Lucky Luke (1983 TV series)
Lucky Luke is a French-German-American animated television series based on the comic book series of the same name created by Morris. The series lasted for 26 episodes, and co-produced by Hanna-Barbera, Gaumont, Extrafilm and FR3. In France, the series was broadcast from 15 October 1984 on FR3.
| Lucky Luke | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animated Series, Western, Adventure, Comedy, Action |
| Created by | Morris |
| Directed by | Morris Joseph Barbera William Hanna |
| Starring | English dub: William Callaway Rick Dees Bob Holt Mitzi McCall Robert Ridgely Paul Reubens Fred Travalena Frank Welker |
| Narrated by | Peter Cullen |
| Composer(s) | Claude Bolling Shuki Levy Haim Saban |
| Country of origin | France Germany United States |
| Original language(s) | French German English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Philippe Landrot Art Scott Kay Wright |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Gaumont Film Company Lucky Comics Extrafilm Produktion Hanna-Barbera |
| Distributor | Worldvision Enterprises |
| Release | |
| Original network | FR3 (France) Syndication (United States) |
| Original release | 15 October 1983 – 12 April 1984 |
Synopsis
Lucky Luke is a solitary cowboy traveling through the Far West. Accompanied by his faithful horse Jolly Jumper and almost every episode by Rantanplan the prison guard dog (who gets lost in the West by wanting to follow Lucky Luke or find his prison), he finds himself confronted with various bandits and thugs like the Dalton Brothers, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and Phil Defer.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Ma Dalton" | October 15, 1984 |
| 2 | "The Pied-tender" | October 22, 1984 |
| 3 | "The Daltons In The Blizzard" | October 29, 1984 |
| 4 | "Going up the Mississippi" | November 5, 1984 |
| 5 | "Calamity Jane" | November 12, 1984 |
| 6 | "The Daltons Are Redeemed" | November 19, 1984 |
| 7 | "Rails on the Prairie" | November 26, 1984 |
| 8 | "Phil Defer" | December 3, 1984 |
| 9 | "The Elixir of Doctor Doxey" | December 10, 1984 |
| 10 | "Outlaw" | December 17, 1984 |
| 11 | "Billy the Kid" | December 24, 1984 |
| 12 | "Diligence" | December 31, 1984 |
| 13 | "The Grand Duke" | January 7, 1985 |
| 14 | "In The Shadow of the Derricks" | January 14, 1985 |
| 15 | "The Dalton's Magot" | January 21, 1985 |
| 16 | "The White Cavalier" | January 28, 1985 |
| 17 | "On the Dalton's Trail" | February 4, 1985 |
| 18 | "The Escort" | February 11, 1985 |
| 19 | "The Rivals of Painful Gulch" | February 18, 1985 |
| 20 | "The Thread That Sings" | February 25, 1985 |
| 21 | "Jessie James" | March 4, 1985 |
| 22 | "Barbed Wire On The Prairie" | March 11, 1985 |
| 23 | "The Black Hills" | March 18, 1985 |
| 24 | "Dalton City" | March 25, 1985 |
| 25 | "Caravan" | April 1, 1985 |
| 26 | "Rush on Oklahoma" | April 8, 1985 |
Production
During his appearance on American screens, Lucky Luke must bend a few rules to avoid falling foul of the censorship of children's programs. First change in the cartoon: he no longer smokes (the comic strip will follow suit). Another major change is that stereotyped ethnic minorities disappear: no more Chinese launderers, no more black servants, no more Indians speaking "red skin language". Mexicans and undertakers are also erased when not essential to the storyline. This adaptation also give the animals Jolly Jumper and Rantanplan a much more important place than in the comics.
The episodes do not always have the same design, which is due the several subcontracting studios (United States, Spain and Australia). In a few episodes the actor Bernard Haller was replaced by Roger Carel.
The opening credits were directed by Philippe Landrot. This series is broadcast in installments of 5 minutes every day in access prime time, followed by a full broadcast on Sunday afternoon (on FR3). Three episodes (The Daltons in the Blizzard, Ma Dalton and The Daltons Are Redeemed) were combined in a compilation feature movie: The Daltons on the Loose.
Home media
The complete series was released in October 2010 by Citel Vidéo in 5 volumes. The episodes are in disorder:
- Ma Dalton (episodes 1, 6, 19, 22 and 13)
- The Diligence (episodes 12, 10, 2, 7, 3, 4)
- Calamity Jane (episodes 5, 9, 24, 26, 23)
- Billy the Kid (episodes 11, 15, 18, 8, 14)
- Jesse James (episodes 21, 25, 20, 17, 16)
External links
- Lucky Luke on IMDb