The Get Along Gang

''The Get Along Gang'' is a group of characters created in 1983 by Tony Byrd, Tom Jacobs, Ralph Shaffer, Linda Edwards, Muriel Fahrion, and Mark Spangler for American Greetings' toy design and licensing division, "Those Characters from Cleveland" (now Cloudco Entertainment), for a series of greeting cards. ''The Get Along Gang'' is a group of 12 pre-adolescent anthropomorphic animal characters in the fictional town of Green Meadow, who form a club that meets in an abandoned caboose and who have various adventures whose upbeat stories were intended to show the importance of teamwork and friendship. The success of the greeting card line led to a Saturday morning television series, which aired on CBS for 13 episodes in the 1984–1985 season, with reruns showing from January to June 1986.

Characters

''The Get Along Gang'' franchise was loosely inspired by Hal Roach's ''Our Gang'' series of short films. The core six members of the gang appeared frequently in merchandising and the show. The other six made fewer appearances in the series, but were regulars in merchandising.

Protagonists

* Montgomery Moose (voiced by Sparky Marcus, Charles Haid (pilot)) – The leader of the Get Along Gang. He is very nurturing and kind, although he is sometimes awkward, and he knows right from wrong.
* Dotty Dog (voiced by Bettina Bush) – A cheerleader dog and second in command of the gang. She is very optimistic and always has a way to cheer people up, although sometimes she is quick to judge.
* Woolma Lamb (voiced by Georgi Irene) – An aspiring ballerina ewe. She seems to be defined by her vanity and beauty, and is often seen carrying a mirror to admire herself. She can be selfish and irrational, but she still stands up for others.
* Zipper Cat (voiced by Robbie Lee) – An athletic feline who excels at sports. He tends to play the "tough guy" role, which often lands him in trouble.
* Portia Porcupine (voiced by Sherry Lynn) – The youngest member of the gang. She is inquisitive and curious, and tends to cry or throw tantrums when frustrated.
* Bingo Beaver (voiced by Scott Menville) – A prankster and gambler whose bets and mistakes sometimes cause his friends to be angry with him.

Additional characters

* Braker Turtle (voiced by Frank Welker/Don Messick) – A smart and sensible problem-solver. He is also the fastest runner in Green Meadow. He enjoys acting hip, despite his nerdy appearance. Braker makes occasional speaking appearances in the DIC cartoon series, usually as a friend of the gang.
* Rocco Rabbit – A reformed bully with a tough exterior.
* Rudyard Lion – A foreign-exchange student who has a crush on Woolma.
* Flora Fox – An avid botanist and photographer. She is extroverted and is not afraid to speak her mind.
* Bernice Bear – A very sensible girl who likes keeping things neat and tidy.
* Lolly Squirrel – The rich daughter of the candy factory owner. She is a tattletale.

Antagonists

* Catchum Crocodile (voiced by Timothy Gibbs) – The show's main antagonist. He is a constant troublemaker who takes what he wants with no regards to anyone else.
* Leland Lizard (voiced by Nicky Katt) – Catchum's sidekick. Although he is dopey, he is very sneaky. In the pilot, he was able to change color, but he showed no such ability in the animated series.

Background characters

* Officer Growler (voiced by Don Messick) – A bulldog officer.
* Mr. Hoofnagel (voiced by Don Messick) – An old goat who owns the local ice cream parlor.
* Miss Deering (voiced by Sherry Lynn) – A deer and the teacher of the gang's class.
* Susie (voiced by Sherry Lynn) – Bingo's pen pal, a squirrel who likes exercise.
* Mayor Bascombe Badger (voiced by Don Messick) – The mayor of Green Meadow.
* Schneider Squirrel – Lolly's father and owner of the candy factory. Schneider appeared only in the comic books.
*Hocus Hare and Pocus Possum – A pair of magicians.

TV series

Canadian studio Nelvana, in association with Scholastic Entertainment, Those Characters from Cleveland, and LBS produced a pilot episode of ''The Get Along Gang'', which was broadcast on the Nickelodeon cable network on May 6, 1984. The pilot featured the members of the gang trying to win a scavenger hunt, despite Catchum's cheating and their own competition-fueled infighting. Although all twelve gang members were involved, only the six core members had speaking roles. Among the voice talents in the pilot were Charles Haid (then of ''Hill Street Blues'') as Montgomery and Dave Thomas (fresh from his days on '' SCTV'') as Leland. John Sebastian at the time, wrote and sang for the pilot.

After the pilot episode, production of the series was handed over to DIC Audiovisuel, a French animation studio. The show also was taken off Nickelodeon and moved to CBS. Thirteen half-hour episodes were produced, each containing two eleven-minute segments. As with the pilot, the focus was on the six core members of the gang, with the other six members making very sporadic appearances. Out of those six, only Braker Turtle had a regular speaking role.

Rebroadcast

In 2000, the pilot aired on many syndicated television channels.

The TV series itself has been re-aired many times.

It has been re-aired on its original broadcast network of CBS from January to June 1986.

From September 1986 until August 1987, all thirteen DIC-produced episodes were rerun as part of a short-lived syndicated cartoon package called Kideo TV.

Reruns of the series later aired on The Family Channel (now Freeform) from 1990 to 1993 and on Pax TV (now Ion Television) from 1999 to 2000 as part of DIC and PAX's "Cloud Nine" children's block.

Other merchandise

The brief series spawned a large range of merchandise and spin-off projects including stuffed toys and action figures made by Tomy, and a series of storybooks published by Scholastic Press. The Tomy action figure line and Scholastic Press books actually lasted longer than the cartoon series itself.

The characters were also adapted into comic books. In America, their series, which ran for six bi-monthly