Danger Island (TV series)
Danger Island | |
---|---|
![]() Title card | |
Genre | Adventure |
Directed by | Richard Donner |
Starring | Frank Aletter Jan-Michael Vincent Ronne Troup Rockne Tarkington Kim Kahana Victor Eberg |
Country of origin | United States Mexico |
Original languages | English Nahuatl |
No. of episodes | 36 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Joseph Barbera William Hanna |
Production locations | Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico |
Running time | 10 minutes (per episode) |
Production company | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
Release | |
Original network | NBC |
Original release | September 7, 1968 January 11, 1969 | –
Chronology | |
Related shows | The Banana Splits Adventure Hour |
Danger Island is a live-action adventure serial produced by Hanna-Barbera and originally broadcast in 1968–69 as a segment of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.[1] It was filmed in Mexico, directed by future Superman, The Goonies and Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner, and featured Jan-Michael Vincent as Lincoln 'Link' Simmons.[2]
The series comprises a six-hour adventure yarn broken down into 36 short chapters. Each chapter is roughly ten minutes long and includes a suspenseful cliffhanger ending that is resolved in the next installment. The live-action segment was created to cut production costs on the mostly-animated hour-long show.[3]
Plot[]
Inspired by the animated Hanna-Barbera series Jonny Quest,[4] Danger Island depicted the adventures of a trio of explorers in an unnamed tropical island group: Prof. Irwin Hayden, an archaeologist; Lincoln "Link" Simmons, the professor's youthful assistant; and Leslie, the professor's daughter, who serves as both a love interest for Link and the series' token damsel in distress.
Several years earlier, the professor's brother (also an archaeologist) disappeared in the same island chain while searching for the mythical lost city of Tobanya. They are joined on their quest by Morgan, a shipwrecked merchant mariner, and his sidekick Chongo, who speaks only in a series of monkey-like chatters and birdcalls. They are pursued by a group of bumbling, but heavily armed, modern-day pirates led by the murderous Captain Mu-Tan, and by three tribes of cannibal natives known as "the Headhunters", "the Skeleton Men" and "the Ash Men". The show spawned a popular[5] catchphrase, "Uh-oh, Chongo!", among children of that time.
Characters[]
Main characters[]
- Prof. Irwin Hayden – Frank Aletter
- Lincoln 'Link' Simmons – Jan-Michael Vincent (as Michael Vincent)
- Leslie Hayden – Ronne Troup
- Elihu Morgan – Rockne Tarkington
- Chongo – Kim Kahana (as Kahana)
Villains[]
- Captain Mu-Tan – Victor Eberg
- Chu – Rodrigo Arrendondo
References[]
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 109–111. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- ^ "Cinematic Lost Civilizations" (PDF). Retrieved 29 April 2015.
- ^ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part I: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. p. 34. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ^ The history of Danger Island
- ^ TV Tropes:Banana Splits
- The Banana Splits
- 1968 American television series debuts
- 1969 American television series endings
- 1968 Mexican television series debuts
- 1969 Mexican television series endings
- 1960s American children's television series
- Mexican children's television series
- American children's adventure television series
- Mexican adventure television series
- NBC original programming
- Television series by Hanna-Barbera
- Television shows set on islands
- English-language television shows
- Television series segments
- Indigenous television