''Fangface'' is an American

Saturday morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series and live-action programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre was a ...

produced by Ruby-Spears Productions for ABC. It premiered on September 9, 1978 and ended on November 10, 1979, with a total of 24 episodes over the course of 2 seasons. The executive producers were

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 Charles Kenneth Spears (March 12, 1938 – November 6, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer and sound editor. He was best known as a co-creator of the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Joe Ruby. In 1977, they co-foun ...

. Fangface appears in the third season of '' Jellystone!'' as the werewolf form of El Kabong.

Overview

Highly derivative of ''

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 ...

'' with elements from the

Tasmanian Devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii''; palawa kani: ''purinina'') is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It was formerly present across mainland Australia, but became extinct there around 3,500 years ago; it is now con ...

and '' I Was a Teenage Werewolf'' as well, ''Fangface'' features four teenagers — buff and handsome leader Biff, his brainy and beautiful dusky-skinned girlfriend Kim, short, stocky and pugnacious Puggsy and tall, skinny simpleton Sherman "Fangs" Fangsworth. Puggsy and Fangs are based on

Leo Gorcey Leo Bernard Gorcey (June 3, 1917– June 2, 1969) was an American stage and film actor, famous for portraying the leader of a group of street-wise city toughs known variously as the Dead End Kids, East Side Kids, the East Side Kids, and as adults ...

and

Huntz Hall Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall (August 15, 1920 – January 30, 1999) was an American radio, stage, and movie performer who appeared in the popular "Dead End Kids" movies, including ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938), and in the later "The Bowe ...

of the '' Bowery Boys'' films.

Opening narration

The opening title narration, provided by John Stephenson, consists of the following: : ''Every 400 years, a baby werewolf is born into the Fangsworth family, and so when the moon shined on little Sherman Fangsworth, he changed into Fangface, a werewolf! Only the sun can change him back to normal, and so little Fangs grew up and teamed up with three daring teenagers—Kim, Biff and Puggsy—and together they find danger, excitement and adventure. Who can save the day, who can wrong the rights and right the wrongs .... none other than Fangface!''

''Fangface and Fangpuss''

In 1979, the second season, titled ''Fangface and Fangpuss'', aired as a segment on '' The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show'' and introduced a new character: Baby Fangs, Fangs' infant cousin who turns into a baby werewolf called Fangpuss. This updated the show's canon that only one werewolf is born into the family every 400 years by adding that a werewolf could be born through another family which may be married to the Fangsworth family. The show remained in the same mystery-adventure style as the first season, but episodes were now shortened to two 15-minute segments in one 30-minute episode. Eight episodes of ''Fangface and Fangpuss'' were produced for the 1979 season. The episodes ''The Creepy Goon from the Spooky Lagoon'' and ''Dr. Lupiter and the Thing from Jupiter'' are the only season two episodes in which Baby Fangs/Fangpuss did not make an appearance. Just as Fangs is unaware that he is Fangface, Fangs is also unaware that his cousin, Baby Fangs, is Fangpuss. When Fangs sees Fangpuss, in the episode ''There Is Nothing Worse Than A Stony Curse'', he becomes scared and runs off. During Season 2, the characters Fangface and Fangpuss never transform back to normal before the episode's mystery is solved. ''Fangface and Fangpuss'' originally aired from September 22, 1979, to November 10, 1979; it then became a separate series in 1981 and, like the original ''Fangface'', ran for just one season. Later, in 1983, Puggsy and Fangface had cameos in '' The Puppy's Further Adventures'' episode "Puppy And The Spies," when the dogs are watching an episode of ''Fangface'' on TV.

Cast

* Frank Welker as Sherman "Fangs" Fangsworth/Fangface, Baby Fangs/Fangpuss * Susan Blu as Kim Carlton * Bart Braverman as Puggsy Colmare * Jerry Dexter as Biff Sutcliffe

Additional voices

* Lewis Bailey *

Ted Cassidy Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979) was an American actor. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction works, such as ''Star Trek'' and ''I Dream of Jeannie'', and he played Lurch on '' The Addam ...

* Henry Corden as Abdul the Giant *

Joan Gerber Joan Gerber (July 29, 1935 – August 22, 2011) was an American voice actress who provided voices for a variety of cartoons. Her most challenging voice role was "all the children in a Japanese train wreck" for a ''Godzilla'' television episode ...

* Hettie Lynn Hurtes * Larry D. Mann * Allan Melvin *

Alan Oppenheimer Alan Oppenheimer (born April 23, 1930) is an American actor. He has performed numerous roles on live action television since the 1960s and has had an active career doing voice work since the 1970s. Early life Oppenheimer was born in New York ...

as Vulture-Man, Disastro * Michael Rye as Dr. Lazarus Web, Skullman, Mysto the Magician * John Stephenson as Main Title Narrator, Ironmask, Zorak

Episodes

Season 1 (1978)

Season 2 (1979)

Merchandising

* A

Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known as Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. It remained family owne ...

board game, titled as "FANGFACE –

' Wacky Werewolf Game", was released in 1979. * Peter Pan Records released a ''Fangface'' 12-inch

LP record The LP (from long playing or long play) is an Analog recording, analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of revolutions per minute, rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use ...

in 1979, containing four audio stories (Side 1: ''Mirage'' / ''Ghost of the High Sierras''; Side 2: ''The Stowaway'' / ''Superfrog'').Fangface Peter Pan Record #1107 * Other merchandise included an activity book, a 3D View-Master reel set, a plush toy, a

Halloween costume Halloween costumes are costumes worn on Halloween, typically while trick-or-treating (going door to door to ask for treats). Although traditionally based on frightening supernatural or folkloric beings, by the 1930s costumes based on character ...

and a sleeping bag. * Tempo Books released two ''Fangface''

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

books based on episodes of the series: ''A Heap of Trouble'' (1979) and ''A Time Machine Trip to the Pirate's Ship'' (1980).

Home media

* Three episodes of the series, "A Heap of Trouble", "The Great Ape Escape", and "A Creep from the Deep", were released on a ''Fangface''

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

by Worldvision Enterprises in 1983.Fangface Worldvision Video 1983 Video Back * A second VHS tape, ''Fangface: Spooky Spoofs'', was released in 1986 and contained the episodes "The Shocking Creature Feature" and "Dinosaur Daze". Fangface Spooky Spoofs Worldvision Video 1986 VHS Tape * ''Fangface'' season one was released remastered on

Apple TV Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...

on August 22, 2022.

References

External links

* *
''Fangface'' according to Wingnut

* {{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1980s 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 horror comedy television series 1980s American horror comedy television series 1978 American animated television series debuts 1978 animated television series debuts 1980 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company animated television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated horror television series American English-language television shows American teen animated television series Television series about shapeshifting Television series about werewolves Television series by Ruby-Spears Television series created by Joe Ruby Television series created by Ken Spears