''Roger Ramjet'' is a 1965–1969 American

animated television series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eithe ...

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

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

which appealed to adults as well as children. The show aired 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, ...

from 1996 to 1998.

Plot

Roger Ramjet is a

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

and highly moral — if not very bright — hero, who is typically out to save the world, with help from his

Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...

Energy Pills ("PEP"), which give him "the strength of twenty

atom bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

s for a period of twenty seconds". The world is invariably saved by defeating the various recurring criminals who populated the series. On government missions assigned by General G.I. Brassbottom, Ramjet encounters various nemeses during his missions. 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 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, George Tobias, R ...

," which also happens to be the tune to which the theme song is set). Although his Eagles appear to be children, each of them, except for Dee, flies his own individual

ramjet A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an as ...

aircraft expertly, and they are obviously much savvier than their leader. The various recurring criminals include: * Pint-sized

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

Noodles Romanoff and his evil organization N.A.S.T.Y. (National Association of Spies, Traitors and Yahoos, a

contrived acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

). 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 A trench coat or trenchcoat is a variety of coat made of waterproof heavy-duty fabric, originally developed for British Army officers before the First World War, and becoming popular while used in the trenches. Originally made from gabardine, ...

. His hands are always jammed into his jacket pockets. His band of No Goods consist of 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 whose ...

Robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may b ...

s, green metal

gas mask A gas mask is a mask used to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Most gas mask ...

-faced evildoers from outer space who have a unicycle-like

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...

instead of legs and talk in barely understandable electronic voices. * Red Dog the Pirate, a

redhead Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...

ed short, squat scourge of the seven seas with an

eye patch An eyepatch is a small patch that is worn in front of one eye. It may be a cloth patch attached around the head by an elastic band or by a string, an adhesive bandage, or a plastic device which is clipped to a pair of glasses. It is often worn ...

, peg-leg and a wiseacre

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoi ...

named Carl Bob for a sidekick. * Jacqueline Hyde (a play on

Jekyll and Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic 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 his old ...

) is a blond, long-nosed,

Zsa Zsa Gabor Zsa Zsa Gabor (, ; born Sári Gábor ; February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016) was a Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were actresses Eva and Magda Gabor. Gabor competed in the 1933 Miss Hungary pageant, where she p ...

-accented foreign spy ''

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

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

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...

soundalike

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or " insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly am ...

who, with the help of his purple propeller beanie-wearing assistant Sidney, keeps creating huge hulking

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific e ...

-style monsters only to have them defeated by Roger and become football players. * Count Batguy, a bald

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 Silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count ...

-style

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...

from

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

complete with

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in '' ...

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

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become a ...

'') who teams up with her bandito boyfriends the Enchilada Brothers, Beef and Chicken, to stir up revolution in the tiny

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

n country of San Domino. Another recurring, non-criminal character in the series was sportscaster Vincent Yafnarro, who appeared in several sports-related episodes. Roger's tough little old mother, Ma Ramjet, appeared in several episodes; her voice was an imitation of

Jonathan Winters Jonathan Harshman Winters III (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor, author, television host, and artist. Beginning in 1960, Winters recorded many classic comedy albums for the Verve Records label. He also h ...

' "Maude Frickert" character, and she had her own variation on her son's Proton Energy Pills, "Ma Ramjet's Atomic Vitamins for Old People whose Get-Up-and-Go Got Up and Left." Lance Crossfire (a parody of actor

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...

; the name may have been a pun on real life test pilot

Scott Crossfield Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 – April 19, 2006) was an American naval officer and test pilot. In 1953, he became the first pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound. Crossfield was the first of twelve pilots who flew the North America ...

), Ramjet's toothy

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

rival for the affections of his short, Southern-accented sweetheart Lotta Love, is also likely to get in the way. When Lance and Roger cross paths, neither one of them wins: in one episode, the always fickle Lotta ends up dating General Brassbottom, who promises the two men that he will take care of her. As is his way, Roger does not realize that they have both lost — unlike Lance, who inevitably ends these cartoons with the phrase, "Oh, Roger — Shut up!"

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, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

# "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 radio announcer, personality, disc jockey and voice actor. 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, writer, and director perhaps most noted for playing Agent 13 on the 1960s sitcom ''Get Smart''. Ketchum studied physics at UCLA and joined other UCLA stude ...

–

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 a ...

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, st ...

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

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

– 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, 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 Cosby, and Dea ...

– 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

''Roger Ramjet'' first aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...

in 1965, and later on

in the mid-1990s. The show was also on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

and ITV from 1979 to 1994 in the UK and Europe wide on Sky Channel from 1985 to 1989 and Bravo from 1992 to 1993. In Australia, the show is aired on the

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 ...

in 1966 in the afternoon and had been airing up until 2003. Selected Minisodes of the show are available to stream free on Sony's Crackle. The series was also screened in several other countries including ZNBC in Zambia,

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 chann ...

in the U.A.E., SABC1 in South Africa, KBC in Kenya and

NZBC The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) was a 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 (BCNZ). The corporation was ...

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 channel ...

, TV One and TV2 in New Zealand. In 2017, the show aired on KTV in the United States and was taken off in 2019. After The 2022 Philippines Elections, the show aired on PTV.

Production notes

*The creators of the series were from

Lompoc, California Lompoc ( ; Chumash: ''Lum Poc'') is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast, Lompoc has a population of 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who call ...

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 Revolution. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today. It is the state anthem of Connecticut. Its ...

". * 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 that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...

'' after Roger Ramjet's run.

Other credits

* Associate Producers: Dick Reed, Paul Shively * Production Coordinator: Fred Calvert * Animation: Don Schloat, Alan Zaslove, 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 * Checking: Dottie Mullens * Sound: TV Recorders, Western Recorders

DVD release

On February 8, 2005, Classic Media (distributed by

Sony Wonder Sony Wonder (founded as Sony Kids’ Music) 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 directl ...

) released ''Roger Ramjet: Hero Of Our Nation (Special Collector's Edition)'', a 3-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 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 currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

released a soundtrack album in 1966.

References

External links

* * {{bcdb , /Other_Studios/S/Snyder-Koren_Productions/Roger_Ramjet/ , Roger Ramjet
RogerRamjet.com-The Official Site of Roger Ramjet

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