Quacula
Quacula is an animated fictional character, an anthropomorphic vampire duck, created by Filmation. He starred in his own segment on The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle for one season.
Quacula | |
---|---|
The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle character | |
First appearance | September 8, 1979 |
Portrayed by | Frank Welker (voice) |
In-universe information | |
Species | Vampire duck |
Gender | Male |
Plot
Quacula (voiced by Frank Welker) was depicted as a pale blue duck with a Daffy Duck-like bill and fangs, dressed in a blue jacket and a black cape with a red lining. He slept by day in a white coffin shaped like an egg, in the basement of a house owned by an anthropomorphic bear named Theodore (voiced by Norm Prescott imitating Joe E. Ross of Car 54, Where Are You?).
Every night Quacula would rise from his coffin and try to terrify Theodore and others, but he would never really succeed; his antics tended to be more comical than frightening. Also, Theodore would come up with one plan after another to rid himself of Quacula, but always fail to do so.
Composer Ray Ellis occasionally repeated music cues from Groovie Goolies.
Broadcast history
Quacula made his debut on September 8, 1979, on the first episode of The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle. However, cartoonist Scott Shaw filed suit against Filmation due to the fact that he had created a character named Duckula for the comic book Quack! #1 (July 1976), published by Star*Reach. The matter was settled out of court, and after 16 episodes Quacula was dropped from the show, which was shortened from an hour to a half-hour .[1][2]
List of cartoons
In addition to their own shorts, Quacula and Theodore also crossed over into Heckle & Jeckle's "Where There's a Will." The magpies show up after inheriting their uncle's mansion, and although Theodore instantly realizes they have the wrong address, he decides to give Heckle & Jeckle a night in the house, hoping they'll drive Quacula away.
Nº | Title | Written by: | Air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Star Boars" | Ted Pedersen | September 8, 1979 | |
Quacula finds himself aboard a spaceship, being whisked away to a planet where the sun always shines. | ||||
2 | "House For Sale" | Ron Card | September 15, 1979 | |
Theodore hopes to sell the mansion to a Southerner who plans to open a wax museum, so Quacula decides to intervene. | ||||
3 | "Weird Bear" | Bill Danch, Ted Pedersen | September 22, 1979 | |
Theodore gets doused with one of Quacula's ancient potions, which transforms him into a monster. | ||||
4 | "Monster Mash" | Ted Pedersen | September 29, 1979 | |
Theodore buys a Transylvanian robot monster to rid himself of Quacula, but Frankie turns out to be trouble for both of them. | ||||
5 | "Uncle Ferenc" | Ron Card | October 6, 1979 | |
Theodore hopes to join a birdwatching club, whose committee members arrive on the same night as Quacula's uncle. | ||||
6 | "The Magic Lamp" | Ron Card | October 13, 1979 | |
Theodore's flea market find is a magic lamp, but even the genie proves to be no match for Quacula. | ||||
7 | "Room for Rent" | Ron Card | October 20, 1979 | |
Theodore tries to spend a quiet night in a hotel, but Quacula is hot on his trail. | ||||
8 | "Morgana La Duck" | Paul Dini | October 27, 1979 | |
Morgana La Duck rises from her 1,000-year slumber and claims ownership of Theodore's house. | ||||
9 | "Return of Star Boars" | Ted Pedersen | November 3, 1979 | |
Sebastian drops Quacula's coffin in the local Bermuda Triangle, where the vampire duck again ends up in the clutches of aliens. | ||||
10 | "Time and Before" | Ted Pedersen | November 10, 1979 | |
Theodore builds a machine to send Quacula back in time, where the duck contends with the bear's primitive ancestors. | ||||
11 | "Bungled Burglary" | Paul Dini | November 17, 1979 | |
After swiping his egg coffin, mad scientist Dr. Hugo Frankenfox (imitating Ed Wynn) creates clones of Quacula. | ||||
12 | "Shanghai Salty" | Ted Pedersen | November 24, 1979 | |
Theodore's relaxing cruise takes a turn when Quacula rears his head and pirates hijack the ship. | ||||
13 | "Pyramid" | Ron Card, Bill Danch | December 1, 1979 | |
When Theodore gets a job as a museum night watchman, he inadvertently awakens a cat-like mummy. | ||||
14 | "Haunted House" | Ron Card | December 8, 1979 | |
Theodore hires The Stranger, a menacing ape in 19th-century attire, to exterminate Quacula. | ||||
15 | "Magic Duck" | Ron Card | December 15, 1979 | |
Theo hosts a birthday party for his duck-hating buddy, Bruno the bear, who's unusually taken with Quacula's billed friend, Merlin. | ||||
16 | "The Fantastic 2½" | Ted Pedersen | December 22, 1979 | |
Theodore brings in a band of unusual superheroes to contend with Quacula. |
References
- Quacula at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on November 4, 2016.
- Quack! #1 at the Grand Comics Database.