The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo

The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo
Genre	Animation
Written by	Walter Black Barbara Chain
Directed by	Abe Levitow (supervising) Bob McKimson Grant Simmons Steve Clark (sequence) Ray Patterson (sequence)
Voices of	Jim Backus Marvin Miller Paul Frees Dal McKennon Joan Gardner
Theme music composer	Carl Brandt
Composer(s)	Carl Brandt
Country of origin	USA
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Henry G. Saperstein
Editor(s)	Sam Horta
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	United Productions of America
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	19 September 1964 – 24 April 1965

The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo is an animated television series, produced by United Productions of America, which aired for one season (1964 –1965) on the NBC network (usually on Sundays from 6:30-7:00PM Eastern). The television series was based on the original cartoon of the same name, with Jim Backus reprising the voice over of the role he did on TV: while doing this show, he continued with the prime time show Gilligan's Island.

Unlike the theatrical cartoons, which focused on the extremely nearsighted Quincy Magoo's bumbling, the show featured the Magoo character as an actor in adaptations of such literary classics as Don Quixote and Gunga Din. Each of these roles was played seriously, with few if any references to Magoo's nearsightedness; however, introductory segments in each program featured Magoo backstage stumbling into scenery and talking to props, thus connecting the older cartoons to this series. Some stories were contained in a single half-hour episode, but others ran to two and even four episodes. As UPA did not have its own studio facility the production was farmed out to the Grantray-Lawrence and Format Films studios.

Among the most ambitious adaptations mounted in this format were the four-part Robin Hood, in which he took the role of Friar Tuck; Treasure Island, in which he played the villainous Long John Silver; and a version of Snow White in which he portrayed all seven dwarves (much easier in an animated setting, with no trick photography needed).

The series was inspired by the success of the 1962 television special, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, a serious remake of the Charles Dickens classic with Magoo playing Ebenezer Scrooge.

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