# The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle

The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle is a 1979–1980 animated television series featuring newly produced Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle cartoons. The series was produced by Filmation, and aired from 1979 to 1980 on CBS with 96 episodes (128 if counting the educational "Nature" and "Homonyms" segments, hosted by Mighty and Heckle and Jeckle respectively) produced. It was the second Mighty Mouse cartoon series, following the original Mighty Mouse Playhouse from 1955 to 1967, and followed by Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, which aired from 1987 to 1988.

## Production

CBS was looking to bring Mighty Mouse back to television for the first time since Mighty Mouse Playhouse went off the air in 1967. They had purchased the Terrytoons studio back in 1955 and eventually closed it in 1972. Without an animation studio of their own to produce new content, they licensed out their works to Filmation.
In the Mighty Mouse segments, Mighty Mouse protected the world and his love interest, Pearl Pureheart, from the evil machinations of Oil Can Harry and his new bumbling henchman, Swifty, a fat cat who could still run extremely fast. Their encounters could happen in any time period, with Pearl and the villains adopting roles specific for the era, though Mighty Mouse remained the same. Several changes were made to the Mighty Mouse formula for Filmation's series. The characters' operatic dialogue delivery from the theatrical shorts was mostly removed to reduce the necessity to hire additional actors that could sing for roles that producer Lou Scheimer would fill in the various episodes (although Mighty Mouse would still belt some lines out, like his catchphrase, "Here I come to save the day!"). According to producer Norm Prescott, the operatic dialogue was also removed because he did not think that "a singing superhero mouse" would fly with contemporary audiences. Filmation also abandoned the faux serialization tradition of starting off each entry as if it were a continuation of some non-existent previous part. Instead, events would unfold as Mighty Mouse usually watched for trouble through a giant telescope from his fortress on a cheese-like planet in space. One all-new story, the science fiction serial "The Great Space Chase", was serialized across the entire season in 16 parts. In keeping with broadcast standards of the time, the violence was toned down or non-existent. For the Heckle and Jeckle segments, the magpies' antics were toned down to reduce their malevolent and sadistic nature. However, they still remained somewhat madcap in their antics, particularly with fourth wall breaks taking advantage of them being cartoon characters. Jeckle was portrayed as the smarter of the pair. The series introduced a new segment, Quacula. Quacula was a pale blue vampire duck with a Daffy Duck-like bill and fangs, dressed in a blue jacket and a black cape with a red lining, who slept by day in a white egg-shaped coffin, in the basement of a house owned by an anthropomorphic bear named Theodore. Every night Quacula would rise from his coffin and try to terrify Theodore and others, but he would never really succeed; his antics tended to be more comical than frightening. Also, Theodore would come up with one plan after another to rid himself of Quacula, but always fail to do so. Each hour of The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle consisted of two Mighty Mouse cartoons, two Heckle and Jeckle cartoons, one Quacula cartoon, and one episode of "The Great Space Chase". Also included were "Mighty Mouse Environmental Bulletins" and Heckle and Jeckle's "Homonyms" (to add a little educational karma).
Due to one of their studio training programs, run by Don Christensen, Filmation brought a lot of new people in, including storyboard artists John Kricfalusi, Tom Minton and Eddie Fitzgerald, and screenwriter Paul Dini, and gave them their start in animation on the show and their other productions such as Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids' The Brown Hornet. Because the studio kept all of their work in America, they were hiring more than any other company and teaching working animation to the next generation. A lot of the animators, including Kricfalusi, Kent Butterworth and some old animators who had worked on classic 1930s-1940s cartoons like Tom Baron, Ed Friedman, Dick Hall, Don Schloat, Larry Silverman, Kay Wright, Lou Zukor, Ed DeMattia, Lee Halpern, Alex Ignatiev, Jack Ozark and Curt Perkins, wanted to rebel against Filmation's mandates of reusable animation and their strict "on-model" policies where model sheets had to be traced, and sneak in some fluid animation. They wanted to break the rules, not understanding the limitations put on by network strictures and economic realities. Fitzgerald, Minton and other storyboard artists drew some funny and lively storyboards as reference for the animators. As a result, the animation and art was a lot more energetic than the original Terrytoons. Fitzgerald storyboarded a scene in the episode "Movie Mouse" where Oil Can Harry does a wild take in response to Swifty telling him that he used handcuffs to tie up a snake. He got in trouble with Scheimer and Prescott, who claimed that it could not be animated. Butterworth insisted that it could, and he spent a week working on it to prove it. The scene wound up in the finished episode. Kricfalusi, Fitzgerald, Minton and Butterworth would later go on to work on Ralph Bakshi's Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures. Paul Dini wrote some of the Quacula and Heckle and Jeckle episodes. When he first got hired, he was lighting models for Filmation. Dini's father was a friend of Prescott's. He had just gotten out of school and sent Filmation a script, which they found funny, so Dini was given some work.
After the series premiered, cartoonist Scott Shaw filed suit against Filmation due to the fact that he had created a character named Duckula for the comic book Quack! #1 (July 1976), published by Star*Reach. While the notion of a vampire duck was not really new as Daffy Duck had appeared with a "Duckula" character in Daffy Duck #92 four years prior in 1975, what drew concern from Shaw! was the fact that he was alerted by friends at Filmation that they had copies of Quack! on hand during production, and that Quacula's character model sheet seemed to be a Bob Clampett Daffy with Duckula's features overlayed onto it (Shaw! would recruit Clampett as an expert witness). Additionally, Duckula had his own bear supporting character named Bearanboltz, a dim-witted pastiche of Frankenstein's monster, which again made the similarities too convenient. The matter was settled out of court by Filmation with Shaw! for $30,000, and after 16 episodes Quacula was dropped from the show. The show was shortened to a half-hour in 1980, and was moved to Sundays in its final season. In 1982, "The Great Space Chase" was re-edited into an 80-minute movie which had a limited release to theaters. It later appeared on home video.

## Voice cast and their characters

* Alan Oppenheimer – Oil Can Harry, Swifty, Narrator, Additional Voices
* Diane Pershing – Pearl Pureheart, Additional Voices
* Frank Welker – Heckle, Jeckle, Quacula, Theodore H. Bear, Additional Voices
* Lou Scheimer (uncredited) – Mighty Mouse, Additional Voices
* Erika Scheimer (uncredited) - Additional Voices (episode 4)

## Episodes

| No. | Original air date | Title | Written by: |
| 1 | September 8, 1979 | Mouse of the Desert (Mighty Mouse) | Sam Simon |
| 1 | September 8, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 1 | |
| 1 | September 8, 1979 | Stop...Pay Troll (Mighty Mouse) | Sam Simon |
| 1 | September 8, 1979 | Goldfeather (Heckle & Jeckle) | Bill Danch |
| 1 | September 8, 1979 | Star Boars (Quacula) | Ted Pedersen |
| 1 | September 8, 1979 | The Golden Egg (Heckle & Jeckle) | Dan DiStefano |
| 2 | September 15, 1979 | Planks a Lot (Mighty Mouse) | Sam Simon |
| 2 | September 15, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 2 | |
| 2 | September 15, 1979 | The Exercist (Mighty Mouse) | Marc Richards |
| 2 | September 15, 1979 | The Heroes (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ron Card |
| 2 | September 15, 1979 | House for Sale (Quacula) | Ron Card |
| 2 | September 15, 1979 | Cavebirds (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ted Pedersen |
| 3 | September 22, 1979 | The Star of Cucamonga (Mighty Mouse) | Ron Card |
| 3 | September 22, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 3 | |
| 3 | September 22, 1979 | Gypsy Mice (Mighty Mouse) | Ted Pedersen |
| 3 | September 22, 1979 | Show Business (Heckle & Jeckle) | Bill Danch |
| 3 | September 22, 1979 | Weird Bear (Quacula) | Bill Danch & Ted Pedersen |
| 3 | September 22, 1979 | Spurs (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ron Card |
| 4 | September 29, 1979 | Loco Motivations (Mighty Mouse) | Dave Bascom |
| 4 | September 29, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 4 | Buzz Dixon |
| 4 | September 29, 1979 | Cats and Robbers (Mighty Mouse) | Bill Danch |
| 4 | September 29, 1979 | Birds of Paradise (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ted Pedersen |
| 4 | September 29, 1979 | Monster Mash (Quacula) | Ted Pedersen |
| 4 | September 29, 1979 | The Open Road (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ted Pedersen |
| 5 | October 6, 1979 | Blimp with the Wind (Mighty Mouse) | Dave Bascom |
| 5 | October 6, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 5 | |
| 5 | October 6, 1979 | Catula (Mighty Mouse) | Bill Danch |
| 5 | October 6, 1979 | Robot Factory (Heckle & Jeckle) | Creighton Barnes |
| 5 | October 6, 1979 | Uncle Ferenc (Quacula) | Ron Card |
| 5 | October 6, 1979 | Farmer and the Crows (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ted Pedersen |
| 6 | October 13, 1979 | Mouserace (Mighty Mouse) | Bill Danch |
| 6 | October 13, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 6 | |
| 6 | October 13, 1979 | The Sun Harnesser (Mighty Mouse) | Ron Card |
| 6 | October 13, 1979 | Foreign Legion Birds (Heckle & Jeckle) | Dan DiStefano |
| 6 | October 13, 1979 | The Magic Lamp (Quacula) | Ron Card |
| 6 | October 13, 1979 | Mail Birds (Heckle & Jeckle) | Creighton Barnes |
| 7 | October 20, 1979 | Movie Mouse (Mighty Mouse) | Sam Simon |
| 7 | October 20, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 7 | |
| 7 | October 20, 1979 | Mick Jaguar in Concert (Mighty Mouse) | Buzz Dixon |
| 7 | October 20, 1979 | The Malcon-tents (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ron Card |
| 7 | October 20, 1979 | Room for Rent (Quacula) | Ron Card |
| 7 | October 20, 1979 | Bellhops (Heckle & Jeckle) | Nancy Schipper |
| 8 | October 27, 1979 | Pheline of the Rock Opera (Mighty Mouse) | Bill Danch |
| 8 | October 27, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 8 | Buzz Dixon |
| 8 | October 27, 1979 | Captain Nemo-oh-oh (Mighty Mouse) | Bill Danch |
| 8 | October 27, 1979 | Sphinx! (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ted Pedersen |
| 8 | October 27, 1979 | Morgana La Duck (Quacula) | Paul Dini |
| 8 | October 27, 1979 | Hang Two (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ted Pedersen |
| 9 | November 3, 1979 | Snow Mouse (Mighty Mouse) | Ted Pedersen |
| 9 | November 3, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 9 | |
| 9 | November 3, 1979 | Haunted House Mouse (Mighty Mouse) | Bill Danch |
| 9 | November 3, 1979 | Witch Way Outta Here (Heckle & Jeckle) | Dan DiStefano |
| 9 | November 3, 1979 | Return of Star Boars (Quacula) | Ted Pedersen |
| 9 | November 3, 1979 | C.B. Birds (Heckle & Jeckle) | Nancy Schipper |
| 10 | November 10, 1979 | Cat Ness Monster (Mighty Mouse) | Creighton Barnes |
| 10 | November 10, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 10 | Sam Simon & Buzz Dixon |
| 10 | November 10, 1979 | Rugged Rodent (Mighty Mouse) | Buzz Dixon |
| 10 | November 10, 1979 | Shopping Center (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ted Pedersen |
| 10 | November 10, 1979 | Time and Before (Quacula) | Ted Pedersen |
| 10 | November 10, 1979 | Where There's a Will (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ron Card & Bill Danch |
| 11 | November 17, 1979 | Gorilla My Dreams (Mighty Mouse) | Bill Danch |
| 11 | November 17, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 11 | |
| 11 | November 17, 1979 | Cattenstein (Mighty Mouse) | Bill Danch |
| 11 | November 17, 1979 | Identity Problem (Heckle & Jeckle) | Creighton Barnes |
| 11 | November 17, 1979 | Bungled Burglary (Quacula) | Paul Dini |
| 11 | November 17, 1979 | Time Warped (Heckle & Jeckle) | Paul Dini |
| 12 | November 24, 1979 | Cat of the Baskervilles (Mighty Mouse) | Sam Simon |
| 12 | November 24, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 12 | |
| 12 | November 24, 1979 | Pearl of the Jungle (Mighty Mouse) | |
| 12 | November 24, 1979 | Invisible Birds (Heckle & Jeckle) | |
| 12 | November 24, 1979 | Shanghai Salty (Quacula) | Ted Pedersen |
| 12 | November 24, 1979 | Marathon Bird (Heckle & Jeckle) | Nancy Schipper |
| 13 | December 1, 1979 | Moby Whale (Mighty Mouse) | Buzz Dixon |
| 13 | December 1, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 13 | |
| 13 | December 1, 1979 | Big Top Cat (Mighty Mouse) | |
| 13 | December 1, 1979 | Supermarket (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ted Pedersen |
| 13 | December 1, 1979 | Pyramid (Quacula) | Ron Card & Bill Danch |
| 13 | December 1, 1979 | Flowered Knighthood (Heckle & Jeckle) | Ted Pedersen |
| 14 | December 8, 1979 | The Disorient Express (Mighty Mouse) | Sam Simon |
| 14 | December 8, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 14 | |
| 14 | December 8, 1979 | The Maltese Mouse (Mighty Mouse) | Buzz Dixon |
| 14 | December 8, 1979 | Astrobirds (Heckle & Jeckle) | |
| 14 | December 8, 1979 | Haunted House (Quacula) | Ron Card |
| 14 | December 8, 1979 | Apartment Birds (Heckle & Jeckle) | |
| 15 | December 15, 1979 | Beau Jest (Mighty Mouse) | Bill Danch |
| 15 | December 15, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 15 | |
| 15 | December 15, 1979 | Curse of the Cat (Mighty Mouse) | |
| 15 | December 15, 1979 | The 25th Century (Heckle & Jeckle) | |
| 15 | December 15, 1979 | Magic Duck (Quacula) | Ron Card |
| 15 | December 15, 1979 | Safari Birds (Heckle & Jeckle) | Sam Simon |
| 16 | December 22, 1979 | Around the World in 80 Ways (Mighty Mouse) | Ted Pedersen |
| 16 | December 22, 1979 | The Great Space Chase: Chapter 16 | |
| 16 | December 22, 1979 | Tugboat Pearl (Mighty Mouse) | |
| 16 | December 22, 1979 | Wonderland (Heckle & Jeckle) | |
| 16 | December 22, 1979 | The Fantastic 2½ (Quacula) | Ted Pedersen |
| 16 | December 22, 1979 | Arabian Nights and Days (Heckle & Jeckle) | |