Jan-16 12:01am","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the sort of thing that should get my panties in a twist, but, damn, if they can come up with something new and exciting and in-print for H-B properties -- Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, The Herculoids, Scooby-Doo, Wacky Racers, Flintstones -- then I'm willing to let them take\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30570,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/13\/herculoids.html","url_meta":{"origin":1760,"position":2},"title":"Herculoids","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 13-Oct-12 11:01am","format":false,"excerpt":"Man, I just ate up the early Hanna-Barbera heroic stuff back in the day -- Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, and the Herculoids ... gorgeous Alex Toth designs and it was like comic books on my TV.It was still crappy HB limited animation, lots of repeated shots, and the plotlines were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":127558,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/20\/i-would-almost-certainly-by-the-heck-out-of-this-comic-book.html","url_meta":{"origin":1760,"position":3},"title":"I would almost certainly by the heck out of this comic book","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 20-Aug-15 10:16am","format":false,"excerpt":"I was a huge HB heroes fan back in the day, especially the first wave (most of them below) -- Space Ghost, the Herculoids, Bird Man ... it was comic book genius.Alas, eventually HB lost its way, battered both by anti-violence activists and more success in doing silly\/fun heroes and,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/0c3dd6f22ad63db77de671c0f7d2cfe45B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":30571,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/13\/and-the-best-of-all-jonny-quest.html","url_meta":{"origin":1760,"position":4},"title":"And the best of all — Jonny Quest","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 13-Oct-12 11:49am","format":false,"excerpt":"Which always confused me because I had a brother named John and I was sure there should be an \"h\" in there somewhere. \u00a0But, no (http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jonny_Quest_(TV_series)).Best cartoon ever. A pastiche of B-grade SF \/ Horror \/ Adventure films from the 30s and 40s, it was non-stop chills and thrills and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129653,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/05\/the-pioneer-female-voice-artists-of-cartoons.html","url_meta":{"origin":1760,"position":5},"title":"The Pioneer Female Voice Artists of Cartoons","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 5-Feb-16 11:47pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A nice look at some of the women behind some of the voices of classic Warn Bros., Jay Ward, Hanna-Barbera, etc. cartoons.http:\/\/mercurie.blogspot.com\/2016\/02\/female-voice-artists-of-classic-cartoons.htmlHonestly, the only one I knew by name from the article was the inimitable June Foray (pictured below, most famous for Rocky the Flying Squirrel, but responsible for so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/June2BForay5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}