11 forgotten Saturday morning cartoons from the Sixties

Lions and penguins and frogs, oh my!

Images: The Everett Collection

The 1960s delivered a slew of sensational Saturday morning cartoon characters that we still love today. There was Underdog and Magilla Gorilla; Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel; and goofy humans like George of the Jungle. Oh, and let's not overlook primetime families like the Jetsons and Flintstones, who delighted us with reruns on weekends, too.

But they were not alone on the A.M. lineup. There were dozens of other cartoons, many of which have faded from the public mind. We're talking lions and beagles and frogs, oh my! 

Let's take a look.

1. King Leonardo and His Short Subjects

1960–63

Lions were a go-to animal when it came to children's entertainment. You'll find a few on this list. We begin with this regal feline, who ruled the land of Bongo Congo. You might recognize the voice of Leonardo, as it was provided by actor Jackson Beck, heard as both the announcer on radio's The Adventures of Superman and as Bluto in classic Popeye cartoons.

Image: The Everett Collection

2. The Hector Heathcote Show

1963–65

Little Colonial era patriot Hector Heathcote had a brief moment in the sun, appearing on lunch boxes, books and one single issue of a Gold Key comic book. The cartoon also included shorts about Hashimoto San, a Japanese mouse, and Silly Sidney the Elephant. Sidney had a buddy named Stanley, a grumpy — you guessed it — lion.

Image: The Everett Collection

3. Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales

1963–66

Don Adams of Get Smart gave this polar bird real personality. Tennessee and his pal Chumley the Walrus lived in a zoo, run by Stanley Livingston and his flunky… er, Flunky. A gangster bad guy named Rocky Maninoff (voiced by the aforementioned Jackson Beck) provided a foil. To be fair, Tennessee Tuxedo was not entirely forgotten, as he returned a few years ago in a series of web shorts, but he's certainly a few rungs under Chilly Willy on the fame ladder.

Image: The Everett Collection

4. Hoppity Hooper

1964–67

Jay Ward, creator of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, branched out with this amiable amphibian. The two shows were quite similar in style. In fact, Hoppity Hooper recycled some of the interstitial shorts — like Fractured Fairy Tales — that had been previously seen on Rocky and Bullwinkle. You can watch Hoppity hop on YouTube.

Image: Jay Ward Productions / YouTube

5. Linus the Lionhearted

1964–69

Essentially a 30-minute commercial for Post Cereals, Linus the Lionhearted was a thinly veiled attempt to get kids salivating for Sugar Crisp and Alpha-Bits. The characters were all cereal mascots seen on the boxes in grocery aisles. Linus himself was the spokeslion for Heart of Oats, a Cheerios clone. The smooth-talking Sugar Bear was a regular, alongside Claudius Crow (Sugar Sparkled Flakes), Rory Racoon (Post Toasties) and others. But, oh, what a voice cast! Sitcom legends Carl Reiner, Ruth Buzzi, Jonathan Winters, Jerry Stiller and Tom Poston all brought this marketing menagerie to life.

Image: CBS Television Distribution / YouTube

6. Milton the Monster

1965–68

This parody of Frankenstein and his monster was the creation of Hal Seeger, who also churned out the even more forgotten Batfink. All of his work was a sort of send-up of more popular shows of the era — riffing on The Munsters, Batman, The Green Hornet, etc. Milton's voice was a spoof of Gomer Pyle and Jim Nabors, provided by Bob McFadden, who must have loved Frankenstein types. He also voiced Franken Berry.

Image: CBS Television Distribution

7. The Beagles

1966–67

With Beatlemania at its peak (not to mention Peanuts popularity) this pun was too good to pass up. This toon was the product of Total Television, the studio behind the similarly styled Tennessee Tuxedo and Underdog. Of course, the Beatles had their own cartoon at that time, too. The Beagles duo in turn recorded an album, Here Come the Beagles.

Image: CBS

8. Cool McCool

1966–67

Wrapped in a yellow trenchcoat, the secret agent character parodied the popular spy shows of the time. Cool McCool was a little bit Dick Tracy, a lot like Maxwell Smart and a precursor to Inspector Gadget. We once asked, Do You Remember Cool McCool, and judging by the numbers, we're going with a resounding "No."

Image: King Features / NBC

9. The Space Kidettes

1966–67

Hanna-Barbera built off the success of The Jetsons with another space-age toon, this one about a quartet of kids. The Jetsons similarities went beyond the look of the space helmets, as Don Messick (Astro), Janet Waldo (Judy) and Daws Butler (Elroy) all provided voices.

Image: The Everett Collection

10. Shazzan

1967–69

Not to be confused with Shazam! (or Shaq's Kazaam, for that matter), this genie was also the product of Hanna-Barbera. Shazzan was the work of Alex Toth, the brilliant illustrator and animator who had created Space Ghost and Harvey Birdman. The genie craze was at its peak, with I Dream of Jeannie on the air at the time. Voicing Shazzan was Barney Phillips, the actor best known as the three-eyed alien seen in The Twilight Zone episode "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?"

Image: Warner Bros. Television Distribution

11. Super President

1967–68

It's an eagle… It's Air Force One… It's SUPER PRESIDENT! This Saturday morning cartoon ran in the late 1960s, depicting a POTUS who could change his molecular composition. He also flew around in an amphibious rocket called the Omnicar — or by using jets built into his belt. He was voiced by Paul Frees, who also played on the other side of the Cold War, as Boris on Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Image: United Artists Television

SEE MORE: 12 early '80s Saturday Morning cartoons you totally forgot about

Remember Blackstar, Goldie Gold, Saturday Supercade and the Biskitts? READ MORE

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41 Comments

Fred_Clampett 5 days ago
The few of these I have seen were mostly in syndication and aired early on Sunday mornings. I have a vague recollection of Milton the Monster. Didn't smoke come from the top of his head, like a chimney?
Amalthea 6 days ago
I could never forget Cool McCool, Tennessee Tuxedo & Chumley, and Shazzan (I loved the camel & those rings)! I vaguely remember Hoppity & Linus.
DuanneWalton 38 months ago
Tennessee Tuxedo forgotten? Never! It's THE educational cartoon! I've seen all of these except The Beagles, Shazzan, and Super President.
CraigGustafson 38 months ago
"Cool McCool" forgotten? No. A thousand times no.
The voice was by Bob McFadden. While Don Adams was doing an exaggerated William Powell impression as Maxwell Smart, Bob McFadden was doing Jack Benny.
BFF 39 months ago
I was born in the mid 50s. My parents taught us to read before we were three YO.
I recognized less than 20% of the cartoons listed.
Hmmm, guess I was turned into a nerd at an early age.
destey123 BFF 34 months ago
you got robbed
lesbarkerjr 39 months ago
On Saturday mornings I would get up early lay on the couch and watch the test pattern until Davy and Goliath came on. Then I would watch cartoons all morning. I remember just about all these cartoons. I couldn’t believe when the major networks stopped showing cartoons on Saturday mornings. The cartoon channel and boomerang don’t even come close to taking their place.
RedjacArbez 41 months ago
If you look up Cool McCool....Simon Cowell Co Produced it!!!! Awesome....But considering he was only 7 when that show was on TV......How???????
RedSamRackham 42 months ago
* [1] The Linus cereal mascot characters sadly hugging & waving B'bye to viewers as they walked away at show's closing was copied live years later on SNL with cast, guest host and musical guest host hugging after doing their good-nights to audience. [2] Milton The Monster was a knockoff of character actor Grady Sutton, not Gomer Pyle! ♣
RedjacArbez RedSamRackham 41 months ago
No it was an impression of Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle.
How many times are you going to post this?
idkwut2use 42 months ago
Though they were obviously short-lived and well before my time, I feel as if I've seen most of them through my animation obsession and my mom sharing what she recalls from her childhood. Tennessee Tuxedo is especially familiar.
JoeGuenther 47 months ago
Give Flintstones a break and show Huckleberry Hound or Top Cat.
JoeSHill 47 months ago
Of these forgotten jewels, it was NBC Saturday Morning TV's oddest entry, "SUPER PRESIDENT" that DePatie-Freleng and Mirisch-Rich Television produced in association with United Artists Television. this odd superhero cartoon series also featured "Spy Shadow", aka Richard Vance, voiced by Ted Cassidy ("THE ADDAMS FAMILY") and was also such a turkey and an embarrassment for David H DePatie & Friz Freleng, that they regretted producing this series, as compared to their 1966 TV series, "SUPER SIX"-their fist Saturday Morning cartoon series that they also produced for NBC and United Artists-the designs were similar to Jay Ward's character designs, but a pleasantly animated spoof ("ZIP! ZAM! SWOOSH!) especially on the heels of Batmania, and a theme song by Gary Lewis and The Playboys!
Che385 47 months ago
A Saturday Cartoon block would be great. Please consider this.
RedSamRackham 47 months ago
* When I saw the W C Fields movie "THE BANK DICK" I realized that Milton The Monster was a parody of character actor Grady Sutton! ☺
"Gomer Pyle" was a new, hit show at the time. Nobody was doing Grady Sutton impressions.
MikeBugal 47 months ago
How could they leave the great Sheldon Leonard off the cast list of Linus the Lion Hearted?? He provided the voice of Linus both on this show and in the Post Crispy Critters commercials that aired all over Saturday morning at that time.
MikeBugal MikeBugal 47 months ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29BvBf0MVSE
Mark 47 months ago
Why doesn't Me-Tv get some good old Saturday morning shows like these and schedule them on Saturday mornings?
Bob 47 months ago
Forget Tennessee Tuxedo? He was the man.
ChuckJohnson Bob 47 months ago
I occasionally pull out my 3DBB to solve a problem.
RedSamRackham ChuckJohnson 42 months ago
* Larry Storch is the voice of Phineas J. Whoopee! ☺
RedjacArbez ChuckJohnson 41 months ago
If I did not know what a 3DBB is.....I would expect some bird with massive tits!
RedjacArbez 47 months ago
Cool was produced by Simon Cowell.
ttenchantr RedjacArbez 47 months ago
Impossible! Cool McCool was created in 1966 and Cowell was born in 1959.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1101562/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3
JohnBates ttenchantr 42 months ago
Cool McCool was,however, created by Bob Kane,the creator of Batman.
JeffBaker 60 months ago
Oh my gosh! I watched most of these! (I may actually be the only person who remembers Super President and Spy Shadow!)
RedSamRackham 60 months ago
When I saw WC Field's THE BANK DICK I realzed Milton The Monster actually parodied actor Grady Sutton. ☺
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