Clutch Cargo
Clutch Cargo | |
---|---|
![]() Title card | |
Genre | Action Adventure |
Created by | Clark Haas |
Voices of | Richard Cotting Margaret Kerry Hal Smith |
Theme music composer | Paul Horn |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 52 |
Production | |
Producer | Dick Brown |
Running time | 25 minutes |
Production company | Cambria Productions |
Original release | |
Network | Broadcast syndication |
Release | March 9, 1959 1960 | –
Clutch Cargo is an American animated television series created by cartoonist Clark Haas and produced by Cambria Productions,[1] syndicated beginning on March 9, 1959.[2] The series was notable for its limited animation yet imaginative stories,[3] as well as for being the first widely-known use of Syncro-Vox technology.
Plot
[edit]The series' stories centered on adventurer Clutch Cargo, who was sent around the world on dangerous assignments. Accompanying him on the assignments were his young ward Spinner and his pet Dachshund Paddlefoot. Live-action footage of a 1929 Bellanca C-27 Airbus was used; series creator Clark Haas was previously a jet pilot.[4] Episodes were produced and serialized in five 5-minute chapters each. The first four chapters ended in cliffhangers, with the fifth chapter concluding the adventure. Haas explained that the show was formatted this way so that "the stations can run one a day on weekdays, then recap the whole for a half-hour Saturday show."[5]
Production technique
[edit]The show was the first to use the "Syncro-Vox" optical printing system because of budgetary limitations and the pressure to create animation within a tight time frame.[6] Syncro-Vox was invented by Edwin Gillette, television cameraman and partner in Cambria Studios, as a means of superimposing real human mouths on the faces of animals for the popular "talking animal" commercials of the 1950s. Clutch Cargo employed the Syncro-Vox technique by superimposing live-action human lips over limited-motion animation or even motionless animation cels.
To further cut costs, Gillette and special-effects man Scotty Tomany supplemented Syncro-Vox with other tricks to save time and money. Haas explained, "We are not making animated cartoons. We are photographing 'motorized movement' and—the biggest trick of all—combining it with live action...Footage that Disney does for $250,000 we do for $18,000."[4] Gillette and Tomany simulated action in the real-time movement either with the camera or within the cel itself. Other live-action shots were superimposed as a means of adding a certain degree of realism and to keep production costs down; for example, footage of real smoke was used for explosions.[7] Traditional animation was also employed in the series on occasion.
The musical soundtrack to Clutch Cargo was also limited. Jazz musician Paul Horn provided a score using bongos, a vibraphone, and a flute.
Episodes
[edit]The series consisted of 52 episodes.[8]
- The Friendly Head Hunters
- The Arctic Bird Giant
- The Desert Queen
- The Pearl Pirates
- The Vanishing Gold
- The Race Car Mystery
- The Rocket Riot
- Mystery in the Northwoods
- Twaddle in Africa
- The Lost Plateau
- The Ghost Ship
- The Rustlers
- The Missing Train
- The Devil Bird
- Pipeline to Danger
- Mister Abominable
- Operation Moon Beam
- Air Race
- The Haunted Castle
- The Elephant-Nappers
- Dragon Fly
- Sky Circus
- The Midget Submarine
- Cliff Dwellers
- Jungle Train
- Space Station
- The Swamp Swindlers
- The Dinky Incas
- Kangaroo Express
- The Shipwreckers
- The Ivory Counterfeiters
- Dynamite Fury
- Alaskan Pilot
- Swiss Mystery
- Pirate Isle
- Crop Dusters
- The Smog Smuggler
- Global Test Flight
- Dead End Gulch
- The Missing Mermaid
- Flying Bus
- Road Race
- Feather Fuddle
- Water Wizards
- The Terrible Tiger
- The Circus
- Bush Pilots
- Cheddar Cheaters
- The Blunderbird
- The Case of Ripcord Van Winkle
- Fortune Cookie Caper
- Big "X"
Home video
[edit]DVD name | Episodes | Release date | Additional information |
---|---|---|---|
Volume 1 | 26 | March 22, 2005 |
|
Volume 2 | 26 | March 22, 2005 |
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In 1996, a live music venue named after the series, Clutch Cargo's, opened in Pontiac, Michigan,[9] but it closed in November 2013 with the site returning to its original use as a church.[10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ MeTV Staff. "8 lip-smacking facts about Clutch Cargo". Me-TV Network. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- ^ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. p. 70. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
- ^ Markstein, Don. "Clutch Cargo". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ a b Margaret Kerry: Memorabilia & Collectibles Archived May 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Don't believe your eyes! How 'Clutch Cargo' cuts corners as a television comic strip." TV Guide December 24, 1960, p. 29.
- ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 130. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 206–207. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- ^ Collier, Kevin Scott (2019). Clutch Cargo's Adventure Log Book. ISBN 978-1092645546.
- ^ "Clutch Cargo's". metromix detroit. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012.
- ^ "Popular Concert Venue Clutch Cargo's Shutting Down". CBS News Detroit. November 7, 2013.
Further reading
[edit]- Arceneaux, Noah. “Clutch Cargo, Space Angel, etc.” Outre #5 (1996).
- Collier, Kevin Scott. Clutch Cargo's Adventure Log Book. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2019. ISBN 1092645543
- "Don't believe your eyes! How 'Clutch Cargo' cuts corners as a television comic strip", TV Guide, December 24, 1960, pp. 28–29.
- Erickson, Hal. Syndicated Television; The First Forty Years 1947–1987. p. 119. ISBN 0-7864-1198-8
- Haas, Clark."Clutch Cargo" (comic strip).Jack and Jill magazine, Feb. 1961, pp. 56–61.
- Terrace, Vincent. Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials 1937–1973. New York, New York Zoetrope. 1986. pp. 96–97. ISBN 0-918432-69-3
External links
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