''Roger Ramjet'' is a 1965–69 American

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

, starring Roger Ramjet and the American Eagle Squadron. The show was known for its simple animation, frenetic pace, and frequent references to

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

which appealed to adults as well as children. During its original run, the show aired on

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 ...

Plot

Roger Ramjet is a

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

and highly moral hero who is typically out to save the world with help from his

Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...

Energy Pills ("PEP"), which give him "the strength of twenty atom bombs for a period of twenty seconds". The world is invariably saved by defeating the various recurring criminals who populate the series. Ramjet encounters various nemeses during his missions, assigned by General G.I. Brassbottom. Typically, he is caught and must be rescued by his crew of sidekicks, the American Eagles: Yank, Doodle, Dan, and Dee (a play on "

Yankee Doodle dandy ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' is a 1942 American biographical musical drama film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, Geo ...

", which also is the tune of the theme song). His Eagles appear to be children, yet each of them flies his own individual

ramjet A ramjet is a form of airbreathing jet engine that requires forward motion of the engine to provide air for combustion. Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds around and can operate up to . Ramjets can be particularly appropriat ...

aircraft expertly (except for Dee), and they are obviously much savvier than their leader. The various recurring criminals include: * Pint-sized gangster Noodles Romanoff and his evil organization N.A.S.T.Y. (National Association of Spies, Traitors, and Yahoos). Noodles wears dark glasses, a

fedora A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...

, and a trench coat. His hands are always jammed into his jacket pockets. Noodles has several lookalike henchmen clad in hats and coats who simultaneously utter incomprehensible phrases of agreement to whatever he says. * The

Solenoid upright=1.20, An illustration of a solenoid upright=1.20, Magnetic field created by a seven-loop solenoid (cross-sectional view) described using field lines A solenoid () is a type of electromagnet formed by a helix, helical coil of wire whos ...

Robots, green, metal gas-mask-faced evildoers from outer space who have a wheel instead of legs and talk in barely understandable electronic voices. * Red Dog the Pirate, a redheaded squat scourge of the seven seas with an eye patch, peg-leg and a wise-cracking parrot named Carl Bob for a sidekick. * Jacqueline Hyde (a play on

Jekyll and Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is an 1886 Gothic horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between ...

) is a blond, long-nosed,

Zsa Zsa Gabor Zsa Zsa Gabor ( , ; born Sári Gábor ; February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016) was a Hungarian Americans, Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were socialites and actresses Eva Gabor and Magda Gabor. Gabor competed in the ...

-accented foreign spy ''femme fatale'' who is aided by other spies and gangsters. She tries to get information on plans and documents for her foreign government agency. * Dr. Frank N. Schwine, a

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...

sound-alike mad scientist who is helped by his purple propeller beanie-wearing assistant Sidney. The two create hulking

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

-style monsters, only to have Roger defeat them and turn them into

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

players. * Count Batguy, a bald

Count Orlok Count Orlok (; ; ) is a fictional character who first appeared in the silent film ''Nosferatu'' (1922) directed by F. W. Murnau. Based on Bram Stoker's Count Dracula, he is played by German actor Max Schreck, and is depicted as a repulsive va ...

-style vampire from

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

with a

Bela Lugosi Blaskó Béla Ferenc Dezső (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), better known by the stage name Bela Lugosi ( ; ), was a Hungarian–American actor. He was best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the horror film classic Dracula (19 ...

accent. * Dr. What, internationally feared evil genius. * Sexy senorita Tequila Mockingbird (play on ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a 1960 Southern Gothic novel by American author Harper Lee. It became instantly successful after its release; in the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' ...

'') who teams up with her bandito boyfriends the Enchilada Brothers, Beef and Chicken, to stir up revolution in the tiny Latin American country of San Domino.

Episodes

Season one (1965)

# "Dr. Ivan Evilkisser" # "The Sheik" # "Bat Guy" # "The Shaft" # "Kokomo" # "Baseball" # "The Cowboy" # "Dee Kidnap" # "Drafted" # "TV Crisis" # "Miss America" # "The Pirates" # "Revolution" # "Torture" # "The Race" # "Jack the Nipper" # "Ma Ramjet" # "The Cockroaches" – this episode is a parody of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

# "Moon" # "Hi Noon" # "Bank Robbers" # "Sun Clouds" # "Football" # "Bullfighter" # "Bathysphere" # "Skydiving" # "Monkey" # "Dr. Frank N. Schwine" # "The Martins and the Coys" # "Planets" # "Orbit" # "Tennis"

Season two (1966)

# "Werewolf" # "Flying Saucers" # "Skateboards" # "Scotland Yard" # "Long Joan Silver" # "Moonshot" # "Treasure in Sierra's Mattress" # "Tarzap" # "Comics" # "Jet Boots" # "Little Roger" # "Cycles" # "Air Devil" # "Spy in the Sky" # "Hollywood" # "Track Meet" # "Surf Nuts" # "Dry Dock" # "Machines" # "Coffee" # "Stolen" # "Assassins" # "Genie" # "Airplane" # "Woodsman" # "K.O. at the Gun Fight Corral" # "Mars" # "Puck" # "Pirate Gold" # "Fox" # "Super Mother" # "Dr. What"

Season three (1967)

# "Party" # "Large Leslie" # "Gamey" # "Time Machine" # "Horse" # "Pool" # "Ancestors" # "Hoop-dee-Doo" # "Big Woof" # "Robot Plants" # "Robot Plot" # "Turkey" # "Fishing" # "Purloined Pinky" # "Snow" # "Ripley" # "Monster Masquerade" # "Lompoc Diamond" # "School" # "Vaudeville" # "Coffee House" # "Pirate Games" # "Horse Race" # "Missing" # "Dentist" # "Rip Van Ramjet" # "Desert Ox" # "Ad Game" # "Lotsa Pizza" # "Land Rush" # "Show Business" # "The Catnapper"

Season four (1968)

# "Opera Phantom" # "Pies" # "Small World" # "Cousin" # "Doodle League" # "Ark" # "Sauce" # "Whale" # "For the Birds" # "Abominable Snowman" # "Hero Training" # "Lompoc Cannonball" # "Safari" # "Tiger" # "Rodeo" # "Dumb Waiter" # "Blast Off" # "Twas the Night Before" # "Portrait of Roger" # "Prince and the Doodle" # "Water Sucker" # "Volcano" # "Limberlost" # "General Kidnap" # "Drought" # "How's Your Pass?" # "Rabbit Man" # "Pill Caper" # "Three Faces of Roger" # "Private Eye" # "Espionage Express" # "Winfield of the Infield"

Season five (1969)

# "Branch Office" # "Wedding Bells" # "Bunny" # "Hypnochick" # "Doctor" # "Jolly Rancher" # "Little Monster" # "Flying Town" # "Daring Young Man" # "Crown Jewels" # "April Fool" # "Dry Sea" # "Pay Cut" # "Killer Doodle" # "Polar Bear" # "Ruggers" # "Nut" # "The Law" # "Hassenfeffer" # "Manhole" # "Blockbuster" # "Sellout" # "Scout Outing" # "Love" # "Decorator" # "Lompoc Lizards" # "Blunderosa" # "General Doodle"

Cast and crew

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 ...

– Roger Ramjet *

David Ketchum David Ketchum (born February 4, 1928, in Quincy, Illinois) is an American character actor and comedian best known for his appearances in television sitcoms, including ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', '' Camp Runamuck'', and ''Get Smart''. Ketchum s ...

–

Narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

Bob Arbogast Robert "Bob" Arbogast (April 1, 1927 – March 21, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster, voice actor, and television host. Early life and education Bob was born in Bellingham, Washington, the only child of Lewis, a champion tennis player, sto ...

– General G. I. Brassbottom, Ma Ramjet, additional voices *

Dick Beals Richard Beals (March 16, 1927 – May 29, 2012) was an American actor and radio performer, who performed many voices in his career, which spanned the period from the early 1950s into the 21st century. Beals voiced "dozens of children, both male an ...

– Yank and Dan of the American Eagles * Gene Moss – Doodle of the American Eagles, Noodles Romanoff *

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 ...

– Dee of the American Eagles, Lotta Love, Jacqueline Hyde * Paul Shively – Lance Crossfire, Red Dog the Pirate *

Jim Thurman James Frederick Thurman (March 13, 1935 – April 14, 2007) was an American actor, voice actor, writer, director, cartoonist, and producer. He is best known for the writings of TV gags for the likes of Bob Hope, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett, Bill ...

– additional voices * Ken Snyder – additional voices * Gene Moss and Jim Thurman were the writers of the series. * Paul Shively wrote the lyrics for the show's theme song.

Airdates

In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, ''Roger Ramjet'' first aired on

from 1965 to 1969, and later on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

from 1996 to 1998. It also aired on KTV from 2017 to 2019. ''Roger Ramjet'' was also broadcast on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

from 1979 to 1994 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and Europe-wide on Sky Channel from 1985 to 1989 and

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels * Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 * Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...

from 1992 to 1993. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the show was aired on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

in 1966 in the afternoon and was broadcast until 2003. The series was also screened in several other countries including

ZNBC The Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) is a Zambian television and radio station, formerly state owned, now technically a statutory body but still essentially under government control. It is the oldest, widest, and largest radio and ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

Dubai 33 Dubai Channel 33 (originally branded as Ch33) was a national television channel transmitting terrestrially out of Dubai in English, targeting the expat community in the U.A.E. It was founded in 1977. Up until the late 1980s, it was a 12-hour cha ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

SABC1 SABC 1 is a South African public television network operated by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It broadcasts programming in English and Nguni languages, Nguni languages. SABC 1 was established in 1996 following the SABC's res ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, KBC in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, and

NZBC The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) was a State-owned enterprise, publicly owned company of the New Zealand Government founded in 1962. The Broadcasting Act 1976 then reformed NZBC as the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BC ...

South Pacific Television South Pacific Television (SPTV) was a television channel in New Zealand, which operated between 1976 and 1980. History The channel, then known as TV2, first went to air on 30 June 1975. It was the second national government television channe ...

, TV One and TV2 in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and on PTV in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Selected " minisodes" of ''Roger Ramjet'' are available to stream free on

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

Crackle Crackle or crackling may refer to: Foods * Cracklings, the tissue remaining after lard and tallow have been extracted from animal fats ** Pork rinds in American English, pork scratchings in British English when served in small pieces as a snack ...

Production notes

* The creators of the series were from

Lompoc, California Lompoc ( ; Chumashan ) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast, its population was 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called t ...

and worked in many references to the town into the series,Pierce, Leonard. http://www.tv.com/news/roger-ramjet-a-cartoon-for-the-ages--22053/ including setting several episodes there. Invariably, the name of the town was mispronounced. * The name "Roger" came about after producer Fred Crippen had an interview with a reporter named Roger Smith. Smith asked Crippen about his new TV show and then joked that the main character should be named Roger. * The theme song's lyrics are sung to the melody of "

Yankee Doodle "Yankee Doodle" is a traditional song and nursery rhyme, the early versions of which predate the Seven Years' War and American Revolutionary War. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today. It is the state song of the U.S. ...

". * Many of the production personnel would go on to be involved with ''

Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and Television station, television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's ...

'' after ''Roger Ramjet''s run.

Other credits

* Associate Producers: Dick Reed, Paul Shively * Production Coordinator: Fred Calvert * Animation: Don Schloat,

Alan Zaslove Alan Louis Zaslove (December 9, 1927 – October 2, 2019) was an American animator, producer and director of animated series. Career He started in 1943 as an "office boy" for Leon Schlesinger Productions with no involvement in animation and ...

, Bill Hutton, George Nicholas, Fred Crippen * Background: Jack Heiter * Layout: Rosemary O'Connor, Sam Weiss, Joe Bruno, Dave Hanan, Bob Kurtz * Sound Effects: Phil Kaye * Ink and Paint:

Constance Crawley Constance Crawley (30 March 1870 – 17 March 1919) was an English actress best known for leading roles in Shakespeare tragedies. She gained notice on the American stage at the start of the 20th century, and later starred in and wrote several si ...

* Checking: Dottie Mullens * Sound: TV Recorders, Western Recorders

DVD release

On February 8, 2005, Classic Media (distributed by

Sony Wonder Sony Pictures Kids Zone is the kids and family entertainment label of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and the former record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Despite the similarity in name, Sony Wonder is not directly related to the fo ...

) released ''Roger Ramjet: Hero Of Our Nation (Special Collector's Edition)'', a three-disc box set containing 119 of the 156 episodes of the series (although the box incorrectly states that 120 episodes are included). Another company, Image Entertainment, previously issued two single-disc DVDs (''Roger Ramjet: Hero Of Our Nation'' and ''Roger Ramjet: Man Of Adventure''), each including 15 cartoons not featured in the three-disc set. This leaves seven cartoons unreleased on DVD (as of November 2007): #36 ''(Scotland Yard)'', #125 ''(Bunny)'', #128 ''(Jolly Rancher)'', #152 ''(Air Devil)'', #154 ''(Dry Dock)'', #155 ''(Machines)'', and #156 ''(Stolen)''.

Soundtrack

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

released a soundtrack album in 1966.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0161186, title=Roger Ramjet
RogerRamjet.com - the official site of Roger Ramjet

Roger Ramjet Intro YouTube
1960s American animated comedy television series 1960s American children's comedy television series 1965 American animated television series debuts 1969 American television series endings 1960s American superhero comedy television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated superhero television series Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming American aviation television series Aviation comics Television series by Universal Television DreamWorks Classics Ramjet, Roger Ramjet, Roger United States-themed superheroes NBC animated television series