KISS Pinball Backboard Art by Kevin O’Connor for Bally, 1979.
From 1975 to 1979 you couldn’t look anywhere without seeing the rock band KISS, except for Saturday morning cartoons. A KISS cartoon seems like something that should have existed, just as The Beatles had a cartoon. Just as The Jackson 5, or The Osmonds. Heck, KISS even had a Marvel comic book. You would think they would have at least made an appearance in The New Scooby-Doo Movies, but that show had ended before the band started.
With such an impact on pop culture it’s reasonable for someone to believe a cartoon had been made, but how close did they actually come to making one? It seems there were multiple attempts, so let’s take a look at what might have been, as well as the animated projects KISS actually did appear in later on in their career.
Hanna-Barbera
In the late 1970s, Hanna-Barbera entered a deal to produce a live-action feature film starring KISS. They were at the height of their popularity, with their merchandise selling out everywhere alongside Star Wars and Evel Knievel. KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park aired only once on NBC in October 1978, then disappeared completely until it would be released on home video in the 80s. An alternate version was prepared for international audiences and it became a hit worldwide, but the campy Scooby-Doo-like nature of the film would come to embarrass the band in the years that followed.
The film’s production was the result of a series of meetings between KISS and Hanna-Barbera with the goal of eventually doing an animated KISS project. Andy Heyward of Filmation was trying to get the rights to make a KISS cartoon from the band’s manager, Bill Aucoin, in early 1978. Heyward introduced Aucoin to his father, Louis M. “Deke” Heyward, who was working for Hanna-Barbera as their Executive in Charge of Production. Realizing the strength of the band’s then-current success, both Heywards met with Aucoin to negotiate for the rights to make KISS-related productions.
At the time Hanna-Barbera was trying to branch out into live-action films, and “Deke” Heyward’s job as Executive in Charge of Production was to find projects that would fall in line with the Hanna-Barbera brand. They had made a deal with NBC to produce several TV movies for them, which was presented to KISS as a possibility during their meetings. Aucoin believed that a deal for a live-action movie that could lead to a cartoon at Hanna-Barbera was more appealing than just doing a cartoon at Filmation, so he went with Hanna-Barbera.
Destroyer Album Art by Ken Kelly, 1976.
On one occasion, the band would come down to the Hanna-Barbera studio to discuss the film, and they had arrived in their full makeup and costumes to take photos for the press. Barbera had seen them get out of their car from his office window, and he immediately locked his door. He then turned on the red light that let everyone know that he was not to be disturbed. He refused to come out of his office until KISS had left the property, completely stunned at how they could dare show up to his office in makeup and costumes. Heyward had to remind him that Hanna-Barbera had costumed characters at their press events, this wasn’t much different. To be fair, Barbera didn’t expect to be doing business with the men in the costumes.
Gene Simmons’s iconic tongue from KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.
During filming, Barbera had seen some footage and thought one of the members of the band was sick because his tongue was hanging out of his mouth. Heyward again explained to him how Gene Simmons uses his freakishly-long tongue as part of his act. Barbera nearly lost it. He had a team of editors ready to figure out how to put Gene’s tongue back into his mouth, which could have been the most expensive special effect in the film. Eventually, Barbera relented, and they agreed to no more than four instances of the “tongue thing” throughout the film. Compared to KISS concerts, TV appearances, and the reality series Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels, there is a noticeable lack of tongue-wagging in KISS Meets The Phantom of The Park.
The film was finished and aired only once on US television as KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park in 1978, then it was re-edited and released to theaters internationally as Attack of the Phantoms in 1979. The movie was a blockbuster hit around the world, but it languished in the US. KISS and Hanna-Barbera wouldn’t continue their working relationship any further, for better or worse. Though a month after Phantom of the Park aired, ABC would air an episode of The Scooby-Doo Show called The Diabolical Disc Demon featuring the character Ace Decade, a musician who dresses up as a KISS-like phantom. The name Ace Decade is clearly a reference to Ace Frehley, as is the character’s costume, while the makeup was inspired by Gene Simmons.
Filmation
As mentioned earlier, Andy Heyward, who would later found the animation studio DiC, worked for Filmation. Using Heyward’s connection with Aucoin, around 1980 Lou Scheimer was allegedly shopping a KISS cartoon around to different networks. The American economy wasn’t doing too great at the time, but the band’s popularity was growing in Europe, Australia, and South America. An animated series timed to coincide with the band’s international success would be an unstoppable hit, just as the movie was. It was decided to seek an international co-producer to help finance the series.
A West German TV station had been in talks to co-produce the series with Filmation, but the German executives pulled back after the initial pitch meeting. They had been offended by the sight of the KISS logo, which features two prominent lightning bolts as S’s. For Germans, this looked too similar to the symbol used for the SS during the days of Nazi Germany. KISS actually made a logo specifically for the German market, but this logo wasn’t part of the pitch given during that meeting. The Germans kicked the Filmation representatives out of their office, and Filmation’s last chance at a KISS cartoon fell apart.
KISS vs. Dracula concept art by Jack Kirby, 1980.
Ruby-Spears
Back in January, Cartoon Researcher Jim Korkis published an article about Jack Kirby’s time at Ruby-Spears from 1980 to 1986, and he made a passing reference to an unproduced KISS project. In 2020, the website Anthony’s Comic Book Art listed a piece of artwork by Jack Kirby for sale: Kirby’s personal xeroxed copy of the concept art for an animated KISS project called KISS vs. Dracula. The artwork features the band fighting Dracula’s army of killer robots, which again, was the style at the time. Gene Simmons confirmed this project in a tweet, but he claims that the project would’ve been produced by Hanna-Barbera. It’s likely he actually meant Ruby-Spears since that was where Kirby was working at the time. Strangely, the artwork features the band in their 1976 Destroyer costumes, rather than the 1979/1980 Dynasty/Unmasked costumes. A minor nitpick for KISS nerds, but it’s an important detail for understanding that these were all separate projects, rather than one pitch that was shopped around for several years.
Back to Hanna-Barbera
Let’s circle back to Hanna-Barbera, maybe Gene meant something else when he claimed that the Jack Kirby art was from a Hanna-Barbera project? Well, it seems there may have been something going on in the brief time after Phantom of the Park. In October 2020, KISS expert (or KISStorian) Bob Nash went on the 80’s Glam Metalcast and spoke about the plans for a possible KISS animated series or animated special. He claims to have spoken to Gene Simmons about it, who told him that it was going to be produced by Hanna-Barbera and that it would have featured the band in their 1979 Dynasty costumes.
This distinction is important, as it separates this project from the 1980 Jack Kirby project. Simmons also mentioned that there was artwork produced, and that he personally owned everything related to the project.
This is backed up by an internal memo from Aucoin Management that mentions an “animated special” in 1979. Supposedly, the project was canceled by the band’s management because they didn’t want to risk overexposure. Since Simmons owned the artwork produced, it’s assumed that this art was used for one piece of KISS merchandise: the KISS Rub n’ Play toy set. There’s no concrete proof, but this is the only product to feature illustrations of the band in their Dynasty costumes.
KISS Saves Santa in this episode of “Family Guy”
There are two obvious answers, the first is that the band suffered overexposure by 1979 as predicted. The album Dynasty was advertised as The Return of KISS after the band took a year off from touring to do the movie, but the album didn’t land with fans. An infamous interview on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder revealed that the band was having issues that drove two of the original members out. Any KISS cartoon produced in 1980 would have to pull a Coy and Vance and replace two of the members by the second season, which yet again, was the style at the time. The band’s popularity in the US fizzled out by the time a cartoon could be produced, and internal problems with the band ensured that one definitely wouldn’t be produced.
It wouldn’t be until 1998 that KISS would finally appear in animation, just as the original line-up had reunited at the height of the 70s nostalgia craze. Nickelodeon’s stop-motion series Action League Now! featured the band in the episode Rock-A-Big-Baby. This led to appearances in other shows such as Family Guy, What’s New Scooby-Doo, and The Fairly Oddparents in the 2000s. Finally, in 2015 the fine folks at Warner Bros. Animation produced Scooby-Doo and KISS Rock and Roll Mystery, a direct-to-video film that works as a spiritual successor to KISS Meets The Phantom of The Park, without having any direct connection to it. While technically a Scooby-Doo film, the film focuses primarily on KISS and their story.
This image speaks for itself.
Most of the information here comes from the book Conversations with Phantoms by Ron Albanese, a series of interviews with people directly involved with the production of KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. The story about Filmation’s KISS project comes from a Q&A session Albanese made recently in Huntington, New York where he told stories and explained details he learned during the making of his book. He backed up his claims with e-mails from a producer at Filmation. The Jack Kirby artwork comes from Anthony’s Comic Book Art, who acquired it directly from the Kirby family.
Kris Reyes, a.k.a. “Kaiser Dingus”, is a lowlife grifter from New Jersey who runs an overpriced novelty t-shirt shop. An art school dropout with a heart of gold. He’s currently at large and threatening to release a solo-album. Visit his website 
“They scared him! He was genuinely afraid of them, the way one would be afraid of clowns.”
You’ve given away your age –
older readers have many fond memories of clowns: Bozo, the circus, TV Hosts, Dumbo (1941)
Younger audiences flee because they once saw a movie.
Re Kiss, if the TV movie’s ratings were below expectations, executives would lose interest fast.
Their opposition included Vincent Price guesting on The Love Boat… (No kids, not The Real Love Boat reality show)
Millennial here who has no idea why clowns are supposed to be scary.
And there’s my wife, who’s — well, I won’t give her age, but she’s no millennial, and she’s terrified of clowns. It’s not a generational thing.
Same with my mom. She never liked clowns, not even when she was little and to this day, she’s still paranoid by them, and I’ve known people my age who share the same sentiment.
Gen Xer here who has always been creeped out by clowns. Long before (not) seeing a movie.
Take a look at the episode of “The New Fred and Barney Show” titled “Bedrock Rocks.”
I was in high school when KISS first became popular. I didn’t know anyone my own age who was into their music, but my friends’ little brothers were all huge fans. Because of this, I’ve always thought of KISS as “kids’ stuff”, like the Saturday morning TV of their time.
As to why no KISS cartoon was ever made then, well, you’re ignoring the most obvious reason of all. By the late 1970s, religious conservatives were waging a bitter campaign against rock music, and KISS was one of their principal targets. It was widely reputed that “KISS” was an acronym for “Knights in Satan’s Service”; I have no idea whether this is true, but it hardly matters either way. Much was also made of the similarity between the lightning bolt double-S and the Nazi SS. Television networks and sponsors didn’t want the slightest controversy; the idea that children’s programming might somehow be associated with Satan or Hitler would have made any executive as skittish as Joe Barbera cowering in his office. In spite of the band’s proven popularity and profitability, there was absolutely no chance of a Saturday morning KISS cartoon being made during their heyday. Now, a John Denver cartoon — yes, I can totally see Hanna-Barbera making that.
The thing that strikes me about the name “Ace Decade” is not its similarity to that of Ace Frehley, but the fact that it spells out a series of musical notes. If that wasn’t a plot point in that Scooby-Doo episode, they certainly missed an opportunity.
Yes, but that didn’t stop Hanna-Barbera from making a kids’ film with KISS, nor did similar controversies a few years later stop a Saturday morning Dungeons & Dragons cartoon from making it to air. The backlashes were real, but at the end of the day money talks louder than protesters.
You pretty much hit the nail on the head. And Mr Willoughby? All those examples are exceptions, fighting against the wings of fate, swimming against the current, going against the grain.
An animated version of Terry Gross Meets Gene Simmons using the characters from Space Ghost – THAT I would get up early on a Saturday morning with a box of Captain Crunch, and enjoy…
Yeah, I remember being a kid in Sunday School and hearing about how “evil” KISS was supposed to be. Then one sleepless night as an adult I came across Gene Simmons Family Jewels show. I was shocked to learn he never did drugs, drank in moderation and looked out for his Mom. Strange what scares us as kids. LOL.
I remember once reading Gene Simmons was in talks to produce a KISS-esque Saturday morning cartoon in the 1990s, and even had talks with Haim Saban. The project ended when Saban insulted Simmons in Hebrew, not realizing Simmons spoke the language.
There’s a story going around saying that Haim Saban of Power Rangers fame was negotiating with KISS for a deal of some sort (either for merchandise or a cartoon, it varies depending on the version), but Saban made the mistake of telling his associate, in Hebrew, that they’d exploit them – which fell apart right then and there because Gene Simmons (real name Chaim Witz) just so happens to be of the same nationality. So Simmons cursed out Saban and the deal died on the vine.
Or so I’ve heard. Anyone know if there’s any truth to this?
There was a long-time rumored connection in the early 1970s between Hanna-Barbera character designer and layout artist, Iwao Takamoto and the original make-up designs for the KISS band. The original designs, Starchild, Demon, Spaceman and Catman were designed by Iwao for hire. Gene Simmons supposedly hired Iwao to work on the face designs, although he also claimed he designed them himself. I’ve heard this story many times around the industry over the years.
Given the celebrity shlock a lot of animation studios put out during the ’70s and early ’80s, KISS was lucky NOT to get a TV cartoon. It’s likely that they would’ve been heavily toned down to appeal to the network and marketing executives Mark Evanier had so many horror stories about, something which would’ve likely contributed to the band’s “kiddy” image at the time.
There’s also the fact that Filmation wasn’t exactly the highest quality animation studio.
Per Lou Scheimer’s book by Andy Mangels, Lou Scheimer’s grandfather punched out Hitler. Perhaps if Lou had told that story while pitching the Kiss
project to the German team, the Filmation Kiss pitch might have gone in a positive direction. However, I think Ruby-Spears would have totally nailed a Kiss animation series/special. Ruby-Spears could do no wrong.😊
The film was simply called “KISS Meets the Phantom” when it aired (as seen in that NBC ad) – it wasn’t till it was released on video that “…of the Park” was added to the title.
And the S’s in the KISS logo were altered for Germany, so they wouldn’t resemble the Schutzstaffel logo.
I grew up enjoying KISS albums in the 70’s, but I think that a Kiss cartoon would never have worked for Saturday Morning Television back then, for one simple reason.
The lyrics of their songs.
Just like The Beatles, Jackson 5 and Osmond’s cartoon show, one of the reasons to tune in, was because it featured their music.
Pretty much the majority of all KISS songs during that time featured very pointed and blatant lyrics about sex. And those that didn’t were about decedent partying and disobeying your parents.
I just couldn’t see that getting past standards practices of the day
Nowadays though, if they made a Kiss cartoon, it should be what “Phantom of The Park” was originally pitched as: A cross between Star Wars and a Hard Days Night.
Set it in the 70’s. Have them be Superheroes (like in the Marvel Comic) but still be a rock band (like in the movie). Then have them battle some larger than life menace that’s a cross between Darth Vader, Thanos and Darkside. Make it a big loud larger than life Rock’n’Roll action adventure spectacle that mixes science fiction, fantasy and horror.
KISS Saves Santa contains one of my all-time favorite Family Guy moments: “Hurry boys, the eggs are hatching!”
Former Flatbush street kid Joe Barbera was unlikely any more “scared” of KISS than he would be of The Ascot Five. More likely he was avoiding their getting a photo with him, which would imply business and endorsement issues. He was very conscious of what might happen if a meeting was also a media opportunity. KISS didn’t take the time to get into costume and makeup for nothing.
The existence of KISS and its appeal to kids, like rock & roll, disco, rap, hip-hop, big band and jazz, was met with trepidation by the general public when it was new. KISS was conceived to get attention and disturb adults — it’s a pop formula that still works. Eventually, it becomes mainstream, especially when Fred Flintstone and other characters dress like them. But they have to “cool off” for a few years first. Pebbles Flintstone wanted to meet Mick Jagrock almost a decade after they were the bad boys of pop.
What’s kind of ironic about the KISS Scooby-Doo movie is that the Mystery Incorporated gang was delighted to meet them because they were so famous, yet they were usually running from and unmasking similar-looking “phantoms” It’s all about perspective, marketing, and how marketing can create perspective. When you think about it, almost all the Scooby villains were haunting for marketing reasons, too.
Good read but I hoped the artwork from the KISS Rub ‘N Play set would have been correctly attributed to Neal Adams’ Continuity Studios.
When I interviewed Gene in 1995, I specifically asked if the art in that Rub ‘n Play set had been done by Neal Adams, which is the way it had always looked to me. He said no, but he didn’t say who had done it or if it had been commissioned for another project.
OF COURSE THERE WAS A KISS CARTOON…..
…sort of……
Just Gene Simmons, but it was called “My Dad the Rock Star”, and it had a Gene Simmons-like dad in his outfit raising a preteen boy who goes through average school misadventures.
It was a Canadian production and was shown in the States on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons Network.
I’m sure you can find an episode on Youtube if you can.
Gene Simmons actually created it. Respect
You know, KISS appeared in an episode of the PBS children’s science series, 3-2-1 CONTACT (1980-1992).
This caused enough for parents to complain.
KISS also made an appearance in the FAIRLY ODDPARENTS cartoon special, THE WISHOLOGY TRILOGY.
They all voiced themselves.
That’s ritght! KISS was the highlight of the Fairly Oddparents special Wishology.