The Beatles Cartoon

1 9 6 5 - 1 9 6 9 (USA)
39 x 30 minute episodes 

The Beatles cartoons were screened in the US  from September 25, 1965 to April 20, 1969 on ABC Television. They were then seen in syndication and overseas. The series was also repeated in the US in 1986 and 1987 on MTV. Al Brodax and his King Features team created the cartoon series in New York. Due to time constraints, three other studios were subcontracted to help. They were Artransa Park in Australia, Cine-Centrum in Holland, and CanaWest in Vancouver, BC.

The Beatles themselves did not provide the voices for their cartoon counterparts. The voices were provided by actors, including world-renowned  voice-over artist, Paul Frees, an American, who provided the voices of John and George.

Englishman, Lance Percival, provided the voices of Paul and Ringo. Al Brodax decided to "Americanize" The Beatles Liverpudlian accents so the American kids could understand them. This led to much controversy, and the Fab Four themselves were most displeased. The voice controversy led to the series not being screened very much in the UK, and not until the 1970s.

The series performed exceptionally well in the ratings when it first appeared. The ratings started to decline though, in 1966, mainly due to the Caped Crusader! When the live action Batman show premiered in 1966, kids fell in love with superheroes. Many copycat shows appeared such as Space Ghost, Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles, etc, and The Beatles series was never the same in the ratings.  There were other reasons, not least of which was the growth and maturity of The Beatles' music.