View source for Rocket Robin Hood

{{Infobox television
| image                = Rocket Robin Hood.jpg
| caption              = Opening title
| genre                = {{plainlist|
* [[Science fiction]] 
* [[Superhero fiction|Superhero]]}}
| camera               =
| runtime              = 22 minutes
| creator              = 
| director             = Alan Green (animation)
| producer             = Al Guest
| writer               = [[Ralph Bakshi]]
| starring             = 
| voices               = {{Plainlist|
* [[Carl Banas]]
* [[Ed McNamara]]
* [[Chris Wiggins]]
* [[Bernard Cowan]]
* [[Len Birman]]
* [[Paul Kligman]]
* Gillie Fenwick
* John Scott}}
| narrated             = 
| theme_music_composer = 
| opentheme            = 
| endtheme             = 
| company              = {{Plainlist|
* Trillium Productions Limited
* [[Krantz Films]]}}
| country              = [[Canada]]
| location             = 
| language             = English
| network              = [[CBC Television|CBC]]<br>[[Ici Radio-Canada Télé|Radio-Canada]]
| first_aired          = {{start date|1966|10|9|df=y}}<ref name=Eury/>
| num_seasons          = 3
| num_episodes         = 52 + Pilot
| list_episodes        = 
| related              = [[Spider-Man (1967 TV series)|''Spider-Man'']]
| executive_producer   = [[Shamus Culhane]] 
}}
'''''Rocket Robin Hood''''' is a Canadian animated [[science fiction]] television series, placing the characters and conflicts of the classic [[Robin Hood]] legend in a futuristic, outer space setting.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 |date=2005 |edition=2nd |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-1476665993 |page=675}}</ref> It was produced by [[Krantz Films, Inc.]] and aired on [[CBC Television]] from 1966 to 1969.<ref name=Eury>{{cite book|last=Eury|first=Michael|title=Hero-A-Go-Go: Campy Comic Books, Crimefighters, & Culture of the Swinging Sixties|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jW6qDgAAQBAJ|year=2017|publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|isbn=978-1-60549-073-1|access-date=24 May 2020|page=220}}</ref>

The setting is the last year of the 30th century (year 3000), and a version of the [[despotic]] [[John, King of England|Prince John]] dominates the National Outer-space Terrestrial Territories (N.O.T.T.). Rocket Robin Hood and his [[Merry Men]] live in an [[asteroid]] named after [[Sherwood Forest]], using spaceships to undermine John's plans. Despite the team having the term "men" in its name, [[Maid Marian]] serves as the team's only female member. 

==Summary==
Rocket Robin Hood leads his "[[Merry Men]]"—including the strong, dimwitted and likeable [[Little John]]; consummate overeater [[Friar Tuck]] (who designs all of the Merry Men's weaponry); his two-fisted, red-headed cousin [[Will Scarlet]]; Robin's plucky girlfriend [[Maid Marian]]; his sharp-witted right-hand man [[Alan-a-Dale]]; scrawny and feisty camp cook Giles (a reformed crook and [[Gabby Hayes]]-type); and other characters from the classic story of Robin Hood.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |access-date=2 April 2020  |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/rocktrob.htm |title=Rocket Robin Hood}}</ref> 

The characters live at the end of the 30th century (in "the astonishing year 3000") on New Sherwood Forest Asteroid and are determined to foil the [[despotic]] plans of [[John, King of England|Prince John]] and his bumbling lackey, the Sheriff of N.O.T.T. (National Outer-space Terrestrial Territories) and other villains such as Dr. Medulla, Manta, Nocturne and the Warlord of [[Saturn]]. Rocket Robin Hood and his Merry Men fly in spaceships and use weapons such as "electro-quarterstaffs".<ref name=Woolery>{{cite book |last1=Woolery |first1=George W. |title=Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series |date=1983 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-1557-5  |url=https://archive.org/details/childrenstelevis0000wool/page/238/mode/2up |access-date=14 March 2020 |pages=239}}</ref>

Each 22-minute episode is divided into three segments, with cliffhangers between the first and second part and the second and third part. All episodes also feature short vignettes of the various characters.

A male chorus sang the opening and closing themes for each of the three seasons in the style of traditional old English ballads mixed with military marches.

==Voice cast==
* [[Carl Banas]] as Titanor / Dr. Manta
* [[Len Birman]] as Rocket Robin Hood
* [[Chris Wiggins]] as Will Scarlet / Infinata / Baron Blank
* [[Bernard Cowan]] as Narrator
* [[Ed McNamara]] as Little John
* [[Paul Kligman]] as Friar Tuck
* Gillie Fenwick as the Sheriff of N.O.T.T.
* John Scott as Prince John

==Background==
''Rocket Robin Hood'' was produced and animated at [[Trillium Productions]], an animation studio that was part of the Guest Group—a creative group of companies owned by producer Al Guest. One of the key animators was Jean Mathieson, one of the first female animators in Canada, who later formed Rainbow Animation in Canada and Magic Shadows Inc in the U.S. with Guest, where they continued to produce animated TV programming.

Background designer Richard H. Thomas joined the group late in the second season and brought a dark, almost [[Psychedelic art|psychedelic]] feel to the production under Associate Producer for Krantz Films [[Ralph Bakshi]], who would later become a well known animation producer and would be responsible for, among other series, the animated film versions of ''[[Fritz the Cat (film)|Fritz the Cat]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|The Lord of the Rings]]''. Third-season episodes were animated at [[Ralph's Spot]] in [[New York City]], although voices continued to be recorded in Toronto. One of the show's chief designers during this time was science fiction illustrator/comic book artist [[Gray Morrow]].

[[Bernard Cowan]] was the show's narrator. [[Paul Kligman]], who voiced J. Jonah Jameson in the [[Spider-Man (1967 TV series)|1960s animated version of Spider-Man]], was the voice of Friar Tuck. [[Len Birman]], who appeared in the movies ''[[Silver Streak (film)|Silver Streak]]'' (1976) and ''[[Bayo (film)|Bayo]]'' (1985), was the voice of Rocket Robin Hood. [[Len Carlson]] subbed for Birman as Rocket Robin Hood in some third-season episodes. [[Carl Banas]] was the voice of Titanor / Dr. Manta. [[Ed McNamara]] provided the voice of Little John. [[Chris Wiggins]] was the voice of Will Scarlet.

There was also a French version titled ''Robin Fusée'', broadcast on French-language television in Canada.

===Connection to ''Spider-Man''===
The [[Spider-Man (1967 TV series)|''Spider-Man'']] episodes "Phantom from the Depths of Time"<ref name="spiderhood1">{{cite web |url=http://www.spyder-25.com/60s2.html |title=spyder-25.com |publisher=spyder-25.com |access-date=March 11, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922093603/http://www.spyder-25.com/60s2.html |archive-date=September 22, 2008 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> and "Revolt in the Fifth Dimension" were largely recycled animation from two episodes ("From Menace to Menace" and "Dementia Five") of ''Rocket Robin Hood'',<ref name="spiderhood">{{cite web |url=http://www.spyder-25.com/60s3.html |title=spyder-25.com |publisher=spyder-25.com |access-date=March 11, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016101520/http://www.spyder-25.com/60s3.html |archive-date=October 16, 2008 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> with Spider-Man substituted for Rocket Robin Hood on the animation [[cel]]s.

==Episodes==
===Pilot===
{| class="wikitable collapsible"
|- bgcolor="#add8e6"
! style="background-color:#ADD8E6;"|Episode
|-
|Rocket Robin Hood, The Spore of Doom
|}

===Season 1===
{| class="wikitable collapsible"
|- bgcolor="#add8e6"
! style="background-color:#ADD8E6;"|Episode
|-
|Prince of Plotters, Warfare Space - Ski Style, How Merry Can You Get
|-
|The Time Machine, Ye Old Robinhood, There is No Time Like the Future
|-
|Robin versus the Robot Knight, Robin Fights Back, Space Champion
|-
|The Mystery of the Crown Jewels, Robin Caged, Marvelo Takes A Fall
|-
|Warlord of Saturn, Breath of Fresh Danger, Play with Fire and You Get Burned
|-
|Safari, Tricked Trap, Tripped Trap
|-
|Wily Giles, Double Dealing Giles, Same Old Giles
|-
|Jesse James Rides Again, The Slowest Gun In The Universe, The Big Heist
|-
|Giles the Great, A Meal Fit for a Tyrant, The Impossible Goal
|-
|City Beneath the Seas, Whirlaround the Whirlpool, Deep Sea Danger
|-
|Don Cayote McPherson, The Zap Trap, The Last Laugh
|-
|Michael Shawn the Leprechaun; The Wizard O'Day; Oxite, Oxite, Who's Got The Oxite?
|-
|Little Little John, The Paralyzing Meteor, Unshrunk
|-
|The Marmaduke Caper, Bubble Trouble, Instant Hero
|-
|Follow the Leader, The Spaceman Who Came to Dinner, Never Trust Your Uncle
|-
|Cleopatra Meets Little John, Dinosaur Go Home, The Best Trick of All 
|-
|Little George, The Deadly Invasion, The Secret Weapon
|-
|The Magic Medallion of Morse, The Sherriff Cooks Up a Wicked Plot, Shooting The Works
|-
|The Awful Truce, Cross and Double Cross, Fleet of Phantoms
|-
|The Sad, Sad Sheriff of N.O.T.T.; The Great Jewel Robbery; Our Sheriff the Hero
|-
|Don't Make a Sound, The Beast Who Came to Dinner, Barking Beasts Don't Bite
|-
|Goritang; Monkey Business on the Planet Lucifer; Watch Out, Here Comes the Bride
|-
|The Orbiting Salesman, You Gotta Know the Territory, The First Astral Horse Trade
|-
|Marlin, the Magician; Who Do Voo Doo?; This Trick Will Kill You
|}

===Season 2===
{| class="wikitable collapsible"
|- bgcolor="#add8e6"
! style="background-color:#ADD8E6;"|Episode
|-
|Dr. Mortula, The Strange Castle, Bring On the Sun
|-
|The Space Wolf, Captives in Space, Partners on the Loose
|-
|Dr. Magnet, Magnetic Meteors, The Great Gold Robbery
|-
|The Manta Menace, Welcome to My Parlor, The Walls Come Tumbling Down
|-
|Young Mr. Ulysses, The Death Traps, The Man Who Turned to Stone
|-
|The Incredible Gem of Cosmo Khan, Planet - Planet - Who's Got the Planet?, Escape from Xanador
|-
|Who'll Kill Rocket Robin?, The Tomb of Ice, The Finger of Death
|-
|Genius in a Bottle, Three to Make Ready, Terror of the Machines
|-
|The Tree Kingdom of Caldomar, The Sword of Destruction, Caldomar Ablaze
|-
|Catch a Comet by the Tail, Good King Rocket Robinhood, The Celestial Joy Ride
|-
|The Emperor Jimmy, The Making of An Emperor, Diamonds Are Prince John's Worst Friend
|-
|The Eternal Planet of Romarama, And In This Corner, Say Ahhh...Or Hot Tonsils
|}

===Season 3===
{| class="wikitable collapsible"
|- bgcolor="#add8e6"
! style="background-color:#ADD8E6;"|Episode
|-
|The Dark Galaxy, Desert Demons, Mummies Revolt
|-
|Space Giant, Gigantic Doom, The Black Cloud of Doom
|-
|The Haunted Asteroid, Astro City of the Dead, Cosmic Secret of Korgor
|-
|The Plot to Destroy N.O.T.T., The Saturnian Dungeon, Runaway Rocket
|-
|The Solar Sphinx, Escape From the Pyramid, The Tumbling of Tut
|-
|Lord of the Underworld, Revenge of the Underworld, One Minute to Doom
|-
|The Ghost Pirates, Escape to Caribia, The Ghost Comes to Life
|-
|Dementia Five, Robin's Precious Cargo, Escape Into Reality
|-
|Lord of the Shadows, Blackout, Who's Who
|-
|The Living Planet, And Into the Fire, The Electric Circle
|-
|From Menace to Menace; Manta Asteroid; Gargoyles, Gators and Gorillas
|-
|Planet of Dreams, To Stay Awake, The Darkest Hour
|-
|Slaves of Medulla, Subterranean Captives, The Tables Turn
|-
|Jaws of Steel, Mummy's Host, The Solar Sphinx
|-
|The Storm Makers, Into the Eye, The Planet Storms
|-
|Return Trip, The Beetle's Claw, Ride of Death
|}

== Broadcast ==
In Canada, the show aired on [[Toronto]]'s [[CITY-DT|CITY-TV]] in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as [[CHEX-TV]] in [[Peterborough Ontario|Peterborough]] and on [[CJOH-DT|CJOH-TV]] in the [[Ottawa]] area. On some occasions, reruns of the show would air in the early morning hours on [[YTV (Canadian TV channel)|YTV]] during the early-mid 1990s.

In South Korea, the show was retitled {{lang|ko|로빈후드의 모험}} or {{lang|ko|로빈후드}} (''Robin Hood's Adventure'' or simply ''Robin Hood''), it aired every [[Monday]] at 6:35 PM to 7:15 PM ([[Korea Standard Time|KST]]) on [[Korean Broadcasting System|KBS]] from November 30, 1970, to September 20, 1971.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

In Japan, the series was dubbed by Transglobal<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://barnardjp.jugem.jp/?eid=2|title=ロケット・ロビンフッド 日本語版歌詞|publisher=My First JUGEM|date=2017-04-02|access-date=2019-10-18}}</ref> and it aired on [[Fuji TV]] and other [[Fuji Network System|FNS]] stations from May 1, 1971<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kanemoto.mydns.jp/~seiyuu/title3778.html|title=ロケット・ロビンフッド('71) Rocket Robin Hood('67米)|publisher=Kanemoto.mydns.jp|access-date=2019-10-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tobunken.com/diary/diary20070803111407.html|title=とうもろこしに乗る|first=Shun'ichi|last=Karasawa|publisher=Tobunken|date=2007-08-03|access-date=2019-10-18}}</ref> to circa 1972.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://home.t01.itscom.net/fallguy/smdm/kenkyu/kenkyu12.htm|title=研究「600万ドルの男」-研究結果16|publisher=Home.t01.itscom.net|access-date=2019-10-18}}</ref> The series was last aired on [[Nippon TV]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://yuyacol55.dip.jp/robinhood.html|title=ロケットロビンフッド|publisher=国内・海外テレビデーターベース|access-date=2019-10-18}}</ref> via [[:ja:おーい!まんがだヨー|おーい!まんがだヨー]] block in circa 1973. In Hong Kong and Macau, the show aired on [[Rediffusion Television]] titled {{lang|zh-hk|太空羅賓漢}} (''Robin Hood in Space''),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hkaiw.nets.hk/database/atv_home.htm|title=亞洲電視本港台|first=Kevin|last=Ip|publisher=Hong Kong Animation Information Website|access-date=2019-10-18|archive-date=2019-06-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626132157/http://hkaiw.nets.hk/database/atv_home.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> it aired from December 3, 1979, to December 28, 1979. Later, the show was reaired from December 28, 1980, to January 17, 1982, on the same network.

In the UK, the series aired on ITV and its various regional stations from 1968 with regular repeat runs throughout the 1970s and early 80s until 1983.

Currently, the series airs on the [[Retro Television Network|RetroTV]] digital subchannel network in the United States.<ref>https://s3.amazonaws.com/luken-retrotv-pdf-schedules/Q4-2017/RTV-National-Pacific.pdf {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref>

== DVD release==
[[E1 Entertainment]] released Volume 1, which contains almost all of season 1, in November 2009 as a four-DVD set (English and French versions, 592 minutes). E1 stated that the episode "Safari" was not included due to unavailable footage.

Volume 2, which encompasses all of seasons 2 and 3, was released in May 2010 also as a four-DVD set (English and French versions, 714 minutes).  The French versions of these DVD collections are available separately as ''Robin fusée''.

==See also==
* [[List of films and television series featuring Robin Hood]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0135735}}
* [http://toonopedia.com/rocktrob.htm ''Rocket Robin Hood''] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20240528011706/https://www.webcitation.org/6ndyBc2nO?url=http://toonopedia.com/rocktrob.htm Archived] from the original on January 19, 2017.
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160816032312/http://www.thenicerooms.com/room-24 ''In Search Of...Rocket Robin Hood'']}}  at {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130818030939/http://www.thenicerooms.com The Nice Rooms e-zine]}}

{{Ralph Bakshi|state=expanded}}
{{Robin Hood}}

[[Category:1966 animated television series debuts]]
[[Category:1960s Canadian animated television series]]
[[Category:1960s science fiction television series]]
[[Category:1960s Canadian children's television series]]
[[Category:Canadian children's animated space adventure television series]]
[[Category:Canadian children's animated superhero television series]]
[[Category:Television series created by Ralph Bakshi]]
[[Category:Robin Hood television series]]
[[Category:1966 Canadian television series debuts]]
[[Category:1969 Canadian television series endings]]
[[Category:First-run syndicated television shows in Canada]]
[[Category:First-run syndicated animated television series]]
[[Category:Space pirates]]
[[Category:Television series set in the 30th century]]
[[Category:Television series by Grantray-Lawrence Animation]]
[[Category:Spider-Man (1967 TV series)]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of John, King of England]]
[[Category:Fiction about asteroids]]
[[Category:Canadian English-language television shows]]