All my life I tried telling people about this strange cartoon with human lips. People treated me like I was nuts. Traumatic. I just stopped. Thanks for the validation. 🐸
Same here! I thought I was the only one who watched it. I don’t think I ever really paid attention to what was going on in the cartoon because I was so fixated on watching them talk with those dumb mouths 👄. 😂
I used to watch Clutch Cargo when I was a young boy. I grew up and became a professional pilot who also had a dachshund as a pet. It's funny how the little things in life can influence you.
I agree.. When I was a kid the cartoons I watched influenced my taste for food so much that when I eventually visited the US I wanted to try EVERYTHING I saw in cartoons to eat when I was a kid...😉
Clutch>>>>Quest>>>>Venture The theme is kids trying to escape mundane and troubling reality. I wanted to go on adventures with people who were not necessarily my family. (be a 'ward' of a millionaire scientist) Bring a dog, have a bodyguard, fly jets, etc. Fighting mummies, or crossing the Andes may seem dangerous- but not really in the moral and physical sense. (always a happy ending!) Navigating 4th G teachers and girls and playground was much more emotionally and psychically disturbing.
@@aliastheabnormal there were definitely other action cartoon shows, at least I'm pretty sure, but this one is definitely a granddaddy despite the questionable quality lol
The Mr. Incredible and Pals short from The Incredibles DVD was also influenced by this show and was a hilarious tribute too! I’ve watched it many times as a kid and this was before I even discovered Clutch Cargo!
I got to work as an animator for Dick Brown. He was a good guy. His company was working on a show called "Future Flipper", about Flipper in the future. He also did "The 3 Sooges" cartoon. Mr. Brown pioneered the adventure cartoons with the non cartoony look. The other one he did was "Space Angel" after "Clutch Cargo". They worked out of what I understood was a Howard Hugh's bldg on Romaine and Highland in Hollywood. As I said, he was a good guy.
Flipper in the future?? WHY?? They would probably need, some kind of time machine. But, why would they need, to send a dolphin🐬, into the future anyway??
@@WytZox1 Ever tried to lip read if the person is wearing a mask? I’m hearing impaired and I had a horrible time trying to understand people who were wearing masks over the last two years.
I loved this show and Space Angel, which had the same technique of showing the actor's mouth. Sometimes it was borderline creepy, but I enjoyed the quite a bit as a kid. Thanks for looking into the history of the show.
I am too young to have seen this cartoon; my parents were too old. The first time I saw it at all was the little clip of it on Pulp Fiction, and my father went, "Oh, yeah. That was a weird show." He was already in the Navy when it was on TV. My mother said she remembered it, but never actually watched it; and my older brother said he watched some of those cartoons when he was really young. He barely remembered them.
That's where I'd seen it too. "He think totem pole alive!" I wonder how much of an influence this was on the much better Johnny Quest, which then went on to influence The Venture Bros.
@@oriraykai3610 As a kid, I liked Clutch Cargo, and loved Jonney Quest! I wonder if they had any influence on the Raiders of the Lost Arc series. I also watched Dark Shadows every weekday. Low budget camp today was serious entertainment then.
I love the art style of this show. The important thing with low-budget and low-framerate animation is making sure that the few frames look great at the very least.
It's the substance of the story/plot, not just (un-?)impressive animated imagery that held my interest as a 5-yr. old back in 1960. Thanks for the (resurrected) memory(-ies). 😊
Cambria Cartoons also gave us that mid 60s animated Three Stooges series. That was hardly great but it did feature A) the actual voices of the final Stooges lineup and B) did have those somewhat funny live-action intros and finals in each 'toon...
Clutch Cargo, Space Angel, Captain Fathom - I remember them well having grown up with them in their early days. Nice to see it get some rememberance here!
This cartoon series was seen by me on Chicago's Channel 9 Garfield Goose hosted by Frazier Thomas. Viewed on the "Little Theater Screen" Thomas would introduce each episode. What a blast from the past!
UHF channel 39 in TX .... morning started with CLUTCH, followed ay JACK LaLANE, CADET DON & DON MAHONEY & JEANNA CLAIRE SHOW ( saw Johnny & Edgar Winter on MAHONEY SHOW )
I remember Clutch Cargo. I remember thinking at the time, "That looks cheap as hell" LOL. But I would watch while waiting for something higher-budget to come on. Looking back, they actually had pretty decent stories.
Wow ! Blast from the past ! I'm 65 , me & my brother would watch The Ray Rayner show in the morning & Frazier Thomas after school on WGN channel 9 . Sure miss those days ! 😁👍🍺
I've never seen the show, but I like the unique styles to work around their budget. Gotta thank that guy in a Max Headroom mask for singing its theme song.
I never saw Clutch Cargo, growing up in the 70s, for it was never shown in my area. It's fascinating to see what could be produced on a small budget in order to save money. Now I've seen a preview of it, the voice actors' moving lips, the limited movement animation, and the well--written plots are what make this vintage show worth seeing. 🇬🇧🐨
I used to watch "Clutch Cargo " on Channel 11, KTTV, Los Angeles in the late 1960s. I bought several "Clutch Cargo" DVDs in the early 2000s because it reminded me of watching cartoons in the afternoons back in the day. Hey, in the early 2000s, we still watched DVDs, until I discovered RUclips in 2006.
I saw Clutch Cargo when I was seven...and years later I saw some episodes again. At that time I was amazed at how limited the animation was. (It made the contemporary Hanna-Barbera shows look like full-fledged Disney.Chuckle!)
I recall seeing some episodes growing up, but it wasn’t until young Butch watched an episode in the movie Pulp Fiction that I was like, Oh my God, I remember that. I believe it was an influence on when I finally attempted my first animated cartoons back in 1999. I can say with the up most honesty that while primitive, it’s inventive and encouraging how one with barely a budget can get around an obstacle and come up with something fun.
Watched Clutch Cargo & Diver Dan on WGN Ray Raynor as a kid growing up near Chicago. Don't forget the Holiday Season favorites Susie Snowflake, Hard Rock, Coco and Joe and Frosty the Snowman. Good times!
I loved watching Clutch Cargo as a kid . Gosh , that was a long time ago . The artwork is kind of reminiscent of the earlier Steve Canyon comics of Milton Caniff . I also remember watching Johnny Quest and Fireball XL5 . Good stuff , too bad we don't have great stories like that today . Thanks for the memories ! 👍
*WOW this vid stirred some memories! I was born in '54 and every Saturday morning I'd be up at 6 and watch Modern Farmer, Agriculture Today and at 7:00 am CLUTCH CARGO!*
i was born 1980, i have never seen this cartoon, and yet 1 thing from it made it's way into my life. I had a neighbor who had a cat named paddlefoot, which was such an odd name i never forgot it. now i know where it came from clearly. so despite never having seen the show myself, it still managed to seep into my life via a random cat named after the dog.
I remember watching this on the American Forces Network in West Germany in the early 80s (along with black and white Beetle Bailey). I'll never forget the crazy moving mouths. The stories were fun, though!
I remember watching this as a kid in the late 1960’s. WNHC/WTNH channel 8 out of New Haven carried it. I was on Long Island and pretty far away but the station came in well enough to watch.
As a Gen Exer, my first exposure through this was pulp fiction. I’m really going to have to finally checked the show out. I really like the Will Eisner style art.
Thanks for the post ! 📺📺📺📺I seem to recall seeing "Clutch Cargo", "Space Angel" and "Diver Dan" on channel 6 WPVI out of Philadelphia. On weekday mornings during the cartoon segments on either "Captain Noah", "Sally Starr", or "Chief Halftown".
Thanks for the great info on how one of my favorite childhood memories was produced. My brothers and sister would watch Clutch every weekday with me on Frazier Thomas' Garfield Goose show. We found the moving lips fascinating, not creepy. Comic books were king at this time, so, yes, to us it was a comic book that moved - perfect for the times. Thanks for a sensitive remembrance of this series - and the imaginative people who conquered a budget.
This show was a regular in Chicago appearing on the Garfield Goose programs. Along with other inexpexpensive shorts like Hercules, Funny Company, and (live action/stop motion) Journey to the Beginning of Timè.
I used to watch Clutch Cargo And John Gneagys drawing show back to back in Michigan ...I got me drawing and opened up a whole new world of music art and creativity...now at 70yrs of age...I still draw..play music...create...thanks guys
Wow, what a coincidence. I was literally watching your episode on the Fireball last night and was thinking what was that other cartoon I saw in the mid 70s where it was just a picture with a human mouth moving. I spent almost 30 minutes looking for it on RUclips and then I’m going to Google and finally found it and lo and behold the next day here it is pretty cool.
It was one of my favorites as a kid. I didn't even notice the mouth thing, it had to be pointed out to me and I didn't even understand why so many thought it looked odd. What attracted to me is that it didn't have a 'cartoon' look to it. the things they drew actually looked like what they were; a tractor looked like a tractor.
What makes this show interesting is that its i think the only genuine and wide use of synchro-vox in a cartoon concept, yet, in the modern day, its used so often as one-off jokes, including mocking the low budget of vintage cartoons, that it has the illusion of being a lot more widespread
Oh yeah, I remember Clutch Cargo very well. I was never creeped out by the lip thing. I was mor captivated and thrilled by the stories. I didn't get to see all of them, because it was a few years later when I actually got to see the cartoon. Our local TV station showed it on a morning kids show that I watched, and I was only about 4 at the time, so I figure they worked out some sort of syndication deal to show it. Regardless of what the deal was, it wasn't long before it disappeared. But I still have the memories of the show even now in my 60's.
It's one of my all-time favorites. Good memories. Clutch Cargo, Zorro, Tom Terrific, and Woody Woodpecker were all heroes of mine. Quite the mish-mash. But hey, I was a tad small back in those days...lol
I remember Clutch. I was entertained. It opened up some new vistas to me. My dad, who animated for Warner Bros., said it was real cheap but I watched it anyways.
I loved watching this as an adult and noticing the antique airplane that is an okay effort to draw a real airplane: a 1929 Bellanca Airbus! That airplane is a distinctive and beautiful design and a few dozen were built.
I remember watching Clutch on bus and extras on $1 bin DVDs. It was a fun and charming show! I seriously love the art style and can see how Clutch here inspired Johnny Quests very own Race Bannon!
I never watched Clutch Cargo when it was first shown on TV because I was born near the end of 1975. I first knew about Clutch by Internet sites and I even saw that it was available on DVD later. I own it on DVD now and sometimes I watch it either on RUclips or DVD. As a side note, that Spinner is such a cutie for a little orphaned boy.
I remember watching their other show Space Angel, but I didn't see Clutch Cargo until about 1968, on Boston's Channel 56 (then independent station WKGB-TV, now WLVI-TV and affiliated with a network). Clutch was a part of their 10 AM-12 noon Cartoon Cavalcade weekday program, along with stuff like Tennessee Tuxedo, Underdog, Commander McBragg, Snuffy Smith, Tooter the Turtle, The Hunter, Klondike Kat, and occasionally Yogi Bear and other Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
I'd totally forgotten Clutch Cargo until I saw Pulp Fiction and the bizarre pocket watch flashback sequence. And of course, during the infamous Max Headroom TV hijacking incident, the guy in the Max mask referenced the final Clutch episode and sang the theme song...sorta. Still the greatest and funniest TV hijacking of all. If you haven't seen it, it's on RUclips about a million times, and it's worth checking out. I still see the X
Since I was born at the start of 80s, first thing that this show reminded me was Jonny Quest since they showed the older version more than the 80s version. I watched a good amount of cartoons back in the day, along with game shows and some educational shows. Me now, I'm watching vintage movies from the 1930s to 80s, game shows and well...vintage anime.
Loved this creepy, low budget 'toon, when I was little. So much as a matter of fact, my little brother and I, named our pet baby Peking ducks, Clutch and Paddlefoot☺️!!! Splinter also, but that was our rabbit🐇.
I remember watching this back in the late '50's, early 60's. It was a cartoon feature on one of the local kid's shows in South Bend Indiana. I remember thinking at the time it was very strange with the moving mouths. Still way ahead of any cartoon shows seen on TV these days.
We got our first tv in 1963, a black and white Magnovox . Yes I am that old! Color sure makes it better and more weird. Loved it. Great job on bringing this cult classic to RUclips.
I watched Clutch Cargo in the mid-60s as a young boy. Even as little gradeschoolers we recognized that it was low grade animation, but the stories and art (such as it was) did have a certain charm.
Count me in as another Clutch Cargo viewer….(I grew up in the 1960’’s) along with Speed Racer which had a very similar moving mouth style of animation if memory serves…. Funny how it seems like only yesterday! Cool video Thank You
Was Disney's TaleSpin show loosely based on this, because dang there are so many similarities. Pretty much all the characters from CC have expies in TS, plus the setting being a 1930's pacific with the story focus on piloting cargo planes is likely not a coincidence.
When I was around four back in 1964, my dad was stationed at Camp Pendleton MCB in San Diego county. We could pick up great atenna reception from both LA, SD and TJ stations (12 of 13 on the dial...originally no ch 3..later Oceanside channel). Anyway, my siblings and I used to wated "Clutch Cargo" on LA, channel 13 KCOP, I believe it was. It was either part of Sheriff John's show or Hobo Kelly's. I liked the cartoon with the real moving lips.
I loved this show. It was the precurser of Johny Quest and Haj and Bandit. The simplicity of the animation was perfect for my kid brain. The stories were great.
Thanks for the history lesson. This series screened in New Zealand, probably in the early 1970s. It was just about the creepiest thing I have ever seen. Very unsettling, then and now.
I am from the Dominican Republic... Here the series was dubbed in Spanish... It aired from the mid 70's until the first years in the 80's, or so.... The characters' speech; their lips moving as they talked was what mostly got my attention... The adventures were engaging... It was not my favorite TV show but did finish up every episode I started to watch.. I felt it was not limited to movement, but different; I enjoyed them just as I did other cartoons; they are never real!!! Good old memories!
I never was a regular viewer but clips of this series have always fascinated me; this was a great overview. It's interesting to see Hal Smith was in this! I met Hal Smith when I was a kid. He was a sweet guy; he demonstrated some voices, Winnie the Pooh and Owl, for me.
All my life I tried telling people about this strange cartoon with human lips. People treated me like I was nuts. Traumatic. I just stopped. Thanks for the validation. 🐸
So true. Nice that now you can say Google it, when people think you were hallucinating
Same here! I thought I was the only one who watched it. I don’t think I ever really paid attention to what was going on in the cartoon because I was so fixated on watching them talk with those dumb mouths 👄. 😂
Me too
If you forget the name again, just show people the scene from Pulp Fiction featuring this cartoon
@@cynditaylor6222 You and me both
I used to watch Clutch Cargo when I was a young boy. I grew up and became a professional pilot who also had a dachshund as a pet. It's funny how the little things in life can influence you.
I watched and developed a fear of creepy mouths and flute music.
@@tomsherwood4650 I still see the X.
I used to watch it in the 60s
@@tomsherwood4650 some kids are dreamers some are just dull
I agree.. When I was a kid the cartoons I watched influenced my taste for food so much that when I eventually visited the US I wanted to try EVERYTHING I saw in cartoons to eat when I was a kid...😉
Seeing all these forgotten/cult classic cartoon shows AFTER watching Venture Bros for years really blows your mind how deep the well goes
Clutch>>>>Quest>>>>Venture The theme is kids trying to escape mundane and troubling reality. I wanted to go on adventures with people who were not necessarily my family. (be a 'ward' of a millionaire scientist) Bring a dog, have a bodyguard, fly jets, etc. Fighting mummies, or crossing the Andes may seem dangerous- but not really in the moral and physical sense. (always a happy ending!) Navigating 4th G teachers and girls and playground was much more emotionally and psychically disturbing.
It;s incredibly depressing that THIS inspired action cartoons.
@@aliastheabnormal there were definitely other action cartoon shows, at least I'm pretty sure, but this one is definitely a granddaddy despite the questionable quality lol
It was very intentionally based on all of these boy adventurer shows, Clutch Cargo included.
I came here to say the same thing. I have watched the entire show multiple times. Venture Bros has some deep cuts.
If you have seen Sponge Bob Square Pants, the intro has the same effect with the pirate asking the audience “Are you ready kids?” “I Can’t Hear You!”
That's true! Wow I forgot about that one. I think Chowder used this effect too at least once.
Conan O'Brien ran with this gimmick on his show for years too
The difference is it's intentionally bad, not "the best we can do on 6¢/day"
Courage the Cowardly Dog used this for an episode with a Talking Tree and instead of playing it for camp value they made it haunting.
No shit
The Mr. Incredible and Pals short from The Incredibles DVD was also influenced by this show and was a hilarious tribute too! I’ve watched it many times as a kid and this was before I even discovered Clutch Cargo!
You should watch it with the director's commentary on.
It's hilarious.
@@weepingkoopa2862 I’ve seen that too and yes its 10 times funnier than the feature itself!
"I had NOTHING to do with the rabbit!!"
"It sounds like a... a..."
"A beatnik?"
"That's right, a beatnik! It's not me and it's not cool!"
@@beakedmonk3981 well somebody okayed the rabbit!
Gotta admit, that art - ESPECIALLY for the 50s/60s - is pretty top notch. You can tell they were designed by someone with passion.
Passion?
I never heard LSD called that.
The 50's and 60's had amazing art...this was terrible.
I got to work as an animator for Dick Brown. He was a good guy. His company was working on a show called "Future Flipper", about Flipper in the future. He also did "The 3 Sooges" cartoon. Mr. Brown pioneered the adventure cartoons with the non cartoony look. The other one he did was "Space Angel" after "Clutch Cargo". They worked out of what I understood was a Howard Hugh's bldg on Romaine and Highland in Hollywood.
As I said, he was a good guy.
Consider writing a book on your experience in animation. Sounds like you have interesting info to preserve.
Who are the Sooges?
@@dragonic4239 Its the "3 Stooges" cartoon from 1966
Flipper in the future?? WHY?? They would probably need, some kind of time machine. But, why would they need, to send a dolphin🐬, into the future anyway??
Cool!
In retrospect it has a real creep factor with those moving lips but I used to be fascinated with that cartoon
* Before closed captioning those moving lips allowed hearing impaired viewers to lip-read! 😃
@@WytZox1 Ever tried to lip read if the person is wearing a mask? I’m hearing impaired and I had a horrible time trying to understand people who were wearing masks over the last two years.
My sister and I used to make fun of it, when we were little... because of the mouths!! Lol
Creepy is being generous.
I couldn't watch this show, even as a kid. The mouths where just to cheesy even for a 6 year old me.
I loved this show and Space Angel, which had the same technique of showing the actor's mouth. Sometimes it was borderline creepy, but I enjoyed the quite a bit as a kid. Thanks for looking into the history of the show.
I remember "Scott McCloud: Space Angel"
@@pjparkwood9277 DITO.
I had completely forgotten about Space Angel! Damn that takes me back :)
@@kcharles8857 Yes! In the middle of the “Space Race”. Good times!
Yes the moving lips were a bit freaky in retrospect.
I am too young to have seen this cartoon; my parents were too old. The first time I saw it at all was the little clip of it on Pulp Fiction, and my father went, "Oh, yeah. That was a weird show." He was already in the Navy when it was on TV. My mother said she remembered it, but never actually watched it; and my older brother said he watched some of those cartoons when he was really young. He barely remembered them.
That's where I'd seen it too. "He think totem pole alive!"
I wonder how much of an influence this was on the much better Johnny Quest, which then went on to influence The Venture Bros.
*I watched it every morning in Fresno, California before leaving for elementary school.*
I remembered watching Clutch Cargo when I was four years old in 1960. The cartoon show was very entertaining and I didn’t miss a single episode.
Only to a 4 year old.
Clutch Cargo and Johnny Quest are still my two favorite cartoons. I used to watch Clutch everyday as a child.
LOL. I knew a kid who had to be home every day by 4PM to watch "Dark Shadows". I lump you in with those type of kids. 😆
closing image from JONNY QUEST: RACE & DR. QUEST flying with jet-back packs wielding bazooka-like ray guns
@@oriraykai3610 As a kid, I liked Clutch Cargo, and loved Jonney Quest!
I wonder if they had any influence on the Raiders of the Lost Arc series.
I also watched Dark Shadows every weekday.
Low budget camp today was serious entertainment then.
you ever given venture bros a watch? i’m sure you’d get something outta it ^_^
I watched it all the time. It's amazing how much Race Bannen from Johnny Quest resembles Clutch Cargo.
Jonny Quest best cartoon theme song of all time
As a kid, I watched this all the time. I'd get home from school and at 4 o'clock, turned on the tube and watched Clutch Cargo! Great times!
I knew a kid who had to be home by 4PM every day to watch "Dark Shadows". You and him could've rode the bus to school together. LOL. 😄
I love the art style of this show. The important thing with low-budget and low-framerate animation is making sure that the few frames look great at the very least.
It's the substance of the story/plot, not just (un-?)impressive animated imagery that held my
interest as a 5-yr. old back in 1960. Thanks for the (resurrected) memory(-ies). 😊
Cambria Cartoons also gave us that mid 60s animated Three Stooges series. That was hardly great but it did feature A) the actual voices of the final Stooges lineup and B) did have those somewhat funny live-action intros and finals in each 'toon...
Wow I remember those! They're in public domain now, available on various low budget cartoon DVDs.
It also at least had actual animation at least.
Clutch Cargo, Space Angel, Captain Fathom - I remember them well having grown up with them in their early days. Nice to see it get some rememberance here!
I remember Clutch Cargo,, it was on the Garfield Goose show on WGN out of Chicago, way back in the 60's
This cartoon series was seen by me on Chicago's Channel 9 Garfield Goose hosted by Frazier Thomas. Viewed on the "Little Theater Screen" Thomas would introduce each episode. What a blast from the past!
Same here! Watched from LaPorte Indiana.
Thx for reminding me that i watched the daily episode on Garfield Goose.
And on Sundays Family Classics
UHF channel 39 in TX .... morning started with CLUTCH, followed ay JACK LaLANE, CADET DON & DON MAHONEY & JEANNA CLAIRE SHOW ( saw Johnny & Edgar Winter on MAHONEY SHOW )
@@bigal1863 me too!! I had forgotten all about the theater screen. Do you remember Diver Dan (I think it was)?
I enjoyed watching Clutch Cargo on tv when young, so I bought the shows on DVD awhile back. They're so good. 👌🏼
interesting to note OTIS from Andy Griffith did voice, as did the lead actor in ANIMAL HOUSE did JONNY QUEST voice
I remember Clutch Cargo. I remember thinking at the time, "That looks cheap as hell" LOL. But I would watch while waiting for something higher-budget to come on. Looking back, they actually had pretty decent stories.
Wow ! Blast from the past ! I'm 65 , me & my brother would watch The Ray Rayner show in the morning & Frazier Thomas after school on WGN channel 9 . Sure miss those days ! 😁👍🍺
I've never seen the show, but I like the unique styles to work around their budget. Gotta thank that guy in a Max Headroom mask for singing its theme song.
I can still see the X!
😂😂😂 Classic!
ohh i just made a giant masterpiece for all the the greatest world newspaper nerrrds
I never saw Clutch Cargo, growing up in the 70s, for it was never shown in my area. It's fascinating to see what could be produced on a small budget in order to save money. Now I've seen a preview of it, the voice actors' moving lips, the limited movement animation, and the well--written plots are what make this vintage show worth seeing. 🇬🇧🐨
Same here. I couldn't believe no one had ever heard of it. I watched the shorts everyday and the Saturday morning 30-minute show.
M-FRI morning exercise guy JACK LaLANE made an appearance MANY MANY years later on comedy ARLISS
I used to watch "Clutch Cargo " on Channel 11, KTTV, Los Angeles in the late 1960s. I bought several "Clutch Cargo" DVDs in the early 2000s because it reminded me of watching cartoons in the afternoons back in the day. Hey, in the early 2000s, we still watched DVDs, until I discovered RUclips in 2006.
I saw Clutch Cargo when I was seven...and years later I saw some episodes again. At that time I was amazed at how limited the animation was. (It made the contemporary Hanna-Barbera shows look like full-fledged Disney.Chuckle!)
I can't help but think of Chuck Connors from The Rifleman when I see Clutch Cargo's face
They briefly showed this cartoon during a scene from the movie "Pulp Fiction".
I watched Clutch in the 60s; but the big surprise here was that Paul Horn did the soundtrack! Amazing!!!
5:24
I recall seeing some episodes growing up, but it wasn’t until young Butch watched an episode in the movie Pulp Fiction that I was like, Oh my God, I remember that.
I believe it was an influence on when I finally attempted my first animated cartoons back in 1999.
I can say with the up most honesty that while primitive, it’s inventive and encouraging how one with barely a budget can get around an obstacle and come up with something fun.
Utmost honesty*
It was actually one of my favorites I loved how their lips moved and I loved the stories good job covering this makes me love it all over again
Watched Clutch Cargo & Diver Dan on WGN Ray Raynor as a kid growing up near Chicago. Don't forget the Holiday Season favorites Susie Snowflake, Hard Rock, Coco and Joe and Frosty the Snowman. Good times!
When I was younger, I thought, "I'll watch this until something better is on," but as I grew older, I truly liked them.Thanks for the memory🎶
That drawing at 6:30 is pretty amazing. No doubt enhanced by that lovely female character in the drawing. Serious talent in the studio.
I loved watching Clutch Cargo as a kid . Gosh , that was a long time ago . The artwork is kind of reminiscent of the earlier Steve Canyon comics of Milton Caniff . I also remember watching Johnny Quest and Fireball XL5 . Good stuff , too bad we don't have great stories like that today . Thanks for the memories ! 👍
Omg! No way!! I completely forgot about this show! Man, I’m seriously Godsmacked right now. That was LIFETIMES ago!
I never missed an episode , I was glued to the TV
*WOW this vid stirred some memories! I was born in '54 and every Saturday morning I'd be up at 6 and watch Modern Farmer, Agriculture Today and at 7:00 am CLUTCH CARGO!*
Grew up in south suburbs of Chicago, watched this every morning on Ray Rayner
I watched this all the time as a kid...loved this show!!!
i was born 1980, i have never seen this cartoon, and yet 1 thing from it made it's way into my life. I had a neighbor who had a cat named paddlefoot, which was such an odd name i never forgot it. now i know where it came from clearly. so despite never having seen the show myself, it still managed to seep into my life via a random cat named after the dog.
I remember this series from the old "Garfield Goose" kid program I used to watch every day at 5pm. 😊
I remember watching this on the American Forces Network in West Germany in the early 80s (along with black and white Beetle Bailey). I'll never forget the crazy moving mouths. The stories were fun, though!
I remember watching this as a kid in the late 1960’s. WNHC/WTNH channel 8 out of New Haven carried it. I was on Long Island and pretty far away but the station came in well enough to watch.
Fun super-old cartoon ! I've always wondered if it inspired Jonny Quest, particularly Clutch's looks. Race Bannon could be his twin brother.
It was very unique in the day. Also watched Scott McCloud-Space Angel.
As a Gen Exer, my first exposure through this was pulp fiction. I’m really going to have to finally checked the show out. I really like the Will Eisner style art.
Ah....Clutch Cargo with Spinner n Paddlefoot.......great cartoon series!
Thanks for the post ! 📺📺📺📺I seem to recall seeing "Clutch Cargo", "Space Angel" and "Diver Dan" on channel 6 WPVI out of Philadelphia. On weekday mornings during the cartoon segments on either "Captain Noah", "Sally Starr", or "Chief Halftown".
Thanks for the great info on how one of my favorite childhood memories was produced. My brothers and sister would watch Clutch every weekday with me on Frazier Thomas' Garfield Goose show. We found the moving lips fascinating, not creepy. Comic books were king at this time, so, yes, to us it was a comic book that moved - perfect for the times. Thanks for a sensitive remembrance of this series - and the imaginative people who conquered a budget.
Wow this brings back memories !!! Amazing how influential good story lines are for kids that hated reading !!! Wanderfull stuff !!!! Many thanks 😉😎
Cool 😎
DAVEY & GOLIATH faith based show
This show was a regular in Chicago appearing on the Garfield Goose programs. Along with other inexpexpensive shorts like Hercules, Funny Company, and (live action/stop motion) Journey to the Beginning of Timè.
I used to watch Clutch Cargo And John Gneagys drawing show back to back in Michigan ...I got me drawing and opened up a whole new world of music art and creativity...now at 70yrs of age...I still draw..play music...create...thanks guys
Wow, what a coincidence. I was literally watching your episode on the Fireball last night and was thinking what was that other cartoon I saw in the mid 70s where it was just a picture with a human mouth moving. I spent almost 30 minutes looking for it on RUclips and then I’m going to Google and finally found it and lo and behold the next day here it is pretty cool.
The RUclips algorithm knew exactly what you were searching for. It's even creepier than the moving lips.
this is a rabbit hole that’s so worth going down (very interesting stuff) It’s a cartoon that doesn’t get nearly enough praise! 👍👍👍
It was one of my favorites as a kid. I didn't even notice the mouth thing, it had to be pointed out to me and I didn't even understand why so many thought it looked odd. What attracted to me is that it didn't have a 'cartoon' look to it. the things they drew actually looked like what they were; a tractor looked like a tractor.
What makes this show interesting is that its i think the only genuine and wide use of synchro-vox in a cartoon concept, yet, in the modern day, its used so often as one-off jokes, including mocking the low budget of vintage cartoons, that it has the illusion of being a lot more widespread
Best intro music, EVER! It's mysterious and haunting.
I still watch these. Better than life today.
Being born in 1960, I remember watching this cartoon, and yes the main things I remember from it were how the mouths moved and the theme music.
Oh yeah, I remember Clutch Cargo very well. I was never creeped out by the lip thing. I was mor captivated and thrilled by the stories. I didn't get to see all of them, because it was a few years later when I actually got to see the cartoon. Our local TV station showed it on a morning kids show that I watched, and I was only about 4 at the time, so I figure they worked out some sort of syndication deal to show it. Regardless of what the deal was, it wasn't long before it disappeared. But I still have the memories of the show even now in my 60's.
It's one of my all-time favorites. Good memories. Clutch Cargo, Zorro, Tom Terrific, and Woody Woodpecker were all heroes of mine. Quite the mish-mash. But hey, I was a tad small back in those days...lol
I only remember the Saturday half hour shows, and I think my dad liked the show more than I did. Thanks for the memory!
I remember Clutch. I was entertained. It opened up some new vistas to me. My dad, who animated for Warner Bros., said it was real cheap but I watched it anyways.
A great series supported with very good adventures and story telling, I loved that show.
CLUTCH always reminded me of RACE BANNON on JONNY QUEST .... I still dig the closing credits music from J QUEST
The infamous on Channel 9 and PBS Stations WTTW was interrupted by Max headroom hijacking incidents happened in 1987.
I loved watching this as an adult and noticing the antique airplane that is an okay effort to draw a real airplane: a 1929 Bellanca Airbus!
That airplane is a distinctive and beautiful design and a few dozen were built.
As soon as I saw the thumbnail I remembered the characters.The only one I remembered was the dog, Pattlepuss or something like that.
This is a wonderful history lesson. Thank you for teaching me about Clutch Cargo!
I think I'm just a little too young to have seen Clutch Cargo, but I definitely remember Space Angel and Herge's Tin-Tin.
Cool. Brings back an old memory. Thanks
Grew up watching Clutch Cargo, couldn't wait to get to the TV to watch the next cliffhanger! Always remembered the moving mouths, made it so cool! 🙂
I remember watching Clutch on bus and extras on $1 bin DVDs. It was a fun and charming show! I seriously love the art style and can see how Clutch here inspired Johnny Quests very own Race Bannon!
I never watched Clutch Cargo when it was first shown on TV because I was born near the end of 1975. I first knew about Clutch by Internet sites and I even saw that it was available on DVD later. I own it on DVD now and sometimes I watch it either on RUclips or DVD. As a side note, that Spinner is such a cutie for a little orphaned boy.
Use to watch this every afternoon after school. Really enjoyed it. On Saturday mornings I would watch Fireball XL5.
Clutch Cargo was referenced in the Max Headroom incident, since the hijacker did hum the theme song
I remember watching their other show Space Angel, but I didn't see Clutch Cargo until about 1968, on Boston's Channel 56 (then independent station WKGB-TV, now WLVI-TV and affiliated with a network). Clutch was a part of their 10 AM-12 noon Cartoon Cavalcade weekday program, along with stuff like Tennessee Tuxedo, Underdog, Commander McBragg, Snuffy Smith, Tooter the Turtle, The Hunter, Klondike Kat, and occasionally Yogi Bear and other Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
I found this DVD at the 99c store, it was a curious oddity, I had no idea what it was about!!
I found out about this show by two things:
-The Incredibles (Special Feature on the DVD)
-The Max Headroom Incident
“I just laid a giant masterpiece for all of the greatest world newspaper nerds!”
I'm better than Chuck Swirsky!
I'd totally forgotten Clutch Cargo until I saw Pulp Fiction and the bizarre pocket watch flashback sequence. And of course, during the infamous Max Headroom TV hijacking incident, the guy in the Max mask referenced the final Clutch episode and sang the theme song...sorta. Still the greatest and funniest TV hijacking of all. If you haven't seen it, it's on RUclips about a million times, and it's worth checking out. I still see the X
Man, I loved this show as a kid!
Since I was born at the start of 80s, first thing that this show reminded me was Jonny Quest since they showed the older version more than the 80s version. I watched a good amount of cartoons back in the day, along with game shows and some educational shows. Me now, I'm watching vintage movies from the 1930s to 80s, game shows and well...vintage anime.
Loved this creepy, low budget 'toon, when I was little. So much as a matter of fact, my little brother and I, named our pet baby Peking ducks, Clutch and Paddlefoot☺️!!! Splinter also, but that was our rabbit🐇.
I had NO idea the Incredibles made a parody based on this cartoon. I thought it was just done for funsies but... I was wrong...
I remember watching this back in the late '50's, early 60's. It was a cartoon feature on one of the local kid's shows in South Bend Indiana. I remember thinking at the time it was very strange with the moving mouths. Still way ahead of any cartoon shows seen on TV these days.
I always enjoyed when Swampy joined in for the episode. 🤗
We got our first tv in 1963, a black and white Magnovox . Yes I am that old! Color sure makes it better and more weird. Loved it. Great job on bringing this cult classic to RUclips.
Thanks for sharing Rich. I am in Canada and don't remember ever seeing this show.
I watched Clutch Cargo in the mid-60s as a young boy. Even as little gradeschoolers we recognized that it was low grade animation, but the stories and art (such as it was) did have a certain charm.
Count me in as another Clutch Cargo viewer….(I grew up in the 1960’’s) along with Speed Racer which had a very similar moving mouth style of animation if memory serves….
Funny how it seems like only yesterday!
Cool video Thank You
Was Disney's TaleSpin show loosely based on this, because dang there are so many similarities. Pretty much all the characters from CC have expies in TS, plus the setting being a 1930's pacific with the story focus on piloting cargo planes is likely not a coincidence.
Both were pretty much inspired by serials (TaleSpin reminded me of Indiana Jones).
My sister and I often talk about our memories of this odd cartoon! I can’t believe this was on 1959-1960,my sister was Just born 1960!!
When I was around four back in 1964, my dad was stationed at Camp Pendleton MCB in San Diego county. We could pick up great atenna reception from both LA, SD and TJ stations (12 of 13 on the dial...originally no ch 3..later Oceanside channel). Anyway, my siblings and I used to wated "Clutch Cargo" on LA, channel 13 KCOP, I believe it was. It was either part of Sheriff John's show or Hobo Kelly's. I liked the cartoon with the real moving lips.
I loved this show. It was the precurser of Johny Quest and Haj and Bandit. The simplicity of the animation was perfect for my kid brain. The stories were great.
Thanks for the history lesson. This series screened in New Zealand, probably in the early 1970s. It was just about the creepiest thing I have ever seen. Very unsettling, then and now.
Yeah, I watched this growing up and enjoyed it very much. Different, but great stories and always entertaining!
I am from the Dominican Republic... Here the series was dubbed in Spanish... It aired from the mid 70's until the first years in the 80's, or so.... The characters' speech; their lips moving as they talked was what mostly got my attention... The adventures were engaging... It was not my favorite TV show but did finish up every episode I started to watch.. I felt it was not limited to movement, but different; I enjoyed them just as I did other cartoons; they are never real!!! Good old memories!
I never was a regular viewer but clips of this series have always fascinated me; this was a great overview. It's interesting to see Hal Smith was in this! I met Hal Smith when I was a kid. He was a sweet guy; he demonstrated some voices, Winnie the Pooh and Owl, for me.
A childhood favourite from the 60s. Fuzzy, black and white TV, poor vertical hold and reception. Fun times.
That feels like it came from The Incredibles animated Short featuring Mr. Incredible, Frozone and Mr. Skiperdoo. Its from The Incredibles DVD.