''Diver Dan'' is a series of 104 seven-minute live-action shorts made for

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

from 1960 to 1970. Made by Brian Cartoons, it was syndicated (mainly to

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

affiliates)Kennedy's TV SF Guide
, accessed 29 September 2007 and distributed by

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme C ...

. The shows were sometimes re-edited into half-hour (including

commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

) blocks by local stations. The series featured the adventures of a diver in an old-fashioned

diving suit A diving suit is a garment or device designed to protect a diver from the underwater environment. A diving suit may also incorporate a breathing gas supply (such as for a standard diving dress or atmospheric diving suit), but in most cases th ...

who talked to the passing fish. The series was filmed in live action with

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...

fish; the underwater effect was achieved by shooting through an aquarium.

Production

''Diver Dan'' debuted in 1960, the brainchild of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, cartoonist J. Anthony (John) Ferlaine, as a spinoff of his

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

, ''Fish Tales''. Ferlaine, who worked as an

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

at Philadelphia's

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

affiliate

WCAU-TV WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jersey–licensed Tel ...

, produced two ''Fish Tales'' live-action

marionette A marionette ( ; ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by ...

pilots. When CBS did not pick up the show, Ferlaine and promoter Martin Young partnered with Philadelphia producer Louis W. Kellman, who with his staff produced local TV spots and film shorts and filmed NFL

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

games. They produced the shorts over nine months and syndicated them. In

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, ''Diver Dan'' shorts ran as part of ''Felix & Diver Dan'', a 30-minute children's show airing from January 4, 1960, to August 31, 1962, which also included ''

Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Otto Messmer and Pat Sullivan (film producer), Pat Sullivan during the silent film era. An anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic young black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, ...

''. In Chicago during the 1960s, Diver Dan was regularly shown on the

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is sister station, sister to the company ...

show "

Ray Rayner Ray Rayner (born Raymond M. Rahner; July 23, 1919 – January 21, 2004) was an American television presenter, actor and author. He was a staple of Chicago children's television in the 1960s and 1970s on WGN-TV. Early life and education Rayner (th ...

and His Friends" even though Rayner would frequently read on-air letters from children requesting that he get other cartoons.

Main cast

Allen Swift Ira J. Stadlen (January 16, 1924 – April 18, 2010), known professionally as Allen Swift, was an American actor, writer and magician, best known as a voiceover artist who voiced cartoon characters Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff on the ' ...

as the voices of many puppets, the unseen Captain Murphy and the narrator * Frank D Freda played Diver Dan. Freda was a playwright who received the Waldo Bellow Award for his play, ''Lunchtime''. He acted in a number of TV commercials, and was an early

Ronald McDonald Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. He inhabits the fictional world of McDonaldland, with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, an ...

. Frank lived from 1936 to April 12, 2016. He performed in plays in Philadelphia and Broadway before ''Diver Dan''. He made many Pall Mall and Budweiser commercials. In addition to acting Frank was a pioneer in sales of the cellphone, HBO cable TV company. He sold the first car cell phone in NYC for $20,000. * Suzanne Turner as Miss Minerva, a

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

, who referred to Diver Dan only as "the Diver" and shyly kept away from him.

Characters

Humans

* Diver Dan * Miss Minerva * The Captain (''heard but not seen'')

Puppet Fishes

* Baron Barracuda - A predatory, ray-finned fish who wore a monocle in one eye, and spoke in a vaguely European accent * Trigger - A idiotic trigger fish and always had an apparently unlit cigarette jutting from the side of his mouth * Finley Haddock - * Doc Sturgeon - * Georgie Porgy - * Gabby the Clam - * Gill Espy - A bongo playing Shrimp wearing a beret and a beard. * Glow Fish- * Goldie - the Goldfish who spoke only in peeps and squeaks * Hermit Crab - * Sam the Sawfish - * Scout Fish - * Sea Biscuit the Seahorse - * Skipper Kipper -

Themes

"The Ballad of Diver Dan" The series opening and closing themes were written, performed, and sung by the show's

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

, Jack Sky, in a double tracked recorded voice. *Opening theme Below in the deep there's adventure and danger;
That's where you'll find Diver Dan!
The sights that he sees are surprising and stranger
Than ever you'll see on the land! Following those opening lyrics, the narrator sums up the recent situation in a short group of rhymes, during the second half of the song as an instrumental, before the episode resumes. Before the closing sung lyrics, the narrator brings up the new situation in a short group of rhymes, during the first half of the song, as an instrumental, as the episode concludes. *Closing theme He moves among creatures
Of frightening features:
Flashing teeth, slashing jaws,
Flapping fins, snapping claws!
He protects and he saves
His friends under the waves;
That's where you'll find Diver Dan!

Episodes

Credits

*Produced by Louis W. Kellman *A Brian Cartoons, Inc. production in association with Young Productions, Inc. *Executive producer: Hal Tunis *Associate producer: Harvey Blake *Created by J. Anthony Ferlaine *Writers included: Joseph Bonaduce, Ron Ronszel *Puppeteers: Martin Kreiner, John Caracciolo, Harold Taylor, Alfred Sandstrom *Directors: Leon Rhodes, Mort Heilig *Production manager: Ben Berk *Cameraman: Morris Kellman *Script supervisor: Ruth Clyman *Editors: Arthur Spieller, Margot Mor *Sound: Jack Sky *Art director: Frank Heininger *Lighting: John Wynn

DVD release

Alpha Video Alpha Video (also known as Alpha Home Entertainment) is an entertainment company founded in 1985 as New Age Video, based near Philadelphia, that specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of public domain movies and TV shows on DVD. Alp ...

released two collections of ''Diver Dan'' episodes on DVD (Region 0). All episodes in both volumes are black & white. ;Diver Dan (Catalog # ALP 5152D, UPC #0 89218 51529 2, Release Date September 26, 2006) * 01 (Episode #34) THE BUBBLING PIT * 02 (Episode #35) THE VOLCANO * 03 (Episode #36) DEPTH CHARGE * 04 (Episode #25) GOLDIE'S HEROISM * 05 (Episode #26) DYNAMITE * 06 (Episode #27) GHOST IS CLEAR * 07 (Episode #37) SCHOOL DAZE * 08 (Episode #38) STRANGE VINES * 09 (Episode #39) SAVAGE SEAWEED * 10 (Episode #12) BARON'S CAPTURE * 11 (Episode #13) AN UNUSUAL TREASURE * 12 (Episode #14) TRIGGER'S REVENGE * 13 (Episode #20) RIDDLE OF THE HERMIT CRAB * 14 (Episode #21) SARGASSO SEA * 15 (Episode #22) LOST IN THE SARGASSO SEA ;Diver Dan Volume 2 (Catalog # ALP 5710D, UPC #0 89218 57109 0) * 01 (Episode #01) HARD WATER * 02 (Episode #02) GOLDIE THE GOLDFISH * 03 (Episode #03) TALKING FISH * 04 (Episode #04) SKIPPER'S GOLD * 05 (Episode #05) TREASURE SHIP * 06 (Episode #06) SAWFISH RESCUE * 07 (Episode #32) THE STRANGE FISH * 08 (Episode #33) THE BOMB * 09 (Episode #23) CURRENT FLOW * 10 (Episode #24) THE STORM * 11 (Episode #11) TEETERING ROCK * 12 (Episode #40) THE MAGNET * 13 (Episode #31) CRAWLING DANGER * 14 (Episode #16) THE VERDICT * 15 (Episode #17) HORACE'S DILEMMA Three DVD (Region 0) releases have also been produced by East West Entertainment LLC. All episodes in all three volumes are black & white. ;Diver Dan Vol. One (UPC #8 43156 02012 2) * Episode #01 - HARD WATER * Episode #02 - GOLDIE THE GOLDFISH * Episode #03 - TALKING FISH * Episode #04 - SKIPPER'S GOLD * Episode #05 - TREASURE SHIP * Episode #06 - SAWFISH RESCUE * Episode #07 - SHELL-O-PHONE * Episode #08 - THE OCTOPUS * Episode #09 - MURDER INK ''Note'': Each of the first 8 episodes has its own chapter stop except for Episode #09. It continues immediately after Episode 08. Pressing >> skips Episode 09 and cycles back to Episode 01. ;Diver Dan Vol. 2 (UPC #8 43156 02014 6) * Episode #01 - HARD WATER * Episode #02 - GOLDIE THE GOLDFISH * Episode #03 - TALKING FISH * Episode #04 - SKIPPER'S GOLD * Episode #05 - TREASURE SHIP * Episode #06 - SAWFISH RESCUE * Episode #07 - SHELL-O-PHONE * Episode #08 - THE OCTOPUS * Episode #09 - MURDER INK ''Note'': Followed by five Van Beuren Corporation and three Fleischer Studios cartoons on Track 2. ;Diver Dan Vol. 3 (UPC #8 43156 02015 3) * Episode #19 - THE TRAP IS SPRUNG * Episode #20 - RIDDLE OF THE HERMIT CRAB * Episode #21 - SARGASSO SEA * Episode #22 - LOST IN THE SARGASSO SEA * Episode #23 - CURRENT FLOW

In other media

Dell Publishing Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and ...

issued a ''Diver Dan''

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

, as issue #1254 (February–April 1962) of its series ''

Four Color ''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', is an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...

''. A follow-up issue, #2 was also published, dated June–August 1962.Grand Comics Database (GCD) - "Diver Dan"
/ref> In 1964, songwriter and record producer Tony Piano of Columbia Records put out a children's album based on the series titled ''Diver Dan and the Bermuda Onion''. With the exception of the theme song, which he legally borrowed from the series, Piano wrote the story, music, and lyrics for the album. His inspiration for producing it was his two young children at the time, who were 'hooked' on the ''Diver Dan'' TV series. In addition to producing the album, Piano took on three of the roles: Trigger, Sam the Sawfish, and Skipper Kipper. Aiding Piano on the album was the comedian

Del Close Del Close (March 9, 1934 – March 4, 1999) was an American actor, writer, and teacher who coached many of the best-known comedians and comic actors of the late twentieth century. In addition to an acting career in television and film, he was ...

, playing the role of Baron Barracuda. "Birthday House" and children's album star Kay Lande played Minerva the Mermaid.

Legacy

The

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

animated children's show ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

'' seems to have been somewhat influenced by ''Diver Dan'', either in directly parodying or by paying homage to it. In the ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' episode, "One Krabs Trash", Mr. Krabs goes to a graveyard to retrieve a "soda-drink-hat", and there is a gravestone that reads "Diver Dan".

References

External links

* * {{Internet Archive film, id=DiverDan_Ep01_Hard_Water, title=Diver Dan - Ep 01 "Hard Water"
TV Party: Lost Kids Shows
Television series by ITC Entertainment 1960s American children's television series 1960 American television series debuts 1962 American television series endings First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Fictional underwater divers American television shows featuring puppetry Nautical television series