| Jabberjaw | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Comedy Mystery |
| Created by | Joe Ruby Ken Spears |
| Directed by | Charles A. Nichols |
| Voices of | Frank Welker Tommy Cook Barry Gordon Julie McWhirter Patricia Parris |
| Music by | Hoyt Curtin |
| Opening theme | "Jabberjaw" (Jabberjaw and The Neptunes) |
| Ending theme | "Jabberjaw" (instrumental) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Producer | Alex Lovy |
| Running time | 23 minutes |
| Production company | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 11 (1976-9-11) – December 18, 1976 (1976-12-18) |
Jabberjaw is an Americananimated television series created byJoe Ruby andKen Spears and produced byHanna-Barbera which aired 16 original episodes onABC from September 11 to December 18, 1976. Reruns continued on ABC until September 3, 1978.[1]
Jabberjaw, a 15 ft (4.6 m) long amphibiousgreat white shark, is the drummer for The Neptunes, a rock group made up of four humans—Biff, Shelly, Bubbles and Clamhead—who live in an underwater civilization.[1] Jabberjaw and The Neptunes travel to various underwater cities where they encounter and deal with assorted megalomaniacs and supervillains who want to conquer the undersea world.[2]
Like a great deal of Hanna-Barbera's 1970s output, the format and writing forJabberjaw was similar to that forScooby-Doo,[3]Josie and the Pussycats andSpeed Buggy.[4] The show also drew inspiration (in the use of ashark as a character) from the overall shark mania of the mid-1970s[5] caused by the then-recent filmJaws. It also sharedThe Flintstones' penchant for making use of puns as the names of locations, people, etc., in this case, ocean-themed puns (such as "Aqualaska" instead ofAlaska). Every episode ended with a musical chase sequence where Jabberjaw and the gang would run from the villains, performing zany cartoon antics in order to escape while a song by The Neptunes played in the background.
Sixteen 30-minute episodes ofJabberjaw were produced, which aired onABC Saturday Morning from September 11, 1976, to September 3, 1977, and rebroadcast for a second season of reruns on Sunday Morning from September 11, 1977, to September 3, 1978. In the 1980s, repeats resurfaced as part ofUSA Cartoon Express onUSA Network, in the 1990s onCartoon Network and in the 2000s onBoomerang. Reruns of the series started airing onDiscovery Family on September 14, 2024.[7] This is one of a number of shows made before the mid-1980s seen on the Cartoon Network and Boomerang to have been taken fromPAL prints.
Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contained alaugh track created by the studio.
Broadcast schedules (allEDT):
| No. | Title | Original release date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Dr. Lo Has Got to Go" | September 11, 1976 (1976-9-11) | 84-1 |
Jabber and the gang have to stop the evil Dr. Lo from unleashing his Gorgon on the city of Aquahama. | |||
| 2 | "There's No Place Like Outer Space" | September 18, 1976 (1976-9-18) | 84-2 |
After Biff gets them kicked out for a publicity stunt, aliens land in the undersea city of Hydrostan. It's up to Jabber and the gang to stop their invasion. | |||
| 3 | "Atlantis, Get Lost" | September 25, 1976 (1976-9-25) | 84-4 |
Jabber and the gang get mixed-up in Dorsal's plan to overthrow the queen of Atlantis and become king himself. | |||
| 4 | "Run, Jabber, Run" | October 2, 1976 (1976-10-2) | 84-3 |
Jabber competes in the Undersea Olympics against a robot in order to unmask Z, the leader of a worldwide criminal organization. | |||
| 5 | "The Sourpuss Octopus" | October 9, 1976 (1976-10-9) | 84-5 |
Jabber and the gang accidentally join Professor Acosta's expedition to find the treasure of Panaqua, and have to protect him from the villainous Octopus. | |||
| 6 | "Hang On to Your Hat, Jabber" | October 16, 1976 (1976-10-16) | 84-6 |
The Brotherhood of Evil threatens the undersea world when it learns that the Power Helmet, invented by Professor Ortega, grants its bearer's every wish. | |||
| 7 | "The Great Shark Switch" | October 23, 1976 (1976-10-23) | 84-7 |
The Ambassador of Aquatania suspects that the Neptunes have kidnapped Commander Shark, so Jabberjaw must prove their innocence. | |||
| 8 | "Claim-Jumped Jabber" | October 30, 1976 (1976-10-30) | 84-8 |
The evil Coldfinger is after all the richest mines in Aqualaska. When Jabberjaw gets in the way, Coldfinger puts our favorite shark on ice! | |||
| 9 | "Ali Jabber and the Secret Thieves" | November 6, 1976 (1976-11-6) | 84-9 |
Jabber and The Neptunes, touring the undersea kingdom of Hydrabia, meet Volton, an evil mass of energy who lives inside the magic Electrolamp. | |||
| 10 | "Help, Help, It's the Phantom of the Kelp" | November 13, 1976 (1976-11-13) | 84-10 |
The Phantom, with the aid of a powerful growth ray, plans to raise an army of ferocious prehistoric plants to make the Aqua International Corporation bow to his demands. | |||
| 11 | "No Helpin' the Sculpin" | November 20, 1976 (1976-11-20) | 84-11 |
Jabber and The Neptunes encounter the sinister Sculpin, who has stolen an unfinished time machine from the brilliant Professor Thorstein. | |||
| 12 | "The Bermuda Triangle Tangle" | November 25, 1976 (1976-11-25) | 84-12 |
Jabberjaw and The Neptunes accidentally go through the Bermuda Triangle and are taken prisoner by Sorceress Madame Sargasso. Note: Telecast at noon (ET) on a Thursday, as part of ABC'sThanksgiving Funshine Festival. | |||
| 13 | "Malice in Aqualand" | November 27, 1976 (1976-11-27) | 84-13 |
While participating in a rodeo at Aqualand's theme land Westernland, Jabberjaw sees Dr. Cybron's henchmen kidnap the Rajah and replace him with a robot duplicate. He tells The Neptunes and Dr. Cybron tries to silence them by sending a runaway stagecoach over a cliff. When that plot fails, his henchmen capture Bubbles and send a duplicate of her to capture the others. The group rescues Bubbles and the Rajah and discovers that Dr. Cybron himself is a robot. | |||
| 14 | "The Fast Paced Chase Race" | December 4, 1976 (1976-12-4) | 84-14 |
The Neptunes try to win the top spot in the Petrolaqua Trans-Marine Race while attempting to foil the evil plans of Dr. Robek. | |||
| 15 | "The Piranha Plot" | December 11, 1976 (1976-12-11) | 84-16 |
Biff books the group on a tanker to Amsteraqua after another gig falls through, this being the cheapest way to go straight there. The Piranha has designs on ruling the Underwater States of America and captures the tanker for its load of special rocket fuel. The Neptunes scuttle the Piranha's rocket, practically dismantling the control center and messing with the rocket's fuel delivery system. Jabber manages to accidentally launch the rocket to a different destination with its cargo of sleep dust. | |||
| 16 | "There's No Heel Like El Eel" | December 18, 1976 (1976-12-18) | 84-15 |
The eerie El Eel threatens to turn the entire undersea world to stone, and there's only one guy who can stop him: the great El Jabbo! | |||
In 1977–78,Rand McNally released twocoloring books (Jabberjaw and The Neptunes andJabberjaw Does It Again), astory book (Jabberjaw Out West by Jean Lewis, illustrated by Jim Franzen) and a read & color book (Jabberjaw and the Rustlers).
Other merchandise in the late 1970s–early 1980s included alunchbox and thermos,iron-on transfers,jigsaw puzzles,Presto Magix,bubble maker set, aschool tablet, Avonpendant, aplush toy andHanna-Barbera Marineland Jabberjaw picture viewer.[19]
In 2005, a Jabberjaw Wacky Wobblerbobblehead figure was released byFunko.
On July 28, 1988, an 85-minutevideocassette ofJabberjaw containing four episodes ("Dr. Lo Has Got to Go", "There's No Place Like Outer Space", "The Sourpuss Octopuss" and "The Great Shark Switch") was released byWorldvision Home Video.
On February 15, 2011, the complete series was released on DVD by theWarner Archive Collection.[20]
