''Rocket Robin Hood'' is a Canadian

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

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 ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

, placing the characters and conflicts of the classic

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

in a futuristic, outer space setting. It was produced by Krantz Films, Inc. and aired on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

from 1966 to 1969. The setting is the last year of the 30th century (year 3000), and a version of the

despotic In political science, despotism () is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. Normally, that entity is an individual, the despot (as in an autocracy), but societies which limit respect and power to specific gr ...

Prince John dominates the National Outer-space Terrestrial Territories (N.O.T.T.). Rocket Robin Hood and his

Merry Men The Merry Men are the group of Outlaw (stock character), outlaws who follow Robin Hood in English literature and folklore. The members of the group appear both collectively and individually in the earliest ballads about Robin Hood and remain ...

live in an

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

named after

Sherwood Forest Sherwood Forest is the remnants of an ancient royal forest, Royal Forest in Nottinghamshire, within the East Midlands region in England. It has association with the legend of Robin Hood. The forest was proclaimed by William the Conqueror and ...

, using spaceships to undermine John's plans. Despite the team having the term "men" in its name,

Maid Marian Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circums ...

serves as the team's only female member.

Summary

Rocket Robin Hood leads his "

"—including the strong, dimwitted and likeable

Little John Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. He is one of only a handful of consistently named characters who relate to Robin Hood and one of the two oldest Merry Men, alo ...

; consummate overeater

Friar Tuck Friar Tuck is one of the Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood. History The figure of the jovial friar was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th to 17th centuries. He appears ...

(who designs all of the Merry Men's weaponry); his two-fisted, red-headed cousin

Will Scarlet Will Scarlet (also Scarlett, Scarlock, Scadlock, Scatheloke, Scathelocke and Shacklock) is a prominent member of Robin Hood's Merry Men. He is present in the earliest ballads along with Little John and Much the Miller's Son. The confusion of su ...

; Robin's plucky girlfriend

; his sharp-witted right-hand man

Alan-a-Dale Alan-a-Dale (first recorded as Allen a Dale; variously spelled ''Allen-a-Dale'', ''Allan-a-Dale'', ''Allin-a-Dale'', ''Allan A'Dayle'' etc.) is a figure in the Robin Hood legend. According to the stories, he was a wandering minstrel who became ...

; scrawny and feisty camp cook Giles (a reformed crook and Gabby Hayes-type); and other characters from the classic story of Robin Hood. The characters live at the end of the 30th century (in "the astonishing year 3000") on New Sherwood Forest Asteroid and are determined to foil the

plans of Prince John and his bumbling lackey, the Sheriff of N.O.T.T. (National Outer-space Terrestrial Territories) and other villains such as Dr. Medulla, Manta, Nocturne and the Warlord of

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

. Rocket Robin Hood and his Merry Men fly in spaceships and use weapons such as "electro-quarterstaffs". Each 22-minute episode is divided into three segments, with cliffhangers between the first and second part and the second and third part. All episodes also feature short vignettes of the various characters. A male chorus sang the opening and closing themes for each of the three seasons in the style of traditional old English ballads mixed with military marches.

Voice cast

Carl Banas Carl Banas (January 23, 1930 – April 1, 2020) was a Canadian radio personality and voice actor, known for his voice roles in ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' (1964) and '' The Raccoons'' (1980–1992). As a television actor, he appeared in ...

as Titanor / Dr. Manta *

Len Birman Leonard Birman (September 28, 1932 – February 10, 2023) was a Canadian-American actor, who began his career in Montreal. In his 45 years on stage, screen and radio, he portrayed a wide variety of characters, including some choice roles in class ...

as Rocket Robin Hood *

Chris Wiggins Christopher John Wiggins (January 13, 1931 – February 19, 2017) was a Canadian actor. Career Wiggins was born January 13, 1931, in Blackpool, England. He started out as a banker in his home country before he began his acting career in Canada ...

as Will Scarlet / Infinata / Baron Blank *

Bernard Cowan Bernard Cowan (June 11, 1922 – July 17, 1990) was a Canadian actor, producer and writer. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was occasionally credited under his nickname, Bunny Cowan. His name was pronounced with emphasis on the fir ...

as Narrator *

Ed McNamara Edward Francis McNamara (21 June 1921 – 11 October 1986) was a Canadian film actor."Ed McNamara ...

as Little John * Paul Kligman as Friar Tuck * Gillie Fenwick as the Sheriff of N.O.T.T. * John Scott as Prince John

Background

''Rocket Robin Hood'' was produced and animated at Trillium Productions, an animation studio that was part of the Guest Group—a creative group of companies owned by producer Al Guest. One of the key animators was Jean Mathieson, one of the first female animators in Canada, who later formed Rainbow Animation in Canada and Magic Shadows Inc in the U.S. with Guest, where they continued to produce animated TV programming. Background designer Richard H. Thomas joined the group late in the second season and brought a dark, almost

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

feel to the production under Associate Producer for Krantz Films

Ralph Bakshi Ralph Bakshi (; born October 29, 1938) is a Mandatory Palestine-born American retired animator and filmmaker, known for his fantastical animated films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent anim ...

, who would later become a well known animation producer and would be responsible for, among other series, the animated film versions of ''

Fritz the Cat ''Fritz the Cat'' is a comic strip created by Robert Crumb. Set in a "supercity" of anthropomorphic animals, it focused on Fritz, a tabby cat who frequently went on wild adventures that sometimes involved sexual escapades. Crumb began drawing ...

'' and ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

''. Third-season episodes were animated at Ralph's Spot 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 ...

, although voices continued to be recorded in Toronto. One of the show's chief designers during this time was science fiction illustrator/comic book artist

Gray Morrow Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow (March 7, 1934 – November 6, 2001)Gray Morrow
at the S ...

was the show's narrator. Paul Kligman, who voiced J. Jonah Jameson in the 1960s animated version of Spider-Man, was the voice of Friar Tuck.

, who appeared in the movies '' Silver Streak'' (1976) and '' Bayo'' (1985), was the voice of Rocket Robin Hood.

Len Carlson Len Carlson (September 2, 1937 - January 26, 2006) was a Canadian voice actor who voiced various characters on many animated television series from the 1960s to the 2000s, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman during ...

subbed for Birman as Rocket Robin Hood in some third-season episodes.

was the voice of Titanor / Dr. Manta.

Ed McNamara Edward Francis McNamara (21 June 1921 – 11 October 1986) was a Canadian film actor."Ed McNamara ...

provided the voice of Little John.

was the voice of Will Scarlet. There was also a French version titled ''Robin Fusée'', broadcast on French-language television in Canada.

Connection to ''Spider-Man''

The ''Spider-Man'' episodes "Phantom from the Depths of Time" and "Revolt in the Fifth Dimension" were largely recycled animation from two episodes ("From Menace to Menace" and "Dementia Five") of ''Rocket Robin Hood'', with Spider-Man substituted for Rocket Robin Hood on the animation

cel A cel, short for '' celluloid'', is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid (consisting of cellulose nitrate and camphor) was used during the first half of the 20th cent ...

Episodes

Pilot

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Broadcast

In Canada, the show aired on

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

CITY-TV CITY-DT (channel 57), branded as Citytv Toronto or simply Citytv, is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alo ...

in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as CHEX-TV in

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

and on

CJOH-TV CJOH-DT (channel 13) is a television station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, serving the National Capital Region (Canada), National Capital Region as part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside ...

in the

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

area. On some occasions, reruns of the show would air in the early morning hours on YTV during the early-mid 1990s. In South Korea, the show was retitled or (''Robin Hood's Adventure'' or simply ''Robin Hood''), it aired every

Monday Monday is the day of the week that takes place between Sunday and Tuesday. According to the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 8601 standard, it is the first day of the week. Names The names of the day of the week were co ...

at 6:35 PM to 7:15 PM ( KST) on KBS from November 30, 1970, to September 20, 1971. In Japan, the series was dubbed by Transglobal and it aired on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

and other FNS stations from May 1, 1971 to circa 1972. The series was last aired on

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

via おーい!まんがだヨー block in circa 1973. In Hong Kong and Macau, the show aired on

Rediffusion Television Rediffusion Television (, RTV) was a defunct television station in Hong Kong. It was the city's first broadcaster and the first in any British colony or majority-Chinese city.Kitley, Philip. 003(2003). ''Television, Regulation and Civil Soci ...

titled (''Robin Hood in Space''), it aired from December 3, 1979, to December 28, 1979. Later, the show was reaired from December 28, 1980, to January 17, 1982, on the same network. In the UK, the series aired on ITV and its various regional stations from 1968 with regular repeat runs throughout the 1970s and early 80s until 1983. Currently, the series airs on the RetroTV digital subchannel network in the United States.https://s3.amazonaws.com/luken-retrotv-pdf-schedules/Q4-2017/RTV-National-Pacific.pdf

DVD release

E1 Entertainment E1, E01, E.I or E-1 may refer to: Transportation Aircraft * Azcárate E-1, a Mexican sesquiplane trainer * Fokker E.I, a German fighter aircraft * Grumman E-1 Tracer, an American airborne early warning aircraft * Hydra Technologies E1 Gavil� ...

released Volume 1, which contains almost all of season 1, in November 2009 as a four-DVD set (English and French versions, 592 minutes). E1 stated that the episode "Safari" was not included due to unavailable footage. Volume 2, which encompasses all of seasons 2 and 3, was released in May 2010 also as a four-DVD set (English and French versions, 714 minutes). The French versions of these DVD collections are available separately as ''Robin fusée''.

References

External links

*
''Rocket Robin Hood''
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 January 19, 2017. * at {{Robin Hood 1966 animated television series debuts 1960s Canadian animated television series 1960s science fiction television series 1960s Canadian children's television series Canadian children's animated space adventure television series Canadian children's animated superhero television series Television series created by Ralph Bakshi Robin Hood television series 1966 Canadian television series debuts 1969 Canadian television series endings First-run syndicated television shows in Canada First-run syndicated animated television series Space pirates Television series set in the 30th century Television series by Grantray-Lawrence Animation Spider-Man (1967 TV series) Cultural depictions of John, King of England Fiction about asteroids