Pac-Man is a 30-minute Saturday morning American animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and based on the Namco video game franchise of the same title. It premiered on ABC and ran for 44 episodes over two seasons from September 25, 1982, to November 5, 1983. It was the first cartoon based on a video game.
It was the highest-rated Saturday morning cartoon show in the US during late 1982. Upon its debut, it was watched by an audience of over children in the US, in addition to adults.
Plot
The show follows the adventures of the title character, Pac-Man, his wife Pepper Pac-Man (Ms. Pac-Man), their child Pac-Baby, their dog Chomp-Chomp and their cat Sour Puss. The family lives in Pac-Land, a place in which the geography and architecture seem to revolve primarily around sphere-like shapes. Most episodes of the series center around the ongoing battle between the Pac family and their only known enemies, the Ghost Monsters: Blinky, Inky, Pinky, Clyde, and Sue. They work for Mezmaron, whose sole mission is to locate and control the source of "Power Pellets", which serve as the primary food and power source for the city, and also is the deus ex machina in virtually every episode. The second (and final) season later introduces Super-Pac and Pac-Man's teenage cousin P.J.
Influence
The show's initial success inspired ABC's rival CBS to create Saturday Supercade, which featured other video game characters from the golden age of video arcade games.
Some of the next Namco games were based on or influenced from the cartoon. Pac-Land and Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures are major examples. Also, the Tengen release of the original Pac-Man arcade game for the Nintendo Entertainment System features box art based on the cartoon.
Controversy
As the first season aired, scenes of Pac-Man "chomping" the Ghost Monsters and being "chomped" himself were considered too "violent". These scenes were toned down in subsequent episodes to provide less direct scenes of the characters "chomping" one another.
Voice cast
Main
Marty Ingels – Pac-Man
Barbara Minkus – Pepper (Ms. Pac-Man) Russi Taylor – Pac-Baby Allan Lurie – Mezmaron Neil Ross – Clyde Susan Silo – Sue Barry Gordon – Inky Chuck McCann – Blinky, Pinky Peter Cullen – Sour Puss Frank Welker – Chomp-Chomp, Morris, Adult Pac-Baby Darryl Hickman – P.J. (Season 2) Julie McWhirter – Dinky (two episodes from seasons 1 and 2) Lorenzo Music – Super-Pac (Season 2)
Additionals
Bill Callaway (Season 2) Jodi Carlisle (Season 1) Brian Cummings (Season 2) Patrick Fraley (Season 2) Joan Gerber (Season 2) Arte Johnson (Season 2) Paul Kirby Chris Latta (Season 2) Kris Stevens (Season 2) Andre Stojka (Season 2) Janet Waldo (Season 2) Lennie Weinrib (Season 1) – Pacula (ep. 7)
Episodes
Season 1 (1982) Aired as part of The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show
Season 2 (1983) Aired as part of The Pac-Man/Rubik, the Amazing Cube Hour.
Specials
Pac-Man Halloween Special
The Halloween special consisted of two segments from the show, "Pacula" and "Trick or Chomp". The special aired in primetime on ABC on October 30, 1982. It has been replayed on channels like Cartoon Network and Boomerang during Halloween in recent years.
Christmas Comes to Pac-Land
In this Christmas special, Pac-Man and his family help Santa Claus (voiced by Peter Cullen) after he crash lands in Pac-Land (after the reindeer were startled by the floating eyes of the Ghost Monsters after Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Baby chomped them). Mezmeron was the only character from the cartoon that is not in the special (although his lair, which is covered in snow, appears). It is shown every December on the Boomerang Christmas Party.
Broadcast history
Pac-Man aired on ABC Saturday Morning in the following formats: The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show (September 25, 1982 – September 3, 1983) The Pac-Man/Rubik, the Amazing Cube Hour (September 10, 1983 – September 1, 1984)
Since the original run, reruns have turned up on the USA Cartoon Express on USA in the 1980s, Cartoon Network from 1995 to 1999, and Boomerang from 2000 to 2014. The Christmas-themed episode currently airs each year as part of The Boomerang Christmas Party, an annual marathon of classic Christmas cartoons, but otherwise is not included in the channel's rotation. The series is also available for purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace. In the United Kingdom it was first Broadcast on TVAM as a part of the Roland Rat show.