Diver Dan attempts to persuade Horace to become the star attraction at an aquarium, since he is the last of his species in existence, while Finley and Skipper Kipper argue that Horace should stay in the ocean with the rest of his fish friends. Meanwhile Baron Barracuda, with his henchman Trigger's assistance, has broken out of jail. Dan, Horace, Finley and the Skipper immediately join the search for the escaped prisoner.
Diver Dan was a series of 104 seven-minute live-action shorts made for children's television. Made by Brian Cartoons, it was syndicated (mainly to NBC affiliates) and distributed by ITC Entertainment. The shows were sometimes re-edited into half-hour (including commercials) blocks by local stations.
The series featured the adventures of a diver in an old-fashioned diving suit who talked to the passing fish. The series was filmed in live action with puppet fish; the underwater effect was achieved by shooting through an aquarium.
Production
Diver Dan debuted in 1960, the brainchild of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, cartoonist J. Anthony (John) Ferlaine, as a spinoff of his comic strip, Fish Tales. Ferlaine, who worked as an art director at Philadelphia's CBS affiliate WCAU-TV, produced two Fish Tales live-action marionette pilots. When CBS did not pick up the show, Ferlaine and promoter Martin Young partnered with Philadelphia producer Louis W. Kellman, who with his staff produced local TV spots and film shorts and filmed NFL football games. They produced the shorts over nine months and syndicated them.
In New York City, Diver Dan shorts ran as part of Felix & Diver Dan, a 30-minute children's show airing from January 4, 1960, to August 31, 1962, which also included Felix the Cat. In Chicago during the 1960s, Diver Dan was regularly shown on the WGN-TV show "Ray Rayner and His Friends" even though Rayner would frequently read on-air letters from children requesting that he get other cartoons.
Main cast
Allen Swift as the voices of many puppets, the unseen Captain Murphy and the narrator
2016. He performed in plays in Philadelphia and Broadway before Diver Dan. He made many Pall Mall and Budweiser commercials. In addition to acting Frank was a pioneer in sales of the cellphone, HBO cable TV company. He sold the first car cell phone in NYC for $20000.
Suzanne Turner as Miss Minerva, a mermaid, who referred to Diver Dan only as "the Diver" and shyly kept away from him.
Credits
Produced by: Louis W. Kellman
A Brian Cartoons, Inc. production in association with Young Productions, Inc.
Executive producer: Hal Tunis
Associate producer: Harvey Blake
Created by J. Anthony Ferlaine
Writers included: Joseph Bonaduce, Ron Ronszel
Puppeteers: Martin Kreiner, John Caracciolo, Harold Taylor, Alfred Sandstrom
Directors: Leon Rhodes, Mort Heilig
Production manager: Ben Berk
Cameraman: Morris Kellman
Script supervisor: Ruth Clyman
Editors: Arthur Spieller, Margot Mor
Sound: Jack Sky
Art director: Frank Heininger
Lighting: John Wynn
21 окт 2024
