Commander McBragg is a
cartoon character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in ...
who appeared in short segments (usually 90 seconds) produced by
Total Television
Total Television was an American animation studio founded in 1959 by Buck Biggers, Chester "Chet" Stover,p.478 Erickson,Hal ''Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 through 2003'' McFarland & Co., 2005 Joe Harris, and Trea ...
Productions and animated by Gamma Productions. These segments first appeared in 1963 on the animated series ''
Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales
''Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales'' is an animated television series that originally aired Saturday mornings on CBS from 1963 to 1966 as one of the earliest Saturday morning cartoons. It was produced by Total Television, the same company that prod ...
'',
[Markstein, Don]
"Commander McBragg."
Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Accessed July 17, 2008.
on Toontracker.com. Accessed July 17, 2008. then on the ''Underdog
An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...
'' animated television show from 1964 to 1973, and have appeared in some syndicated prints of '' The Bullwinkle Show'', ''Hoppity Hooper
''Hoppity Hooper'' is an American animated television series produced by Jay Ward, and sponsored by General Mills, originally broadcast on ABC from September 12, 1964 until 1967. The series was produced in Hollywood by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, ...
'' and ''Uncle Waldo's Cartoon Show''.
Segment format
The segments opened with an image of a revolving globe and the title "The World of Commander McBragg." The Commander, a retired British officer, would buttonhole a hapless member of his gentleman's club, and relate some story filled with unlikelihoods and outright impossibilities (as his name, Commander McBragg, would suggest), always concluding with a hairbreadth escape. For example, McBragg would point to a map on the wall (or globe) and say: "There! Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
! Did I ever tell you about the time I ...?" His colleague would, despite his initial reluctance ("NO, Commander, but I-"), become engaged in the exciting tale ("Good Heavens, Commander! What ''did'' you do?"), and at the conclusion would compliment the Commander on his cleverness—usually incorporating a terrible pun
A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...
—to which the Commander would usually respond, "Quite."
A few episodes ended with the suggestion that the Commander's tall tales may have been at least partially true. One episode, "The Great Bird," in which the Commander was abducted and raised by a giant condor
Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere.
They are:
* The Andean condor (''Vult ...
, ended with the Commander offering his companion a ride home; then, when the offer was declined, the Commander was whisked away by a giant bird...though only the shadow of the bird is seen, with a giant feather floating from the sky in a few seconds later.
Character origins
The deep, gravelly voice of Commander McBragg was provided by veteran voice talent Kenny Delmar
Kenneth Howard Delmar (born Kenneth Frederick Fay Howard,
'' , best known for his stammering non-stop talking as "Senator Claghorn
Senator Beauregard Claghorn was a popular fictional radio character on the "Allen's Alley" segment of ''The Fred Allen Show'', beginning in 1945. Succeeding the vaguely similar but much less popular Senator Bloat from the earliest "Allen's Alley" ...
" (of which Foghorn Leghorn
Foghorn Leghorn is a cartoon rooster who appears in ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons and films from Warner Bros. Animation. He was created by Robert McKimson, and starred in 29 cartoons from 1946 to 1964 in the golden age of A ...
, the Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. character, is a parody) on ''The Fred Allen Show
''The Fred Allen Show'' is a long-running American radio comedy program starring comedian Fred Allen and his wife Portland Hoffa. Over the course of the program's 17-year run, it was sponsored by Linit Bath Soaps, Hellmann's, Ipana, Sal Hepatica ...
''. In the US dub version of the show, Commander McBragg's voice was provided by Marvin Miller
Marvin Julian Miller (April 14, 1917 – November 27, 2012) was an American baseball executive who served as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) from 1966 to 1982. Under Miller's direction, the players ...
, best known as Michael Anthony on '' The Millionaire'', and Stanley Livingston was voiced by John Hart, best known for ''The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture.
He first appeared in 1933 in ...
''.
The character of McBragg is a classic example of the ''miles gloriosus
''Alazṓn'' ( grc, ἀλαζών) is one of three stock characters in comedy of the theatre of ancient Greece. He is the opponent of the '' eirôn''. The ''alazṓn'' is an impostor that sees himself as greater than he actually is. The ''senex ...
'', a stock character
A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of st ...
known for his military experience and dubious claims of grandeur; the tradition dates back to ancient Rome. English actor C. Aubrey Smith
Sir Charles Aubrey Smith (21 July 1863 – 20 December 1948) was an English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937) ...
– from the 1939 motion pictures ''The Four Feathers
''The Four Feathers'' is a 1902 adventure novel by British writer A. E. W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title. In December 1901, ''Cornhill Magazine'' announced the title as one of two new serial stories to be published in t ...
'' ("War was war then") and ''Another Thin Man
''Another Thin Man'' is a 1939 American detective film directed by W. S. Van Dyke, the third of six in the ''Thin Man'' series. It again stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles and is based on Dashiell Hammett's Continental O ...
'' – often played roles in films similar to the exploits related by McBragg and has been cited as an influence. The stories, more often than not, were taken from or were imitations of the ''Baron Munchausen
Baron Munchausen (; ) is a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book '' Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia''. The character is loosely based on a real ...
'' stories of Rudolf Erich Raspe
Rudolf Erich Raspe (March 1736 – 16 November 1794) was a German librarian, writer, and scientist, called by his biographer John Patrick Carswell a "rogue". He is best known for his collection of tall tales '' The Surprising Adventures of Bar ...
. The Englishness of the commander, the reluctance of his audience to listen to his far-fetched stories, and the commander's insistence on telling them, suggest the influence of P.G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jee ...
's " Oldest Member" golf stories as well. Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
also indulged the tradition with his stories of Brigadier Gerard
Brigadier Gerard is the comedic hero of a series of 17 historical short stories, a play, and a major character in a novel by the British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. Brigadier Etienne Gerard is a Hussar officer in the French Army during the Napoleon ...
. Other influences include the early animated character Colonel Heeza Liar, e's a Liarthe subject of a number of animated shorts created by John R. Bray and directed by Walter Lantz
Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.
Biography
Early years and start in animation
Lantz ...
, who was later known for the Woody Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972.
Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by Lan ...
franchise.
Another influence may have been Captain Geoffrey Spicer-Simson
Captain Geoffrey Basil Spicer-Simson DSO, RN (15 January 1876 – 29 January 1947) was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the Mediterranean, Pacific and Home Fleets. He is most famous for his role as leader of a naval expedition to Lake Tanga ...
DSO, RN, a career Royal Navy officer noted for telling of his improbable exploits whose career as a surveyor took him to China, Borneo and Africa. Spicer-Simson's greatest claim to fame was winning the Battle of Lake Tanganyika during World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
with two armed motor launches named ''Mimi'' and ''Toutou''.
Episodes
# "Over the Falls"
# "Fish Story"
# "The Himalayas"
# "The North Pole"
# "Khyber Pass"
# "Ace of Aces"
# "Niagara Falls"
# "Dodge City Dodge"
# "Football By Hex"
# "Rabelasla"
# "Okefenokee Swamp"
# "The Flying Machine"
# "The Giant Elephant"
# "The Great Bird"
# "Chicago Mobster"
# "The Monster Bear"
# "The Kangaroo"
# "The Giant Mosquito"
# "The Black Knight"
# "The Flying Pond"
# "The Old Ninety-Two"
# "Our Man in Manhattan"
# "Oyster Island"
# "The Steam Car"
# "Swimming the Atlantic"
# "Fort Apache"
# "The Flying Trapeze"
# "Around the World"
# "Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...
"
# "The Rhino Charge"
# "Mystifying McBragg"
# "Mamouth Cavern"
# "The Astronaut"
# "Dam Break"
# "The Eclipse"
# "Ship of the Desert"
# "Egypt"
# "The Singing Cowboy"
# "The Lumberjack"
# "The Bronco Buster"
# "Echo Canyon"
# "Tightrope"
# "Lake Tortuga"
# "Coney Island"
# "Rainbow Island"
# "The Insect Collector"
# "Lost Valley"
# "The Orient Express"
Other media
Commander McBragg appeared in ''The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' episode "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story
"The Seemingly Never-Ending Story" is the thirteenth episode of the seventeenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 12, 2006. The episode won t ...
" voiced by Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in '' Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off '' Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in ''Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...
. He was acting as the judge for a scavenger hunt between Montgomery Burns
Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, Monty, or C. Montgomery Burns, is a recurring character and the main antagonist of the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced initially by ...
and the Rich Texan
The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The write ...
, both eccentric millionaires in the same gentleman's club, known in the episode as "The Excluder's Club" as it is known for being very exclusive.
See also
* Joseph Jorkens
Joseph Jorkens (usually referred to simply as Jorkens) is the lead character in over 150 short stories written between 1925 and 1957 by the Irish author Lord Dunsany, noted for his fantasy short stories, fantastic plays, novels and other writi ...
References
External links
The World of Commander McBragg
at The Big Cartoon Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcbragg, Commander
Animated human characters
Fictional commanders
Male characters in animation
Rocky and Bullwinkle characters
Total Television