Hanna-Barbera Productions
The world of basketball has never been more entertaining than watching an exhibition game as played by the Harlem Globetrotters. I’ve never been a sports fan, but they make it fun with their unique brand of tricks and special enthusiasm. Most of what I know about them stems from the fact they were always making appearances on The New Scooby-Doo Movies, which was one of my favorite cartoons when I was a kid. However, the Harlem Globetrotters were a tour de force in ‘70s and ‘80s TV.
The Globetrotters had their own animated Saturday morning Hanna-Barbera series, titled Harlem Globetrotters, which ran from 1970-1973, as well as a live-action Saturday morning variety show titled The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine in 1974. They were everywhere – from The Love Boat to The White Shadow to Burger King and Vitalis commercials and TV specials with Soupy Sales to the beloved 1981 made-for-TV movie The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island, which pairs them with America’s favorite stranded castaways. But what time has probably forgotten is their spin-off animated Hanna-Barbera series The Super Globetrotters, recently released on DVD by the Warner Archive Collection.
The Super Globetrotters premiered in September 1979 and only ran for 13 episodes. It was later packaged as part of The Godzilla/Globetrotters Adventure Hour. Featuring the voice talents of Scatman Crothers, Stu Gilliam, Buster Jones, Adam Wade, Frank Welker and Johnny Williams, the premise is a pretty simple one. In this series, the Harlem Globetrotters are capable of transforming into superheroes to fight villains both on and off the basketball court. Spoiler: The Harlem Globetrotters always win.
The Super Globetrotters’ line-up consists of Nate Branch (a.k.a. Liquid Man), who can transform himself into water; Freddie “Curly” Neal (a.k.a. Super Sphere), who turns into a walking, talking, bouncing basketball; James “Twiggy” Sanders (a.k.a. Spaghetti Man), who contorts his body into various ladders and ropes to be strategically used by the rest of the gang to help them out of precarious situations; Louis “Sweet Lou” Dunbar (a.k.a. Gizmo), who pulls enough gadgets and gizmos out of his massive afro that he would make even Mary Poppins more than a little envious; and Hubert “Geese” Ausbie (a.k.a. Multi Man), who is capable of cloning himself into any number of Multi Men to confuse the Globetrotters’ opponents. The other major character in this series is Crime Globe – the Globetrotters’ eye in the sky who reports all signs of criminal activity and aids them with advice about how they can defeat the bad guys. There’s even a Super Hero Play Book to aid our superheroes on their quests.
The Globetrotters transform into their superhero alter egos with the aid of magical, portable gym lockers that are usually tossed out of thin air by Gizmo. I wonder what would happen if someone other than the Globetrotters walked into those special lockers … could anyone become a Super Globetrotter? What would happen if one of them walked into the wrong locker? Would Spaghetti Man suddenly find himself transformed as Super Sphere, or does the locker order not matter at all? We’re never given a proper backstory on exactly how the Globetrotters developed these super powers either. It’s also interesting to note that three of them seem to be recycled characters from Hanna-Barbera’s The Impossibles (which also featured a Fluid Man, Spaghetti Man and Multi Man).
One thing is certain: There is clearly no better way to settle criminal matters than by taking them to the courts – the basketball courts that is. Each episode finds the Globetrotters being challenged to a game of basketball against the supervillains and their felonious friends, usually with rather high stakes on the line. Typically, the first half of each game finds the Globetrotters trailing miserably until they suddenly remember they can transform into superheroes that always come back from behind and win the game at the last possible minute. I suppose that’s so kids could root for the underdog. But really it just made me wonder why these superheroes always seem so reluctant to fulfill their true destinies. If you can transform yourself into a superhero, don’t you owe it to the world to transform as often as possible to uphold and protect truth, justice and the American way?
The Super Globetrotters is fantastically groovy Hanna-Barbera animation. The first episode in the collection has them facing off with a giant, sinister mechanical whale controlled by a pirate named Whaleman in a fishy stolen oil scheme that makes Moby Dick a pale story in comparison. Other memorable villains in this collection include Tattoo Man, Bwana Bob, Robo, The Time Lord, Bad Blue Bart, Movie Man, Facelift, Attila the Hun and Bull Moose. And don’t even get me started on the henchmen’s names (Weird Beard, Wise Quacker, Wooly Woman, Globots, Lioness, etc.)! While every episode features enough zany adventures that are so terrible they’re considered awesome in my book, my favorites were the three episodes featuring Museum Man, Count Bragula and Merlo the Magician.
Museum Man is a wonderful villain because he’s a disgruntled janitor who brings artifacts in the museum, including the dinosaurs, alive to do his evil bidding. His basketball team is called The Fearless Fossils – what’s not to love about that? He’s also voiced by popular character actor Herb Vigran. Count Bragula (voiced by my favorite, H.R. Pufnstuf’s Lennie Weinrib) is a vampire wanting to control Transylvania by stealing the taxpayers’ money. I love monsters, and I found myself rooting for The Transylvania Terrors (Igor, Mummy, Frightenstein, Vampire Bats and Wolf Person) to beat the Globetrotters, but, alas, right always prevails in the Globetrotters universe. Merlo the Magician (John Stephenson of Jonny Quest fame) leads the Knights of the Crooked Table to steal all of the world’s notable monuments, including the London Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and even the Pyramid of Giza. I just enjoyed watching him steal the monuments – perhaps that’s the inner ‘90s kid in me who was always a fan of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
What I enjoyed most about The Super Globetrotters was that it seems to celebrate its absurdity rather than shy away from it. A basketball team transforming into superheroes inside magical gym lockers makes perfect sense. If you’re Attila the Hun, where do you go to hide from the Globetrotters? Why, the Lie Low Restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown of course. And don’t forget that diamonds are a Hun’s best friend. Didn’t the history books teach you that? You also won’t find better usage of bicentennial packaging anywhere else – the red, white and blue van the team drives around in on the show is delightfully reminiscent of the era. While there are not any bonus features on this DVD collection, it’s still destined to be a slam dunk with any Globetrotters fans or fans of ‘70s animation in general.
Hanna-Barbera Productions
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