Marsupilami (1993 TV series)


Marsupilami is an American animated television series that first appeared on television as a segment of the 1992 show Raw Toonage, and was then spun off into his own eponymous show on CBS for the 1993–94 season. The show was based on the character from the popular comic book by Belgian artist André Franquin et al.
There were three segments in the half-hour show — Marsupilami, Sebastian the Crab and Snookums and Meat.

Segments

Marsupilami

This segment deals with the adventures of Marsupilami and his friends Maurice the Gorilla and Stewart the Elephant. Some episodes of Marsupilami would have him either evading Eduardo the Jaguar or outwitting a human named Norman.
Many one off characters also appears in the series like the three baby monkeys and their clown owner, Norman's Aunt Bethie, Leonardo the Lion and Corpsy, a myth that proved to be real.

Sebastian the Crab

the Crab from The Little Mermaid is a segment which takes place in various locations out of the sea after the end of the events of The Little Mermaid. Ariel has become human, married Prince Eric, moved onto land, and almost never has any time to drop by and visit her old friends in the ocean. Flounder and Scuttle have also moved on with their lives now that their best friend Ariel is living away on land. Sebastian has some new adventures, with some of them having him outwit Chef Louie. The events in this segment seem to show that both Sebastian and Louie moved away from the coastal area where The Little Mermaid took place, even though they both returned in.

Shnookums and Meat

was a secondary segment on this show which would later spin-off into its own show. This segment involves a cat named Shnookums and a dog named Meat who did not get along very well. Their owners are unseen stock characters only viewed from the neck down and named Husband & Wife. Husband is always referring to their home as their "" before the two leave their pets in charge while they are away.

Cast

There were 13 episodes in the series, which lasted one season and ended on December 11, 1993. Reruns of the show were aired on The Disney Channel, and later on Toon Disney from 1998–2009 and Disney Junior from 2012-2015. Each of the 13 episodes would feature one new "Marsupilami" short, then one short either featuring Sebastian the Crab or Shnookums and Meat, and then an old "Marsupilami" short, from "Raw Toonage". Three of the 16 "Marsupilami" shorts made for "Raw Toonage" – "Wanna Be Ruler", "The Young and the Nestless", and "Hot Spots" – were not included in the 1993 "Marsupilami" series, but do appear on the PAL video releases.
The original Marsupilami comic stories by Franquin never had a speaking Marsupilami and never featured a gorilla or elephant in the Marsupilami's wild habitat, since these species are native to Africa, while the Marsupilami species in the comic version was said to come from South America. Another change is that Disney's animated Marsupilami can speak, whereas his comic counterpart can only mimic sound like a parrot.

Episodes

Home media

North American (NTSC) releases

Three VHS and Betamax compilations, each containing five Marsupilami shorts, were released in North America by Walt Disney Home Video.
Home Video titleEpisodeRelease date
“Marsuper-Duper”‘Mars Meets Dr. Normanstein’
‘Hole in Mars’
‘Witch Doctor is Which?’
‘Safari So Good’
‘Steamboat Mars’
March 18, 1994
“Adventurous Tails”‘Bathtime for Maurice’
‘Hey, Hey! They're the Monkeys!’
‘Fear of Kites’
‘Toucan Always Get What You Want’
‘Mar-Soup-Du-Jour’
March 18, 1994
“Jumpin' Jungle Jive”‘The Hairy Ape’
‘Working Class Mars’
‘Cropsy-Turvy’
‘Mars' Problem Pachyderm’
‘Normzan of the Jungle’
March 18, 1994

European and Oceania (PAL) releases

Five VHS cassettes and Betamax cassettes, collecting the entire production of Marsupilami shorts produced by Disney, were released in Europe and Oceania by Walt Disney Home Video.
Home Video titleEpisodeRelease date
“Houba, Houba!”‘The Treasure of the Sierra Marsdre’
‘The Puck Stops Here’
'The Hairy Ape’
‘Mars Meets Doctor Normanstein’
‘Witch Doctor is Which?’
‘Hot Spots’
‘Jungle Fever’
November 26, 1993
“The Superstar”‘The Fear of Kites’
‘Safari So Good’
‘Mars vs. Man’
‘Someone's in the Kitchen with Mars’
‘Wanna Be Ruler’
‘Prime Mates Forever’
‘The Young and the Nestless’
November 26, 1993
“Jumpin' Jungle Jive”‘The Wizard of Mars’
‘Working Class Mars’
‘Cropsy-Turvy’
‘Mars' Problem Pachyderm’
‘Normzan of the Jungle’
April 1, 1994
“Adventurous Tails”‘Royal Foil’
‘Hey, Hey! They're the Monkeys’
‘Toucan Always Get What You Want’
‘Mar-Soup-Du-Jour’
'Bathtime for Maurice'
April 1, 1994
“Marsuper-Duper”‘Hole in Mars’
‘Thorn o' Plenty’
‘A Spotless Record’
‘Steamboat Mars’
'Romancing the Clone'
April 1, 1994

Other cartoons

In 2000, a second Marsupilami cartoon premiered in France. It was produced by Marathon. Then in 2009, a third Marsupilami premiered in France. And was produced by Samka Productions Inc.