Written By Ken HulseyLast week, I dove into the delightful world of Retro Saturday Morning features, reminiscing about the sheer joy of taking a nostalgic trip back to the carefree days of my childhood each week. It’s incredible how every time I sit down to write, I stumble upon a classic cartoon from yesteryear that I’d nearly forgotten. This week, I want to shine a spotlight on *The New Adventures of Gilligan,* a delightful show that brought back memories I hadn’t accessed in ages—until a quick look at the intro on YouTube jogged my brain into action.
I could certainly explore how the major networks were capitalizing on their popular prime-time shows by transforming them into animated children’s series, a topic I’ve already delved into with *The Addams Family* and *Emergency +4*. However, let’s focus on *The New Adventures of Gilligan*, which was inspired by the beloved 1964–1967 CBS series *Gilligan's Island*. It brought to life everything we adored about the original, featuring all our favorite castaways. Most of the original actors lent their voices to the animated series, though Tina Louise and Dawn Wells did not participate. Interestingly, Louise opted to step away from her iconic role as Ginger Grant, leading to a fun character redesign: in the animated version, Ginger transformed from a striking redhead to a dazzling platinum blonde—just in case her original likeness sparked any objections. Meanwhile, Wells was off performing in a play, leaving the role of Mary Ann in the capable hands of actress Jane Webb, who voiced both characters under different names—her married name for Mary Ann and her maiden name for Ginger.
Less than a decade after its three season stint on television, Gilligan's Island reigned supreme as a smash syndication success story. Picking up new fans each and every year, with scores of them being the after-school crowd, a revival via animation was a Gilligan-apropos no-brainer (sorry, little buddy!). And said revival comes with nearly a full complement of original castaways!
The animated series retained the overall storyline of its live-action predecessor, where a well-meaning first mate and his lovable skipper embark on a three-hour tour, only to find themselves marooned on a mysterious desert island, along with five unsuspecting passengers. One charming addition to this animated universe was Stubby, an adorable anthropomorphic monkey who becomes Gilligan’s endearing sidekick.
The animated series retained the overall storyline of its live-action predecessor, where a well-meaning first mate and his lovable skipper embark on a three-hour tour, only to find themselves marooned on a mysterious desert island, along with five unsuspecting passengers. One charming addition to this animated universe was Stubby, an adorable anthropomorphic monkey who becomes Gilligan’s endearing sidekick.
In keeping with the trends of other Filmation series, *The New Adventures of Gilligan* was crafted with a clear focus on children, often weaving in valuable moral lessons throughout its episodes. Many stories wrapped up with an “educational tag,” featuring Skipper and Gilligan discussing the valuable insights they gained that day. To ensure the educational content was top-notch, the series enlisted the expertise of Dr. Nathan Cohen from UCLA, who played an instrumental role in supervising the lessons presented throughout the show.
The journey of bringing this animated gem to life began with Filmation Associates reaching out to Sherwood Schwartz in 1971 for licensing rights, a proposal that was revisited in 1972 and 1973. Back then, Schwartz was busy trying to revive the original *Gilligan’s Island* and turned down their requests for a cartoon adaptation. However, by 1974, after his attempts to launch a revival fell through with network executives, Schwartz had a change of heart. He agreed to license the show but made sure to secure significant creative control, insisting on hands-on involvement with both the scripts and storyboards.
In reflecting on *The New Adventures of Gilligan*, we celebrate a series rich with nostalgia, humor, and valuable life lessons—elements that make both the original and its animated counterpart truly timeless treasures in the realm of children's entertainment.
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