| Groovie Goolies | |
|---|---|
| |
| Executive Producer(s) | Lou Scheimer, Norm Prescott |
| Distributed by | Filmation Group W Productions |
| Original run | September 12, 1970 – unknown |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
Groovie Goolies was a 1970 television series produced by Filmation that featured many concepts and even some animation that would be reused in the 1986 Ghostbusters cartoon series.
Filmation had had enormous succes the previous years with cartoons based on "The Archies" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" comics, which were shown in one hour blocks. In 1970, Sabrina was coupled with a new concept, The Groovie Goolies, featuring the classic Universal monsters Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Wolfman and the Mummy living together at 'Horrible Hall', a castle that also served as an Inn for monsters.
Like the previous two shows, there were musical numbers in every episode, and while The Archies had featured quickfire gag segments in the style of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In", the Groovie Goolies show was made up almost completely of gags, puns and short sketches rather than a coherent story.
Larry Storch provided various voices including the characters of Drac, Ratso and Ghoulihand before being cast as Spenser in Filmation's The Ghost Busters.
Ghostbusters Related[]
Apparitia's favorite show
Horrible Hall featured many 'posessed' items of furniture that could move and/or speak. Several of these ideas were repurposed for the 1986 Ghostbusters cartoon series. Further more, the characters Drac, his red bat form, Bella La Ghostly and a balloon like ghost all reappeared on the 1986 show.
In the episode Pretend Friends, the Groovie Goolies is being watched by Apparitia on the Bone Troller's viewscreen and she mentions that it is her favorite cartoon. However, the character of Bella La Ghostly has black hair on the viewscreen, instead of the original purple. The black haired version was only seen in the Ghosbusters episode The Girl Who Cried Vampire, in which Drac and Bella are repurposed as Victor and Vampra.
Similarities between the two shows[]
- Both series featured an enclosed elevator box named Skelevator.
- Napoleon Bone Apart was a skeleton that constantly fell apart, like Scared Stiff
- Wolfie, a werewolf, drove a skull shaped dragster called the Wolf Wagon similar to Fangster's Scare Scooter.
- Drac was often harrased by a love sick love seat that was similar to Fred.
- The Ghostbusters episode The Ransom Of Eddie Spenser featured a Ghost Telephone Operator that looked and acted like Bella La Ghostly in the Groovie Ghoolies.
- Bella's phone looked like an early version of Ansabone.
Reused animation[]
- Drac's red bat form appears in the Ghostbusters episodes Shades Of Dracula; The Girl Who Cried Vampire (for both Victor and Vampra) and The Haunted Painting.
- The Character models for Drac and Bella La Ghostly are reused as Victor and Vampra in The Girl Who Cried Vampire and appear on the Bone Troller viewscreein in Pretend Friends.
- An unidentified balloon shaped ghost from the Groovie Goolies also makes an appearance in The Girl Who Cried Vampire as a red balloon ghost, albeit in a slightly modified form.
Comparison Gallery[]
Groovie Goolies Skelevator
Ghostbusters Skelevator
Napoleon Bone Apart
Scared Stiff
Wolf Wagon
Scare Scooter
Groovie Goolies' Love Seat
Ghostbusters' Fred
Groovy Goolies' Bella La Ghostly
Ghostbusters' Ghost Telephone operator
Groovy Goolies' phone
Ghostbusters' Ansabone
Drac's Bat form
Vampire Bat from The Haunted Painting
Drac & Bella
Victor & Vampra
Blue Balloon Ghost
Red Balloon Ghost