''Rubik, the Amazing Cube'' is a 1983 half-hour American
Saturday morning animated series based on the puzzle created by
Ernő Rubik, produced by
Ruby-Spears Enterprises and broadcast as part of ''
The Pac-Man/Rubik, the Amazing Cube Hour'' block on
ABC from September 10 to December 10, 1983 and continued in reruns until September 1, 1984. The ''Rubik'' half hour was broadcast in reruns as a standalone series on ABC from May 4 to August 31, 1985.
The program features a magic
Rubik's Cube named Rubik who can fly through the air and has other special powers. Rubik can only come alive when he is in a solved state.
The voice of Rubik,
Ron Palillo, told ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media
In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...
'' in 1983 that for the role, he spoke very slowly and then technicians sped up the tapes and raised the pitch in an ''
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...
''–esque manner. Palillo said Rubik's giggle was very different from the trademark laugh of Horshack, his character on the TV series ''
Welcome Back, Kotter
''Welcome Back, Kotter'' is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class nicknamed the Sweathogs. Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the ser ...
'', and that it was pretty "for an inanimate object". It was also one of the first American animated series to feature a mainly
Hispanic and Latino American
Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spaniards, Spanish or Latin Americans, Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino (demonym), ...
roster of characters, along with voice actors.
Premise
Rubik falls out of the stagecoach of an evil magician, who later becomes the main villain of the series. Rubik helps Carlos, Lisa, and Reynaldo Rodriguez in foiling the magician’s attempts to recover him.
Some episodes also deal with more normal adversaries, such as a bully trying to thwart Reynaldo's efforts to impress a girl.
For dramatic purposes, Rubik often gets easily fully scrambled, such as by being dropped or grabbed by the family dog. The puzzle is usually solved quickly by the Rodriguez children, although in stressful circumstances it takes them longer. When scrambled, Rubik can only be heard speaking gibberish and can sometimes be heard saying, "Help."
Cast
*
Ron Palillo as Rubik
*
Michael Bell as Reynaldo Rodriguez
* Jennifer Fajardo as Lisa Rodriguez
*
Michael Saucedo as Carlos Rodriguez
* Angela Moya as Marla
Additional voices:
Jack DeLeon, Alan Dinehart, Laurie Faso,
Takayo Fischer,
Bob Holt,
Tress MacNeille
Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...
, Tysun McMullan,
Neil Ross,
John Stephenson,
Janet Waldo,
Alan Young
Alan Young (born Angus Young; November 19, 1919 – May 19, 2016) was a British-born actor. Young is best known for portraying Wilbur Post in the television comedy '' Mister Ed'' (1961–1966) and voicing Disney's Scrooge McDuck for over ...
Theme song
Tying into the human characters being
Hispanic Americans
Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spaniards, Spanish or Latin Americans, Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino (demonym), ...
, the theme song was sung by
Puerto Rican boy band
Menudo. Featured in the song were Johnny Lozada, Ricky Melendez, Charlie Masso, Ray Reyes, Raul Reyes, Robby Rosa, and Roy Rossello.
Super Saturday: ‘Rubik The Amazing Cube’ (1983)
/ref>
Episodes
References
External links
*
Episode index
at the Big Cartoon DataBase
The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) was an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts.
The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated f ...
{{Rubik's Cube
1983 American animated television series debuts
1983 American television series endings
1980s American animated television series
1980s American children's television series
American animated television spinoffs
American children's animated adventure television series
American children's animated fantasy television series
American English-language television shows
Fictional cubes
Fictional talking objects
Anthropomorphic objects
Television shows about talking objects
Hispanic and Latino American television
Rubik's Cube
Television shows based on toys
Television series by Ruby-Spears
American Broadcasting Company animated television series