''The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show'' is an American half-hour animated series of the famous

comedy duo A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases fo ...

that aired in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

from September 9, 1967 to June 1, 1968. Each of the 39 individual episodes consisted of four five-minute cartoons. The cartoons were created jointly by

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 ...

, RKO General and Jomar Productions between 1965 and 1967. The series was syndicated by Gold Key Entertainment and

King World Productions King World Productions, Inc. (also known as King World Entertainment, King World Enterprises, or simply King World) was a production company and syndicator of television programming in the United States independently established in 1964 until acq ...

, with the rights now owned by

Warner Bros. Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

. The primary feature of this cartoon series was the fact that

Bud Abbott William Alexander "Bud" Abbott (October 2, 1897 – April 24, 1974) was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known as the straight man half of the comedy duo Abbott and Costello. Early life Abbott was born in Asbury Park, New J ...

supplied the voice for his own character. Stan Irwin provided the voice of

Lou Costello Louis Francis Cristillo (March 6, 1906 – March 3, 1959), professionally known as Lou Costello, was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known for his double act with straight man Bud Abbott and their routine " Who's on First? ...

, who had died in 1959. The rest of the voice cast was composed of Hanna-Barbera regulars. The Canadian cartoonist, Lynn Johnston, who is famous for her

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

, '' For Better or For Worse'', was an uncredited cel colorist.

Production

''Abbott and Costello'' was among the animated programs of the 1960s that were based on the decade's nostalgia craze which animated other comedy teams of the past such as ''

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in t ...

'' and ''

The New 3 Stooges ''The New 3 Stooges'' is an American animated television series that ran during the 1965–66 television season starring the Three Stooges. The show follows the trio's antics both in live-action and animated segments. The cast consisted of Moe H ...

''. The show created work for the ill and impoverished

, who provided the voice of his animated character. Lou Costello had died in 1959, and his voice was supplied by nightclub manager Stan Irwin (1920-2015), who was a close friend of the duo.

Voices

as Himself *Stan Irwin as

Additional voices:

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy r ...

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor. He was best known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered vocal creations include Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ...

, Hal Smith, John Stephenson,

Janet Waldo Janet Waldo (born Jeanette Marie Waldo; February 4, 1919 – June 12, 2016) was an American radio and voice actress. In animation, she voiced Judy Jetson in various Hanna-Barbera media, Nancy in ''Shazzan'', Penelope Pitstop, Princess from '' ...

Episodes

Comic book series

A comic book based on the TV show was produced by

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

. Starting in February 1968, it ran for 22 issues, ending in August 1971.

Reception

Hal Erickson, author of ''Television Cartoon Shows, An Illustrated Encyclopedia'' gave the program a negative review, stating that ''Abbott and Costello'' episodes were difficult to tell apart. Erickson stated that "virtually every one them features the tubby Costello being pursued by some bugeyed monster or giant sized garden pest" and that "None of the classic verbal exchanges which brought the real Abbott and Costello to fame in the first place are evident."

Home media

An episode of the show, "Gadzooka" was released in May 2013 as part of ''The Best of Warner Bros.: Hanna Barbera 25 Cartoon Collection'' DVD set.

References

;Notes ;Sources *

External links

*
Abbott and Costello
at Toonarific.com

at the

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, Feature film, animated feature films, Animated television series, animated television shows, and cartoon Short film, shorts. The BCDB proj ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott And Costello Cartoon Show, The 1967 American television series debuts 1968 American television series endings 1960s American animated television series American children's animated comedy television series Television series by Hanna-Barbera Television series by King World Productions English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Animation based on real people Cultural depictions of Abbott and Costello