''King Koopa's Kool Kartoons'' is a local, American

live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

children's

television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

broadcast in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

during the

Autumn Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemisphe ...

of 1989. The show was produced by DIC Entertainment in association with

Fox Television Studios The second incarnation of Touchstone Television, formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios, was an American television production company and a subsidiary of the Disney Television Studios, a subsidiary of the Disney Media Networks business se ...

for the Fox television station

KTTV KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned a ...

by Gerry Pass – who developed and rolled out the

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...

Club – and

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. It was a live-action spin-off to '' The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'', a popular animated show based on the ''

Super Mario (also known as and is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every ma ...

'' video games. The show was discontinued after 65 episodes. The show stars King Koopa, based on an animated version of

Bowser , also known as King Bowser or King Koopa, is a Character (arts), fictional character and the Antagonist, main antagonist of Nintendo's ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise."The Top 100 Videogame Villains". IGN. Retrieved October 8, 2010. ...

, the central arch-villain from the ''

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

series. The 30-minute wrap around program was originally broadcast during late afternoon time slots, normally around 4:30pm to 5:30pm on the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

-based television channel KTTV Fox 11.

Format

The format of the show was one of the last in the tradition of classic children's television shows in the vein of ''

Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to tel ...

'': the show would begin with the same pre-recorded theme song and lead into a live studio audience of around 40 to 60 children bussed in from around

at the beginning of the show. The audience of children were all given special hats shaped like Koopa heads and T-shirts with "Koopa's Troopas" printed on them (the children would actually get to keep the shirts, but the troopa helmets, as they called them, were claimed by the producers at the end of the taping and reused every show). Koopa would then start talking to the audience with a different theme every day. The live-action Koopa would then act as emcee, introducing old,

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animated cartoon Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

shorts, wrapped around different live-action segments, including a segment with Ratso, King Koopa's pet rat, a segment with Koopa reading fanmail, a segment with Mr. Mean Jeans, and a joke segment. King Koopa would then end the show by telling the audience to be a good Koopa Troopa or he would "Koopa Youpa'. After that, he would give contestants prizes with an envelope given by Ratso.

Production

The show featured an actor in a King Koopa costume similar to one previously used in the 1989 ''Super Mario Bros.''-themed Ice Capades show, only with a more detailed mask to make the actor look more believable on television. The actor playing Koopa (originally

Christopher Collins Christopher Charles Collins (born Christopher Lawrence Latta; August 30, 1949 – June 12, 1994) was an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is best known as the voice of Cobra Commander in the '' G.I. Joe'' animated series and Starscrea ...

, later Patrick Pinney) performed the role with a gruff, gravel-voiced faux-malevolence that ultimately revealed a hesitantly nice personality. Unlike any previous appearance, King Koopa was seen with a

pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...

creature named Ratso that best resembled a mix of

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

and

weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets, and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slend ...

with the large ears of a

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

. Ratso had his own special "theatre" where kids could also claim prizes (in which he was played by a

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...

). Koopa would be seen walking Ratso on a leash in the pre-recorded opening and closing credit sequences (where he was played by a dog in a costume). Halfway through the series' production, Christopher Collins was fired and replaced, allegedly due to inappropriate behavior toward the crew and audience members. There are several rumors surrounding his dismissal, some claiming that he allegedly told a viewer, "You can say what you want... but now I know where you live", while others claim he was verbally abusive to children on set. The entire 65 episodes of ''King Koopa's Kool Kartoons'' was produced and developed over the course of 13 weeks before being quietly cancelled.

Cancellation

Despite high ratings and viewership, ''King Koopa's Kool Kartoons'' was not renewed for a second season. The full reasoning behind the show's cancellation is unknown, but is partially accredited by former writer Christopher Brough to be a formal invitation from the then-president of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

Michael Eisner Michael Dammann Eisner ( ; born March 7, 1942) is an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner was president of rival film ...

, to

to cancel the cartoon regarding the content. The show was later aired in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

via The Children's Channel throughout the remainder of 1990.

Reception

Reception of the show among children was overwhelmingly positive, but the show was not received well by parents, as an angry letter from the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' newspaper shows. In a "Viewers' View" column in the ''Los Angeles Times'', a parent wrote that the show's portrayal of King Koopa was "frightening for small children", implying a mixed reception. Gene Kendall of ''

Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

'' compared the show to the character Krusty the Clown from ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', saying that Krusty poked fun at the hosts from old children's talk shows, while ''King Koopa's Kool Kartoons'' took its own subversive approach to the genre. In 1990, the program was nominated as the best youth program for the Los Angeles local

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

.Bernstein, Sharon.
Channel 2 Leads Pack in Emmy Nominations
. ''

''. April 20, 1990.

Legacy

Due to ''King Koopa's Kool Kartoon's'' one-time broadcast format, the show has become one of DIC Entertainment's and

's famous examples of lost media, and efforts to preserve the show have been ongoing. In 2005, a user on the website Retro Junk uploaded the series' intro as a memento. Years later, several excerpts were uploaded, but no full episodes have been found.

References

External links

{{Mario franchise Television series based on Mario 1980s American children's comedy television series 1980s American sketch comedy television series 1980s American variety television series 1989 American television series debuts American television spinoffs American television shows based on video games American television shows featuring puppetry Children's sketch comedy Local children's television programming in the United States Television series by DIC Entertainment