Drak Pack
| Drak Pack | |
|---|---|
 Promotional art for The Drak Pack, from left to right: Toad, Dr. Dred, Vampira, Frankie, Drak Jr., Howler and "Big D" aka Dracula. | |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Written by |
Doug Booth Larz Bourne Glenn Leopold Cliff Roberts |
| Directed by | Chris Cuddington |
| Voices of |
William Callaway Hans Conried Jerry Dexter Chuck McCann Julie McWhirter Don Messick Alan Oppenheimer |
| Country of origin |
United States Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 16 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Joseph Barbera William Hanna |
| Producer(s) |
Doug Paterson Art Scott |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Hanna-Barbera Productions (Warner Bros. Television) |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | September 6, 1980 – September 12, 1982 |
Drak Pack is an animated television series. It aired in the United States on CBS Saturday Morning between September 6, 1980, and September 12, 1982. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera's Australian subsidiary, listed in the credits as "Hanna-Barbera Pty. Ltd". A total of 16 episodes were made.
Premise
The series centers on three young men: Drak (called Drak Jr. in the opening segment, but almost never in the series; voiced by Jerry Dexter), Frankie and Howler (both voiced by William Callaway), descendants of Dracula, the Frankenstein monster, and a werewolf. To atone for their ancestors' wrongdoings, the three, united as the Drak Pack, became superheroes.
They appear initially as normal humans, but whenever trouble arises, they strike their right hands together and shout, "Whack 'em!" (This is called the Drak Whack.) They then transform into a vampire, a Frankenstein monster and a werewolf, respectively. Drak's powers include flight, telekinesis, changing shape and walking on walls. Unlike most cartoon vampires, Drak may assume a variety of forms, although he favors a bat. Frankie has superhuman strength and can release electrical charges. Howler has an ultrasonic howl and super-breath. In human form, they call each other by the same names.
Their principal mode of transport is an amphibious flying car which they called "The Drakster".
Their principal opponent is Dr. Dred, a blue-skinned evil genius, voiced by Hans Conried. Dred's henchmen, collectively known as OGRE ("The Organization for Generally Rotten Enterprises [or Endeavours]"), include Toad, Fly, the massive mumbling Mummyman and Vampira. The sycophantic little Toad (a "toady"), voiced by Don Messick, is Dr. Dred's right hand, but very often, he unwittingly assists the Drak Pack. Fly, a humanoid fly, also voiced by Messick, buzzes and flies and walks on ceilings. Mummyman, a reanimated mummy, has super-strength and can stretch his wrappings indefinitely, often using them to tie up the Drak Pack. His voice was provided by Chuck McCann. Vampira is a female vampire, with shape-shifting powers similar to Drak's and is voiced by Julie McWhirter. She has something of an unrequited crush on Drak.
OGRE's headquarters are on an artificial island called "Dredquarters", but occasionally called "The Drednought" and "OGRE Island". They travel in an airship that Dr. Dred calls "The Dredgible".
When the Drak Pack needs counsel, it turns to Drak's great-uncle, Count Dracula himself, whom they refer to as "Big D". Alan Oppenheimer voices Dracula.
Episodes
| Nº | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Color Me Dredful" | September 6, 1980 |
| Dr. Dred is feeling like a failure because the Drak Pack has defeated him so often, so he builds a color collector that steals the color from anything the ray hits. His first victims are the Drak Pack. | ||
| 2 | "Mind Your Manners, Dr. Dred" | September 13, 1980 |
| Dr. Dred plots to steal the golden artifacts of the Egyptian King Tut-Tut, and put the blame on the Drak Pack. | ||
| 3 | "Happy Birthday, Dr. Dred" | September 20, 1980 |
| It's Dr. Dred's birthday and he's upset. It seems that the "birthday cake" that Toad baked was a bit too small: a cupcake! Dred is determined to celebrate his day in high style, letting everyone know that it's his birthday. | ||
| 4 | "Dreadful Weather We're Having" | September 27, 1980 |
| Drak, Frankie, and Howler are on vacation, but Dr. Dred follows them. Dred uses a weather machine — a little gold teapot with a lighting bolt on the side (the "tempest in a teapot") hooked up to a computer to amplify its power: to create a snowstorm in summer. | ||
| 5 | "The Perilous Plunder of Pirate Park" | October 4, 1980 |
| There is a new park in town: Pirate Park. Dr. Dred and OGRE are there to steal the lost treasure. | ||
| 6 | "Night of the Terbites" | October 11, 1980 |
| Dr. Dred has a new invention: The Terbites. They are little pink eggs with little legs and feet, and big teeth and appetites. Upon command, the Terbites will eat anything. Meanwhile, Drak, Frankie, and Howler are going to a monster disco party. | ||
| 7 | "Time Out for Dr. Dred" | October 18, 1980 |
| Dr. Dred creates a Time Stopper, which he tests out on an ocean liner. Mummy Man and Fly rob the passengers. They must finish quickly, because the ray's effects only last for five minutes. | ||
| 8 | "Hideout Hotel" | October 25, 1980 |
| This adventure begins with a beach scene in Florida. Suddenly, a sea monster appears and scares everyone off. The monster is Vampira. Meanwhile, it's winter in the Drak Pack's city, and Big D is in Florida for a monster convention. | ||
| 9 | "Dred Goes Hollywood" | November 1, 1980 |
| The boys arrive at the movies for a big sneak preview of a new film. Dred comes on the screen, roaring like the MGM lion. The movie is of the Drak Pack, who have never made movies, doing mean things that the boys never did. | ||
| 10 | "Dred's Photo Finish" | November 8, 1980 |
| Dred calls a meeting of OGRE to show them a new invention, the Photo Grabber, which turns anything it photographs into photocopies. | ||
| 11 | "Dr. Dred Is a Shrinker" | November 15, 1980 |
| Dr. Dred creates a shrink ray. He uses it to shrink a train and sneaks into Fork Knox with it. | ||
| 12 | "A Dire Day at Dredfulland" | November 22, 1980 |
| Dr. Dred builds an amusement park. All of the rides are rather disturbing, and all of the souvenirs are geared not to last so that people will have to keep buying them. | ||
| 13 | "Package Deal" | November 29, 1980 |
| Big D sends the Drak Pack on a mission to Transylvania for a mysterious package that he has buried near his castle. | ||
| 14 | "The Grimmest Book of Records" | December 6, 1980 |
| 15 | "International Graffiti" | December 13, 1980 |
| 16 | "It's In the Bag, Dr. Dred" | December 20, 1980 |
DVD releases
Visual Entertainment released Drak Pack: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only) on February 5, 2008.[1] On September 6, 2011, VEI (distributed by Millennium Entertainment) released the complete series on DVD in the US.[2]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Region 1 (CAN) | Region 1 (US) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drak Pack: The Complete Series | 16 | February 5, 2008 | September 6, 2011 |
References
- ↑ "The Drak Pack DVD news: Release Date Change for Drak Pack - The Complete Series". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
- ↑ "The Drak Pack DVD news: Announcement for The Drak Pack - The Complete Series (USA)". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
External links
- Drak Pack at the Internet Movie Database
- Drak Pack at TV.com
- Episode guide at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Drak Pack at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on May 5, 2016.