Pac-Man (TV series)
| Pac-Man | |
|---|---|
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From the left: Pac-Man, Pepper, and Baby Pac-Man. | |
| Genre |
Adventure Comedy |
| Based on | Pac-Man, video game made by Toru Iwatani for Namco Ltd. |
| Developed by | Jeffrey Scott |
| Written by |
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| Directed by |
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| Voices of |
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| Composer(s) | Hoyt Curtin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 44 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Producer(s) | Kay Wright |
| Editor(s) | Gil Iverson |
| Running time | 22–26 minutes approx. |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Distributor |
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| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | September 25, 1982 – November 5, 1983 |
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Pac-Man (also known as Pac-Man: The Animated Series) is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions based on the video game Pac-Man, made by Namco (now known as Bandai Namco Entertainment) and published by Bally-Midway, which premiered on ABC and ran for 44 episodes over two seasons from 1982 to 1983. It was also the first cartoon based on a video game.
Plot
The show follows the adventures of the title character, Pac-Man, his wife Pepper Pac-Man, their child Pac-Baby, their dog Chomp-Chomp and their cat Sour Puss. The family lives in Pac-Land, a place in which the geography and architecture seem to revolve primarily around spheres and sphere-like shapes. Most episodes of the series center around the ongoing battle between the Pac family and their only known enemies, the Ghost Monsters: Blinky, Inky, Pinky, Clyde, and Sue. They work for Mezmaron, a mysterious figure who resembles Darth Vader from Star Wars and acts similarly to Gargamel (from another Hanna-Barbera show The Smurfs). His sole mission is to locate and control the source of "Power Pellets", which serve as the primary food and power source for the city, and also as the deus ex machina in virtually every episode. The second (and final) season later introduces Super-Pac and Pac-Man's nephew P.J.
Influence
The show's initial success inspired ABC's rival CBS to create Saturday Supercade, which featured other video game characters from the golden age of video arcade games. The arcade game Pac-Land was based entirely on the cartoon, and Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures drew significant influence from it as well. Also, the Tengen release of the original Pac-Man arcade game for the Nintendo Entertainment System features box art based on the cartoon.
Voice cast
Main
- Marty Ingels – Pac-Man
- Peter Cullen – Sour Puss
- Barry Gordon – Inky
- Darryl Hickman – P.J. (Season 2)
- Allan Lurie – Mezmaron
- Chuck McCann – Blinky, Pinky
- Julie McWhirter – Dinky (two episodes from seasons 1 & 2)
- Barbara Minkus – Pepper Pac-Man
- Lorenzo Music – Super-Pac (Season 2)
- Neil Ross – Clyde
- Susan Silo – Sue
- Russi Taylor – Pac-Baby
- Frank Welker – Chomp-Chomp, Morris, Adult Pac-Baby
Additionals
- William Callaway –
- Jodi Carlisle –
- Brian Cummings –
- Pat Fraley –
- Joan Gerber –
- Arte Johnson –
- Paul Kirby –
- Chris Latta –
- Kris Stevens –
- Andre Stojka –
- Janet Waldo –
- Lennie Weinrib – Pacula (ep. 7)
Episodes
Season 1 (1982)
| No. | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Presidential Pac-Nappers" | September 25, 1982 |
| Mezmaron orders the Ghost Monsters to kidnap the Pac-President in order to get Pac-Man to lead them to the Power Pellet Forest. | ||
| 2 | "Picnic in Pacland" | September 25, 1982 |
| Pac-Man and his family go for a picnic. The Ghosts Monsters are also on a picnic, and plot to chomp Pac-Man with each plan going horribly awry. | ||
| 3 | "The Great Pac-Quake" | October 2, 1982 |
| The Ghost Monsters get an Earthquake-making machine by the Mezmaron. | ||
| 4 | "Hocus-Pocus Pac-Man" | October 2, 1982 |
| Pac-Man put Pac-Baby in a magic hat and made him disappear! | ||
| 5 | "Southpaw Packy" | October 9, 1982 |
| When the Ghost Monsters ruin the Pac-Land world series, Pac-Man challenges them to a baseball game to decide who leaves town. | ||
| 6 | "Pac-Baby Panic" | October 9, 1982 |
| The Ghost Monsters steal a sack of Power Pellets, and Pac-Man & Pepper go searching for Pac-Baby, not realizing he's in the sack of Power Pellets. | ||
| 7 | "Pacula" | October 16, 1982 |
| Mezmaron transforms a bat into the vampiric Count Pacula in a plot to get the citizens of Pac-Land to hand over the map to the Power Pellet Forest. | ||
| 8 | "Trick or Chomp" | October 16, 1982 |
| The Pac-Family goes trick or treating on Halloween night until the ghosts come along and spice things up. | ||
| 9 | "Super Ghosts" | October 23, 1982 |
| The Ghost Monsters try to take over the world when they are given super powers. | ||
| 10 | "The Pac-Man in the Moon" | October 23, 1982 |
| After the Ghost Monsters steal the space shuttle, Pac-Man and Pepper must retrieve it. | ||
| 11 | "Journey to the Center of Pacland" | October 30, 1982 |
| Mezmaron (with help from the Clyde and the ghosts) decides to dig underground to get the Power Pellet Forest. | ||
| 12 | "Invasion of the Pac-Pups" | October 30, 1982 |
| A litter of Pac-Pups come to the Pac-Family's house, and Pac-Man is trying to get rid of them. | ||
| 13 | "Sir Chomp-A-Lot" | November 6, 1982 |
| The Mezmaron sends the Ghost Monsters 50 years back into the past but Inky's goofiness causes them to meet Pac-Man's ancestor, Sir Chomp-A-Lot. | ||
| 14 | "The Day the Forest Disappeared" | November 6, 1982 |
| When the Mezmaron successfly gets the Power Pellet Forest, it's up to Pac-Man to get it back. | ||
| 15 | "Neander-Pac-Man" | November 13, 1982 |
| Pac-Man reads Pac-Baby a story about their prehistoric ancestor and his discovery of power pellets. | ||
| 16 | "Backpackin' Packy" | November 13, 1982 |
| Pac-Man is permitted to lead the Pac-Baby scouts after their original leader stubs his toe. | ||
| 17 | "The Abominable Pac-Man" | November 20, 1982 |
| A legendary creature is lurking the snowy hills at the time when Pac-Man and Pepper are racing to beat the Mezmaron and the Ghost Monsters to an area where Power Pellets are located. | ||
| 18 | "The Bionic Pac-Woman" | November 20, 1982 |
| The Mezmaron makes a robotic clone of Pepper to fool Pac-Man. | ||
| 19 | "Chomp-Out at the O.K. Corral" | November 27, 1982 |
| While taking a vacation out west, the Ghost Monsters along with their bratty cousin, Dinky, try to ruin the Pac-Family vacation. | ||
| 20 | "Once Upon a Chomp" | November 27, 1982 |
| The Ghost Monsters' fairy ghostmonster comes and gives them a magic fairytale book to trap Pac-Man and Pepper. | ||
| 21 | "The Pac-Love-Boat" | December 4, 1982 |
| The Ghost Monsters try to ruin Pac-Man and Pepper's anniversary while on the Love Boat. | ||
| 22 | "The Great Power-Pellet Robbery" | December 4, 1982 |
| Mezmaron gives the Ghost Monsters a truck in order to retrieve the Power Pellets from the Power Pellet Forest. | ||
| 23 | "A Bad Case of the Chomps" | December 11, 1982 |
| Pac-Man is rushed to the hospital after believing he has chompitis after chomping the Ghost Monsters. | ||
| 24 | "Goo-Goo at the Zoo" | December 11, 1982 |
| The Pac-Family goes to the zoo, but Pac-Baby frees all the animals. | ||
| 25 | "Nighty Nightmares" | December 18, 1982 |
| The Ghosts Monsters are having nightmares about Pac-Man. | ||
| 26 | "The Pac-Mummy" | December 18, 1982 |
| The Mezmaron discovers a mummy, so he uses it to kidnap Pepper and Pac-Baby. | ||
Season 2 (1983)
Aired as part of the The Pac-Man/Rubik, the Amazing Cube Hour.
| No. | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | "Here's Super-Pac" | September 17, 1983 |
| Super-Pac arrives in Pac-Land and saves Pac-Man and Pepper from a Ghost Monster attack. Pepper then invites Super-Pac to lunch as the Mezmaron creates a giant robotic Ghost Monster. | ||
| 28 | "Hey, Hey, Hey... It's P.J." | September 17, 1983 |
| Pac-Man must convince cousin P.J. to stay in school. | ||
| 29 | "The Super-Pac-Bowl" | September 24, 1983 |
| After the Ghost Monsters chomp the football team, Pac-Man and his team must face them off with the help of Super-Pac. | ||
| 30 | "Journey Into the Pac-Past" | September 24, 1983 |
| P.J. fixes Ms. Pac's washing machine, accidentally turning it into a "time" machine which sends him and Pac-Man into several different eras in Pac-Land's history. | ||
| 31 | "The Old Pac-Man and the Sea" | October 1, 1983 |
| The Ghost Monsters sink Pac-Man and a large oceanic shipment of power pellets. They end up in the aquatic city of Paclantis, which is under the rule of a tyrannical Pac-Queen who demand Pac-Man & his friends fight for their honor. | ||
| 32 | "Public Pac-Enemy No. 1" | October 1, 1983 |
| Pac-Man gets sent to prison after he is mistaken for a criminal named Pretty Boy Pac. | ||
| 33 | "The Genii of Pacdad" | October 8, 1983 |
| Pac-Man and Super-Pac square off against the Ghost Monsters for ownership of a bottle that houses a wish-granting genii. | ||
| 34 | "Computer Packy" | October 8, 1983 |
| P.J. tinkers with Pac-Man's computer, causing it to zap Pac-Baby à la Tron. Pac-Man and P.J. head inside the computer to save him. | ||
| 35 | "The Greatest Show in Pacland" | October 15, 1983 |
| The Ghost Monsters take their cousin Dinky to the circus for his birthday, where they encounter the Pac-Family (Pac-Baby also has a birthday as well).. | ||
| 36 | "Pac-A-Thon" "Pac-A-Lympics" | October 15, 1983 |
| Legal technicalities permit the Ghost Monsters to participate in the olympics, and it's up to the Pac-Family to try to defeat them in various athletic events. | ||
| 37 | "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Pac-Man" | October 22, 1983 |
| Pac-Man turns into a werewolf after the Ghost Monsters trick him into eating Power Pellets specially created by the Mezmaron. | ||
| 38 | "Around the World in 80 Chomps" | October 22, 1983 |
| The Mezmaron and the Ghost Monsters travel around the world to find another power forest, and Pac-Man must thwart this. | ||
| 39 | "Super-Pac vs. Pac-Ape" | October 29, 1983 |
| An organ grinder's Pac-Monkey eats super-powered Power Pellets and grows to giant size. Now Pac-Man and Super-Pac must stop the giant Pac-Monkey before it wrecks Pac-Land. | ||
| 40 | "P.J. Goes Pac-Hollywood" | October 29, 1983 |
| P.J. is starring in an action movie, and when the Pac-Family visits the set, Pac-Man is goaded into taking the dangerous job of stunt double. | ||
| 41 | "Pac Van Winkle" | November 5, 1983 |
| Pac-Man drinks a potion that causes him to fall asleep for twenty years. When he awakes, he finds a nightmarish future in which the Power Pellet Forest has been captured and the Ghost Monsters have infested Pac-Land. | ||
| 42 | "Happy Pacs-Giving" | November 5, 1983 |
| The Pac-Family hear a story about the first Pacs-Giving. | ||
Specials
Pac-Man Halloween Special
The Halloween special consisted of two segments from the show, "Pacula" and "Trick or Chomp". The special aired in primetime on ABC on October 30, 1982. It has been replayed on channels like Cartoon Network and Boomerang during Halloween in recent years.[1]
Christmas Comes to Pacland
Christmas Comes to Pacland In this Christmas special, Pac-Man and family help Santa Claus (voiced by Peter Cullen) after crash-landing on Pac-Land (after the reindeer were startled by the floating eyes of the Ghost Monsters after Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Baby munched them). Mezmeron was the only character from the cartoon that is not in the special (although his castle which is covered in snow appears). It's been speculated that he was away for the holiday, but this hasn't been confirmed by the show's writers. It is shown every December on the Boomerang Christmas Party.[2][3]
Crew
- William Hanna - Executive Producer
- Joseph Barbera - Executive Producer
- Kay Wright - Producer
- Jeffrey Scott - Developer
- Ray Patterson - Supervising Director
- Gordon Hunt - Recording Director
- Ginny McSwain - Animation Casting Director
Broadcast history
Pac-Man aired on ABC Saturday Morning in the following formats:
- The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show (September 25, 1982 – September 3, 1983)
- The Pac-Man/Rubik, the Amazing Cube Hour (September 10, 1983 – September 1, 1984)
During the first airing of the show, the large number of advertisers sponsoring it caused commercial breaks to be double their normal length. Later episodes featured normal commercial break times. Since the original run, reruns have turned up on the USA Cartoon Express on USA in the 1980s, Cartoon Network in the 1990s and Boomerang in 2005. The Christmas-themed episode currently airs each year as part of the Boomerang Christmas Party, an annual marathon of Christmas cartoons, but otherwise is not included in the channel's rotation. The series is also available for purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace. In the United Kingdom it was first Broadcast on TVAM as a part of the Roland Rat show.
Home Media releases
In 1982, Worldvision Home Video Inc. (under Rainbow Products Ltd.) distributed a Pac-Man and Family VHS in Australia (catalogue number RCV 9019) and featured the episodes, Pacula, Trick or Chomp, Super Ghosts, The Pac-Man in the Moon, Invasion of the Pac-Pups, Journey to the Center of Pacland and the special Christmas Comes to Pacland. In 2012, Warner Archive released both seasons of Pac-Man on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection. These are Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) releases, available exclusively through Warner's online store or Amazon.com. The first season was released on January 31, 2012, followed by the release of the second season on September 11, 2012.[4][5]
See also
- Ms. Pac-Man
- Baby Pac-Man
- Pac-Land
- Saturday Supercade
- List of television programs based on video games
References
- ↑ "Pac-Man Halloween Special, The @ Toonarific cartoons". Toonarific.com. Toonarific.com. 1998. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
- ↑ http://classicgames.about.com/od/popculture/p/Christmas-Comes-To-Pac-Land.htm
- ↑ http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/TV/12/10/geekiest.holiday.movies.go/
- ↑ "Pac-Man - Warner Archive Announces 'The Complete 1st Season' on DVD!".
- ↑ "Pac-Man - Warner Archive is Now Selling the Second and Final Season...Santa Included!".
External links
- Pac-Man at the Internet Movie Database
- Pac-Man at TV.com
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