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(More customer reviews)First off, I have to give kudos to Ink & Paint, Entertainment Rights, and BCI for unearthing these Filmation treasures from the Seventies. Especially with Mission: Magic! since this illustrates the reason why we fondly miss Saturday Morning Television.
Before Springfield became famous as an international rock star, or starred on General Hospital, he did a stint for Filmation back in 1973. Jumping on the popularity of films like 'Wizard of Oz,' 'Alice in Wonderland,' and 'The Yellow Submarine,' the premise dealt with Rick being sort of a monitor of dimensional worlds beyond our own.
The ingenuine part was his 'agents' so to speak (since he contacted them via a grammaphone): a class of high school students belonging to The Adventurers' Club, and a teacher known as Miss Tickle. Whenever Rick contacted the group, Miss Tickle would revive her familiar statue of Tut-Tut to conjure forth a door on a blackboard (How many fans recall as kids drawing on chalkboards, in hopes to open the magic door?), which became a doorway to fantastic lands and realms.
The stories were rather simplistic but fun, basically Rick would discover a problem in his dimensional travels, contact Miss Tickle and the group, and they go and attempt in solving the problems.
Considering this was 1970s Saturday Morning TV, Miss Tickle rarely used her magic to hurt anyone, nor did anyone actually get hurt. For instance, in '2600 AD', Rick ends up getting 'stunned' while fending off robots, while in another episode, he gets knocked out while under a spell.
The show was rather great and actually once crossed over into 'The Brady Kids' when Wilmer (magic mynah bird) borrows Tut-Tut to access the magic door and accidentally transforms the familiar (cat) into a bird.
What really made the series great was, besides hearing Rick's Australian accent, like most of Filmation's original shows, the plethora of characters were voiced by three or four actors, including Erika Schiemer (Lou Schiemer's daughter, and famous for the original Sabrina's voice) and Howard Morris (aka Ernest T. Bass, the original Jughead, and doing voices for The Jetsons as well.).
Despite the outdated references, Mission: Magic! actually holds up rather well. One beef I had was the booklet claims the show was too out there (due to the wild scenery and abstract openings) for it to ever be put into syndication. Actually, this is inaccurate, since back in the Seventies, ABC would sell their 'failed' Saturday Morning Shows (series never going past their first season mark) to their affliates as 'afternoon fillers' between 3 and 5. Though not shown on the DVD set, Filmation did run an 'alternate' opening version of the series where Rick Springfield sang a more subtle version of the title song.
Thus, if Mission: Magic! was so great, why did the series last for only one season? Normally in those days, animation was an extremely costly process, meaning networks would only order so many episodes made. If the ratings did exception well (on rare instances), they'd order more for the next season.
But the problem with Mission: Magic! was not lack of ratings, but instead a radical change with children's programming. In 1974, a watchdog group called ACT (Action for Children's Television) didn't fancy Miss Tickle being a teacher who could perform magic, and 'endangering' her class by taking them on 'unauthorized' field trips into other worlds.
Also came the fact a teacher performing magic was not exactly acceptable, despite the fact, Miss Tickle didn't always use her powers for solving problems. And you thought critics against Harry Potter were strict!
Which was a shame because Mission: Magic! was indeed a great treasure and could have been the first animated version of 'Doctor Who' and 'Fat Albert' rolled into one if given half the chance.
Even if you're not a great fan of Rick Springfield, the DVD is still worth getting and watching. Because not only was it honestly a great show for its time, it definitely revives the lost spirit of Saturday Morning Television.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Mission: Magic - The Complete Series (1973)
Music adventure comedy and enchantment all mix together in this beloved 1973 animated series. Your school was never like this! Miss Tickle is a teacher with secret magical powers and she leads her 6 favorite students on amazing adventures to alternate worlds distant lands and even the far future. There the diverse young members of her Adventurer\'s Club - Vinnie Socks Franklin Carol Kim and Harve - are aided on their adventures by none other than singing superstar Rick Springfield! Extras include interview with producer Lou Scheimer and voice actor Erika Scheimer documentary image galleries booklet with episode guide & trivia DVD-ROM material and more from InkSystem Requirements:Running Time: 400 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre:CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC:787364723591
Click here for more information about Mission: Magic - The Complete Series (1973)
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