''Gilligan's Planet'' is an American Saturday morning animated series produced by

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company founded by Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland and Norm Prescott in 1962, before closing by Group W Productions on February 3, 1989. Located in Reseda, California, Filmation produced animated ...

and MGM/UA Television which aired during the 1982–1983 season on

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 ...

. It was the second animated

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

of the sitcom ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

'' (the first being '' The New Adventures of Gilligan''). ''Gilligan's Planet'' was the last cartoon series that Filmation produced for Saturday mornings; afterwards, they transitioned from Saturday mornings to producing cartoons exclusively for syndication. It was also the first Filmation series to feature the Lou Scheimer "signature" credit (as opposed to the rotating Lou Scheimer/ Norm Prescott "wheel" credit which had been used since 1969). In addition, it was one of the last 1980s Saturday morning cartoons to be fitted with an adult

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 ...

, as the popularity of the practice had subsided. ''Gilligan's Planet'' featured all of the original actors but one;

Tina Louise Tina Louise (née Blacker; born February 11, 1934) is an American actress widely known for her career on stage, film and television, including her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the popular television situation comedy ''Gilligan's Island'' ...

, who has consistently refused to participate in any ''Gilligan's Island''-related material since the series ended, again declined to reprise her role as Ginger Grant, who again was portrayed as a platinum blonde (as was the case in ''The New Adventures'') instead of Louise's red hair.

Dawn Wells Dawn Elberta Wells (October 18, 1938 – December 30, 2020) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mary Ann Summers in the sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''. Early life Wells was born to Evelyn (née Steinbrenner) and Joe Wesle ...

, who had been unavailable during the production of ''The New Adventures of Gilligan'', returned to the franchise, voicing both her own character ( Mary Ann Summers) and Ginger. ''Gilligan's Planet'' would also be the final time that Backus and Hale would portray their respective characters, Mr Howell and the Skipper before their deaths in 1989 and 1990 respectively.

Premise

''Gilligan's Planet'' is a spin-off of ''The New Adventures of Gilligan,'' based on the premise that the Professor had managed to build an operational interplanetary spaceship to get the castaways of the original series off the island. True to the castaways' perpetual bad luck, they rocketed off into space and crash-landed on an unknown

planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

that supported human life. In many ways, the planet was like the island, but with a strangely colored and cratered surface with more land to get around. The rocket was severely damaged in the crash; thus, the castaways were still stranded and the Professor resumed his attempts to repair their only way home. Overall, ''Gilligan's Planet'' re-presented the source material of the original live-action series with space and alien themes. Encounters with headhunters and other shipwrecked people instead became encounters with alien creatures. A new character named Bumper was added, who appeared as a reptilian alien pet/sidekick for Gilligan and company.

Production notes

The theme song from ''The New Adventures of Gilligan'' was recycled, with new narration to explain the new show's premise. Sherwood Schwartz, who had hands-on involvement in the ''New Adventures'' series, was not as heavily involved in ''Gilligan's Planet''. Two of the show's primary writers,

Tom Ruegger Tom Ruegger () is an American animator and songwriter. Ruegger is known for his association with Disney Television Animation and Warner Bros. Animation. He also created ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', ''Animaniacs'', '' Pinky and the Brain'', and '' H ...

and

Paul Dini Paul McClaran Dini (; born August 7, 1957) is an American writer, animator, and comic book artist. He has served as a producer and writer for several Warner Bros. Animation/DC Comics animated series, most notably ''Batman: The Animated Series' ...

, would emerge at

Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. (abbreviated as WBA) is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Group, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation divis ...

in the 1990s. This is one of the few Filmation series not currently owned by successor

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

/ Classic Media. It is instead owned by Warner Bros. Television Studios through Turner Entertainment Co. as it is a part of the pre-May 1986

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

library.

Cast

Bob Denver Robert Osbourne Denver (January 9, 1935 – September 2, 2005) was an American comedic actor who portrayed beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 series '' The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'' and Gilligan on the 1964–1967 television serie ...

as Gilligan *

Alan Hale Jr. Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; March 8, 1921 – January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead ro ...

as Skipper Jonas Grumby *

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom ''Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in '' Rebel Without a Cause, ...

as Thurston Howell III *

Natalie Schafer Natalie Schafer (November 5, 1900 – April 10, 1991) was an American actress, best known today for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom '' Gilligan's Island'' (1964–1967). Early life and career Natalie Schafer was born on November 5, ...

as "Lovey" Wentworth Howell *

Russell Johnson Russell David Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American actor. He played Professor Roy Hinkley in '' Gilligan's Island'' and Marshal Gib Scott in '' Black Saddle''. Early life Johnson was born in Ashley, Pennsylvania, ...

as Professor Roy Hinkley *

as Mary Ann Summers, Ginger Grant * Lou Scheimer as Bumper

Episodes

Home media

On July 22, 2014,

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 int ...

released ''Gilligan's Planet: The Complete Series'' on DVD in region 1 as part of their

Warner Archive Collection 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 ...

. This was a manufacture-on-demand release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. The DVD set has since been made available via Amazon.

References

External links

''Gilligan's Planet'' Cartoon Info @ Big Cartoon DataBase
*

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 August 28, 2016. {{Children's programming on CBS in the 1980s 1982 American animated television series debuts 1983 American television series endings 1980s American animated comedy television series 1980s American children's comedy television series 1980s American comic science fiction television series American children's animated space adventure television series American children's animated comic science fiction television series American animated television spinoffs Animated television series set on fictional planets

Planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

American sequel television series American English-language television shows Television series created by Sherwood Schwartz Television series by Filmation Television series by MGM Television Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows directed by Hal Sutherland CBS animated television series