Potsworth & Co.
| Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animation |
| Created by | Martin Powell, Vivien Schrager-Powell |
| Developed by | Dave Edwards |
| Directed by |
Don Lusk Paul Sommers Aniamation Directors: Robert Alvarez |
| Creative director(s) | Ray Patterson |
| Voices of | George Lemore Elizabeth Harnois Janice Kawaye Whitby Hertford Joan Gerber Kenneth Mars Hamilton Camp Rob Paulsen Scott Menville Frank Welker Clive Revill |
| Theme music composer | Michael Tavera |
| Country of origin | United States United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera Martin Powell Vivien Schrager-Powell Paul Sabella |
| Producer(s) | Davis Doi |
| Running time | 21 mins |
| Production company(s) |
Hanna-Barbera Productions Sleepy Kids Communications PLC |
| Distributor | Great American Broadcasting (original) NBCUniversal Television Distribution (currently) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
BBC The Children's Channel (UK) Syndication (US) |
| Original release | September 1 – November 24, 1990 |
Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone is a British-American animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera in conjunction with Sleepy Kids PLC and is known outside the US as Potsworth & Co.. In the United Kingdom (which is reflected in the theme song's lyrics in the British broadcast), the BBC felt that the suggestion of children being awake after midnight was inappropriate, thus the name was changed.
The series revolves around Potsworth, an English Springer Spaniel, based upon a real-life springer spaniel called Potsworth, bought from the Battersea Dogs Home by Martin and Vivien Schrager-Powell. The couple were somewhat disheartened with some of the children's programmes being made at the time, commenting that "Six-year-olds just aren't content to be fobbed off with 'Mr Wizard go pouf and nasty man go away'. Stories these days have to be believable, contain some logical process". In 1987, Martin started writing stories about Potsworth who lives in a city in America and four young children: Carter, Keiko, Rosie, and Nick. The couple took the idea to Hanna-Barbera and suggested a 50-50 deal to turn the stories into a television series.
First appearing on The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera on the 1st September 1990, Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone lasted only 13 episodes. It was watched by 8.5 million in the US while 5.1 million watched the series on CBBC in Britain, making it the "second most popular children's show on British television after Neighbours".
The "real" Potsworth became something of a celebrity when he featured extensively in the British media as part of the promotion campaign for the cartoon series when it first aired in the UK in 1990/91 television season. A comic strip based on the show featured in the merged Beezer and Topper and, when that comic closed, the Dandy.
The series' setting, "Dream Zone", was first used on "Back to Next Saturday", the NBC Saturday Morning preview special for the 1985 season.
...
Wikipedia