Un post sgangherato promesso da tempo, ma mai varato come si deve, su questa serie animata, con un piccolo strascico a fumetti, perfetta per questo inizio agostano.
Noi italiani la conosciamo, appunto, come Il prode Ettorre, e andava in onda sul Primo Canale della Rai a metà anni Sessanta.
Non sto nemmeno a tradurre queste informazioni abbastanza scontate.
Originally a series of fifteen theatrical shorts made between 1958 and 1963, Hector Heathcote made its way to NBC in October of 1963. After the cycle of original shorts had been shown, Terrytoons quickly began to produce new episodes, and the Saturday morning The Hector Heathcote Show was born.
Hector, a pint-sized patriot, was witness to several crucial moments in American history.
He had somehow discovered how to travel back in time, visiting famous events in an effort to better understand them. Hector would sometimes even try to give history a little nudge, though his plans usually went awry.
Al tempo delle prime videocassette, negli Stati Uniti, un po’ di questi corti televisivi vennero semisvenduti, per così dire, in oggetti di qualità molto bassa, con la custodia di cartoncino leggero e… via.
Le riproduzioni sotto rivelano questa sciatteria oggi impensabile nel packaging.
Ora torno alla mia madrelingua, scusata, mi torna più comodo…
Most of Hector’s adventures took place during the Revolutionary War, but Hector always sported that late 1700’s triangle hat regardless of the era he was visiting. Accompanied by his wise and trusted dog, Winston, who was voiced to sound just like Churchill, Hector readied Paul Revere’s horse for the famous ride, built the rowboat George Washington used to cross the Delaware, and even tried to build the first plane.
Ah, c’erano anche altri personaggi importanti nello show.
In particolare, two other theatrical shorts were used to round out the program.
“Hashimoto-san” focused on a Japanese mouse who often got into trouble with his American friend G.I. Joe. Thanks to his jujitsu skills, he was always able to get himself, his wife Hanako and their children Yuriko and Saburo out of whatever mess they were in that week.
“Sidney’s Family Tree” featured a childish adult elephant who had to be watched over constantly by his less-neurotic companions, Stanley the Lion and Cleo the Giraffe.
In Italia, l’elefantino fu ribattezzato Bombo.
Tutto chiaro, no?
Adesso segue una lista incredibile con i titoli di tutti gli shorts del Prode Ettorre.
The Minute and a Half Man
The Famous Ride
Daniel Boone, Jr.
The Unsung Hero
The First Fast Mail
Crossing the Delaware
Drum Roll
Railroaded to Fame
Klondike Strikes Out
First Flight Up
Riverboat Mission
He-Man Seaman
Tea Party
A Bell for Philadelphia
The Big Cleanup
Flight to the Finish
Peace Pipe
The Hectormobile
Belabor Thy Neighbor
Har Har Harpoon
Land Grab
Train Terrain
Hold the Fort
Valley Forge Hector
Lost and Foundations
Wind Bag
Hats Off to Hector
Ice Cream for Help
Expert Explorer
Foxed by a Fox
Search for a Symbol
Pig in a Poke
Barrel of Fun
The First Telephone
Messy Messenger
High Flyer
Il design di questo strambo comic book si deve a Fred Fredericks. Gli italiani lo ricordano come disegnatore di un ciclo di avventure di Mandrake scritte (naturalmente) da Lee Falk e pubblicate dai Fratelli Spada.
Ed ecco anche altri oggetti, come gli Hector Heathcote lunchboxes, complete with thermos.
All the cool kids had them. Oh yeeeeeeah!
Leggete come veniva descritto dal venditore che cercava di appiccicarlo a qualche acquirente, con enfasi:
©1963 Terrytoons. 9×17.5×1.75″ deep box has lid art with wonderful image of Hector looking at his pocket watch and running with rifle alongside building with Colonial soldiers marching at right.
Lid is sub-titled “The Minute And A Half Man”. Lid has some lt. surface dust soil with split at lower right corner seam and 2″ bit of missing surface paper at lower right side seam edge.
Display is bright and Fine. Game board has wonderful images of Hector in various activities fighting the British.
Contents appears complete but four Heathcote figures and space cards have been separated per instructions.
Fine.
Also includes die-cut card with unusual way of determining game play using a marble rolling into clear plastic window with holed spaces which are numbered to determine spaces moved. Contents are bright and Fine overall.
Sopra,Sidney the Elephant – Sidney’s Family Tree, seguito, sotto, da un altro cartoon dello show: Hashimoto-San in Doll Festival.
The Creator of Hashimoto cartoons, Bob Kuwahara, was himself Japanese American, and went out of his way to make his characters likeable and sympathetic. He was a much more accurate and respectful representative of his ethnicity than, say, Deputy Dawg (in Italia chiamato Billy Dog) was of his. In fact, his were probably the very first American cartoons to portray Japanese culture without insulting it.
