''The Funny Company'' is an American animated cartoon produced in 1963 and seen 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, ...

. Ken Snyder and Charles Koren produced 260 six-minute-long episodes (they later would create the cult favorite

Roger Ramjet ''Roger Ramjet'' is a 1965–1969 American animated television series, starring Roger Ramjet and the American Eagle Squadron. The show was known for its simple animation, frenetic pace, and frequent references to pop culture which appealed to a ...

). The

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

Corporation provided financial backing. Snyder conceived the program in response to then-

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC) chairman

Newton N. Minow Newton Norman Minow (born January 17, 1926) is an American attorney and former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission. He is famous for his speech referring to television as a " vast wasteland". While still maintaining a law practice, Mi ...

's call for more educational children's programs.

Plot

The Funny Company group resembled a club not unlike a

Junior Achievement JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide is a global non-profit youth organization founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and Winthrop M. Crane. JA works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential learning ...

organization, that had a noseless

smiley A smiley, sometimes referred to as a smiley face, is a basic ideogram that represents a smiling face. Since the 1950s it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram, or as a form of communication, such a ...

face used as the club logo; and most of the time, the stories would revolve around the Company being hired for different jobs to make a little money (yard work, house cleaning, babysitting, etc.) or doing something for charity (such as putting on shows). As time went on, the Company decided to make Shrinkin' Violette a movie star and were on their way to Hollywood. Members included leader Buzzer Bell (rarely seen without his Funny Company cap), inventor Jasper N (for National) Parks, club secretary Polly Plum, rotund Merry Twitter (the giggly Betty Boop-soundalike club treasurer), club mascot Terry Dactyl (an actual

pterodactyl Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to 6 ...

, who was frozen many years ago in

prehistoric times Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

), shy Shrinkin' Violette (who could literally become smaller if she became embarrassed), and two Native American adults--

Super Chief The ''Super Chief'' was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The streamliner claimed to be "The Train of the Stars" because of the various celebrities it carried between Chicago, Ill ...

(named after the Santa Fe Railroad's crack passenger train) whose voice was an air horn of a single-chime railroad locomotive, and his translator Broken Feather. Another adult lending a hand was Professor Todd Goodheart with his supercomputer, the Weisenheimer. The "Villainous Meanie" of the show, Belly Laguna (who was modeled after Hungarian-American actor

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 ''S ...

, in his famous '' Dracula'' role) always tried to thwart the Funny Company's plans (for his own profit), but without any success. Another, less frequently seen adversary was a German-accented

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 a ...

type, Professor Ludwig Von Upp with his assistant Hans Von Henchman. Each segment included a two-minute live-action short educational film, reinforcing the topic being discussed. Initially produced in black and white, the series switched after one season to full color, the closing credits ended with the message, "Keep Smiling!"

Syndication

The series was originally syndicated to local stations around the country, normally as part of a locally-produced children's show. The show first aired on both

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 ...

and

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 l ...

affiliate (now only NBC)

KOMU-TV KOMU-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Columbia, Missouri, United States, serving the Columbia–Jefferson City market as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. The station's studios and transmitter are located on US 63 southeast ...

Channel 8 in Jefferson City, Missouri on September 21, 1963, and was later carried on

WOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox flagship WNYW (ch ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

three days later. Formerly throughout its history, ''The Funny Company'' was broadcast on TBN's

Smile of a Child Smile (shortened from its former name of Smile of a Child) is an American Christian free-to-air television network owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The network is aimed at children between the ages 2 to 12, and offers ...

TV network (now Smile) early on Monday mornings and late Friday nights until the show was pulled off the air in June 2016. This series was also known as a Chicago television original, especially on WGN-TV's ''Garfield Goose And Friends'' and in the 1980s on

WPWR-TV WPWR-TV (channel 50) is a television station licensed to Gary, Indiana, United States, broadcasting the MyNetworkTV programming service to the Chicago area. It is one of two commercial television stations in the Chicago market to be licensed in ...

. The series sold internationally and ran for several years in Ireland.

Voice cast

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 ...

—Buzzer Bell, Jasper N. Parks *

Robie Lester Robie Lester (March 23, 1925 – June 14, 2005) was an American actress, singer, voice artist, and author, best known as the voice of "Miss Jessica" in the Rankin/Bass animated special ''Santa Claus is Comin' to Town'', the singing voice of ...

—Polly Plum *Nancy Wible—Merry Twitter, Shrinkin' Violette *Ken Snyder—Terry Dactyl, Additional voices (also producer) *Tom Thomas—Broken Feather, Additional voices * Hal Smith—Dr. Todd Goodheart, Dr. Ludwig Von Upp, Belly Laguna, Weisenheimer, Hans Von Henchman, Additional voices

Credits

*Executive Producer: Kenneth C.T. Snyder *Producer: Sam Nicholson *Co-Producer: Leo Salkin *Written and Created by Kenneth C.T. Snyder *Musical Direction: Jack Fascinato *Animators: Bob Bemiller, Brad Case, John Sparey, John Walker *Layout: Norm Gottfredson *Backgrounds: Rosemary O'Connor *Animation Checking: Maggi (Alcumbrac) Raymond *Picture and Sound Editor: Norm Vizents *Production Coordinator: Dave Hoffman

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Funny Company American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated education television series American children's animated fantasy television series 1960s American animated television series First-run syndicated television programs in the United States 1963 American television series debuts 1964 American television series debuts Mattel