Saturday Morning TV was coming into its own and really starting to take shape in the mid 1960s, with a number of new shows being created for this time and day of the week.
This final part of a three-part article celebrating different years of Saturday morning cartoons that celebrate anniversaries, looks at the new shows that debuted sixty years ago this fall.
In the same year that saw The Sound of Music break box-office records and audiences gather around their new color TV to watch Get Smart, here are the animated series that debuted on Saturday morning in 1965.
ABC
The world was in the firm grip of “Beatlemania” in 1965, as the group made their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show the year before. As with so much that was such an iconic part of our pop culture, the legendary musical group was brought to life in animation and came to Saturday mornings on ABC in fall of 1965, with The Beatles.
Created by Al Brodax who would bring audiences animated version of comic strip characters, such as Beetle Bailey and Snuffy Smith, as well as original series like Cool McCool, The Beatles featured short cartoon exploits of the group, as well as sing-a-long segments of Beatles hit songs.
The iconic songs featured included “A Hard Day’s Night,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and more. These were The Beatles original recordings, but the voices of the characters themselves were provided by “sound-alike” voice actors, including Paul Frees as John and George and Lance Percival as Paul and Ringo.
Also on ABC this fall, Milton the Monster made his debut. From legendary producer, director and one time Fleischer Studio animator Hal Seeger came this series about the title character, a Frankenstein Monster type, who was created by Professor Weirdo (Dayton Allen) and Count Kook (Larry Best). When the Professor is creating Milton, he adds a bit too much tenderness and Milton, his flat head emitting steam, turns out to be an innocent, friendly monster.
Bob McFadden, the voice of Milton, would also voice another similar, popular, animated monster of the time: Franken Berry, for the General Mills cereal commercials.
Milton the Monster featured entertaining plots, and supporting characters, such as the monsters Heebie and Jeebie (both also voiced by McFadden). Heebie, a ghoulish, skeletal-faced creature, sporting a top and black cloak and Jeebie, a buck-toothed, cyclops monster provided great humor for the plots, as they, along with the Professor and the Count, resent Milton. “You’re kind, cheerful, trustworthy, gentle, tender, friendly and courteous” says the Professor to Milton in one episode, adding, “You’re a disgrace to our family!”
CBS
Everything old was new again over on CBS. In fall of 1965, The Tom and Jerry Show debuted. While not a completely, brand-new series, it was a packaging of the cat and mouse’s classic MGM shorts. However, The Tom and Jerry Show featured opening and closing credits showcasing scenes from these classic shorts, along with new animation created for the series by Chuck Jones, who also created “bumpers” for the series, shown before commercial breaks. At the time, the legendary animation director’s Sib 12 Tower Studio was currently producing new Tom and Jerry cartoons.
For generations, The Tom and Jerry Show, both on Saturday mornings, and in syndication afterward was their introduction to the iconic animated duo and allowed these classic cartoons to live-on after their theatrical days.
For the whole 1965 CBS line-up – check this vintage promo:
NBC
Two of the “kings” of Saturday morning, Hanna-Barbera (who began their careers at MGM with Tom and Jerry) brought Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel to NBC in the fall of 1965, and the shows would mark the studio’s first Saturday morning series.
Both shows were parodies of popular movies and TV shows of the time: Atom Ant served as a send-up of superheroes with the titular character a tiny ant (initially voiced by Howard Morris, then later Don Messick) with tremendous powers, and Secret Squirrel (Mel Blanc), a send-up of James Bond and other spies of the era.
With writing from animation luminaries, such as Michael Maltese, Warren Foster, Tony Benedict, and Dalton Sandifer, the shows not only offered some creative humor, but both series opened the Saturday morning door for future Hanna-Barbera shows.
There were also plenty of returning favorites on all of the networks in the fall of ’65, such as The Heckle and Jeckle Cartoon Show (CBS), The Porky Pig Show (ABC) and Top Cat (NBC), as networks continued to ramp-up their programming and look ahead to decades of Saturday morning television.
A time in TV and pop culture history, all those years of Saturday morning television, and all of those bowls of cereal that went with them, now live on fondly in many a memory.
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
Out of all those Saturday morning memories, these resonate, the clearest to me. Oh, do I remember this time. I definitely remember “Tom and Jerry show“, even having my real to real audio tape recorder present to record the soundtracks of the cartoons. Previous to this I had seen something called “the Tom and Jerry festival of fun“ which had toured movie theaters a year or so ago. Since then, I never quite got a complete list of the cartoons that were shown in that to our program, but I was amazed to find out that the classic cat and mouse whose comics I had been reading were part of what was then my favorite cartoon studio in the theatrical age, MGM! So I simply had to record this program!
Much as I like most of the series mentioned, I was really hoping the 1995 schedule would be included in the series, and am sorry to read that this is the conclusion.–I was looking forward to discussions of favorites that debuted that year such as Life with Louie, Freakazoid!, The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat, and even the Dumb and Dumber adaption. There’s still time to make next Friday, though!
Each of these eras of Saturday morning cartoons reflects different societal trends. The 60s were a time of change, but at the same time the tried-and-true still had its place, as can be observed by the many theatrical animated shorts that still were airing. Plus, the funny animal characters still carried the day. This would change in coming years as more of the new cartoons would focus on human characters.
I remember The Beatles as a cartoon. That was probably my first introduction to the group, as I would have been five years old in 1965. And Secret Squirrel became one of my all time favorite Hanna-Barbera cartoons, along with Atom Ant. Now I perceive the touches of adult humor that were added (such as the villain Yellow Pinky as an echo of Sidney Greenstreet from the classic film era) as well as the sly parodies of James Bond and other spy-type heroes. Milton the Monster was another show that I delighted in. Even without a background in the monster movies, spy movies, or rock and roll bands, a child could still appreciate the parodies.
Also, by the late 60s and early 70s, Sunday morning cartoons were on the rise. And not only religious-themed animation such as Davey and Goliath, but also shows like Bullwinkle, Beany and Cecil, Linus the Lionhearted, the Tom and Jerry theatricals, and Aquaman, plus several others, found a berth on Sundays–although maybe this was more of a local thing for individual stations. I remember being torn between my cartoon favorites and church. If a family member was sick on a Sunday morning, we stayed home–and there was always something to watch.
1966 is the first season of Saturday morning cartoons of which I have distinct memories. What I do recall of this season and these shows is that, like most of their successors, they were one-note, high-concept shows and tediously formulaic.
The following two seasons weren’t actually any better but at least they certainly swung for the wackiness fences. The Beatles cartoon was especially awful, even to a kid at the time, and I remember being irked by Frees doing not one bad vocal but two and they stood out like sore thumbs. I normally enjoy the man’s work but he did a few more shows than he could handle and at this period in particular seemed to be on autopilot.
I’m trying to picture kids eating their breakfast cereals and singing along to the Beatles’ “She Said She Said,” which was one of the actual songs for the cartoon’s “singalong” segment.
The Milton the Monster show also had a cartoon series about “Stuffy Durma,” a hobo who inherits a million dollars and has to become “high class.” They were animated by Jim Tyer, in his signature loose, rubbery style, and Dayton Allen did the voicework.
I suspect the title ‘Stuffy Durma” was a joke that few people outside the urban Northeast would get (“stuffed derma” is Ashkenazic Jewish comfort food, a beef sausage skin stuffed with seasoned breadcrumbs and chicken fat)!
… or “stuffy doormat”, a natural bed for the hobo!
“along with new animation created for the series by Chuck Jones, who also created “bumpers” for the series, shown before commercial breaks”
Actually, the bumpers and the new animation for the 1965 Tom and Jerry show was overseen by Tom Ray, while Chuck Jones merely produced them. And they were shown in the middle of the commercial break rather than before it (I saw a print of one episode at The Paley Center for Media where the bumpers were structured this way).
As I recall, the new season on Saturday’s new shows started September 25 except for Milton the Monster, which debuted a week later.
Paul Frees as John and George on the Beatles cartoon was mandated by ABC, and the group’s manager Brian Epstein was not pleased. As far as the show as a whole, I’ve seen worse. George liked it and John admitted to watching them in the 70s (some years after he unfavorably compared it to the Flintstones).
When Ringo saw the cartoon, he said to the voice artist “I see you’ve made me the dum-dum.” Percival said that he was just doing as he was told.
Mitch Axelrod has written a book “Beatletoons” about the series. He said that the Beatles’ company Apple, which now owns the series, gave him permission to write it, and then sued him for copyright infringement when he did. So it goes.
This is my favorite era and I watched every one of these programs. I imagine I am not alone. I guess I was just the right age for it, being born in 1960.
My family moved into our own house in the summer of 1965, and we bought our first colour TV set at that time. So that year’s new Saturday morning lineup would have been the first that I was able to see in full colour. Of the new shows that debuted, the only one that became a weekly viewing habit was Secret Squirrel/Atom Ant. I didn’t see the Beatles cartoons until they were syndicated when I was in high school, by which time I had become a fan of the band. As for Milton the Monster, I don’t think I’ve seen a full episode of that show to this day.
My favourite Saturday morning cartoons in 1965 were the cereal-sponsored ones from Jay Ward, Ed Graham, Total TV, and Hanna-Barbera, most of them now in reruns. The following year, Space Ghost would inaugurate the “wall-to-wall monsters” format against which Peggy Charren’s pressure group Action for Children’s Television led a successful campaign just a few years later. But it was great while it lasted.
Thanks for this look back at a bygone era that, though well before your own time, is still fondly remembered by those of us who, like Bob Hope, with each passing year have a little less memory to be thankful for. I’m aware that encomiums from one’s elders matter little to youthful striplings such as yourself, but mine, at least, is one old grey head that is nodding in approbation. Or maybe just nodding off. Good night!
Paul,
Thank you so much, and I’m glad you enjoyed this look back.
I do indeed appreciate your kind words.
Thanks, also, for always making me feel so young. I was born one year after these shows debuted and turned to 59 this year. I was a child of the late 60s and 70s, and remember Saturday morning TV very well. I agree with you that these shows are filled with wistful memories that always makes one smile.
From one “grey head” to another-
Thanks again.
I recall Sunday cartoons as being mainly Saturday morning shows that had slipped a bit. The old Tom and Jerry show had a unique, old school vibe. The opening titles had no spoken words or text; just “Tom and Jerry” at the end of a montage of gags over lush, theatrical-short music. Also, the bumpers with their odd “Stayed Tuned for Part Two” message. Did MGM ever do any other Saturday morning shows, aside from licensing the characters to other studios?
Russell, there was also an actress named Steffi Duna (1910-1992) who had been relatively popular in films and was probably best known in movies like WATERLOO BRIDGE and THE GREAT McGINTY. I suspect some old movie fan who was writing THE MILTON THE MONSTER SHOW remembered the name of the actress.
I do remember the prime time special on NBC introducing Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel. I don’t remember Stuffy Durma- Fearless Fly was the other cartoon on Milton the Monster I remember. And to be honest I really don’t remember much about Milton except for that song about his creation. I also remember Tom and Jerry- that was the only new show on the CBS lineup.
ABC won the ratings battle that year thanks to the Beatles. Fred Silverman at CBS felt the pressure and responded. Gone were the old reruns like Sky King and Flicka, replaced with a brilliant all cartoon lineup for 1966-1967 that crushed the competition. So 1965 was the last hurrah for the old Saturday Morning.
I remember when my grandmother told me about Saturday morning cartoons. I think I was about 5 years old. I actually learned how to tell time by figuring out when the clock read 7:00.
Which Mighty Mouse cartoon showed that blimp with his name on it, as shown in the promo? I don’t remember it.
The clip of Mighty Mouse’s airship is from “Lazy Little Beaver” (1947).
David, the blimp is from Lazy Little Beaver (1947).