Classic Cartoons: COOL McCOOL

COOL McCOOL was a Saturday morning cartoon series that was parody/spoof of the highly popularity of James Bond films of the day. McCool was a super secret agent that could be described as a bumbling, clumsy person. Perhaps akin to Maxwell Smart of the sitcom GET SMART.

The character and series was created by Bob Kane, the creator of one of the most popular superheroes, BATMAN. The cartoon was produced by King Features, which produced classic cartoons like Popeye and Casper The Friendly Ghost. Partnering with Kane, as a co-creator and producer, was Al Brodox. Al worked on POPEYE and THE BEATLES animated series.

COOL McCOOL premiered on September 10, 1966 and ran for three years on NBC. Only 20 half hour episodes were produced, but each episode had three separate story segments.

About COOL McCOOL:

Cool McCool was a trenched-coat secret agent that always defeated the super villains, despite being a bumbling, inept goof. His boss was know ans "Number One" and was never seen on screen. Number One's secretary was Friday, who had a huge crush on McCool.

McCool had three favorite catchphrases: "Danger is my business!"  "When you're right, Number One, You're Right," and "That will never happen again." The last phrase was always after McCool bungled something.

One of the three segments of each 1/2 hour episode featured a Keystone Kops type of story, and featured Cool's Father Harry, and his two uncles Dick and Tom. These stories were the middle segment, between two COOL McCOOL segments.

CHARACTERS:

Cool McCool - Super spy that always gets his man, no matter how much bumbling he does.

Harry McCool - Father to Cool, Harry is a police officer.

Number One - Cool's Boss, Number one is never seen on screen and would always eject Cool McCool out of his office, when the secret agent did something dumb.

Friday - She is the secretary to Number One and has a crush on McCool. She too is not very coordinated.

Breezy - Cool McCool's young sidekick and is always there to aid McCool when he is in trouble.

Dick McCool and Tom McCool - Uncles to Cool, and brothers of Harry. The two serve with Harry on the police force.

The Owl - A elderly super villain who is the nemesis of Cool McCool. He lives in a cave with his female henchmen. He is the headmaster at the College of Crooks. The character is a parody of The Penguin from BATMAN.

The Rattler - This villain is an green snake/person that control and adore all plants. He enjoys the fine arts and is a professor at the College of Crooks. And, like The Owl, The Rattler is a parody of BATMAN's Riddler.

Dr. Madcap - He is a villain that has the ability to control hats and have them do anything he wants. His wife, Greta Ghoul is sad that Madcap spends more time with his hats, than with her. The Batman parody for this character was The Mad Hatter

Greta Ghoul - As mentioned above, does not feel appreciated of loved by her husband, Dr. Madcap.  She is often moody and depressed.

Hurricane Harry - A heavy weight supervillain who has a deep voice and a lisp. He can create great gusts of wind to blow things away. He lives with his fiancee Bellows Belle. Belle wheezes when she speaks. Hurricane Harry is a Professor of PE at the College of Crooks.

Jack-In-A-Box - An obvious parody of Batman's The Joker, this supervillain too wears joker attire. He hides in a jack-in-a-box to scare/attack people. His weapons of choice are his shotgun and bombs.

VOCAL CAST:

Bob McFadden ....................................... Cool McCool, Harry McCool
Chuck McCann ....................................... Number One, Tom, Dick, The Owl, Madcap,
                                                                Rattler, Hurricane Harry, Jack-In-A-Box
Carol Corbett ........................................... Friday, Greta Ghoul,

BROADCAST HISTORY:

Season 1: NBC - 11:00 to 11:30 a.m. (Fall '66 only)
Season 1: NBC - 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. (Winter '66 - Summer '67)
Season 2: NBC - 12:30 to 1:00 p.m.
Season 3: NBC - Unknown

Original run - September 10, 1966 – August 30, 1969