The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie
Encyclopedia
The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie — renamed The New Saturday Superstar Movie in its second season — is a series of one-hour animated TV-movies
(some of which also contained live action), broadcast on the ABC
television network
on Saturday morning
s from September 9, 1972, to November 17, 1973.
Intended as a "Movie of the Week
" for kids, this series was produced by several production companies — including Hanna-Barbera
, Filmation
, and Rankin/Bass
— and mostly contained features based on popular cartoon characters and TV shows of the time, such as Yogi Bear
, The Brady Bunch
, and Lost in Space
. Some of the features served as pilots
for new TV shows.
videocassette:
As of this writing, all of these titles are out of print, and none of the above movies have been released on DVD
. A few Hanna-Barbera movies from this series have aired on Boomerang.
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
(some of which also contained live action), broadcast on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
on Saturday morning
Saturday Morning
-Album credits:*All tracks produced by Ralph Sall for Bulletproof Recording Company Inc.*Executive Producer/Concept: Ralph Sall for Bulletproof Recording Company Inc.*Engineered by Peter McCabe and Larry Fergusson....
s from September 9, 1972, to November 17, 1973.
Intended as a "Movie of the Week
ABC Movie of the Week
The ABC Movie of the Week is a weekly television anthology series, featuring made-for-TV movies, that aired on the ABC network in various permutations from 1969 to 1975.-History:...
" for kids, this series was produced by several production companies — including Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
, Filmation
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
, and Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. , also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American production company, known for its seasonal television specials, particularly its work in stop-motion animation. The pre-1974 library is currently owned by Classic Media,while the post-1974 library is...
— and mostly contained features based on popular cartoon characters and TV shows of the time, such as Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear is a fictional bear who appears in animated cartoons created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show. Yogi Bear was the first breakout character created by Hanna-Barbera, and was eventually more popular than...
, The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
, and Lost in Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
. Some of the features served as pilots
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for new TV shows.
Season 1
| № | Title | Produced by: | Airdate |
|---|
Season 2
For the second season, the series was retitled The New Saturday Superstar Movie.| № | Title | Produced by: | Airdate |
|---|
Availability
Only three of the above movies have been released on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
videocassette:
- The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters
- Oliver and the Artful Dodger
- The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park
As of this writing, all of these titles are out of print, and none of the above movies have been released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. A few Hanna-Barbera movies from this series have aired on Boomerang.
Current ownership
- CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
owns the rights to The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island. - 20th Century Fox Television20th Century Fox Television20th Century Fox Television is the television production division of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, and a production arm of the Fox Broadcasting Company...
owns the movies adapted from Nanny and the Professor and Lost in Space. - NBC UniversalNBC UniversalNBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
owns the rights to The Mini-Munsters (via Universal Animation StudiosUniversal Animation StudiosUniversal Animation Studios , is an American animation studio which is a division of Universal Studios....
). - Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies: Ownership is unclear due to featuring characters owned by two different companies: Classic MediaClassic MediaClassic Media, LLC, is an American production company and distributor of family programming. It was founded in 2000 by former Marvel Entertainment CEO Eric Ellenbogen and former Broadway Video executive John Engelman in hopes of acquiring mismanaged classic properties and giving exposure to...
, which owns most of the Filmation library, including Groovie Goolies; and Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, which owns the Looney TunesLooney TunesLooney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
characters. - That Girl in Wonderland is owned by Daisy Productions.
- Classic Media owns Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain and the remainder of the movies produced by both Rankin/Bass and Filmation.
- Sony Pictures TelevisionSony Pictures TelevisionSony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
owns Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection and Tabitha and Adam and the Clown Family (via Adelaide ProductionsAdelaide ProductionsAdelaide Productions is an animation division of Sony Pictures Television.Originally named Columbia TriStar Children's Television, Adelaide has produced numerous animated television series including:*Jumanji: The Series...
). - King Features SyndicateKing Features SyndicateKing Features Syndicate, a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation, distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to nearly 5000 newspapers worldwide...
owns Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter - The rest of the Hanna-Barbera movies are owned by Warner Bros.
See also
- Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 is an anthology series of ten animated films for television produced by Hanna-Barbera for syndication and ran from 1987 to 1988 featuring Hanna-Barbera's popular animated characters in feature-length adventures. Originally, the televised movies were distributed through...
- The New Scooby-Doo MoviesThe New Scooby-Doo MoviesThe New Scooby-Doo Movies is the second incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. It premiered on September 9, 1972 and ran for two seasons on CBS as the only hour-long Scooby-Doo series...
(another hour-long Saturday morningSaturday Morning-Album credits:*All tracks produced by Ralph Sall for Bulletproof Recording Company Inc.*Executive Producer/Concept: Ralph Sall for Bulletproof Recording Company Inc.*Engineered by Peter McCabe and Larry Fergusson....
"movie" series, on CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
) - ABC Weekend SpecialABC Weekend SpecialThe ABC Weekend Special is a weekly 30-minute anthology TV series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997. It featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated....