Charles Brubaker sent along these pictures of Huck picture books and a postcard.
Here’s the note he sent in explanation:
Until TV anime became the norm, Japanese TV stations had to rely on American cartoons to fulfill their animation fix, so shows like Huck, "Quick Draw McGraw", "Spunky and Tadpole", "Clutch Cargo", etc. were being dubbed and broadcast in the Land of the Rising Sun.
You probably don't care about how those cartoons were shown in other countries, but here's the broadcast info:
Japanese Title: Chinken Huck (which translates to "Huckleberry the Unusual Dog")
Broadcast Network: NET (Nihon Educational Television)
Schedule:
February 15 to August 30, 1959 (Sunday, 6:00 pm)
December 6, 1959 to March 27, 1960 (Sunday, 6:00 pm)
August 13 to December 24, 1961 (Sunday, 7:00 pm)
Despite the name, NET was hardly educational. It started as a for-profit educational network in Japan, but it soon became a general TV network in the country, constantly airing shows that had very little educational content, including cartoons (both American and Japanese). In the late 1970s the name was changed to TV Asahi, and it's still known as that today.
We can only guess what the Japanese thought of this Pixie and Dixie cartoon:
True, Judo Jack is the hero of the cartoon (Mr. Jinks proves to be a jerk by making fun of his accent and politeness). Maybe stereotypes didn’t make people wince as much back then.
I remember of several Hanna-Barbera cartoons which involved Oriental characters on them.
ReplyDeleteHere are some of them:
- In the Flintstones episode The Prowler, we found the Wilma's and Betty's judo professor - Professor Rockimoto -, who appears in a stereotyped way.
- Do you remember of the Japanese bear who appeared in the Yogi Bear episode Yogi's Pest Guest, originally featured in the classical Yogi Bear Show (Hanna-Barbera/Columbia Pictures, 1960-63)?
- In the Wally Gator episode Rassle Dazzle, Wally ends going into a professional wrestling tournament, where he faces a Japanese Black Belt named Tokyo Rosa.
- Do you remember of an Atom Ant episode, titled Atom Ant Meets Karate Ant, where we're introducted to an Oriental ant named Mr. Muto, who's a karate expert?
Well, there are more stuff which Hanna-Barbera produced, that involves Oriental characters, which we need discuss in a new opportunity.
So long!
I see Kodansha published one of those books. They'd be best known to those manga fans for many familiar manga titles published over the years.
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