Every Tuesday I take a look at obscure and/or classic television programs, specials, miniseries or made-for-TV movies being released on DVD. For the record I consider anything broadcast prior to 1980 to be classic or else there wouldn’t be much to discuss. The releases referred to in these posts are encoded for Region 1 use in the United States and Canada.
Last week was a good one for fans of classic television. This week, the only release of interest is The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo – Mr. Magoo In Sherwood Forest, from Classic Media/Vivendi Entertainment. The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo aired for one season — in prime time — on NBC from 1964 to 1965 and saw Mr. Magoo (voiced by Jim Backus) step into a variety of roles from classic fairy tales and stories, including Robin Hood, Don Quixote, Rip Van Winkle and all seven dwarfs in a retelling of Snow White. Some of these stories lasted just one half-hour episode while others ran for two, three or even four episodes. A total of 26 episodes were produced. Many, if not all, of these were released on VHS in the early 1990s.
Aside from the main character, The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo is unrelated to The Mr. Magoo Show, which premiered in syndication during the fall of 1960 and consisted of 130 five-minute cartoon shorts. Classic Media/Vivendi Entertainment released The Mr. Magoo Show – Complete DVD Collection in 2004, in which the 130 shorts were edited into 26 episodes (five shorts each). Whether or not additional stories from The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo will be released on DVD remains to be seen.
By the late ’60s, UPA Pictures managed to create several “feature films” out of the multi-part episodes of “THE FAMOUS ADVENTURES OF MR. MAGOO” (including several individual episodes tied into a theme, i.e. “Magoo At Sea”), which were given limited theatrical release [for Saturday “kiddie matinees”] and endless replays on local stations [WCBS-TV in New York, among them- especially during “holidays”, often on Sunday afternoons at 1pm].
This is a complete list of the episodes, with original NBC airdates:
1) “William Tell” [9/19/64]
2) “Treasure Island” (pts. 1-2) [9/26-10/3/64]
3) “Gunga Din” [10/10/64]
4) “Moby Dick” [10/17/64]
5) “The Three Musketeers” (pts. 1-2) [10/24/64; 11/7/64] {note: a paid political program pushed back part two by one week}
6) “Robin Hood” (pts. 1-4) [11/14-12/5/64]
{re-edited as “Mr. Magoo in Sherwood Forest”}
7) “Don Quixote de la Mancha” (pts. 1-2) [12/19/64; 3/20/65]
8) “Cyrano de Bergerac” [12/26/64]
9) “Little Snow White” (pts. 1-2) [1/2-9/65]
10) “Rip Van Winkle” [1/16/65]
11) “Dick Tracy and the Mob” [2/6/65]
{here, Dick actually has a bigger role than in his 1961 UPA TV cartoons}
12) “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” [2/13/65]
13) “The Count of Monte Cristo” [2/27/65]
14) “Dr. Frankenstein” [3/13/65]
15) “Captain Kidd” [3/27/65]
16) “Noah’s Ark” [4/3/65]
17) “Sherlock Holmes” [4/10/65]
18) “King Arthur” [4/17/65]
19) “Paul Revere” [4/24/65]
I’m quite certain Classic/Vivendi will be releasing the other “movie compliations” if “Sherwood Forest” is a success…and down the road, perhaps all 26 episodes as they were originally presented.