Colonel Bleep is a forgotten classic of early television animation, and an attempt is currently underway to bring the show back for a whole new audience.
What Is It?
After Colonel Bleep, an interplanetary intelligence agent from the planet Futura, completes the capture of the dangerous criminal Dr. Destructo, he is assigned a new top-secret mission: travel to Earth and observe its people, places, and customs while investigating disturbances detected by the Futuran High Command (caused by the first atomic bomb). Joining Bleep on Earth are his two companions: Squeak, a curious puppet boy who does very little talking, and Scratch, a prehistoric caveman who was awakened from his long slumber by the atomic blast. Together, the trio begins their adventures across Earth and the galaxy.
Aired: Syndication, 1957-60, 1 Season Totaling 100 Episodes
Voice Cast: Noah Tyler
Crew: Robert D. Buchanan (Creator/Writer), Jack Schleh (Creator/Director)
Where Did It Come From?
Back in the 1950s, when kids wanted to watch cartoons, it was a very different experience than it would be in the 1960s and beyond. There was no dedicated Saturday morning programming block of animated shows, and most of the cartoons on the tube had been recycled from shorts that played in theaters before the feature film, including the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes entries, the Max Fleischer Superman and Popeye films, the antics of Tom and Jerry, and more. And those would typically be incorporated into local television shows aimed at kids. Not many original cartoons were produced specifically for the small screen at that time, but some did start to arrive by mid-decade, such as The Gumby Show (1955), Tom Terrific (1957), and The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958).
Amidst all of this, a small production company in Miami known as Soundac—which had been busy producing animated commercials—saw an opportunity in the television market for an animated TV series, and they turned their attention toward that endeavor. Robert D. Buchanan was heading up the company, and he decided to create something new, cost-effective, and entertaining that would appeal to a young audience. And he also decided to take advantage of the fact that color televisions had entered the market, even though very few households owned one at that point.
This led to the creation of Colonel Bleep, which was not only the first color animated series produced specifically for television but also one of the earliest—and arguably the first—sci fi cartoons created for the small screen. 100 shorts were produced, which ranged from three to six minutes in length, and these were included with other children’s shows or used as part of locally assembled programming blocks. The series was carried in 50 to 60 markets during its early years, which was significant exposure for the late 1950s, and plenty of young viewers had the opportunity to watch Colonel Bleep’s adventures.
Was the Show Any Good?
This show is a ton of fun and definitely worth seeking out. The animation is pretty minimal, as you would expect from a television series of that era. But the artwork is quite good, and at times it even hints at what would follow later with The Jetsons. All of the episodes are narrated by Noah Tyler, with very little dialogue directly from the characters (which kept the casting budget down). And he does an enthusiastic job of telling the story and helps keep things moving along quite briskly.
Each episode basically delivers a short tale following Colonel Bleep and his companions fighting off some evildoer, going through their daily routine, or, at times, delivering somewhat of a travelogue and providing some educational content. But Colonel Bleep and crew are enjoyable cartoon characters, and the show delivered plenty of whimsy while also establishing a notable rogues’ gallery during its run. Plus, each episode typically runs no more than five minutes without the intro and credits, so they provide a quick watch.
What Happened to the Show Since It First Aired?
As mentioned above, Colonel Bleep had good market exposure when it first premiered, and it ended up running for 100 episodes (well beyond the 52 originally planned). After the production of new eps ended around 1960, it would continue in reruns throughout the rest of the ’60s and into the early ’70s. Sadly, though, this one seemed to fade from the public eye after that, never quite achieving the staying power of other early sci fi animated entries such as The Jetsons (1962), Space Angel (1962), Astro Boy (1963), Jonny Quest (1964), and others.
Soundac did not do much of note in the way of animated television after Colonel Bleep, and the studio eventually shut down in the 1970s. The show would later get some surviving episodes collected on VHS, but other than that, it mostly slipped into obscurity by the 1980s. And by 1985, the copyright would lapse with Soundac no longer active, and neither of the creators making an attempt to renew it (likely because they did not realize there was a need to do so). The characters are now in the public domain and available for anybody to pick it up and carry it on.
Should It Be Rebooted?
Oh yes, this one is certainly ripe for a revival, and plans for that are currently in the works. A Kickstarter campaign is underway from The Radiant Galaxy, and following is the description of the new version from the campaign page:
Our story takes place in 1969, just shortly after astronauts make their famous exploration of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Unknown to the earthlings, the futurians of planet Futura grow alarmed of this groundbreaking impact, including Colonel Bleep, who hopes to form a strong alliance with the Solar System’s only living planet…and to hopefully make up for the past catastrophic mission run by past space rangers back in 1945.
Once he embarks on his first adventures in Earth, Bleep will cross paths with Squeak and Scratch just like in the original show. Only Squeak had a troubled life as an outcast in a forgotten toy factory, a cowardly a TV actor, and a lone traveler who seeks to voyage across the stars. Meanwhile Scratch got swept away from his beloved tribe of nomads after a terrible blizzard and left frozen for over 20,000 years. Feeling pity for the two, Colonel Bleep allows them to accompany him on his mission and trains them to be professional space deputies in the designated headquarters in Zero-Zero Island.
Of course, with the deputies help, Bleep must also continue his responsibility in protecting the universe from dangerous forces and manevolent powers, as well as keep control of his genetic super soldier enhancements and the futomic energy he was given at an unethical lab operation before his birth. Just as Bleep doesn’t expect too much danger, the vicious arch-criminal, Dr. Destructo is following every move of the spaceman and has plenty of hostile tricks to terminate his new nemesis, but for many mysterious reasons.
This certainly sounds like a fun and exciting revival of a classic character, and there is plenty of potential with this new show. And we highly encourage you to support the Kickstarter campaign, which you can do at this link.
Where Can You Watch the Original Series?
Many of the surviving episodes have been collected on DVD, and those sets are pretty affordable. It is not streaming on any of the major services, but you can find it on several of the streaming channels that feature public domain works, and you can also watch it on YouTube.
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