''Fangface'' is a 30-minute

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

produced by

Ruby-Spears Productions Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was a Burbank, California–based American entertainment production company that specialized in animation with another branch in Rome, Italy. This company was founded in 1977 by vete ...

for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

that aired from September 9, 1978, to September 8, 1980. 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 the creator of the animated ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Ken Spears. In 1977, they c ...

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-found ...

, and this was their first cartoon they made after they left

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

Overview

Similar in format to ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animation, animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative List of Scooby-Doo media, media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the orig ...

'' (also created by Ruby and Spears) with elements of the

Tasmanian Devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...

and ''

I Was a Teenage Werewolf ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'' is a 1957 horror film starring Michael Landon as a troubled teenager, Yvonne Lime and Whit Bissell. It was co-written and produced by cult film producer Herman Cohen and was one of the most successful films released ...

'', ''Fangface'' features four teenagers — buff and handsome leader Biff; his brainy and beautiful girlfriend Kim; short, stocky and pugnacious Puggsy; and tall, skinny simpleton Sherman "Fangs" Fangsworth, who transforms into a werewolf upon seeing a full moon and back into a human whenever he sees the sun. 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 hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and, as adults, The Bowery Boys. Gorcey was ...

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 " Bowery ...

of the '' Bowery Boys'' films.

Cast

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

as Sherman "Fangs" Fangsworth/Fangface *

Susan Blu Susan Maria Blue, better known as Sue Blu, is an American voice-actress, voice-director, and casting-director in American and Canadian cinema and television. She most notably voiced Arcee in '' The Transformers: The Movie'' and Seasons 3 and 4 of ...

as Kim * Bart Braverman as Pugsy *

Jerry Dexter Jerry Dexter (April 18, 1935 – June 21, 2013) was an American actor and radio presenter best known for playing teenage boys and young men in animated television series for Hanna-Barbera Productions from the late 1960s to the 1980s. Early life, ...

as Biff

Additional

* Lewis Bailey *

Ted Cassidy Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979) was an American actor noted for his tall stature at and deep voice. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as ''Star Trek'' and ''I Dream of ...

Henry Corden Henry Corden (born Henry Cohen; January 6, 1920 – May 19, 2005) was a Canadian-born American actor, best known for taking over the role of Fred Flintstone after Alan Reed's death in 1977. His official debut as Fred's new voice was in the 1 ...

(uncredited) *

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 Larry D. Mann (18 December 1922 – 6 January 2014) was a Canadian actor. He was best known as "The Boss" in a series of Bell Canada television commercials in the 1980s and for voicing the character of Yukon Cornelius in ''Rudolph the Red-Nose ...

Allan Melvin Allan John Melvin (February 18, 1923 – January 17, 2008) was an American actor and impressionist, who was cast in hundreds of television episodes from the 1950s to the early 1990s, often appearing in recurring roles on various series. Some of th ...

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 he has had an active career doing voice work since the 1970s. Early life Oppenheimer was born in New Yor ...

Michael Rye Michael Rye (born John Michael Riorden Billsbury; March 2, 1918 – September 20, 2012) was an American actor. His decades-long career spanned radio, television, animated cartoons and video games. Aside from his voice over work, Rye also acted in ...

* John Stephenson

Recurring

* Frank Welker as Baby Fangs/Fangpuss

Opening narration

The opening title narration is provided by John Stephenson,John Stephenson – Voice Actor Profile at Voice Chasers
/ref> for each episode 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''

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, the second season titled ''Fangface and Fangpuss'' aired as a segment on ''

The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show ''The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show'' is an animated television series produced by Ruby-Spears Productions from 1979 to 1981; it was shown right after ''Super Friends'' on the ABC Network. The show featured various adventures of the DC Comic ...

'' and introduced a new character: Baby Fangs, Fangs' infant cousin who turns into a baby werewolf called Fangpuss (which contradicts the opening narration stating that only one werewolf is born into the family every 400 years, but, of course, that 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 15-minute segments. Sixteen episodes of ''Fangface and Fangpuss'' were produced for the 1979–80 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, Fangface and Fangpuss would never see the sun, or a representation, as shown in the episode ''There Is Nothing Worse Than A Stony Curse'', and transform back to normal before the gangs' case would be over. ''Fangface and Fangpuss'' ran from September 22, 1979, to September 27, 1980; it then became a separate series in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and, like the original ''Fangface'', ran for just one season. After this series, Fangface and company faded into obscurity until reruns began to air on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

and

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...

Episodes

Series overview

''Fangface'' (1978)

''Fangface and Fangpuss'' (1979–80)

Merchandising

* A

Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known by 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. Among its products wer ...

board game, titled as "FANGFACE –

' Wacky Werewolf Game", was released in 1979. *

Peter Pan Records Peter Pan Records is an American record label specializing in children's music. The label was introduced to the public in March 1948. The label was owned by the Synthetic Plastics Company of Newark, New Jersey until the 1970s. The label became ...

released a ''Fangface'' 12-inch

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

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 View-Master is the trademark name of a line of special-format stereoscopes and corresponding View-Master "reels", which are thin cardboard disks containing seven Stereoscopic 3-D pairs of small transparent color photographs on film.Mary Ann & Wo ...

reel set, a plush toy, a

Halloween costume Halloween costumes are costumes worn on Halloween, a festival which falls on October 31. An early reference to wearing costumes at Halloween comes from Scotland in 1585, but they may pre-date this. There are many references to the custom durin ...

and a sleeping bag. *

Tempo Books Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. Today, through the Penguin Gro ...

released two ''Fangface''

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

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 by

Worldvision Enterprises Worldvision Enterprises, Inc. was an American television program and home video distributor established in 1954 as ABC Film Syndication, the domestic and overseas program distribution arm of the ABC Television Network. They primarily licensed p ...

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

References

External links

* *
''Fangface'' according to Wingnut

{{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1980s 1970s American animated television series 1978 American television series debuts 1980s American animated television series 1980 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television series about werewolves Television series by Ruby-Spears Television series about shapeshifting American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated fantasy television series American children's animated horror television series American children's animated mystery television series Teen animated television series Television series created by Joe Ruby Television series created by Ken Spears