User Reviews

Zandor, Tara, and their son Dorno live on a distant planet. With their animal friends, they protect the planet from all enemies as the Herculoids. There is flying dragon Zok with laser beam eyes and tail, powerful ape Igoo, rhino-like Tundro firing energy rocks from its horn, and shape-shifting blobs Gloop and Gleep.

This Saturday morning cartoon is from Hanna-Barbera. It's two 10-min segments. It's action-packed as they seem to have an endless number of enemies kidnapping Tara and Dorno or scheming to take over the planet. The animation is good 60's TV. The creatures are memorable. The plot is simple and pretty much the same. They do recycle many shoots like Zandor using his slingshot and Zok firing its laser beams. This is great for kids.

I wonder where the original idea came from.

Sci-fi animation at it's best. For the time anyhoo.

A family of three with several super pets. Zandor is the Father, Tarra the Mother, and Dorno the son. A basic family except they have great athleticism and futuristic weapons. And for some reason Dorno refers to his parents by their first names.

Zok is a flying dragon that fires bolts of energy from his eyes and tail.

Tundro looks like a triceratops that fires shots from his horn. Has armor plates as well.

Igoo is a giant ape made of rock. And yes that is Ted "Lurch" Cassidy doing the voice.

Gloop and Gleep were jellylike blobs.

Zandor also had a slingshot that was more powerful than most weapons that REALLY exist.

There was no sentimentality here. But you still saw all of them support each other. It comes off like a Japanese monster anime at times.

Why don't they do more like this?

The Herculoids might be the only great example of pulp sci-fi animation. Every episode featured a host of new alien nemeses with little or no explanation. Delightfully however it also featured little or none of the "master of the obvious" dialogue that plagued all the later Hanna Barbera cartoons; "Zoiks Scoob it's a sea monster..." The art has a very warm comic book feel. You won't find the nightmarish rainbow palette that many of todays toons are subjected to. The quality of each episode is consistently high given the archetypal characters, stories etc... In fact, it is precisely the simplistic pulpiness that keeps me wide awake even at ridiculous hours of the morning. The imaginative landscapes and creatures hooked me as a boy, and have yet to let go.

Maybe it was a case of the right series' at the right time, but during the fall and winter of 1967 I discovered the magic of animated superheroes. And at the core of this revelation was the wonderful Herculoids.

I always thought there was a great story behind the story. What was apparently the only three humans on a planet that was home to other humanoid species... leading a band of powerful animals who also did not seem to be indigenous to the planet Amzok... changed to the planet Quasar with it's revival on NBC years later...

But the stories that were told were very gripping. There was a camaraderie and a fellowship between the family and the animals; Zok and Gloop & Gleep and Tundro and Igoo... none of them would think of allowing anything to befall Tara or Dorno... and though obviously not the most powerful of the group, Zandor was the leader and all the animals knew it...

Yeah, there was a deeper story here that never got to be told... but what they did tell was quite enjoyable in 1967 and still is in 2007. :D

I can not get over how well the Herculoids series have stood up over time. I watch it every chance I get (it drives my wife crazy)! The art work is still wonderful and fantastic. The stories are full of action and (the real reason it works) it's short stories of good over evil are quite compelling. I went to the 2008 Comic-Con with my son (who is an illustrator) and did not see the Herculoids represented at all. This series deserves major front burner attention. For such a short plot line it's got all the stuff to make it to the big screen. A strong family theme mixed with self reliance and Dorno's sense of responsibility taught by his farther Zandor. Yeah it has a little Tarzan twist to it's flow but that's why it works, keep it simple stupid ! Zandor seems to understand the line between what machinery and technology can and can't do for you. Even though he is surrounded by it he is not a slave to it and prefers his and his family simple life in the Forrest of Amzot. I would love to see The Herculoids adapted for the big screen. Just imagine a live action seen with Igoo (The Rock Ape) pounding his metal foe into the ground. Hulk, Iron Man, Batman watch your back. The Herculoids are the next sleeping Si-Fi giant ! ! !

Next to Jonny Quest, this was the first cartoon I could recall before or since that didn't continuously waste time telling me what the people/creatures were going to do. Don't these action-oriented cartoon makers of the present day realize that the bulk of the fun is in seeing the resolution happen not laying out the scenario? Oftentimes I was riveted surprised cheered over the victories the principles had over the bad guys. You weren't let in on this menagerie's thought processes other than their characteristic sounds which could have meant anything (Or Tundro's occasionally triumphant smile). When resurrected in the 80's they tried to make some herculoids puppy-dog cute (particularly my favorite the once aloof, brutal to the bad guys Zok which irritated me)and toned down on the violence and make Zandor's family more like us American Earthlings. But who cares it was still good versus bad and not spoiling the surprises of what these adorable creatures did.

It is time to bring the Herculoids to the big screen.

This could easily be a two to three movie event.

The first movie needs to start out with the love shared between Zandor and Tara and the love their love for the planet Quasar. Zandor and Tara should first meet with Zoe and Igoo.

Then comes the bad guys and there are plenty to choose from. The enemy looking to conquer and make planet Quasar their own to enslave the indeginous inhabitants.

Second movie should bring about the birth of Zandor and Tara's son Dorno. Now Tundro, Gloop and Gleep get introduced.

Again the bad guys want to enslave planet Quasar.

Third movie should have a teenage or young adult Dorno now with the passion and experience to really assist his parents defend planet Quasar.

This would be a great, series.

Just throwing my excited 7 cents out there.

Herb

It's weird how you can remember things one way and then find out your memories are wrong.I have recently been watching old stuff I liked as a kid and most of it is unbearable crap.The Herculoids isn't unbearable, it's just really strange.These people live in some sort of nuclear wasteland where nothing grows and every other being in the universe wants to invade their barren wasteland.They never even explain the relationship between the characters.The man and boy do and say lots of things to lead you to believe that they aren't father and son.One really good thing about this cartoon is that they kill people.That's always refreshing.

Herculoids,created by Alex Toth was unique among the numerous superhero cartoons of the 60's being done by Hanna/Barberra & others.Focusing on 5 different creatures who lived on the planet Quasar along with the human-looking Zandor,his wife Tarra, & their son Dorno,they would battle alien invaders every week.Or some menace already existing upon their world.We really never knew why Quasar was so important to all of the alien invaders who seemed to have no connection to one another.There didn't seem to be any other lifeforms like Zandor & his family,or the Hercs themselves.Were they all indigenous to the planet?But it was still funto see the weekly action with this group.Zok the flying dragon that had ray beams emanating from both eyes & tail,Igoo the huge,powerful rock-like ape,Tundro a hybrid-looking triceratops/rhino,& Gloop & Gleep,the blobs.The other animated series were about traditional looking superheroes,replete with costumes & secret identities.Here we had a family like Tarzan,Jane & boy.Instead of African wildlife,we had alien animals with various powers.The art was wonderful,as was the voice talent.In this age of revivals,Herculoids would be wonderful to see again.This time around though let's hope the mysteries of the series could be addressed.

This is another of my favorite classic Hanna Barbara cartoons. I remember seeing this show on "Cartoon Network" in the 90's, back when "Cartoon Network" was like what "Nick at Nite" was to old TV shows. Seeing this show blew me away from setting my sights on those monsters for the first time and seeing giant monsters fight alongside humans against a common threat. Let alone there really aren't that many animated shows that feature giant monsters as the main stars. Only ones I can think of that I think are "Inhumanoids" from the 80's (show I reviewed) and "Godzilla the Series" from the 90's (show I'll review another time); other than that there really hasn't been any others since.

The show obviously was inspired by the giant monster movies going on in the 50's and 60's mainly the films from Ray Harryhausen. I really like the premise, which was unique for its time, I like that the show was a bit of a flip on the whole super-sized foe/giant monster sub-genre. Most of the time in that subgenre the giant monsters are always the bad guys that are chasing or killing the good guys that were unequal in size. But in this show for once the giant monsters are fighting on the good guy's side. You could even say this is kind of a wishforfillment fantasy for kids or even just monster movie fans and lovers, on just having monsters on your side and just beat the hell out of anything that is threatening your life in any way. Shame we couldn't have called the Herculoids in reality, would have been very handy in dealing with bullies.

I really like the animation it's pretty much some of the animation you would expect from Hanna Barbara which is alright by me, I wouldn't want it any other way. The animation style is the same kind you'd see from mainly from the action line up from Hanna Barbara most notably "Johnny Quest" and "Space Ghost" (both shows I'll review another time. I really like the background and features of this savage otherworld, despite some of the same features as Earth from air, water, and vegetation there are a lot of significant differences that make it alien to our senses, I won't give them away as you must see them for yourself.

The human characters are solid they serve their functions, their sort of Tarzan, Jane, and their Son but all in space. I just simply thought it was a cool thought of having a whole planet as your home, where you just have unlimited freedom, you can make all kinds of friends or should I say monsters, explore, adventure, provides for all your needs just anything.

However, this show we're all really in it for the action and the monsters and that's what were all here for with pulp sci-fi fantasy stories, where most of them were never concerned so much with logic or even plot but just simply delivering the goods which this show does.

I really love the Herculoid monsters, in a way by their nature their all-assault vehicles but their all-living creatures and even have distinctive personality as three of them talk, which makes it cool to further show how otherworldly the place truly is but also just to add some humor as the show doesn't take itself too seriously You have your ground support from this Triceratops that acts as a tank as he has these horns that shoot out these explosive Nitro Glisern rocks, how the heck the monster stores so much ammo or makes it is anyone's guess.

An ape like creature whose you can say is Kong but in space which makes it all the cooler. He my favorite as he almost reminds me a little of Ben Grimm/ The Thing from "Fantastic Four" or even B. A. from "The A Team" as he's the muscle of the group, as he clears away obstacles or even throw boulders and will beat up just about anything that threatens the lives of both he and his family, even if it's bigger than him it doesn't matter as threats are always equal size. I really that he has the strong persona to boot as his strength is surpassed by the courage and determination in his heart, he doesn't take crap from anyone but is also by his nature really a gentle soul as he really cares for the son as both have a good repore in the show.

There is a dragon who is the air support he is armed with laser eyes, which that's cool as it's a break on the common cleche on dragons always armed with fire breath. And of course, my second favorite Herculoids are Gleep and Gloop, those two are so cute which is strange to say but it's probably in their movements with those expressive gentle eyes of their that have this playful innocence to them. Both are pretty much Blobs but their good. Despite not really fighters of the bunch, they are extremely useful which makes them both you can say tech or emergency officers of the group. They can transform themselves into just about anything you need, like if your falling down from a huge height they form a parachute. Or even sometimes they can act as lassos to wrap around enemies just to slow them down.

The action is solid it's well choregraphed and has more explosions than a Michael Bay film or Super Sentai show. You have some solid villains; the villains are mainly just your villains of the weak which is alright because it means they have a different challenge each week. It mainly consisted of robots or some evil aliens that use technology to both Plunder the planet and kill all the species living there. That's part of what made the battles in the show truly interesting was that it was based on the old motif of nature verses technology, I always found that kind of fascinating just seeing how the elements of nature and survival skills can undermine technology However, that is also the show's misfire as they don't have a reacuring villian/s. It would have been cool if the show did that way it would have increased the challenge factor. Like maybe there is some fascist faction they must contend with that refuses to leave making it not the usual get in and out battle but a war to fight. Or better yet have them fight of against more giant evil monsters, like some sort of evil rogue version of the Herculoids, which would also increase the challenge as they would meet their match. But oh well, the show is still fine as it is as the non-stop occurring action keeps me interested.

It would be cool though a long shot if there was some animated revival. Or better yet since "DC Comics" does licensed comics for Hanna Barbara why not a modern-day miniseries, or even a story from that anthology comic series "Future Quest" for this show that is if they decide to have more issues. Well, their nice thoughts to consider.

For fans of Hanna Barbara or just yesteryear toons, "The Herculoids" is worth a shot as its explosive monstrous fun.

Rating: 3 and a half stars.

My favorite character is Tundro. Long live the Herculoids along with Jonny Quest! Someone needs to make a movie. Love to see Zak in action on the big screen.

This did not debut till I was a teen, however it became one I liked the most along with Jonny Quest, although it was more of a "sci-fi" cartoon series. I loved all the diff creature characters and how they were portrayed. I remember thinking "Gleep & Gloop" were pretty cool "jello" like in appearance and funny creatures that were often heroes like the others.

I have tried in vain to find this series on a streaming basis and it must not exist anywhere and being a Hanna-Barbara production that is strange.

My entire childhood through teens were the golden years of tv animated cartoons...there were the good guys and bad guys....and the good ALWAYS won...that is still an important message for all youth yet today.

Pure Cartoons really dont exist today...they are weird and many try to bring social messages to young kids today. Leave them alone with that crap!!.....let them be kids!....to laugh and have genuine fun without the pollution of social change idiocy.

Many parents today luckily get their kids the same cartoins we did because they do not endorse today's cartoonish stuff. Good for them!

I saw this when it was originally broadcast, and until recent weeks, I hadn't seen it again. I loved it as a child, but I almost HATE it now. Why?

I recently bought the whole series on dvd, and watch one show every Saturday, to sort of recreate the environment of long ago. Back then, as I said, I loved this series, but I have come about face on a number of things. First of all, I hated the mindless dolts otherwise known as the NEA types who got this show cancelled, along with the likes of The Fantastic Four, because, everybody, sing along with me now, it was "too violent". Well, the puny bloodless violence that there was, I loved it, but I had no idea back then the absolute monstrosity that beat within this beast.

I started off thinking how terrible it must had been doing the voices to those animal characters, particularly Iggo, and then, rare inspiration that it was, I tried to copy it vocally myself, and did the perfect job, so ridiculous doing that voice must had been. If only that noise wouldn't damage my throat over time, I would walk around grocery stores all the time like that, just to see if anybody would recognize it. But as annoying as hearing mindless screaming from the animals might had been, as we're used to such things from animals after all, there is a ton of it nonetheless. If all those constant different animal calls aren't enough to drive you insane, what else you hear most certainly will.

What really drives you insane is the institution of Mr. Obvious and it comes not surprisingly from the humans. Yes, our little family engages in the art of ridiculously over-stating the obvious at virtually every turn. When Xandro isn't issuing a command, there's a very high percentage of this occurring. For example, a ship will start coming at them, and they will say "It's coming at us", or when the ship disappears, it's soon followed by "it disappeared". Seriously folks, I thought this show was wrote for ten-year-olds, but it's wrote for two-year-olds instead.

As much as I hate the NEA for what they did (I would presume The Fantastic Four wasn't this mind-numbingly stupid) they unintentionally saved America from yet more stupidity by having this show cancelled. I still have like three more shows to go, and I don't know if I can take it. It's obvious, while the show has some good fights, and about zero plot, you will be brought down about triple digits in intelligence watching it; it's just that bad. Your only hope for enjoying this show, is to turn the sound off as you watch it, even though you will miss out on some pretty cool music at times.

And what's with that stupid "house" the human Herculoids always seem to live in? No walls and nothing but a roof and floor (at least it's height offers some protection). Incidentally, it gets destroyed in one episode, but of course it doesn't affect any other episodes. BTW, about five years back, I bought the Jony Quest original series, and wasn't disappointed in the least, as it was everything I remembered it being, and, amazingly, it didn't harbor Mr Obvious very much. It just seemed like ordinary cartoon chatter. So yes, this bad; it's real bad.

This was probably the second most and best action packed cartoon to Jonny Quest. It packed action, monsters, sci-fi and aliens into some short episodes. It wasn't bad actually. I liked its action and fast paced. I remember a teacher telling me this was one of the shows that made a lot of people decide to protest and gradually get rid of the more violent cartoon for the wussie cartoons of the late 1960's and early 1970's. I liked the Herculoids. I thought Zandor was pretty cool with his slingshot too.As a cartoon though, it really rocked. Besides being second to JQ in action and adventure isn't a bad thing.

THE HERCULOIDS-was a half-hour animated action packed cartoon show that originally was shown on Saturday Mornings and ran originally on CBS-TV from the premiere episode on September 9,1967 to the last episode of the series on September 6,1969. Only 17 episodes were produced for the series,all in full color and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. However,to note that the original episodes only appeared during the 1967-1968 season while it second season on the air comprised of repeated episodes from the first season.

However,THE HERCULOIDS was basically a great example of pulp science-fiction mixed in with high adventure and breathtaking action sequences that kept viewers tuned into the show since it was mostly shown during Saturday Mornings. This was one of the best and probably the second greatest action packed cartoon ever made,which is one of the great Hanna-Barbera action adventure shows and it is right up there with "Jonny Quest",and "Space Ghost" as one of the best. This show had ever you could hope for and then some: monsters from other worlds, science-fiction,aliens with incredible powers,and not to mention formable villains that came within a drop of a hat. Even though some of the segments ran no more than eight minutes(and it was put within a half-hour show)every episode featured a host of new villains and alien nemesis with little or no explanation. In other words,the action kicks in gear once the characters were set to battle and some battles they had too which was impressive!!! The scenery for THE HERCULOIDS is set on the distant planet of Quasar under the rule of King Zandor(leader of the Herculoids),his wife Tara,and there son Dorno. The trio,handsome by human standards(mom and dad dressed like Amazons in the jungle while the son Dorno had a cute blond haircut)found themselves in a world they're constanting defending from invaders of other worlds and hostile predators that always required the talents of a unique quintet of animals. There was Tundro,the hybrid-looking rhino triceratops that was 10-legged and shoots energy rocks from its nose; Zok,the flying dragon that shoots laser beams emanating from both its eyes and tail;Igoo the powerful huge rock-like ape,and of course Gloop and Gleep,two shapeless ectoplasmic ghosts like creatures who mumbled a lot but were handy when it came to taking down the baddies and mostly protecting the human counterparts from great danger from some diabolical villain. Like the other animated series that came out during the mid-1960's they were about traditional looking superheroes,replete with costumes and secret identities. Here we have a family that looks like the equivalent of Tarzan,Jane and Boy(hence the humanlike characteristics of Johnny Weissmuller,Maureen O'Sullivan,and Johnny Sheffield). But instead of the African jungle,we have a jungle planet with alien animals using various powers and imaginative villains and creatures out to destroy the family's own natural habitat. The art work for this series was not only impressive but unique and exquisitely brilliant among the numerous creations that was designed and executed with sheer perfection by Alex Toth,the master and the designer of head hon co of the Hanna-Barbera action adventure shows that came out during the mid-1960's. The imaginative landscapes for this series was some of the best animated of its day and well as with some of the stories with some of the creatures were even good or loyal and sometimes evil. Not to mention the voice work for the series,especially from Hanna-Barbera stock player Mike Road(who was also the voice of Race Bannon for the Jonny Quest TV Series and other voices too),along with Virginia Gregg and Ted Eccles not to mention Don Messick(as the voices of Gloop and Gleep). When CBS-TV cancelled this show in the fall of 1969,the choice to get rid of this series was due to the violent content that appears in some of the segments not to mention the replacement for some of the "wussie cartoons" that came out during that period(for example "Scooby Doo"). As a cartoon it rocked. It hooked me in as a boy and it hooks me in today when the repeated episodes are shown on Boomerrang from Cartoon Network.

The Hurculoids was one of the most unique creations to come from Hanna-Barbara in the 60's. The Ghost Master Alex Toth brought life to this creation as well. The show was going to be known a Zartan but, CBS legal dept found problems with reworking Tarzan so obviously. Still it remains one of the most original and innovative cartoons to this day. I loved watching when I was a kid. I loved the strange creatures that where good and loyal. I loved the villains they were so strange and interesting. It's a shame that these cartoons don't see much air play any more. Maybe someone will see this and change that?

"The Herculoids" was a favorite of mine as a kid back in the late 70's during its later runs on various networks. (I remember it being included in a large block of various other series headlined by the "Harlem Globetrotters" and later in new episodes as part of the "Space Stars" series. Like what was said, the artwork was high quality...superior to many other TV series of the time, and the story lines, while always formulatic, did the job of entertaining the viewer. A typical 10 minute episode was as followed:*First 30 seconds, some alien or invader arrives, unleashing a fleet of attack crafts or robots. *The next two minutes...the Herculoids and their humans discover the bad guys, either by them attacking or issuing a threat. The next 30 seconds...the good guys make a plan. *The balance of the episode: backed by a jazzy soundtrack, the Herculoids turn the bad guys' equipment into junk ending with the said bad guys being sent away or escaping with their pride seriously wounded. The only thing that I always wondered about...why didn't Zandor and company open up a scrap yard...they sure cornered the market!!