Butch Cassidy (TV series)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 8, 1973, to December 1, 1973.[1] The series title is a play on the name of the unrelated 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The character's music group is called the Sun Dance Kids.[2]

Not to be confused with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Butch Cassidy
Also known asButch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kids
GenreMystery
Written by
Directed by
Voices of
Theme music composerHoyt Curtin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Camera setup
  • Ralph Migliori
  • Jerry Mills
  • Norman Stainback
  • Roy Wade
Running time30 minutes
Production companyHanna-Barbera Productions
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 8 (1973-09-08) –
December 1, 1973 (1973-12-01)

Plot

Similar to both Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and Josie and the Pussycats on CBS, the show depicts the adventures of the titular teen pop group.[3] The band consists of 4 heartthrobs: Butch Cassidy (lead vocals and lead guitar); mini-skirted blonde beauty Merilee (tambourine); sensible Stephanie, nicknamed Steffy (bass guitar); and curly-haired Wally (drums). Accompanied by Wally's dog Elvis, these popular rock stars lead double lives as government-backed crime-fighters.[4]

The teens are advised by a supercomputer named Mr. Socrates, who is (somehow) violently allergic to dogs. When the group meets with Mr. Socrates in his lair for their latest assignment, Elvis is always told to stay outside. Yet Elvis always ends up inside the lair, by his own ingenuity and/or by Wally's forgetfulness. Elvis's mere presence causes Mr. Socrates to sneeze and go haywire; Mr. Socrates then sends the group out of the lair, and off to their assignment. Butch, designated as "Sundance 1", wears a special communicator-ring which keeps him in contact with Mr. Socrates.

Cast

Episodes
No.TitleOriginal air date
1"The Scientist"September 8, 1973 (1973-09-08)
Butch and the kids must help smuggle a scientist out of a foreign country while dodging a colonel.
2"The Counterfeiters"September 15, 1973 (1973-09-15)
A motorcycling baron in Latvania seems to be the source of counterfeit money, so the kids are sent to investigate.
3"One of Our Ships Is Missing"September 22, 1973 (1973-09-22)
The kids are booked on a cruise ship that has been targeted by boat thieves and their captain.
4"Double Trouble"September 29, 1973 (1973-09-29)

A young prince has been kidnapped and replaced by a lookalike. The Sun Dance Kids must expose the impostor and catch the kidnappers.

Note: This episode mentions a number of real-life artists and songs, including "Woodstock" by Joni Mitchell and "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie.
5"The Pearl Caper"October 6, 1973 (1973-10-06)
The kids go off to Honolulu to locate stolen pearls and the pearl thieves.
6"The Gold Caper"October 13, 1973 (1973-10-13)
London calls as Butch and the kids try to find the mastermind behind a gold smuggling ring.
7"Road Racers"October 20, 1973 (1973-10-20)
The Grand Prix Cross-European race in Venice is the setting for a diamond theft and Butch and the kids are sent to investigate.
8"Hong Kong Story"October 27, 1973 (1973-10-27)
While entertaining their fan club in Hong Kong, the Sun Dance Kids must foil the robbery of a priceless jade statue.
9"Operation G-Minus"November 3, 1973 (1973-11-03)
The kids must recover a stolen anti-gravity device from a toy expo in Munich.
10"Orient Express"November 10, 1973 (1973-11-10)
The kids must deliver an important document to Paris on the Orient Express. To complicate things, Mr. Socrates has been taken over by an enemy agent.
11"The Parrot Caper"November 17, 1973 (1973-11-17)
A parrot who knows an important formula must be delivered to Switzerland.
12"The Super Sub"November 24, 1973 (1973-11-24)
The kids must recover a hijacked experimental super submarine from the Caribbean.
13"The Haunted Castle"December 1, 1973 (1973-12-01)
The kids travel to the British Isles when Wally inherits a castle from a distant relative. However, Wally's castle seems to be haunted.

Other appearances
  • Butch Cassidy was also the subject of Issue #11 of Gold Key Comics' Hanna-Barbera Fun-In in 1974; the story, "The Pearl Caper," was adapted from the October 6, 1973 Butch Cassidy TV episode of the same name.
  • Characters from Butch Cassidy appeared several times on the Adult Swim animated television series Sealab 2021. The whole band appeared in the episode "All That Jazz" in a long shot at a concert, standing in for MC Chris as Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kids and performing the song "Fett's Vette". In a later episode, "Let 'Em Eat Corn!", the band appears again as inhabitants of SeaLab Pod Six, with both Butch and Wally both sporting mustaches on their faces. Then again, in the episode "Butchslap", the characters appeared alongside Marco, who was revealed to be one of the Sun Dance Kids. The character models for Butch and Wally were also used for the animated likeness of John Miller (the series director) and Adam Reed (one of the series writers) in the episodes, "Swimming in Oblivion" and "Return to Oblivion".
  • Four songs from the show were released as singles[5] on Romar Records. An full LP was mentioned on the labels as forthcoming, but was never released.

Home media

On January 15, 2013, Warner Archive released Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.[6]

The series is also available at the iTunes Store.[7]

References
  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 101. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  2. Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. pp. 57–58. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  3. Sennett, Ted (1989). The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. Studio. p. 165. ISBN 978-0670829781. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  4. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  5. "The Sundance Kids (2)". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  6. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids - 'The Complete Series' DVD is Now Available from Warner". Archived from the original on 2013-01-16.
  7. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, The Complete Series". iTunes Store (US). Retrieved March 26, 2019.
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