''The Herculoids'' is an American Saturday-morning animated-cartoon television series, created and designed by

Alex Toth Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...

, that was produced by

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

. The show debuted on September 9, 1967, on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. Hanna-Barbera produced one season for the original airing of the show, although the original 18 episodes were rerun during the 1968–69 television season, with ''The Herculoids'' ending its run on September 6, 1969. Eleven new episodes were produced in 1981 as part of the '' Space Stars'' show. The plotlines are rooted in

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

Plot

On the planet Amzot (renamed Quasar in the revival), the space barbarian family Zandor, Tara and son Dorno fight alongside their giant pets the Herculoids—laser dragon Zok, space rhinoceros Tundro, rock ape Igoo and the shape-shifting Gloop and his son Gleep—to keep their planet safe from invading robots, mad scientists and mutants. The diverse team fought an endless battle against a stream of villains including, according to ''Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years'', "the Faceless People, Destroyer Ants, Raider Apes, Mutoids, Arnoids, Zorbots, the Mekkano mechanical men and the Ogs, a strange form of vegetable life."

Characters

There are eight regular characters who make up the Herculoids:

The Herculoids

Humans

The three humans were the only ones who could communicate in English. * Zandor (voiced by

Mike Road Mike Road (born Milton Brustin;The Boston Advertiser, June 29, 1958 March 18, 1918 – April 14, 2013) was an American voice actor and Warner Bros. television series contract player whose television career dates back to the 1950s and in f ...

) – The protector of Amzot/Quasar, and leader of The Herculoids. * Tara (voiced by

Virginia Gregg Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

) – Zandor's wife. * Dorno (voiced by

Ted Eccles Theodore Edward Eccles (born June 9, 1955) is an American actor. Career Eccles performed much of his best known roles as a child actor. He appeared in several television series and feature films in the 1960s and 1970s. Eccles may be best known ...

in the original series, Sparky Marcus in 1981) – Son of Zandor and Tara. Despite being their son, he still refers to them by their first names, rather than "Mother" and "Father." However, this changed in the 1980s revival of the series.

Creatures

The five creature characters of ''The Herculoids'' are: * Zok (voiced by Mike Road) – A bat-winged laser dragon. He can emit

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

beams from his eyes and tail. His eyes also produce a "nega-beam" that can neutralize certain energy attacks. Zok can survive in

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually cons ...

unaided, is capable of

interstellar travel Interstellar travel is the hypothetical travel of spacecraft from one star system, solitary star, or planetary system to another. Interstellar travel is expected to prove much more difficult than interplanetary spaceflight due to the vast diffe ...

, and can also breathe fire. * Igoo (voiced by Mike Road) – A rock

ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...

. An extremely large and powerful simian, he has extremely dense, rocklike skin and is nearly invulnerable to harm. In one episode, Igoo wades through a pond of molten

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

. Igoo has a kind and gentle temperament, except when his loved ones or home are threatened, and displays great fondness of and devotion to Tara in particular. * Tundro (voiced by Mike Road) – A ten-legged, four-horned

rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

/''

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivorous chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 68 million years ago in what is now North America. It is one ...

'' hybrid. He can shoot explosive energy rocks from his

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

-horn (Zandor, Tara and Dorno also occasionally shoot similar rocks with slingshots). His natural armor plating is exceptionally strong, similar to Igoo's rock skin. His legs have the ability to extend to a remarkable length, somewhat like

stilts Stilts are poles, posts or pillars that allow a person or structure to stand at a height above the ground. In flood plains, and on beaches or unstable ground, buildings are often constructed on stilts to protect them from damage by water, wav ...

. He can also spin his head at blinding speed, allowing him to drill through solid rock, and has the ability to make magnificent leaps. * Gloop and Gleep (both voiced by Don Messick) – Two protoplasmic creatures. They are able to absorb and deflect energy blasts and laser beams, often placing themselves between attackers and other Herculoids to act as shields. They also possess the ability to shape-shift which they have used in numerous ways, including: transforming into cushions, trampolines, or parachutes to break falls; stretching themselves between tree limbs or rocks to act as slingshots; and binding an attacker's limbs to restrain them, or, alternatively, encircling their entire body to squeeze and render them unconscious. They can also each momentarily divide their body mass into separate portions under their full control when necessary until they quickly reunite. Gloop is the larger of the two and Gleep is the smaller.

Legacy

After its initial run, ''The Herculoids'' was featured in several anthology

wheel series A wheel series, wheel show, wheel format or umbrella series is a television series in which two or more regular programs are rotated in the same time slot. Sometimes the wheel series is given its own umbrella title and promoted as a single unit ins ...

produced by Hanna-Barbara including '' Hanna–Barbera's World of Super Adventure'', '' Space Stars'' (for which 11 additional episodes were created), Power Zone on Cartoon Network, and both the Cartoon Network and

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...

incarnations of ''Super Adventures''. The series has also influenced other artists of various mediums. Award-winning video game designer David Crane has stated that he enjoyed the series as a child and that the character of Blobert from the ''

A Boy and His Blob ''A Boy and His Blob'' is a puzzle-platform game developed by WayForward Technologies and published by Majesco Entertainment. It is a re-imagining of the 1989 video game, '' A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia'', which was originally dev ...

'' franchise was directly inspired by Gloop and Gleep. Jamaican-American DJ

DJ Kool Herc Clive Campbell (born April 16, 1955), better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican-American DJ who is credited with contributing to the development of hip hop music in the Bronx, New York City, in the 1970s through his "Back to ...

at one time employed a backing band which also drew its name from the show, fictionalized versions of which appear in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

period series ''

The Get Down ''The Get Down'' is an American musical drama television series created by Baz Luhrmann and Stephen Adly Guirgis. The series debuted on Netflix on August 12, 2016, and was cancelled after the first season. Produced by Sony Pictures Television ...

''.

Cameos

Roughly contemporaneous to their own series premiere, the Herculoids made a crossover appearance in an episode of ''

Space Ghost Space Ghost (Tad Ghostal) is a fictional superhero created by Hanna-Barbera Productions in the 1960s for TV network CBS. He was designed by Alex Toth. In his original incarnation, he was a superhero who, with his teen sidekicks, Jan and Ja ...

'', "The Molten Monsters of Moltar" (sources are unclear and/or inconsistent as to exact airdates). In the "Council of Doom" story arc,

, while battling the combined might of all of his enemies, meets a number of Hanna-Barbera heroes just as they were debuting in their own respective series. Along with the Herculoids were

Shazzan ''Shazzan'' is an American animated television series created by Alex Toth and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired on Saturday mornings on CBS from September 9, 1967 to January 20, 1968, and continued in reruns until September 6, 1969 ...

, Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor, the last two sharing one series. Several episodes of ''

Space Ghost Coast to Coast ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American adult animated comedy talk show created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and hosted by a re-imagined version of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. In contrast to the original ...

'' mention or show the Herculoids. In "Lawsuit", Space Ghost mentions the Herculoids' planet. In the episode "Sequel", he goes to their planet and refers to it as a "rotten hippie monster commune" after they demand he leave while pelting him with stones. Gloop is featured prominently and is mentioned by name in the ''

Sealab 2021 ''Sealab 2021'' is an American adult animated television series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. Cartoon Network aired the show's first three episodes in December 2000 before ...

'' episode " Hail, Squishface". Gloop makes several guest appearances on '' Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law'' as well. Gleep is mentioned at one point. He make cameo appearances in the episodes "Mindless" and "Juror in Court". Zok makes an appearance in "Peanut Puberty" ( Phil Ken Sebben throws a graph chart at him). In the episode "Beyond the Valley of the Dinosaurs", Tundro fires his energy rocks at Phil Ken Sebben, who forgot to close the hot-tub time portal to prehistoric times. In "Evolutionary War", Tara appears on the evolution chart—in between

Fred Flintstone Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom '' The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintsto ...

and Race Bannon. ''The Herculoids'' is mentioned in an episode of '' The Venture Bros.'', where an old "fan letter" of Dr. Venture to the show is discovered. Upon reading, the letter is revealed to be more akin to

hate mail Hate mail (as electronic, posted, or otherwise) is a form of harassment, usually consisting of invective and potentially intimidating or threatening comments towards the recipient. Hate mail often contains exceptionally abusive, foul or otherwi ...

; young Rusty Venture called the Herculoids hippies for not fighting in Vietnam. Tundro and Gloop appear in " 8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter", a fourth-season episode of '' Family Guy''. In the scene, Gloop fails to get a babysitting job from Lois. In protest, Tundro shows up and fires his energy rocks at Lois. Gloop and Gleep appeared in a cameo as captured prisoners of a hostile alien race in the '' Dexter's Laboratory'' episode "Mis-Placed in Space". Igoo, Gloop and Gleep make cameo appearances in '' Space Jam: A New Legacy''. They are among the Warner Bros. 3000 Server-Verse inhabitants that watch the basketball game between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad. Igoo, Tundro, Gloop and Gleep appeared in the

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

series ''

Jellystone! ''Jellystone!'' is an American animated streaming television comedy series developed by C. H. Greenblatt for HBO Max. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and features reimagined versions of various characters by Hanna-Barbera. It pr ...

'' episode "Jelly Wrestle Rumble" as wrestlers. Zandor and Gleep appeared in the season 2 episode "Bleep". Gleep is portrayed as a female in a TV show where she is seen being hugged by Zandor. As for Gloop, he appears in "Heroes and Capes" as an enormous creature from the sewers. The Herculoids appear in issue #50 of the comic book ''

New Mutants The New Mutants are a group of fictional mutant superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, generally in association with the X-Men. Originally depicted as the teenaged junior class at the Xavier Institute, subs ...

'' when Professor X is searching for Magik on a planet in the

Shi'ar The Shi'ar ( ) are a fictional species of aliens appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Shi'ar Empire (or Imperium), is a vast collection of alien species, cultures, and worlds situated close to the Skrull and Kree Emp ...

galaxy.

List of episodes

Original series

Each show featured two Herculoids episodes.

''Space Stars'' revival

Voices

(originally), Sparky Marcus (in 1981) as Dorno *

as Tara * Don Messick as Gleep, Gloop *

as Zandor, Zok, Igoo, Tundro *

Vic Perrin Victor Herbert Perrin (April 26, 1916 – July 4, 1989)Cox, Jim (2007). ''Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether fr ...

as Mekkor and the Captain of the Sky Pirates *

Paul Frees Solomon Hersh "Paul" Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986) was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass, and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during ...

as Sarko

''The Herculoids'' in other languages

* french: Les Défenseurs interplanétaires * The show was introduced by ATV in Hong Kong as "宇宙泰山" in traditional Chinese or Cantonese, which stands for Tarzan in Space or Universe. * it, Gli Erculoidi * pt, Os Herculóides * es, Los Defensores Interplanetarios (The Interplanetary Defenders) or es, Los Herculoides (The Herculoids) * hu, A Herkuloidák * ja, 怪獣王ターガン ''Kaijû Ô Tâgan'' (Monster King Targan) :*The characters' names in Japan were Targan (Zandor), Marmi (Tara), Kane (Dorno), Maryû (Zok), Rikira (Igoo), Tangurô (Tundro), Hyûhyû (Gloop) and Bôbô (Gleep). * cy, Sandor. The cartoon was dubbed into Welsh and transmitted during ''Yr Awr Fawr'' (The Big Hour) on Sunday mornings. Originally shown on BBC2 Wales and then BBC1 Wales in the late 1970s and 1980s, this was before the introduction of the

Welsh-language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has al ...

channel S4C in 1982.

Home media

On June 14, 2011,

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

released ''The Herculoids: The Complete Series'' on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. On July 27, 2021, the complete series was released on Blu-ray. The Blu-ray includes the opening narration and the second-season alternate titles that were not released on the ''Complete Series'' DVD.

In other media

Comic books

The Herculoids have appeared in various comic books through the years. They appear in issues #1–2 and 4–7 of the

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...

series ''Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes'' (1968–69). They appear in issue #3 of the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

series ''TV Stars'' (1978). Between 1997 and 1999, they appear in issues #5, 9, 13 and 17 of the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

series ''Cartoon Network Presents''. In 2016, the Herculoids play a major role in the DC Comics series '' Future Quest''. This series features characters from various Hanna-Barbera animated series such as ''

Jonny Quest ''Jonny Quest'' is a science fiction-adventure media franchise that revolves around the titular boy named Jonny Quest, who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964–1965 television serie ...

'', ''

Birdman and the Galaxy Trio ''Birdman and the Galaxy Trio'', or simply ''Birdman'' or ''The Galaxy Trio'', is an American animated television series by Hanna-Barbera Productions that debuted on NBC on September 9, 1967, and ran on Saturday mornings until September 6, 1969. ...

'', '' Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles'', and '' Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor''. They also featured in issues #9–11 of the spin-off title, '' Future Quest Presents'', in a story written by Rob Williams and illustrated by Aaron Lopresti.

References

External links

*
''The Herculoids''
at the

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, Feature film, animated feature films, Animated television series, animated television shows, and cartoon Short film, shorts. The BCDB proj ...

Interview with ''Futrue Quest Presents'' artist, Aaron Lopresti

A Podcast Named Scooby-Doo!
', October 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Herculoids, The 1960s American animated television series 1980s American animated television series 1967 American television series debuts 1969 American television series endings 1981 American television series debuts 1982 American television series endings American children's animated action television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American children's animated space adventure television series American children's animated superhero television series Animated television series about extraterrestrial life Animated television series about families CBS original programming Characters created by Alex Toth DC Comics superheroes English-language television shows Extraterrestrial superheroes Hanna-Barbera superheroes Television series by Hanna-Barbera Television series set on fictional planets