Cool McCool

Cool McCool is an animated series that ran on NBC from September 10, 1966 to January 21, 1967, with three segments per show, in all consisting of sixty segments. It was created by Bob Kane – who was most famous as one of the creators of Batman – and produced by Al Brodax for King Features.[1]

Cool McCool
Opening titles
Created by
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Australia
No. of episodes20 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time25 minutes
Production companiesKing Features Entertainment
Artransa Park Film Studios
DistributorHearst Television
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 10, 1966 (1966-09-10) –
January 21, 1967 (1967-01-21)

The show was drawn in Australia, with Artransa Park Film Studios completing the bulk of the animation. Due to the quick turn-around times required by the rapid production schedule, further animation was completed by other Australian artists such as Gus McLaren and Eric Porter Studios.[2]

Description

Riffing off the then-popular genres of superheroes and James Bond spy adventures, Cool McCool featured the adventures of a hip, trenchcoated spy, who – as on the contemporary TV show Get Smart – defeated villains despite being comically inept.[3] Villains included the Rattler, Hurricane Harry, the Owl, Jack-In-The-Box, and Dr. Madcap.

McCool's boss was known as Number One, although his face was never seen onscreen; only his arms and a cigar were visible behind his chair.[4] (This was a reference to another contemporary spy show, The Prisoner, which featured a spy looking for Number One who ran the prison he found himself in). Number One's secretary was Friday, a dumpy girl who had an unrequited crush on the secret agent.

McCool had three catchphrases: "Danger is my business!" "When you're right, Number One, you're right," and (after bungling something) "That will never happen again, Number One" (Of course, it usually does.)

The show also featured a Keystone Kops-style segment featuring the adventures of McCool's father, Harry McCool, a uniformed police officer, presumed to have taken place decades before Cool's time. Harry was supported by his brothers Dick and Tom.[5] Only 20 Harry McCool segments were made, each one sandwiched between the two Cool McCool segment per show.

Cast

Cool and Harry were voiced by Bob McFadden, while most of the other voices were supplied by Chuck McCann. Carol Corbett provided the voices of the female characters. McFadden modeled McCool's voice after comic legend Jack Benny.

Secret, Inc.
  • Cool McCool: A secret agent who takes several risks to save the world. Despite his powerful skills and super-spy abilities, he can be bumbling, foolish and clumsy at times. He drives a modified car called the "Coolmobile", (which can also transform into a jet plane or a submarine) which he summons by whistling. His mustache tingles when there's danger lurking about and can also be used as a telephone to contact Number One. A running gag in the series is that after the end of each mission, despite being successful (often in spite of his own bumbling), Cool would do something that would make Number One mad, thus causing him to get ejected. His catchphrases are "Danger is my business!", "When you're right, Number One, you're right" and "That will never happen again." He is voiced by Bob McFadden.
  • Number One: Cool's boss. Whenever Cool does something really stupid, he ejects him out of the headquarters by means of a control dashboard at his desk. An office chair, footstool, file cabinet, water cooler and/or coat rack suddenly come to life when Number One starts pushing buttons, attacking and disposing of McCool in hasty, violent fashion. Always obscured by his huge chair, the only part of Number One ever shown are his arms, hands and a cigar. His real name is never revealed. He is voiced by Chuck McCann.
  • Mr. Riggs: Secret Inc.'s technician and repairman. He regularly makes prototypes of devices that are supposed to help McCool, but instead, backfire or hurt him – and yet Number One usually blames McCool for their failure. He is voiced by Chuck McCann.
  • Friday: Number One's secretary who has a crush on Cool. She is mostly a klutz. She is voiced by Carol Corbett.
  • Breezy: Cool McCool's adolescent sidekick who aids him on some occasions. He is always there on the job when Cool is in trouble. He wears a trenchcoat like Cool and has hair covering his eyes, a hat, a buck tooth and a soft voice. Unlike Cool, he makes few mistakes and is not as accident prone. He is voice by Chuck McCann.

Harry McCool segment (Komedy Kops)

The cartoon is a flashback, supposed to take place decades before Cool's time. At the end of every first Cool McCool segment, Cool sings about his recent missions and that he should be more like his father (a uniformed police officer who was even more of a bumbler), and the flashback segment starts.

  • Harry McCool: Cool's father, who along with his brothers Dick and Tom (Cool’s uncles), were the Komedy Kops, a take-off on the Keystone Kops. He is the tallest and most intelligent member of the trio, thus the de facto leader, occupying the first seat in their chosen mode of transportation, a three seater bicycle. Like his son, Harry is voiced by Bob McFadden.
  • Dick: The rotund brother of Harry and Tom rides in the middle seat of their bike. He is often befuddled by Tom's gibberish, so his catchphrase question is, "What did he say, Harry? What did he say?" He is voiced by Chuck McCann.
  • Tom: The shorter brother of Harry and Dick has a bushy black mustache and hair that covers his eyes. He rides in the bicycle's back seat. He speaks in gibberish that only Harry seems to understand. He is voiced by Chuck McCann.

Villains

Cool McCool's enemies. Although each villain normally acts independently (aside from married couple Dr. Madcap and Greta Ghoul who work together), the in-between sequences introducing Harry McCool shows them united in their quest to capture Cool McCool (they are usually outwitted nevertheless).

  • The Owl: A barefooted, owl-themed human supervillain who is the first antagonist Cool McCool encounters in the series. He lives in a cave with pet owls and (in the debut episode) a cat-themed evil girlfriend named Pussycat (voiced by Corbett). He has the ability to command the bird kingdom to do his evil bidding. The Owl is a parody of the Penguin and is voiced by Chuck McCann.
  • The Rattler: A snake-like, green cyber-human villain with a passion for the arts. He hisses and slithers, and can communicate with and control plant life. The Rattler is also known to wield shotguns and bombs. He is a parody of the Riddler. He is voiced by Chuck McCann.
  • Dr. Madcap: A wacky foe with the ability to control all hats and make them do his dirty work. He adores both his collection of hats and Greta Ghoul, his wife. He is a parody of the Mad Hatter from Batman. Madcap's hats sometimes contain deadly surprises such as anvils or guns. He is voiced by Chuck McCann.
  • Greta Ghoul: Dr. Madcap's wife, who does not always feel appreciated or loved by her husband. She is a light gray-skinned woman who is often moody and depressed. Her vampire voice is done by Carol Corbett, in an impression of Greta Garbo who the character is modeled after.
  • Hurricane Harry: An overweight human wind bag who uses lung power to create mighty gusts that can blow anything out of his path. He speaks in a deep voice and a lisp. His fiancée is Bellows Belle (Carol Corbett), who wheezes when speaking. Harry's one weakness is his buck tooth, which, when accidentally knocked out of his mouth, causes him to rapidly deflate like a balloon. He is voiced by Chuck McCann.
  • Jack-in-a-Box: A maniacal crook in red-and-yellow jester attire that hides in a jack-in-a-box to scare and attack his victims. His weapons include a shotgun, grenades filled with laughing gas, and spring-loaded shoes. Whenever he speaks, his waist bounces up and down and his voice vibrates like a jack-in-a-box spring. He is a parody of the Joker, voiced by Chuck McCann.

Episode list
Nº Cartoons Original air date
1"Fine Feathered Fiends / The Phantom of the Opera House / The Big Blowout"September 10, 1966 (1966-09-10)
2"The House that Jack Built / Horsehide and Go Seek / If the Hat Fits...Watch It"September 17, 1966 (1966-09-17)
3"Garden of Evil / The Vaishing Shoehorns / The Odd Boxes Caper"September 24, 1966 (1966-09-24)
4"Queen's Ransom / Here's Pie in Your Eye / Rocket Racket"October 1, 1966 (1966-10-01)
5"Shrinking the Slinker / The Wood-Chopper / The Big Brainwash"October 8, 1966 (1966-10-08)
6"Bagging the Windbag / Gym Dandy / The Box Fox"October 15, 1966 (1966-10-15)
7"Owl on the Prowl / Big Top Cops / Will the Real Cool Mobile Please Stand Up"October 22, 1966 (1966-10-22)
8"How Now Foul Owl / The New Car / Sniffin, Snoozen, and Sneezen"October 29, 1966 (1966-10-29)
9"Caps and Robbers / Three Men on a House / The Romantic Rattler"November 5, 1966 (1966-11-05)
10"Jack in the Boxer / Fowl Play / Love Is a Gas"November 12, 1966 (1966-11-12)
11"The 500 Lb. Canary Caper / The Jet Set, Yet / Who Stole My 32 Secret Agents?"November 19, 1966 (1966-11-19)
12"Fun and Games / McCool Jazz / Mother Greta's Wrinkle Remover"November 26, 1966 (1966-11-26)
13"Rockabye for Rattler / Dog Tired / Two Fats and a Fink"December 3, 1966 (1966-12-03)
14"High Jacker Jack / High Jokers / The Wind Goddess"December 10, 1966 (1966-12-10)
15"A Growing Problem / Time Out / Hot McHot"December 17, 1966 (1966-12-17)
16"Oh Say Can You Seed / Monkey Dizziness / What Goes Up... Must Come Down"December 24, 1966 (1966-12-24)
17"Birds of a Feather Flop Together / Green Dragon / The Box Popper"December 31, 1966 (1966-12-31)
18"A Tree Is a Tree Is a...Tree? / A Lot of Ballooney / Owl's Well That Ends Well"December 31, 1966 (1966-12-31)
19"The College of Crooks / Goat Chasers / The Whistler's Mommy Case"January 14, 1967 (1967-01-14)
20"The Sombrero Affair / In the Dough / The Moon Goon"January 21, 1967 (1967-01-21)

DVD & VHS

Rhino records
  • Cool McCool Collection – 2003 DVD oop

Hollywood DVD
  • Cool McCool: How To Catch a Crook – 2003 UK PAL DVD oop
  • Cool McCool: Danger is My Business / G-Force – 2004 UK PAL DVD oop
  • Cool McCool: Danger is my Business / Felix the Cat – 2004 UK PAL DVD oop

Best Film & Video Co
  • Cool McCool: Shooting the Breeze – 1990 VHS oop
  • Cool McCool: Grime & Punishment – 1990 VHS oop
  • Cool McCool: How to Catch a Crook – 1990 VHS oop

BCI Eclipse
  • Animated All Stars vol. 1 – 2006 2DVD – (two Cool McCool episodes)
  • Cool McCool: The Complete Series – 3DVD March 13, 2007
  • "Advantage Cartoon Mega Pack"- DVD set includes 6 Cool McCool episodes along with Magical Adventures of Quasimodo, Barney Google & Snuffy Smith, Hagar the Horrible, Krazy Kat, Betty Boop, etc

References
  1. Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946–1981. Scarecrow Press. pp. 72–73. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  2. Torre, Dan; Torre, Lienors (2018). Australian Animation: An International History. Australia: Springer. ISBN 9783319954929.
  3. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  4. Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 105. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  5. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 213. ISBN 978-1476665993.
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