| The Biskitts | |
|---|---|
| 200px | |
| Genre | Animation Children's |
| Voices of | Dick Beals Peter Cullen Jennifer Darling Marshall Efron Henry Gibson Kathleen Helppie Darryl Hickman Bob Holt Jerry Houser Kip King Kenneth Mars Mark L. Taylor B.J. Ward |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Producer(s) | Art Scott |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 17, 1983 – September 8, 1984 |
The Biskitts is an animated cartoon TV series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1983 to 1984 and aired on CBS. The series lasted for only one season, Shirt Tales replaced the show in its time slot on the following 1984-85 Saturday Morning season. The Biskitts returned to that same time slot in March 1985 but only aired reruns in the remainder of that season.[1]
Following the series retirement from CBS, like many other cartoons, it was acquired by the Armed Forces Network and shown throughout much of the 1980s, mainly as entertainment for children of deployed American servicemen in Asia and Europe.
Contents |
Plot [link]
The Biskitts are a group of tiny anthropomorphic dogs who live on Biskitt Island and are committed to guarding the crown jewels of Biskitt Castle. Modeled after Robin Hood, the Biskitts still serve their recently deceased king while performing good deeds for the underprivileged inhabitants of their tiny island. It is explained in the opening narration that due to their good reputation for responsibility and security, other kings have entrusted their treasures to be safeguarded by the Biskitts.
The villain of the series is the king's mean-spirited, wasteful, younger brother King Max who rules the neighboring Lower Suburbia. In lieu of a proper coronation, Max constantly schemes to steal the royal treasure with the help of his hench-hounds Fang & Snarl and his jester Shecky. The Biskitts are also in danger of being captured and eaten by a large wildcat named Scratch.
Characters [link]
- Wags (voiced by Darryl Hickman) - Wags is the leader of the Biskitt. He is Sweets's boyfriend.
- Sweets (voiced by Kathleen Helppie) – Sweets is a brave Biskitt. She is Wags's girlfriend.
- Shiner (voiced by Jerry Houser) – Shiner is lazy and selfish. He charms both Sweets, Lady and Wiggle.
- Lady (voiced by B.J. Ward) – Lady is a pretty Biskitt. She is friends with Sweets and Wiggle.
- Bump (voiced by Bob Holt) – Bump is the muscles of the Biskitts. He protect his friends.
- Downer (voiced by Henry Gibson) – Downer is the cowardly Biskitt who is friends with Shiner.
- Wiggle (voiced by Jennifer Darling) – Wiggle is one of the girl Biskitts. She has a crush on Wags. She is friends with Sweets and Lady.
- Spinner (voiced by Bob Holt) – Spinner is the wise Biskitt. He is always with Wags and other.
- Scat (voiced by Dick Beals) – Scat is a young Biskitt. He is playful and brave.
- Mooch (voiced by Marshall Efron) – Mooch is always with the Biskitts.
- King Max (voiced by the late Kenneth Mars) – The evil, mean-spirited, and wasteful King who rules the neighboring Lower Suburbia and serves as the primary antagonist of the series. He is the younger brother of the previous King. Why Max is not crowned the new ruler of the Biskitts is never explained (although it is presumed the old king barred Max from succeeding him on account of Max's mean nature). He tries hard to go the Biskitts Castle to steal the royal treasure.
- Shecky (voiced by Kip King) – Shecky is King Max’s sidekick and court jester. Although Shecky was rather dimwitted and not always loyal to Max, as he even made friends with a Biskitt who shared his love of practical jokes.
- Fang and Snarl (vocal effects provided by Kenneth Mars and Peter Cullen) - Fang and Snarl are King Max's hounds.
- Moat Monster (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) - A serpentine monster that lives in the moat surrounding King Max's castle.
- Scratch (voiced by Peter Cullen) – Scratch is a wildcat who is always trying to catch the Biskitts. In "Belling the Wildcat," he is shown to have a cousin named Itch.
Other characters [link]
- Rover (voice by Peter Cullen) - A dashing, yet sly rogue Biskitt. Appeared in only one episode
- Flip - A laid-back Biskitt.
- Fetch (voiced by Kenneth Mars) - A silly-looking Biskitt.
- The Whiskers - A group of Feline cats when Sweets meet them. Only appears on "Raiders of The Lost Bark."
- Mouser – Leader of the Whiskers and he befriend with Sweets.
- Pendora – A female cat.
- Boots – A lazy cat and always sleep.
- Scaredy Cat – A cat who is afraid of everything.
- Mink – A pretty cat and have a crush on Scat, after he save her from Scratch.
- Jinks – A cat with a bad luck.
- King Otto - A king who arrived with his army of knights to steal King Max's treasure. He only appeared in "King Max's War."
Episode list [link]
| Episode | Title | Airdate | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1A | As The Worm Turns | Sweets befriend a worm. | |
| 1B | Trouble In The Tunnel | Shiner give Scat for cleaning treasure and a mole comes on Biskitt Island and the ring get stock on the mole’s nose and Scat follow the mole, can Scat save the day and stop King Max. | |
| 2A | The Moonpond | Shiner teach Downer be brave. | |
| 2B | Fly Me To The Goon | Bump lands on King Max's castle. Wags, Sweets, Scat and Shiner must save him. | |
| 3A | Spinner's Surprise | It's Spinner's birthday, | |
| 3B | Two Leagues Under The Pond | King Max and Shecky use a submarine crocodile like to get King John’s treasure on Biskitts Island. | |
| 4A | Dogfoot | Downer is sick and Biskitts meets Dogfoot. | |
| 4B | Up To His Old Tricks | King Max using the Trick Book and he get treasure. Unfortunately, Sweets and Downer are on the treasure box. Wags and other Biskitts must get the treasure back and save Sweets and Downer. | |
| 5A | Turnaround Hound | Snarl get hurt and Biskitts take care of him. Shiner help him to get better. | |
| 5B | A Dark and Stormy Knight | A Black Knight appears and he want the Biskitts treasure and he kidnappet Scat. Now the Biskitts and King Max have to work together to thwart the Black Knight. | |
| 6A | Belling The Wildcat | The Biskitts plot to bell Scratch to keep him from sneaking up on them. Meanwhile, Scratch is visited by his cousin Itch. | |
| 6B | King Max's War | King Otto and his knights arrive in Biskitt Swamp in order to claim King Max's treasure even though he doesn't have any. To keep their swamp from being burned down, the Biskitts end up arranging a duel between King Max and King Otto. | |
| 7A | Moving Day | Using the rainy weather to their advantage, King Max and Shecky search for the Biskitts and do a sneak attack on them. | |
| 7B | A Biskitt Halloween | On Halloween, a witch that the Biskitts have outsmarted years ago returns to obtain two Biskitts in order to stay on Biskitt Island. Her spell ends up draining the life out of the swamp which also turns Scratch, King Max, and Shecky to stone. She kidnapped Wags and Sweets, can Biskitts save them before late. | |
| 8A | Around The Swamp In A Daze | King Max and Shecky use a balloon to find the Biskitt Island. | |
| 8B | Rogue Biskitt | A Biskitt named Rover arrives on Biskitt Island. Scat want to join him on his journey | |
| 9A | The Golden Biskitt | Lady turns into gold by a wizard’s apprentice. | |
| 9B | The Bone in the Stone | When Wags's leg is hurt, so Sweets take the leader for the other Biskitts and try get the treasure back from the dragon. | |
| 10A | The Trojan Biskitt | King Max plot to give Biskitts a statue of Biskitts, he can get the treasures. | |
| 10B | Snatched from Scratch | Shiner get kidnapped both Scratch and King Max, can Biskitts save their selfish friend. | |
| 11A | The Biskitt Who Cried Wolf | Wiggle try to impress Wags (who has a crush on him). King Max uses a Eagle to capture Biskitts, can Wiggle save them. | |
| 11B | Shecky's Last Laugh | Bump befriends Shecky. | |
| 12A | Raiders of The Lost Bark | Sweets meets the Whiskers, a group of Cats. | |
| 12B | The Princess and The Plea | Princess Biskitts is kidnapped by King Max. Wags, Bump, Shiner, Scat, Mooch and Downer go out to save her. Sweets, Wiggle and Lady must show the boys that the girls are better. | |
| 13A | The Swamp Monster | Scat try to be brave. | |
| 13B | May the Best Biskitt Win | Shiner challenge Wags with Vote, who will win the Vote and how is leader for Biskitts Wags or Shiner. |
Cast [link]
- Dick Beals - Scat
- Peter Cullen - Dog Foot, Snarl, Scratch
- Jennifer Darling - Wiggle
- Marshall Efron - Mooch
- Henry Gibson - Downer
- Kathleen Helppie - Sweets
- Darryl Hickman - Wags
- Bob Holt - Bump, Flip, Spinner
- Jerry Houser - Shiner
- Kip King - Shecky
- Kenneth Mars - Fetch, King Max, Fang
- Mark L. Taylor -
- B.J. Ward - Lady
- Frank Welker - Itch, Moat Monster (uncredited)
Children's book [link]
A children's book was created based on The Biskitts. In the book it is discovered that Shecky, the jester and lackey of King Max, bears a striking resemblance to King John, one of the kings who has entrusted his treasure to be safeguarded by the Biskitts. When King Max learns of this, he plots to use it to his advantage telling Shecky that they will attempt to steal King John's treasure by having Shecky impersonate King John to come and withdraw his treasure, and Max will pretend to be his slave. While Max and Shecky fool the Biskitts at first into thinking the real King John has come; Shecky seems to enjoy goofing off more and allowing Max to have to do all sorts of chores, much as King Max made him do plenty of demeaning labor.
DVD release [link]
There is no discussion of a "Complete Series" DVD set of the show from Warner Home Video it is however apart of the DVD collection, Saturday Mornings Cartoons: 1980s - Volume 1 released on May 4, 2010.
References [link]
- ^ TV Guide Guide to TV. Barnes and Noble. 2004. pp. 73. ISBN 0-7607-5634-1.
