''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels'' is an American

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

mystery

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

series created by

Joe Ruby Joseph Clemens Ruby (March 30, 1933 – August 26, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer, and music editor. He was best known as a co-creator of the animated ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Ken Spears. In 1977, they ...

and Ken Spears and produced by

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

for ABC. The series aired during the network's Saturday morning schedule from September 10, 1977, to June 21, 1980.

Summary

The series follows the mystery-solving adventures of the Teen Angels—Brenda, Dee Dee and Taffy—and their friend Captain Caveman (or Cavey for short), a prehistoric

caveman The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as " simian" or " ape-like" by Marcellin B ...

and superhero whom the girls discovered and thawed from a block of ice. The concept and general plot for the show was seen as a parody of ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...

'' (which also aired on ABC). The show also borrowed heavily from ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...

'', another Hanna-Barbera show. Captain Caveman's powers include super-strength, a variety of useful objects hidden inside his hair, and a club that allows him to fly and from which pop out different tools he uses to fight crime. His trademark is his battle cry of "Captain CAAAAAVEMAAAAAAANNNN!" Captain Caveman's voice was provided by Mel Blanc. A total of forty 11-minute episodes ran for three seasons from 1977 to 1980: sixteen episodes were produced as segments of '' Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics'' in 1977, eight episodes were produced as segments of '' Scooby's All-Stars'' in 1978 and sixteen episodes were produced in 1980 when ''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels'' were given their own half-hour show which combined new episodes and reruns from 1977 to 1978. Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels also participated in sporting competitions as part of " The Scooby Doobies" team on the half-hour ''

Laff-A-Lympics ''Laff-A-Lympics'' is an American animated comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series premiered as part of the Saturday-morning cartoon program block '' Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics'', which consists of 24 e ...

'' segment. Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contained a

laugh track A laugh track (or laughter track) is an audio recording consisting of laughter (and other audience reactions) usually used as a separate soundtrack for comedy productions. The laugh track may contain live audience reactions or artificial laught ...

, one of the last Hanna-Barbera productions to do so.

Characters

The series features the following four main characters throughout its run: * Captain Caveman, or "Cavey" for short (voiced by Mel Blanc), is the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

of the show, billed as "the world's first superhero." He is a

who is millennia old (his exact age is never disclosed, although in an episode he is carded by a doorman who is unsure Cavey is old enough to let in, to which Captain Caveman responds, "I'll be 2 million next month."). He can pull various objects from his long body hair that covers his body except for his nose, arms, and legs. He can also fly, but his flying power always seems to fail him at the worst possible moment. Sometimes he would attribute this mishap to an energy shortage ("Uh oh! Bad time for energy crisis." ''CRASH!''), which was a reference to the gasoline rationing shortages of the late 1970s. He speaks in stereotypical "caveman-talk", replacing

subject pronoun In linguistics, a subject pronoun is a personal pronoun that is used as the subject of a verb. Subject pronouns are usually in the nominative case for languages with a nominative–accusative alignment pattern. On the other hand, a language with ...

s with their

object Object may refer to: General meanings * Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept ** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place ** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter * Goal, an a ...

equivalents and dropping articles such as "the" (for example, "Me know where bad guys are hiding."), and often mumbles the nonsense phrase "unga bunga". He also has a bad habit of occasionally eating large non-food objects in one gulp (e.g.

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

s, TV sets, safes, table lamps), and the Teen Angels occasionally have to stop him from eating potential clues that will help them to solve the mystery. Despite this, Cavey is ultimately loyal to them and he is very capable capturing culprits. *Dee Dee Skyes (voiced by Vernee Watson) is the brains of the Teen Angels. Dee Dee and the rest of the Teen Angels found the frozen Captain Caveman and defrosted him. She wears her hair in an

afro The afro is a hair style created by combing out natural growth of afro-textured hair, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair.Garland, Phyl"Is The Afro On Its Way Out?" '' Ebo ...

and usually wears a red turtleneck sweater with a blue skirt and red knee high boots. Both her dress style and her knack for solving mysteries make her similar to

Velma Dinkley Velma Dinkley is a fictional character in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. She is usually seen wearing a baggy orange turtleneck sweater, a short red pleated skirt, knee high socks, Mary Jane shoes, and a pair of black square glasses, which she ...

of ''

'' fame, while she also bears a resemblance to Valerie from '' Josie and the Pussycats''. She is misidentified as Brenda in the

opening credits In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening credits or opening titles are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank scree ...

. Though some sources give the family name of both Dee Dee and her uncle Frank as "Sykes", their name is given as "Skyes" in the episode "The Fur Freight Fright", which featured Frank and his company "Skye's Furs". Her adaptation in the 2020 film '' Scoob!'' as Blue Falcon's assistant (voiced by Kiersey Clemons) also introduced herself as Dee Dee Skyes, and she is listed as such in the closing credits. *Brenda Chance (voiced by

Marilyn Schreffler Marilyn Sue Schreffler (June 14, 1945 – January 7, 1988) was an American voice actress who provided voice-overs for several animated television series, mostly for Hanna-Barbera Productions. Biography Marilyn Schreffler was born in Wichita, ...

) is a nervous brunette who is always scared of the demons, monsters and phantoms that she encounters and always tries to back out of a scary mystery similar to that of

Shaggy Rogers Norville "Shaggy" Rogers is a fictional character and one of the main characters in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. He is characterized as an amateur detective, and the long-time best friend of his dog, Scooby-Doo. Character description Shaggy ...

, but always ends up getting captured or the short end of the stick. She wears a purple striped tank top and a pair of hot pink flared trousers with a white belt. She is misidentified as Dee Dee in the opening credits. *Taffy Dare (voiced by Laurel Page) is the blonde member and leader of the group, renowned for her cry of "Zowie!" whenever she comes up with a plan (or "Another Daffy Taffy Plan" as Brenda and Cavey would call it) to catch the culprits, has a distinct, flirtatious, childlike persona and a New York-influenced/ Southern accent. In spite of her usually zany plans and ditziness, Taffy is actually very capable and clever. She has the ability to seduce Caveman into acting as bait for her plans to capture the culprit. She wears a green dress with matching shoes. It is revealed that Captain Caveman has a crush on her and vice versa.

Opening and closing credits

In the opening credits for each episode voice-over narration by

Gary Owens Gary Owens (born Gary Bernard Altman; May 10, 1934 – February 12, 2015) was an American disc jockey, voice actor, announcer and radio personality. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, wh ...

said Captain Caveman was "set free by the Teen Angels from his prehistoric block of glacier ice." The music heard in the closing credits is the '' CB Bears'' theme. After the first three screens, the end credit roll is from the original two-hour version of '' Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics''.

Broadcast history

''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels'' was broadcast in these following formats on ABC: * ''Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics'' (September 10, 1977 – September 2, 1978, ABC Saturday) * ''Scooby's All-Stars'' (September 9, 1978 – September 8, 1979, ABC Saturday) * ''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels'' (March 8, 1980 – June 21, 1980, ABC Saturday) Broadcast schedules (all EDT): *September 10, 1977 – July 1978, ABC Saturday 9:00-11:00 a.m. *July 1978 – September 2, 1978, ABC Saturday 9:30-11:30 a.m. *September 9, 1978 – November 1978, ABC Saturday 10:00-11:30 a.m. *November 1978 – May 1979, ABC Saturday 8:00-9:30 a.m. *May 1979 – September 8, 1979, ABC Saturday 8:30-10:00 a.m. *March 8, 1980 – June 21, 1980, ABC Saturday 11:30-12:00 noon

Episodes

Season 1 – Scooby's All Star Laff-A-Lympics (1977)

Season 2 – Scooby's All Stars (1978)

Season 3 (1980)

Cast

* Mel Blanc as Captain Caveman * Laurel Page as Taffy Dare *

as Brenda Chance *

Vernee Watson-Johnson Vernee Christell Johnson (née Watson; born September 28, 1949) is an American actress, author, and acting coach. Watson-Johnson is known for her recurring roles as Vernajean Williams on '' Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979), as Viola "Vy" Smi ...

as Dee Dee Skyes *

as Narrator

Later appearances

The Flintstone Comedy Show (1980–82)

In November 1980, Captain Caveman began to star in segments of his own on ''

The Flintstone Comedy Show ''The Flintstone Comedy Show'' is an American Saturday-morning cartoon, animated television series revival and spin-off (media), spin-off of ''The Flintstones'' produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired on NBC from November 22, 1980, to October 24, ...

'', one of many spin-offs of Hanna-Barbera's popular prime-time show ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the R ...

'', often in a role similar to that of

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

. Captain Caveman worked at ''The Daily Granite'' newspaper with Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble. His "secret identity" was Chester the office boy. To disguise himself as Chester, Captain Caveman wore a pair of glasses and a tie. Despite the simplicity of his disguise, he required a coat rack and an elaborate transformation sequence to become Captain Caveman.

The Flintstone Kids (1986–88)

In 1986, Captain Caveman appeared in a backup segment of '' The Flintstone Kids'' called ''Captain Caveman and Son'' with his son Cavey Jr. (voiced by Charlie Adler). In this case he appeared on a show-within-a-show that the younger versions of Fred, Barney, Wilma, and Betty enjoyed watching; the Captain's mumbled "unga bunga" became a catchphrase that the kids would shout before watching each "episode" of the show. The show would involve a lesson the Flintstone kids were trying to learn in the prologue. He had no secret identity.

Hanna-Barbera Cinematic Universe

Captain Caveman and Dee Dee Skyes appeared in the animated ''Scooby-Doo'' film '' Scoob!'', with Captain Caveman voiced by Tracy Morgan and Dee Dee voiced by Kiersey Clemons. Dee Dee appears as the pilot of the ''Falcon Fury'' and assistant of the Blue Falcon. Captain Caveman is an inhabitant of a prehistoric ecosystem under Messick Mountain and part of a tribe with long body hair like him and is capable of speaking proper English. Captain Caveman appears in the 2021 film '' Space Jam: A New Legacy''. His design is the same as in ''Scoob!'' Captain Caveman is seen watching the basketball game between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad while swinging from the

overhead power line An overhead power line is a structure used in electric power transmission and distribution to transmit electrical energy along large distances. It consists of one or more conductors (commonly multiples of three) suspended by towers or poles. ...

that Magilla Gorilla was riding his unicycle on.

Other appearances

* A very similar pair of characters, the Slag Brothers, made appearances in the earlier Hanna-Barbera series, ''

Wacky Races ''Wacky Races'' is a media franchise containing five animated series, several video games, and a comic book, with most centered on the theme of various Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters primarily engaged in auto racing (although occasionally employ ...

''. They served as the inspiration for Captain Caveman. * Captain Caveman later appeared in the '' Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' episode "The Evolutionary War", with Captain Caveman voiced by

Chris Edgerly Chris Edgerly is an American voice actor. Life and career Edgerly provided the voice of Peter Potamus on the Adult Swim animated series ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', in addition to several guest voices on the TV series ''Drawn Togeth ...

and Cavey Jr. voiced by

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...

. Captain Caveman turns to Harvey Birdman to represent him when Cavey Jr.'s school won't teach evolution. * Captain Caveman appeared in the ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...

'' episode "Ban on the Fun", voiced by Breckin Meyer. In a segment that parodies ''

'' in the style of the Munich massacre, Captain Caveman and

confront Daisy Mayhem and the former blows her up with the "wrong club". * In a

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

-themed episode of '' Homestar Runner'', Homsar is dressed up in a Captain Caveman-like costume. During the episode, he exclaims "DaAaAaA! I'm the Captain Caveman of the graveyard train!" * In the ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' episode " Perfect Castaway",

Peter Griffin Peter Löwenbräu Griffin Sr. ( né Justin Peter Griffin) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''Family Guy''. He is voiced by the series' creator, Seth MacFarlane, and first appeared on television, a ...

says how much he misses Captain Caveman, and vows that he will see him again once he gets off the deserted island he is trapped. * Captain Caveman makes a cameo appearance in an episode of ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'', where he is seen as a stuffed doll in Finn's room. * Captain Caveman appeared in the '' Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated'' episode, "Mystery Solvers Club State Finals", voiced by

Jim Cummings James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in over 400 titles. Cummings has frequently worked with the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., serving as the offic ...

. He and the Teen Angels appear alongside other Hanna-Barbera detective teams from Jabberjaw, Speed Buggy, and The Funky Phantom in a fever dream of Scooby-Doo's. * In '' Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon'', a person cosplaying as Captain Caveman makes an appearance in a Hanna-Barbera-themed convention. * Captain Caveman is seen briefly in the background of '' South Park - Imaginationland: The Movie'' (2008). He is seen amongst a plethora of other imaginary and cartoon characters as they are being attacked by terrorists. * Captain Caveman, alongside Cavey Jr. and the Teen Angels, appeared in '' Jellystone!'', with Captain Caveman voiced by Jim Conroy, Cavey Jr. voiced by Dana Snyder, Dee Dee Sykes voiced by Niccole Thurman, Taffy Dare voiced by Grace Helbig, and Brenda Chance voiced by Georgie Kidder. The Teen Angels work as reporters and are young adults. As a result, they are referred to as the "Young Adult Angels". It is later revealed in "Better Off Fred" that Captain Caveman is actually Barney Rubble who grew his hair out while frozen in ice. * Captain Caveman appeared in the '' Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs'' episode "Caveman Begins" (2020), voiced by independent animator Tom Megalis. * Captain Caveman appeared in the 2021 special '' Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!'' * Captain Caveman appears as a mascot display and as two costumes worn by individuals in the Crystal Cave in '' Velma'' season 1, episode 5 on

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

. He is also the idol of worship for a cult. Meanwhile, the Teen Angels is the name of an all-girl rock band according to posters in Daphne's room.

Comic books

* Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels appeared in all 13 issues of ''Laff-A-Lympics'' (

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, 1978–79) as members of the Scooby Doobies. * Cavey and the Angels appeared in the first issue of the short-lived ''Hanna-Barbera TV Stars'' (Marvel, August 1978). * Cavey and the Angels team up with Mystery, Inc. in ''Scooby-Doo'' #9 (Marvel, February 1979). * In 2018, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels (excluding Brenda) appeared in a backup story in the DC comic ''Aquaman/Jabberjaw Special'' #1. In this story, the wizard Shazam transports the powerful hominid from prehistoric times to the present to settle an argument with the Spectre about whether heroism is strictly a trait of modern man or early man.

Home media

United Kingdom VHS releases

DVD

On July 23, 2013, Warner Archive Collection released ''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels: The Complete Series'' on manufacture-on-demand (MOD) DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection.

References

External links

Freddy Corven's Captain Caveman Page

at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on April 9, 2012.
Cartoon Legends' Captain Caveman

at

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) was an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated f ...

* * {{Hanna-Barbera Charlie's Angels (franchise) 1970s American animated comedy television series 1980s American animated comedy television series 1970s American children's comedy television series 1980s American children's comedy television series 1970s American mystery television series 1980s American mystery television series 1970s American parody television series 1980s American parody television series 1970s American superhero television series 1980s American superhero comedy television series 1977 American animated television series debuts 1980 American television series endings American animated television spinoffs American Broadcasting Company animated television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated fantasy television series American children's animated mystery television series American children's animated superhero television series American detective television series American English-language television shows The Flintstones Hanna-Barbera superheroes American teen animated television series Teen superhero television series Television series about cavemen Television series by Hanna-Barbera Television series created by Joe Ruby Television series created by Ken Spears Television shows adapted into comics