@Waggsmith YTP I had a bunny once- NEVER turn your back on a Wabbit! Joking, but that is how Rabbits show the young ones when they have messed up- they hate it and mine would try to get in front of me. Bunny discipline is vewy, vewy important!
I loved this as a kid and never forgot the theme music. As a child, my mind filled in the gaps between frames, making me think that it was fluid. It was an amazing kid's show.
+Gary Leigh It was better than "colonel bleep", and sort of on the level with "clutch cargo" or "space angel". "Diver Dan" was live action with marionette fish, "Fireball XL5" was all marionettes, and "color" television was still being refined for public use in RCA laboratories. 1964 saw many advances. - It was an amazing time.
@@coquimapping8680 Let's say toddlerhood ends around 3 yo and teenage years begin around 13, this would make the commenter 4 - 12 as a child, which can be estimated to 8. Were he 8 when the series first aired in 1950, then @garyleigh is, as of 2024, 82 years old. Leigh is in his most likely in his 80s.
This is the very first made for TV animation, and while not technically sophisticated, it is clever, well written, and experimental. AND influential. It did a lot with the shoestring means available. Luckily I grew up in the LA TV market and could watch them on local TV from the beginning. I loved it then, and still do. There is a lot of great animation being done today with all the tech, but this is still great too. I admire creative talent way more than technical means.
Just learned about this today from an animation history book, wow I spent so much of my life thinking Flintstones and stuff were the first TV cartoons, awesome.
In early 1950s Jay Ward had been a co-creator of Crusader Rabbit and Rags the tiger. After losing rights to those characters he re-invented them as Rocky the flying squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose. ☺
Actually, he and Alex Anderson created them for a proposed series called "THE FROSTBITE FALLS REVUE" in 1950- which never got past the story boards used to pitch the idea to executives and advertisers. When Shull Bonsall bought Television Arts Productions- and the rights to "CRUSADER RABBIT"- from Jay and his partner Alex in 1956, he allowed them to retain the rights to the other characters they created.......and Jay went into partnership with Bill Scott in 1958 and revived "Rocky and Bullwinkle" as a proposed ongoing daily serial (as "CRUSADER" had been). But General Mills was only interested in a half-hour series. So they created other supporting features {"Fractured Fairy Tales", "Peabody's Improbable History"} to go with their adventures, and that became "ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS" in 1959.
as a little kid I would wake up early to watch this show. I loved it so much. I recall there was some soft plastic thing that I could put on my TV so I could trace over the animation because they barely moved! Loved this show. Crusader and Rags. Innocence of my childhood and memories that still bring me joy
Gary Rundquist you,re right, I was thinking that as I read the comment when You tell you,re kids about this stuff I don't know if they believe it,I was born in 58 and watched this show all the time.I didn't realize how long it was actually on.
I understand the feeling. Do you remember Winky Dink? It involved a plastic sheet to put over your TV screen and (if I remember right) a crayon to write & draw things to help Winky Dink. At 77 years old, I only barely remember it.
Thanks so much for posting this. I've been telling my British wife about Crusader Rabit for years. She's never heard of it and now I can't wait to show this to her. Thanks again!
GREAT upload of a TV classic! There was one series that I've never seen again, though I definitely remember it from my childhood. One in which Crusader and Rags solve the mystery of a monster on a Scottish golf course. What made it so memorable was the switch at the end. They found a hoaxer using a large foot wooden print maker and a bullhorn...and then a monster looking like a dinosaur appears above a set of trees. I wonder if anyone else recalls those episodes...
OMG, I loved Crusader Rabbit. I still knew the opening music by heart. Wanted to be able to show my daughter what the world of TV cartoons was like in the beginning. Now if I can also find Gerald McBoingBoing...
...:he wanted to help OTHER people..."---LOL, dude--HE wasn't a people. :) This was my favorite cartoon, but when I was 3 1/2 yrs. old they stopped showing it where we lived (we only got 1 channel back then). I remembered it though, so when we moved back to Texas when I was 7, I asked if THEY would show it. They couldn't believe I remembered it until I told them how the episodes went. I wanted to know if there were any Jack Rabbits left in Texas. There were, thanks to Crusade Rabbit, my hero! Thanks for posting this!
It isn't often I get to say I'm too young to remember an old TV cartoon, but this one was just a little before my time. I'd heard of it, but this is the first chance I've had to actually see any of the original episodes. Now I'm a Crusader Rabbit fan for life! Thanks very much for posting this classic.
God damn .. I'd almost forgotten all about this marvellous cartoon show. But there was just a speck of good memory there .. in the recesses of this ole brain-box of mine. And you've brought it right back to complete life for me again. Many thanks !!
That's exactly how Anderson and Ward approached "CRUSADER RABBIT"- the writing and vocal talent, with the stock music and sound effects, would compensate for the "limited animation" they were forced to improvise...at first, the entire Television Arts enterprise was operating from a converted garage apartment in Berkeley, California (epsically during the making of the first "crusade")!
The reason why there are only about 4 frames of animation per foot of film here vs. the 40 in a fully animated movie is that this show was made initially in a San Francisco garage on a on a insanely tiny budget. The later CR episodes had more animation, but in the early days all animation done for TV (as opposed the theatres) featured limited animaton -- as shown in nearly every Hanna Barbera production (Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, etc.). And H-B came a decade AFTER Crusader Rabbit.
Favorite cartoon when I was a kid is Sheriff John show. Rags and crusader rabbit grow up to be Rocky and Bullwinkle the same people did the voices. God bless them all.
Wrong. Crusader Rabbit was played by Lucille Bliss and then Ge Ge Pearson, while Rags was played by Vern Louden. Rocky was played by June Foray with Bill Scott playing Bullwinkle.
I'm 61 and I used to go home from school at lunch time. Cusader Rabbit came on around 12:45 p.m. and I'd watch it quick and run back to school to be there at 1:00 p.m. I really loved that rabbit. Howdy Doody would have to be my first children's TV show. It was a blast also!
Funny you say that.....I put this on and my seven year old raced in and was fascinated, especially with Crusader Rabbits ''scary eyes''. He asks for this cartoon all the time now ...
Sheriff John showed several episodes of Crusader Rabbit every day here in Los Angeles in the 1950's. That opening theme is so evocative. Beany and Cecil in the fifties was a witty & endearing puppet show called "Time for Beany." As for dog food: "In the yellow can with letters red, always ask for Thorough-Fed."
"Ohhh, put another candle on my birthday cake, I'm another year old today!" Brought to you by Maggio Carrots! Also, Captain Zoom! I think he played the Laurel and Hardy cartoons, which scared me to death...
12 noon Chicago the local competition was stiff. Lunchtime little theatre was one viewing for kids attention. Uncle Johnny Coins and Bozo the clown and a few more made their mark...good programming back then.
Early Saturday mornings, in my PJs, dragging my blanket downstairs to the living room, turning on the TV and watching Crusader Rabbit, Krazy Kat, Beanie and Cecil, and some others, life was so simple then.
Thanks so much. I watched this while in kindergarten of Sheriff John. The first episode was before school, but I hated having to go to school and miss the second episode.
I vaguely recall seeing this show just a few times on my cousins' black and white TV a few eons ago, the first time I heard the word "crusader", so from then on it was always associated with this.
Wow! This is the first time seeing this show I'd only read about in animation history books. It's cute! The all-too-limited animation unwittingly disguises a whimsical plot. From the posts here, I assume most of you know when this first aired - back then, I believe, they were still feeling their oats about the feasibilty of TV animation. I was born in '77, and can see why a kid would enjoy this.
They just don't make-um like that anymore. One of my childhood favorites. Saw it on "Cartoon Club". The show opened with a black and white static picture of a circus clown carrying a bass drum on which was written "Cartoon Club".
It has been a while since I've checked back here on UA-cam. Looks like it is about time I posted the rest of the series. Thank you all for your comments. Hoping that someday they offer these again on DVD!
My very first cartoon series on Channel 2, Ottawa black and white. Never thought I'd see this again. Ward then developed Rocky and Bullwinkle, corrupting entire generations over decades. Continue on.
"CRUSADER RABBIT" was not a part of "CAPTAIN KANGAROO", 'michael'; their limited animation series, produced in 1957-'58, was [CBS] Terrytoons' "THE ADVENTURES OF TOM TERRIFIC" (with a brief follow-up series, "THE ADVENTURES OF LARIAT SAM"). "CRUSADER" was designed to be seen as a daily five-minute series, but most often, it was seen as a segment of various live local children's shows from the '50s through the '70s {including "SHERIFF JOHN' in Los Angeles and "CHILDREN'S THEATER" in New York}.
"Down in Texas they're still talking about the little rabbit who came down to wipe out the whole state of Texas. And obviously, that rabbit must have been Crusader Rabbit, because who else would have thought of such a wonderful idea?" XD use the first lines in the first of that series and the whole Bush problem would have been resolved all those years ago! *sigh*
'ekso', your father was a part of TV history by working with Alex Anderson & Jay Ward in Berkeley. I remember reading that sometimes, Jay Ward didn't have enough money to meet the "payroll" in the early days (1949), and often "rotated" payment of salaries among key members of the staff.
Alexander Anderson Jr. is recognized as the creator of Crusader Rabbit, Dudley Do Right, Rocky the Flying Squirrel, and Bullwinkle the Moose. He died at age 90 on 22-Oct-2010. Jay Ward was his childhood friend and business partner. Anderson was the creative one, Ward ran the business side.
I was researching Jay Ward Productions when I came across Crusader Rabbit as his, and Alexander Anderson's, first cartoon. Originally aired August 1, 1950 on KNBH out of LA. My earliest cartoon memories are Milton the Monster and Super Chicken. I'm glad to see that so many people, most now probably in their 70's are getting a kick out of seeing these.
I can identify with that. I'm 60 years old and I remember Crusader Rabbit as the first TV show I ever saw. I am surprised to even see it now - I did a video search and yes = BEHOLD! Thanks UA-cam.
Thanks for posting this. I remember Crusader and his friend Ragland T. Tiger. They were the predecessors to Rocky and Bullwinkle, but had no connection the the sappy Capt. Kangaroo.
When Jay Ward went on his own & had no rights to Crusader & Rags, he changed them to Rocky Squirrel & Bullwinkle. A pertner he had also went on his own and changed the characters to Spunky & Tadpole.
I remember watching Crusader and Rags early morning before school on Channel 7 here in Sydney and can remember entering a competition where you had to correctly name Ragland T Tiger...I couldn't believe it when I didn't win! LOL
The later 1957-'58 color edition, Steve, was produced by Shull Bonsall, when he acquired the rights to the series following a dragged-out lawsuit between Anderson & Ward, Jerry Fairbanks [who declared bankruptcy in 1953, indirectly causing the lawsuit by auctioning the series to another distributor, without Ward's knowledge] and NBC over WHO owned it. Bonsall gave Ward a "take it or leave it" offer, and Jay had to accept, as he didn't have the money to challenge Bonsall's claim of ownership.
The series "bounced" across several local New York stations in the '50s {WNBT/WRCA/WNBC, WPIX, WOR} because it had more than one distributor [and, by 1959, there were TWO versions of "CRUSADER", including the 260 color episodes produced by Shull Bonsall/TV Spots/Capital Enterprises in 1957-'58].
I watched the "Captain Sacto" show broadcast out of Sacramento. That's where we central California's were introduced to Crusader Rabbit. I've only met one person in the past 30 years who had ever heard of Crusader Rabbit or the Cap't Sacto Show. Finding this site just made my day. CR was my favorite.
Me too, these really haunted my memory and I am so glad to see them here. I think Sheriff John also was showing a lot of Farmer Alfalfa aka Farmer Al Falfa aka Farmer Gray. Since I watched Sheriff John live that makes me pretty old, and admit I have only been really into UA-cam fairly recently. I used to check it out for the occasional hilarious vid, but now it has a massive databank of INCREDIBLY interesting media over a good part of a/v media history. It's as good as ANY museum in its way.
Ha I found out about this by reading the Resurrection Of Doom Graphic Novel! :D In it Doom Says "Sylvia get me that other Rabbit! You know the one with that tiger for a buddy!" At first I thought it might've been a reference to Rabbit and Tigger from winnie the pooh and Judge Doom merely misinterpreted Tigger as a Tiger. Glad I checked what he was referencing because he was in fact refering to Crusader Rabbit; this is a great cartoon :D
Again, 'rmadara', Jay Ward and his partner Alex Anderson produced this, in 1949, on a VERY TINY BUDGET. They couldn't afford "full animation", so they used a mixture of "still drawings" and some "limited" animation (even if they had to move the camera to make it appear as though something was moving)- and very clever scripts. On the other hand, Vallee Video's "THE TELECOMICS", syndicated during that same period, WERE basically "still drawings".
Well, 'dgill', "Crusader Rabbit" WAS the first cartoon specifically produced for TV...but Vallee Video's "Telecomics" {aka "NBC Telecomics", 1950-'51} was first syndicated in the fall of 1949- a full season BEFORE "Crusader" made its national debut. "Telecomics" were produced even cheaper- they were basically serialized "comic strips" with VERY limited movement.
This cartoon enchanted me for some reason. I was only 4 or 5. Say, it's barely even animated, sort of like another favorite, "Space Angels," with the characters having real mouths!
Talk about a stab from the past! I haven't seen this for 50 years and it's still just as weird as I remember. I'd sit on the floor in front of our black-and-white RCA tv with the round picture tube totally enrapt with these characters. Thanks for the memories.
As much cartoons as I watched from the late 1950s on in Cleveland, I never heard of Crusader Rabbit. When I was in my early 30s during the 1980s when a older guy (by several years) I worked with out in California first told me about Crusader Rabbit. Between getting some books on the first fifty years on kids TV and the internet building up from the late 1990s on, I became more knowledgeable. I'm just now watching it for first time. I remind myself whatever the shortcomings, they had to start somewhere.
The very first episode of the FIRST 15 chapter saga, "Crusader Vs. The State Of Texas". Originally produced as part of a 1948 pilot film Jay Ward and Alex Anderson submitted to NBC, this episode was first shown in New York in 1949...but not nationally syndicated until the summer of 1950! Ward & Anderson were animating on a very small budget, so that's why this looks "crude" today. Let's see more!
The reason Crusader Rabbit was so popular was because of the novelty of having made-for-television cartoons back in the late 40's-early 50's. Before this, all cartoons that aired were just reruns of cartoons that had been show in theaters already. This video shows the start of what has now become the most common form of animation.
To address the,uh,production values or lack thereof,Jay Ward was doing these things on a miniscule budget even for early TV thanks in part to the screwing he took from Jerry Fairbanks to get these episodes marketed One could say it was a sign of things to come with made for TV animation. Honestly, these looked bad even in 1947 but Crusader Rabbit is where the made for TV cartoon industry and also program syndication more or less begins and for better or worse they aired for about 20 years. While they are nostalgic to see today they are STILL barely watchable.
OH MY MEOWING GOD 😹!! I heard about this old cartoon show back in 2007, when i loaded a book, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANIMATED CARTOONS, from a near city library at the age 24 years. I loaned it for two reasons: - 1) I love the old cartoons - 2) i would love to practice for drawing my own cartoon art works 🖋️🖊️✏️🖍️ 😺👍. And when i saw this cartoon for the first time on YT, it looked so interesting, i had to watch all the episodes. Now, i am back to watch it again in 2024 - in the age of 41 years 😹😺👍. Greetings from Vantaa, Finland 🇫🇮.
when I lived in panama.(my dad was stationed there) the military station had a guy dressed in a flight suit and helmet he was the kiddie cartoon guy.that's where saw these.62-65 canal zone
+CoasterRebel He co-created it with animator Alex Anderson as THE FROSTBITE FALLS FROLICS. It was loosely a reworking of CRUSADER RABBIT (Rocky as Crusader, Bullwinkle as Rags). Dudley Do-Right predates it in a pilot for another unsold show in 1949. Ward was a smart producer, the kind who gathers together the talent, lets them run wild and doesn`t interfere with them, but supports them and giving the benefit of his enormous sense of humor. I don`t know how much of ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE was actually Ward`s creation. The guiding light behind it was writer Bill Scott who co-produced and, without taking on-screen credit, wrote half the stories and voiced Bullwinkle, Mr Peabody, Dudley Do-Right, Fearless Leader and so many more.
@Bugaleena Hey, I'm from the Valley too (Chatsworth) and do you also remember Hobo Kelly and Sherriff John? I also live in Central Florida (Tampa) I hope to find more classics on youtube.
This was designed to be a daily "serial", in 4 minute segments- either presented (with a commercial) as a five minute program....or included in local children's shows, like New York's "CHILDREN'S THEATER" (as early as 1949).
Hokey SMOKE! The little range rat turned on TEXAS? I liked him when I was a kid, too. No more! All my Lone Star buddies are invited over tonight.......for HOSSENFEFER!!!!!
So this is the first every cartoon specifically made for television. This is certainly minimal animation. It's more like a narrator going through a storybook and showing us the pictures.
I think the drawing is bloody good, considering how old this is. Most of the older cartoon movies tend to have quite "crappy" drawing by today's standards.
First cartoon made specifically for TV ever. Next time you watch South Park or American Dad remember this is where it started.
it was actually a show called jim and judy in teleland, which started in 1949
charlie ok but crusader rabbit aired 1947
@Waggsmith YTP I had a bunny once- NEVER turn your back on a Wabbit! Joking, but that is how Rabbits show the young ones when they have messed up- they hate it and mine would try to get in front of me. Bunny discipline is vewy, vewy important!
@ Charlie Smdh 😂😂. Wrong, Always somebody on the internet like you.
The show created by the guy who did Rocky and Bullwinkle
As a kid, I'd watch this cartoon while eating a bowl of Trix.
Happy times
@Bob Grey STOP THIS GUY IS A LEGEND FOR COMMENTING ON A VID 4 YEARS LATER
From one famous rabbit to another. 🐰
Trix are gross I'd be eating cocoa pebbles
My mother made me eat Wheat Chex
I loved this as a kid and never forgot the theme music. As a child, my mind filled in the gaps between frames, making me think that it was fluid. It was an amazing kid's show.
+Gary Leigh It was better than "colonel bleep", and sort of on the level with "clutch cargo" or "space angel". "Diver Dan" was live action with marionette fish, "Fireball XL5" was all marionettes, and "color" television was still being refined for public use in RCA laboratories. 1964 saw many advances. - It was an amazing time.
How old are you
WHAT YOU SAW THIS WHEN IT AIRED
@@coquimapping8680 Let's say toddlerhood ends around 3 yo and teenage years begin around 13, this would make the commenter 4 - 12 as a child, which can be estimated to 8. Were he 8 when the series first aired in 1950, then @garyleigh is, as of 2024, 82 years old. Leigh is in his most likely in his 80s.
This is the very first made for TV animation, and while not technically sophisticated, it is clever, well written, and experimental. AND influential. It did a lot with the shoestring means available.
Luckily I grew up in the LA TV market and could watch them on local TV from the beginning. I loved it then, and still do.
There is a lot of great animation being done today with all the tech, but this is still great too. I admire creative talent way more than technical means.
I also grew up in the LA area, Compton to be exact. I watched "Crusader Rabbit" and loved it. Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane.
Just learned about this today from an animation history book, wow I spent so much of my life thinking Flintstones and stuff were the first TV cartoons, awesome.
Furries take the mantle yet again
Yes, Hanna-Barbera came a few years after Crusader Rabbit. Their first animated series was "Ruff and Reddy"
@@ValaAssistant your alone buddy
Im here from a screen rant video
I’m just old enough to remember crusader rabbit, 71. I remember it being more animated but that must have been in my imagination.
In early 1950s Jay Ward had been a co-creator of Crusader Rabbit and Rags the tiger. After losing rights to those characters he re-invented them as Rocky the flying squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose. ☺
Actually, he and Alex Anderson created them for a proposed series called "THE FROSTBITE FALLS REVUE" in 1950- which never got past the story boards used to pitch the idea to executives and advertisers. When Shull Bonsall bought Television Arts Productions- and the rights to "CRUSADER RABBIT"- from Jay and his partner Alex in 1956, he allowed them to retain the rights to the other characters they created.......and Jay went into partnership with Bill Scott in 1958 and revived "Rocky and Bullwinkle" as a proposed ongoing daily serial (as "CRUSADER" had been). But General Mills was only interested in a half-hour series. So they created other supporting features {"Fractured Fairy Tales", "Peabody's Improbable History"} to go with their adventures, and that became "ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS" in 1959.
And the rest is history Rocky and Bullwinkle Will go on to be Ward‘s most famous creations
as a little kid I would wake up early to watch this show. I loved it so much. I recall there was some soft plastic thing that I could put on my TV so I could trace over the animation because they barely moved! Loved this show. Crusader and Rags. Innocence of my childhood and memories that still bring me joy
The 'plastic thing' was another show completely---Winky Dink and You. Look it up in Wikipedia.
Gary Rundquist Thanks Gary, maybe we bought it for Winky Dink but I used it for Crusader Rabbit. Thanks for knowing what I was talking about.
Gary Rundquist you,re right, I was thinking that as I read the comment when You tell you,re kids about this stuff I don't know if they believe it,I was born in 58 and watched this show all the time.I didn't realize how long it was actually on.
Tango Eliott My mother would advise us to "Let Winky Dink shift for himself" as her way of getting around buying the kit for us.
TralfazConstruction Your mom was pretty smart!!!!!
I wasn't even sure this existed for a long time. I could remember it but couldn't find anyone else who remembered it. thank you so much!!!!
I understand the feeling. Do you remember Winky Dink? It involved a plastic sheet to put over your TV screen and (if I remember right) a crayon to write & draw things to help Winky Dink. At 77 years old, I only barely remember it.
WOW! I can't believe it. I've always remembered this series but haven't seen it for about 40 to 45 years? Thankyou.
This is the first television cartoon show that was broadcasted! Just putting that our there
Thanks so much for posting this. I've been telling my British wife about Crusader Rabit for years. She's never heard of it and now I can't wait to show this to her. Thanks again!
Hola te hablo 13 años después :v
GREAT upload of a TV classic! There was one series that I've never seen again, though I definitely remember it from my childhood. One in which Crusader and Rags solve the mystery of a monster on a Scottish golf course. What made it so memorable was the switch at the end. They found a hoaxer using a large foot wooden print maker and a bullhorn...and then a monster looking like a dinosaur appears above a set of trees. I wonder if anyone else recalls those episodes...
OMG, I loved Crusader Rabbit. I still knew the opening music by heart. Wanted to be able to show my daughter what the world of TV cartoons was like in the beginning. Now if I can also find Gerald McBoingBoing...
...:he wanted to help OTHER people..."---LOL, dude--HE wasn't a people. :)
This was my favorite cartoon, but when I was 3 1/2 yrs. old they stopped showing it where we lived (we only got 1 channel back then). I remembered it though, so when we moved back to Texas when I was 7, I asked if THEY would show it. They couldn't believe I remembered it until I told them how the episodes went. I wanted to know if there were any Jack Rabbits left in Texas. There were, thanks to Crusade Rabbit, my hero!
Thanks for posting this!
It isn't often I get to say I'm too young to remember an old TV cartoon, but this one was just a little before my time. I'd heard of it, but this is the first chance I've had to actually see any of the original episodes. Now I'm a Crusader Rabbit fan for life! Thanks very much for posting this classic.
God damn .. I'd almost forgotten all about this marvellous cartoon show. But there was just a speck of good memory there .. in the recesses of this ole brain-box of mine. And you've brought it right back to complete life for me again. Many thanks !!
And thus the Saturday Morning Cartoon was born!
That's exactly how Anderson and Ward approached "CRUSADER RABBIT"- the writing and vocal talent, with the stock music and sound effects, would compensate for the "limited animation" they were forced to improvise...at first, the entire Television Arts enterprise was operating from a converted garage apartment in Berkeley, California (epsically during the making of the first "crusade")!
Before Rocky and Bullwinkle....and the Tiger was an inspiration for Calvin and Hobbes. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it...........ha ha ha.
Gay
Amazing! When I found this I could hear the music at the start in my mind! Thanks for this. I never thought I would find it.
The reason why there are only about 4 frames of animation per foot of film here vs. the 40 in a fully animated movie is that this show was made initially in a San Francisco garage on a on a insanely tiny budget. The later CR episodes had more animation, but in the early days all animation done for TV (as opposed the theatres) featured limited animaton -- as shown in nearly every Hanna Barbera production (Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, etc.). And H-B came a decade AFTER Crusader Rabbit.
Favorite cartoon when I was a kid is Sheriff John show. Rags and crusader rabbit grow up to be Rocky and Bullwinkle the same people did the voices. God bless them all.
Sheriff John's Lunch Brigade! Mwah! I used to run home from school to watch it, while eating a bologna and cheese sandwich on wonderbread.
This cartoon was done by the same creator as rocky and Bullwinkle
Wrong. Crusader Rabbit was played by Lucille Bliss and then Ge Ge Pearson, while Rags was played by Vern Louden. Rocky was played by June Foray with Bill Scott playing Bullwinkle.
Thanks for uploading this. I've been wondering forever if there was any footage extant. One of my favorite shows as a kid.
I'm 61 and I used to go home from school at lunch time. Cusader Rabbit came on around 12:45 p.m. and I'd watch it quick and run back to school to be there at 1:00 p.m. I really loved that rabbit. Howdy Doody would have to be my first children's TV show. It was a blast also!
Funny you say that.....I put this on and my seven year old raced in and was fascinated, especially with Crusader Rabbits ''scary eyes''. He asks for this cartoon all the time now ...
I loved this show when I was a kid.
Thank you, than you, thank you! This cartoon was on the furthest fringes of my memory, and I'm glad you helped restore it here.
Sheriff John showed several episodes of Crusader Rabbit every day here in Los Angeles in the 1950's. That opening theme is so evocative.
Beany and Cecil in the fifties was a witty & endearing puppet show called "Time for Beany."
As for dog food: "In the yellow can with letters red, always ask for Thorough-Fed."
"Ohhh, put another candle on my birthday cake, I'm another year old today!" Brought to you by Maggio Carrots!
Also, Captain Zoom! I think he played the Laurel and Hardy cartoons, which scared me to death...
L&H videos, not cartoons.
L&H FILMS. Not "videos"!
I used to watch Sheriff John also
12 noon Chicago the local competition was stiff. Lunchtime little theatre was one viewing for kids attention. Uncle Johnny Coins and Bozo the clown and a few more made their mark...good programming back then.
Early Saturday mornings, in my PJs, dragging my blanket downstairs to the living room, turning on the TV and watching Crusader Rabbit, Krazy Kat, Beanie and Cecil, and some others, life was so simple then.
There are 12 episodes in this crusade. Eventually we'll have it completed here.
So this was how Crusader Rabbit met Rags the Tiger.
Thanks so much. I watched this while in kindergarten of Sheriff John. The first episode was before school, but I hated having to go to school and miss the second episode.
I vaguely recall seeing this show just a few times on my cousins' black and white TV a few eons ago, the first time I heard the word "crusader", so from then on it was always associated with this.
Wow! This is the first time seeing this show I'd only read about in animation history books.
It's cute! The all-too-limited animation unwittingly disguises a whimsical plot.
From the posts here, I assume most of you know when this first aired - back then, I believe, they were still feeling their oats about the feasibilty of TV animation.
I was born in '77, and can see why a kid would enjoy this.
They just don't make-um like that anymore. One of my childhood favorites. Saw it on "Cartoon Club". The show opened with a black and white static picture of a circus clown carrying a bass drum on which was written "Cartoon Club".
Where tv animation all began. And it was serialized too. Cartoons are the best.
It has been a while since I've checked back here on UA-cam. Looks like it is about time I posted the rest of the series. Thank you all for your comments. Hoping that someday they offer these again on DVD!
ruCader aRibbt
As a kid growing up in New York, I still remember watching this !!!
My very first cartoon series on Channel 2, Ottawa black and white. Never thought I'd see this again. Ward then developed Rocky and Bullwinkle, corrupting entire generations over decades. Continue on.
Wow, it’s been AGES since I last saw this!! One of the very first cartoons I ever saw on TV.
Me too
I recall this show it was fun and so simple. Today's shows are not the sane
Thanks for posting, I read where this was the first made for TV cartoon, it's interesting to see such stuff, thanks!
"CRUSADER RABBIT" was not a part of "CAPTAIN KANGAROO", 'michael'; their limited animation series, produced in 1957-'58, was [CBS] Terrytoons' "THE ADVENTURES OF TOM TERRIFIC" (with a brief follow-up series, "THE ADVENTURES OF LARIAT SAM"). "CRUSADER" was designed to be seen as a daily five-minute series, but most often, it was seen as a segment of various live local children's shows from the '50s through the '70s {including "SHERIFF JOHN' in Los Angeles and "CHILDREN'S THEATER" in New York}.
"Down in Texas they're still talking about the little rabbit who came down to wipe out the whole state of Texas. And obviously, that rabbit must have been Crusader Rabbit, because who else would have thought of such a wonderful idea?" XD use the first lines in the first of that series and the whole Bush problem would have been resolved all those years ago! *sigh*
Holy Shmoley! This brings back memories. I used to watch CR on Channel 4 New York back in the 60's. Cool!
"Wiping out the whole state of Texas."
"Wonderful idea"
.......Okay.... ?
Jay Ward went on to create Rocky and Bullwinkle and Fractured Flickers. All of these things are why the man was a genius and a true pioneer.
Thanks. One of the first things I remember from TV.
CarlDuke you must be a old dude
'ekso', your father was a part of TV history by working with Alex Anderson & Jay Ward in Berkeley. I remember reading that sometimes, Jay Ward didn't have enough money to meet the "payroll" in the early days (1949), and often "rotated" payment of salaries among key members of the staff.
Alexander Anderson Jr. is recognized as the creator of Crusader Rabbit, Dudley Do Right, Rocky the Flying Squirrel, and Bullwinkle the Moose. He died at age 90 on 22-Oct-2010. Jay Ward was his childhood friend and business partner. Anderson was the creative one, Ward ran the business side.
I was researching Jay Ward Productions when I came across Crusader Rabbit as his, and Alexander Anderson's, first cartoon. Originally aired August 1, 1950 on KNBH out of LA. My earliest cartoon memories are Milton the Monster and Super Chicken. I'm glad to see that so many people, most now probably in their 70's are getting a kick out of seeing these.
Thanks for bringing back this wonderful memory
I can identify with that. I'm 60 years old and I remember Crusader Rabbit as the first TV show I ever saw. I am surprised to even see it now - I did a video search and yes = BEHOLD! Thanks UA-cam.
Thanks for posting this. I remember Crusader and his friend Ragland T. Tiger. They were the predecessors to Rocky and Bullwinkle, but had no connection the the sappy Capt. Kangaroo.
When Jay Ward went on his own & had no rights to Crusader & Rags, he changed them to Rocky Squirrel & Bullwinkle. A pertner he had also went on his own and changed the characters to Spunky & Tadpole.
“Crusader Rabbit” is one of my earliest TV memories, from 1957 or 1958. Pretty much the only thing I remember from it, however, is the theme song.
I remember watching Crusader and Rags early morning before school on Channel 7 here in Sydney and can remember entering a competition where you had to correctly name Ragland T Tiger...I couldn't believe it when I didn't win! LOL
The later 1957-'58 color edition, Steve, was produced by Shull Bonsall, when he acquired the rights to the series following a dragged-out lawsuit between Anderson & Ward, Jerry Fairbanks [who declared bankruptcy in 1953, indirectly causing the lawsuit by auctioning the series to another distributor, without Ward's knowledge] and NBC over WHO owned it. Bonsall gave Ward a "take it or leave it" offer, and Jay had to accept, as he didn't have the money to challenge Bonsall's claim of ownership.
This cartoon and Felix the Cat were the first cartoons I ever remember watching! :-)
The series "bounced" across several local New York stations in the '50s {WNBT/WRCA/WNBC, WPIX, WOR} because it had more than one distributor [and, by 1959, there were TWO versions of "CRUSADER", including the 260 color episodes produced by Shull Bonsall/TV Spots/Capital Enterprises in 1957-'58].
It looks like an animatic, but it's so cool
It was Sheriff John? Man, I remembered everything but where I had seen this...for some reason, I had Captain Kangaroo stuck in my memory.
I watched the "Captain Sacto" show broadcast out of Sacramento. That's where we central California's were introduced to Crusader Rabbit. I've only met one person in the past 30 years who had ever heard of Crusader Rabbit or the Cap't Sacto Show. Finding this site just made my day. CR was my favorite.
Finally... someone of today’s time
Me too, these really haunted my memory and I am so glad to see them here. I think Sheriff John also was showing a lot of Farmer Alfalfa aka Farmer Al Falfa aka Farmer Gray.
Since I watched Sheriff John live that makes me pretty old, and admit I have only been really into UA-cam fairly recently. I used to check it out for the occasional hilarious vid, but now it has a massive databank of INCREDIBLY interesting media over a good part of a/v media history. It's as good as ANY museum in its way.
12 years l8r. Wyd?
@@ceezuschrist387 Damn, after looking up 'wyd', I am happy to be able to say I'm still alive.
@@gnikcohs noiyce 👍
Ha I found out about this by reading the Resurrection Of Doom Graphic Novel! :D
In it Doom Says "Sylvia get me that other Rabbit! You know the one with that tiger for a buddy!"
At first I thought it might've been a reference to Rabbit and Tigger from winnie the pooh and Judge Doom merely misinterpreted Tigger as a Tiger. Glad I checked what he was referencing because he was in fact refering to Crusader Rabbit; this is a great cartoon :D
Me too.
Omg the theme song is so familiar even if it's my first time watching this
Ohh it's adapted from trail to Mexico
This sounds like wheels on the bus lmao
But Ig no
my family was stationed in panama 1962-65,the armed forces tv use to play this
Again, 'rmadara', Jay Ward and his partner Alex Anderson produced this, in 1949, on a VERY TINY BUDGET. They couldn't afford "full animation", so they used a mixture of "still drawings" and some "limited" animation (even if they had to move the camera to make it appear as though something was moving)- and very clever scripts. On the other hand, Vallee Video's "THE TELECOMICS", syndicated during that same period, WERE basically "still drawings".
Well, 'dgill', "Crusader Rabbit" WAS the first cartoon specifically produced for TV...but Vallee Video's "Telecomics" {aka "NBC Telecomics", 1950-'51} was first syndicated in the fall of 1949- a full season BEFORE "Crusader" made its national debut. "Telecomics" were produced even cheaper- they were basically serialized "comic strips" with VERY limited movement.
This cartoon enchanted me for some reason. I was only 4 or 5. Say, it's barely even animated, sort of like another favorite, "Space Angels," with the characters having real mouths!
Fascinating facts! First actual made-for-TV cartoon. They played some music in it that gave me chills.
Crusader Rabbit is a highlight from my long ago youth. More please.
I can't believe I didn't even know this existed until now.
Talk about a stab from the past! I haven't seen this for 50 years and it's still just as weird as I remember. I'd sit on the floor in front of our black-and-white RCA tv with the round picture tube totally enrapt with these characters. Thanks for the memories.
I also remember this asfrom the berry early 50's. Recently began wanting to see a crusader rabbit cartoon again.thanks
Anyone else look this up after Gary brought it up during tonight’s Mets game?
As much cartoons as I watched from the late 1950s on in Cleveland, I never heard of Crusader Rabbit.
When I was in my early 30s during the 1980s when a older guy (by several years) I worked with out in California first told me about Crusader Rabbit.
Between getting some books on the first fifty years on kids TV and the internet building up from the late 1990s on, I became more knowledgeable.
I'm just now watching it for first time. I remind myself whatever the shortcomings, they had to start somewhere.
THIS IS MY FAVOURITE ANIME
This was my first cartoon, 60 years later, I remembered the. Title Crusader Rabbit
Part 1: Crusader Rabbit
Part 2: Beastars
this has better animation than most anime
The very first episode of the FIRST 15 chapter saga, "Crusader Vs. The State Of Texas". Originally produced as part of a 1948 pilot film Jay Ward and Alex Anderson submitted to NBC, this episode was first shown in New York in 1949...but not nationally syndicated until the summer of 1950! Ward & Anderson were animating on a very small budget, so that's why this looks "crude" today. Let's see more!
The reason Crusader Rabbit was so popular was because of the novelty of having made-for-television cartoons back in the late 40's-early 50's. Before this, all cartoons that aired were just reruns of cartoons that had been show in theaters already.
This video shows the start of what has now become the most common form of animation.
To address the,uh,production values or lack thereof,Jay Ward was doing these things on a miniscule budget even for early TV thanks in part to the screwing he took from Jerry Fairbanks to get these episodes marketed
One could say it was a sign of things to come with made for TV animation.
Honestly, these looked bad even in 1947 but Crusader Rabbit is where the made for TV cartoon industry and also program syndication more or less begins and for better or worse they aired for about 20 years.
While they are nostalgic to see today they are STILL barely watchable.
OH MY MEOWING GOD 😹!!
I heard about this old cartoon show
back in 2007, when i loaded a book,
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANIMATED CARTOONS,
from a near city library at the age 24 years.
I loaned it for two reasons:
- 1) I love the old cartoons
- 2) i would love to practice for drawing my own cartoon art works 🖋️🖊️✏️🖍️ 😺👍.
And when i saw this cartoon for the
first time on YT, it looked so interesting,
i had to watch all the episodes.
Now, i am back to watch it again in 2024
- in the age of 41 years 😹😺👍.
Greetings from Vantaa, Finland 🇫🇮.
when I lived in panama.(my dad was stationed there) the military station had a guy dressed in a flight suit and helmet he was the kiddie cartoon guy.that's where saw these.62-65 canal zone
Oh wow.
Haven't seen these in VERY long time.
Thankyou :)
Thanks everyone for all your feedback! When I have some time I'll start posting Crusade II!
Original airing dates for the episodes would be kind of cool. Thanks for the upload. :)
The first first cartoon ever made specifically for TV. Man, this wasn't animation, this was an illustrated radio play. Seriously.
Thanks SOOOOOOOO much for posting these!!!
I watched this cartoon when it first came on. It was great!
I have a stuffed jackalope in my room, I call it Crusader Bullwinkle
+CoasterRebel Nice! Did you know Jay Ward created and worked on both series?
Yosef Demby Yep. Jay Ward is truly an underrated cartoonist
+CoasterRebel Jay Ward was a producer, not a cartoonist. But, he was a brilliant producer.
David Farley Didn't he create Rocky & Bullwinkle? They reference his name all the time in that show
+CoasterRebel He co-created it with animator Alex Anderson as THE FROSTBITE FALLS FROLICS. It was loosely a reworking of CRUSADER RABBIT (Rocky as Crusader, Bullwinkle as Rags). Dudley Do-Right predates it in a pilot for another unsold show in 1949. Ward was a smart producer, the kind who gathers together the talent, lets them run wild and doesn`t interfere with them, but supports them and giving the benefit of his enormous sense of humor. I don`t know how much of ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE was actually Ward`s creation. The guiding light behind it was writer Bill Scott who co-produced and, without taking on-screen credit, wrote half the stories and voiced Bullwinkle, Mr Peabody, Dudley Do-Right, Fearless Leader and so many more.
Oh, boy! I remember Crusader Rabbit, Ragland T. Tiger, and other guests, like the two-headed fire breathing dragon, Arson & Sterno!
@Bugaleena Hey, I'm from the Valley too (Chatsworth) and do you also remember Hobo Kelly and Sherriff John? I also live in Central Florida (Tampa) I hope to find more classics on youtube.
This was designed to be a daily "serial", in 4 minute segments- either presented (with a commercial) as a five minute program....or included in local children's shows, like New York's "CHILDREN'S THEATER" (as early as 1949).
Hokey SMOKE! The little range rat turned on TEXAS? I liked him when I was a kid, too. No more! All my Lone Star buddies are invited over tonight.......for HOSSENFEFER!!!!!
Hasenpfeffer.
So this is the first every cartoon specifically made for television. This is certainly minimal animation. It's more like a narrator going through a storybook and showing us the pictures.
This is literally the first TV show I can remember watching.
That is REALLY limited animation! That would be television in the 40's/50's for ya.
Awesome! I'm not the only one who remembers this show!
I think the drawing is bloody good, considering how old this is. Most of the older cartoon movies tend to have quite "crappy" drawing by today's standards.
Would it be fair to compare this show to the theatrical cartoons released around the same time?