Where To Watch
Who remembers these 9 cartoons based on popular 1970s TV shows?
Your parents' favorite shows were also your favorite cartoons.
If a show was popular in the 1970s, chances were there was an animated adaptation to go along with it.
With cartoons dominating the Saturday mornings of children across the country, cross promoting to a younger demographic just made sense. While some of the animated versions were believable, others were downright silly — a time traveling Fonz? Here's a look at some of the best. How many do you remember?
1. The Addams Family
Hanna-Barbera adapted the 1960s television series in 1973. The actors who played Uncle Fester and Lurch both returned to voice their characters from the live-action show.
Image: Bionic Disco
2. The Brady Kids
All six children from The Brady Bunch lent their voices to the 1972 animated series. As implied in the title, the parents and Alice weren't involved. But some talking animals were, including Marlon the bird, Mop Top the dog, and twin pandas Ping and Pong.
3. Emergency +4
Based on Emergency!, the animated series featured four children (and a monkey) who joined Gage and DeSoto on their rescue missions.
Image: Bionic Disco
4. The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang
Henry Winkler, Ron Howard and Don Most all lent their voices to the time-traveling animated version of Happy Days, which Hanna-Barbera produced in 1980. Their main goal was to some day make it back to Milwaukee.
Image: YouTube
5. Laverne & Shirley In The Army
As with a lot of cartoons, this one didn't make much sense. Laverne and Shirley leave Milwaukee to join the army, take orders from a talking pig, and fly in outer space — (among other things). One thing did make the show realistic. Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams both lent their voices.
6. M*U*S*H
Although not affiliated with M*A*S*H, this cartoon parody certainly deserves a mention. Standing for Mangy Unwanted Shabby Heroes, the cartoon shorts centered around sled dogs working at a medical outpost in "Saboonia." The parody was featured on the short lived Saturday morning show Uncle Croc's Block.
Image: MASH4077TV.com
7. The New Adventures of Batman
Adam West and Burt Ward reprised their roles as Batman and Robin from the 1966 television series for the animated adaptation. The New Adventures of Batman premiered in 1977 on CBS.
Image credit: Superhero Shows
8. The New Adventures of Gilligan
A few years after Gilligan's Island ended, the show was reborn as an animated series. With the exception of Tina Louise and Dawn Wells, the whole cast reprised their roles. Jane Webb provided the voice for both female leads.
Image: DVD Talk
9. Bonus: Gilligan's Planet
The gang reunited for another cartoon for Filmation studios in 1982. This time, Dawn Wells did lend her voice — to Ginger as well as Mary Ann!
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