Another Saturday morning and another early 70s cartoon based on a live-action television show.
This week I wanted to continue the trend that was started three weeks ago by focusing on another cartoon that was based (loosely in this case) on already existing television series. The show I chose was the 1973 Hanna-Barbera classic Jeannie which as you probably already guessed was an animated version of the popular sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.
Unlike the prior three cartoons that I've talked about, Emergency +4, The Addams Family and The New Adventures of Gilligan, Jeannie didn't resemble it's live-action counterpart in any way. The title character herself was changed from an adult, played by the buxom Barbara Eden, to a teenager voiced by actress Julie McWhirter. Likewise the male lead was changed from Astronaut Tony Nelson, played by actor Larry Hagman, to a teenage surfer named Corey who was voiced by Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame. There was also the addition of a comedic sidekick, which Hanna-Barbera always loved to include in their cartoons, named Babu who was voiced by former Three Stooges alum Joe Besser.
History:
In Jeannie, high school student Corey Anders discovers Jeannie's bottle while surfing and draws the title character out of it. Corey becomes the master to Jeannie and her apprentice Babu, who are treated as his slaves. Portrayed as a 16-year-old, Jeannie is shown as training the "junior genie" Babu, who frequently causes trouble due to his inexperience with magic. Playing the role of the comic relief, Babu is characterized as having a habit of "popping in at the most inopportune times". The pair become close "friends and protectors" to Corey, who is Jeannie's love interest.
Episodes typically focus on Corey's attempts to hide Jeannie and Babu's true identities as he attends Center City High School and Jeannie's difficulties with adjusting to her new life in the 1970s. Corey's storylines also include his friend Henry Glopp; other than Corey, Henry is the only other person aware of Jeannie's identity as a genie. Other supporting characters include Corey's mom (Mrs. Anders), a friend and an antagonist (S. Melvin Farthinggale), the Master of all Genies (Hadji), and Debbie. S. Melvin is portrayed as a "snobbish snoop", who frequently sneaks around the Anders' home due to his suspicions about Jeannie and Babu,
Jeannie was a Hanna-Barbera production, with the company's founders William Hanna and Joseph Barbera serving as the show's executive producers. Charles August Nichols was the director, and Iwao Takamoto was the producer. I Dream of Jeannie creator Sidney Sheldon is not included in the credits for Jeannie, which The A.V. Club's Will Harris attributes to the extreme differences between the two shows. Hanna-Barbera had created Jeannie as a way to appeal to a younger demographic. The music was done by Hoyt Curtin with supervision by Paul DeKorte. Despite being produced by Hanna-Barbera, Jeannie was owned by Columbia Pictures, and its sister company Screen Gems created the show's animated opening credits.
According to IMDb, the Hanna-Barbera show The New Scooby-Doo Movies had gone over budget due to its number of guest stars, leaving the studio without enough money to afford the original I Dream of Jeannie cast for the cartoon spin-off. Instead, Barbara Eden was replaced by Julie McWhirter as the voice of Jeannie. Mark Hamill provides the voice for Corey, in his first voice-acting job. Along with voicing the character, he sings the theme music.Hamill would not become well known as a voice actor until his role as the Joker in the television show Batman: The Animated Series.
Bob Hastings and Joe Besser portray Henry Glopp and Babu, respectively. Besser was a successful voice actor during the 1970s and 1980s; along with Jeannie, he also voiced regular characters in the television programs The Houndcats and Yogi's Space Race. He had previously appeared in an I Dream of Jeannie episode, alongside the members of The Three Stooges. Debbie, Mark, and Mrs. Anders are played by Arlene Golonka, Michael Bell, and Janet Waldo, respectively. John Stephenson and Tommy Cook voice Hadji and S. Melvin Farthinggale. Sherry Alberoni, Julie Bennett, Don Messick, and Ginny Tyler provide additional voice-acting for the series. - Wiki
Instead of blinking her eyes to grant wishes this Jeannie get's her power from her pony tail while Babu power comes from the magic words Yapple Dapple.
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