Okay, Jason’s “Devlin” post inspired me to revisit a few of Hanna-Barbara’s more obscure shows.
As a kid, I used to go to a theme park called Kings Dominion; it’s since been bought out by Paramount, so they’ve expanded their entertainment focus considerably, but back in the ’70s, it used to completely focus on the Hanna-Barbara characters, from the rides all the way down to the areas of the parking lot…and for whatever reason, no matter what time of day we arrived there, we always seemed to end up in the Funky Phantom lot. Now THERE’S a cartoon that has fallen into obscurity…possibly because it really wasn’t all that great (the first sign of laziness was that the Phantom’s voice was clearly borrowed from Snagglepuss)…but because of that damned parking lot, I know I’ll never forget it.
All I have to say about “Help! It’s The Hair Bear Bunch!” is…bear with an afro. I mean, c’mon, people: the bear has got a fucking afro.
And, lastly, I submit for your approval “Goober and the Ghost Chasers.” Okay, seriously, how many times could Hanna-Barbara rip off “Scooby-Doo”? They’d later kinda sorta get away with it via “Clue Club” (sorry, Jason, I always liked that show), but they barely even TRIED to change things up with this. I mean, it’s a bunch of kids and a dog who chase ghosts. The fact that the dog is a ghost himself and can become intangible and invisible at the drop of a hat (and, hey, he even wears a hat!) certainly didn’t stop anybody from saying, “Dude, this is SUCH a rip-off of ‘Scooby-Doo.'” The quality of the video is liable to make you nauseous and it ends really abruptly, but, sorry, it’s the only one I could find.
In closing, does anyone remember “C.B. Bears”? I couldn’t find a clip of that show to save my life, or else it would’ve been in here. But here’s the title card, at least…
