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Sport Billy

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Sport Billy
Developed byArthur Nadel
Voices ofLane Scheimer
Frank Welker
Joyce Bulifant
Lou Scheimer
Corinne Orr
Lionel Wilson
Peter Fernandez
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producersNorm Prescott
Lou Scheimer
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesFilmation
Sport Billy Limited
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 16, 1980 (1980-09-16) –
November 16, 1981 (1981-11-16)

Sport Billy is an American animated television series produced by Filmation Associates, initially for broadcast in Germany and Cannes, France. The series was a single 26-episode saga that premiered in Germany and other parts of Europe from 1980 to 1981.[1][2][3] In 1982, Filmation carried the show over to the United States for syndication, and as a summer replacement for The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends in NBC's Saturday morning children's programming.[4][1][5][6][7][8][9] It was the last first-run series produced by Filmation to air on NBC.

Overview

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Sport Billy was originally a German comic character created by Rolf Deyhle in 1977, and already had a presence in Europe and parts of Latin America.[10][11][12] The comics were written and drawn by Walter Neugebauer, Gisela Künstner and Kurt Italiaander, and followed the sporting adventures of Billy, his friends Susy and Dickie (who was later dropped from the comics), and his dog Hannibal.[13][14][15][16][17] Sport Billy Productions, owners of the Sport Billy franchise, licensed the property to the American studio Filmation so it could create a cartoon based on the character. As a European character, Sport Billy's main sport was football, and this was reflected in the introductory sequence of the program.[18][19][20] Susy and Hannibal were renamed "Lilly" and "Willy".[16][17]

Sport Billy was adopted by FIFA as the Fair Play Mascot for FIFA World Cups, and a trophy of the character was presented to the most sporting team at each World Cup including the 1978 Tournament. The character was internationally used as a mascot in many sporting youth programs, for the purpose of promoting sportsmanship and fair play.[10][11][12][18][20][17]

The series consisted of 26 episodes. It first premiered in Germany and was also shown in the United Kingdom, Cannes, France, Gibraltar, Italy, Yugoslavia, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Turkey, Peru, Mexico, Portugal, Romania, Czechoslovakia and other countries.[10][11][12][21][1][2][3][19][22][17] Sport Billy was voiced by Lane Scheimer, the son of producer Lou Scheimer, who voiced the Olympian Computer. Sport Lilly, Queen Vanda and Pandusa were voiced by Joyce Bulifant, and Willy, Sportikus XI, Sipe and Poco were voiced by Frank Welker.[20] The series was scheduled for broadcast on NBC in the United States in the fall of 1980, ready to pick up an audience on the back of US success in Moscow. Unfortunately, the Soviet-Afghan War led to a boycott of the Olympic Games by the US, almost bankrupting NBC. US audiences were less than enthused by the replacement event, the Liberty Bell Classic, a 29-country event that saw the home nation carry off twenty of the 33 gold medals on offer, and the series was shelved for two years until after the World Cup of 1982,[17] when it aired as a summer replacement for The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends in NBC's Saturday morning children's programming.[4][1][5][6][7][8][9][23] In contrast to its international success, the series did fewer numbers in syndication than Rocky and Bullwinkle, The Jetsons and Jonny Quest, but more than The Space Kidettes, The Roman Holidays and Samson & Goliath.[24]

In addition to its broadcast in Germany and Cannes, the series was also shown as a feature film on Showtime and HBO in 1980 and RTÉ2 in 1986, written by Reubin Guberman, produced by William L. Cooper Jr. and Wolfgang Stein, and directed by Peter Fernandez. All the voices in the film were redubbed by Fernandez, Corinne Orr and Lionel Wilson to fit in the new script for linking the episodes together. The film was released split in parts as "episodes" on VHS in the UK.[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][17]

Synopsis

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The story revolves around a young boy named Sport Billy, who is from the planet Olympus (a twin of Earth on the opposite side of the Sun), which is populated by athletic god-like beings, ruled by the benevolent President Sportikus XI and his wife, Pandusa. Billy himself has a magic size-changing gym bag, the Omni-Sack, which produces various tools as he needs them. He travels to Earth on a mission to promote teamwork and sportsmanship. Described by the show's theme song as a "hero from another planet", Billy battles the evil Queen Vanda and her gnome-like henchman, Sipe. Vanda's mission is to destroy all sports in the galaxy since fairness disgusts her.

Billy is assisted by two faithful companions, his girlfriend named Lilly and her talking dog named Willy. The trio travels around in a time traveling spaceship named the Timeship, which is mounted on two rocket engines and resembles a giant wind-up clock, complete with a ringing bell. In each episode the trio travels through time in order to save a different Earth sport from Vanda's grasp.[20]

Voice Cast

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  • Lane Scheimer as Sport Billy
  • Joyce Bulifant as Sport Lilly, Queen Vanda, Pandusa, additional voices
  • Frank Welker as Willy, Sipe, Poco, Sportikus XI, additional voices
  • Lou Scheimer (uncredited) as Olympian Computer, additional voices
  • Corinne Orr (uncredited) as Sport Billy, Sport Lilly, Queen Vanda, Pandusa, additional voices (film)
  • Lionel Wilson (uncredited) as Willy, Sipe, Olympian Computer, additional voices (film)
  • Peter Fernandez (uncredited) as Sportikus XI, Narrator, additional voices (film)

Crew

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Episode list

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No.TitleOriginal air dateEnglish air date
1"Joust in Time"16 September 1980 (1980-09-16)31 July 1982
2"Trouble in Tokyo"23 September 1980 (1980-09-23)31 July 1982
3"Mexican Holiday"30 September 1980 (1980-09-30)31 July 1982
4"Return to Olympus"7 October 1980 (1980-10-07)31 July 1982
5"Chinese Puzzle"14 October 1980 (1980-10-14)7 August 1982
6"Teamwork"21 October 1980 (1980-10-21)7 August 1982
7"Bad Weather Blues"28 October 1980 (1980-10-28)7 August 1982
8"A Voice in the Wilderness"4 November 1980 (1980-11-04)7 August 1982
9"Wheel of Fortune"11 November 1980 (1980-11-11)14 August 1982[37]
10"Hyde and Seek"18 November 1980 (1980-11-18)14 August 1982
11"Power of the Omnisac"25 November 1980 (1980-11-25)14 August 1982
12"A Race in Space"2 December 1980 (1980-12-02)14 August 1982
13"Trial by Fire"9 December 1980 (1980-12-09)21 August 1982[38]
14"The Great Texas Hole in One"16 December 1980 (1980-12-16)21 August 1982
15"Arabian Knights and Days"23 December 1980 (1980-12-23)21 August 1982
16"Mixed Doubles"30 December 1980 (1980-12-30)21 August 1982
17"Viking for a Day"14 September 1981 (1981-09-14)28 August 1982
18"Monster from the Loch"21 September 1981 (1981-09-21)28 August 1982
19"Mystery of the Russian Cave"28 September 1981 (1981-09-28)28 August 1982
20"Rah! Rah! Billy!"5 October 1981 (1981-10-05)28 August 1982
21"Peril in Peru"12 October 1981 (1981-10-12)4 September 1982
22"Athenian Adventure"19 October 1981 (1981-10-19)4 September 1982
23"Pure Luck"26 October 1981 (1981-10-26)4 September 1982
24"Taj Mahal Mystery"2 November 1981 (1981-11-02)4 September 1982
25"Australian Adventure"9 November 1981 (1981-11-09)4 September 1982
26"A Tale of Two Billys"16 November 1981 (1981-11-16)4 September 1982

Public service announcements

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In addition to this series, there were also ten 30-second public service announcements produced by Michael Sporn Animation for syndicated TV during the general period when the series aired. These spots also taught the value of fair play and sportsmanship, but without the plot of the series.[39][40][41]

Musical group

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During the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, in which Argentina participated, Buenos Aires-based music label Tonodisc S.A. held a mass casting to create a children's musical group that would promote sports through music and encourage Argentina in that World Cup. The group was named "Sport-Billy", and consisted of Fabiana Íncola, Analía Santos, Luis Gasparini, Marcelo Ragonesse and Walter Ferreyra. They released their first album on December 5, 1981, with their songs produced and directed by Bubby Lavecchia.[42][43] In May 1982, they visited Peru to promote themselves and perform at the Estádio Nacional and the Jesús Obrero Coliseum in Comas, as well as in other towns in the country such as Iquitos, Tacna, Trujillo and Piura. In Lima, they were interviewed on various popular radio stations of the time, such as Radio Miraflores, Radio Panamericana, Radio 1160, and Radio Onda Popular Perú. The group also performed on Show del Tío Pepe on Radio Unión, with a multitudinous reception from the auditorium of said station.[42]

In December 1982, Sport-Billy returned on their second visit to Peru and again visited the radio stations. This time, the songs were slightly more oriented toward youth, such as "100 kilos de barro" and "Medley a Triny Lopez". Sport-Billy performed again at the Estádio Nacional to modest success. They also performed on Segunda Teletón on Panamericana Televisión. According to Íncola, "That night of the presentation at the Estádio Nacional I was very sick, with a fever, but I got over it and went out to perform, and with the love of the public I was cured."[42]

It was not until 1983 that Sport-Billy launched in Peru, with its second album on records and cassettes promoted by Panamericana Televisión. At that time in Argentina, amidst bitter discussions between the parents of the children and the record company, they released a shared album with the Spanish group Sus Amigos/Viva's (made up of former members of Parchis) entitled Vamos a la Playa. This album, although never released in the country, was promoted by Sport-Billy's fan club on different stations hoping for a return of the group. Shortly after the release of that album came Superagentes y titanes, an Argentine catch-up film in which Sport-Billy participated with two songs from their second album and two unreleased songs. The film was released in neighborhood theaters in Lima such as the now-defunct Cines México and Cines Bolívar. After this, the group broke up and Tonodisc ceased operations.[42][44]

Since the group's last visit to Peru, Sport-Billy's fan club grew over time and became the radio station Sol Frecuencia Primera. In December 2008, the station's director and founder, journalist Sandro Parodi Cerna, interviewed Íncola (now a mother of three children) via telephone in Episode 43 of the journalist program Extremos, to the surprise of the former singer.[42][45] Íncola recorded a song by the group Sin Bandera, "Que Me Alcance la Vida", although she stated that she no longer dedicates herself professionally to singing. This brought about a "nostalgic rebirth" of Sport-Billy on social networks in Latin America. Íncola and Ragonesse receive hundreds of admirers on Facebook to this day.[42]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Erickson, Hal (1995). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 1993 (1st ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 477. ISBN 9780786400294.
  2. ^ a b Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 786. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  3. ^ a b "Sport Billy Lands in Cannes". Flickr. 24 August 2017. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Lenburg, Jeff, Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons, Second Edition, 1999.
  5. ^ a b "1982 Original Photo SPORT BILLY CHILDREN'S NBC ANIMATED SERIES". eBay. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  6. ^ a b International, United Press (July 30, 1982). "TV higlights". Times-Daily. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Flander, Judy (July 31, 1982). "Variety of animation films on tap; 'Faeries' is one for kids of all ages". Star-News. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Reddicliffe, Steven (August 8, 1982). "NBC Bounces Bullwinkle". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved July 27, 2024. Replacing "Bullwinkle" us an animated show called "Sport Billy," which will have a six-week run on NBC. A network press release says "Sport Billy" promotes "good sportsmanship and physical fitness." This sounds well intentioned, but look at it this way: If you were stranded on a desert island, would you rather be accompanied by someone who could do 100 pushups or someone who could tell you a lot of funny jokes?
  9. ^ a b Warden, Wally (August 17, 1982). "Bullwinkle's demise spells end of classic silly". Williamson Daily News. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c Alles unterm Deckel, Der Spiegel, 21. April 1991 (german)
  11. ^ a b c "Rolf Deyhle". Rolf Deyhle. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  12. ^ a b c "Fußball: Ein deutscher Millionär darf den WM-Pokal küssen". WELT. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Walter Neugebauer". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Walter Neugebauer". Kaukapedia. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Kurt Italiaander". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  16. ^ a b ""Sport Billy", el rival de "Naranjito" - Página 2". MANGA CLASSICS - Foros. 17 June 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  17. ^ a b c d e f "TITANS OF TELEPHEMERA: FILMATION - part 2". STARBURST Magazine. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Scheimer, Lou; Mangels, Andy (December 15, 2012). Creating The Filmation Generation. TwoMorrows. ISBN 9781605490441. Retrieved February 13, 2024. In late June, Sport Billy Productions, a company in Stuttgart, West Germany, began their push in licensing the character of Sport Billy worldwide. The concept behind Sport Billy was to utilize young Billy and Susy, two sports-loving youths, as mascots in America; they were already popular in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, and were the mascots for FIFA, the world soccer federation, and the 1978 World Cup tournament. The first stop on their plans to win over America was to make a deal with Filmation, to do an animated series and to help them license and merchandise their brand in the United States.
  19. ^ a b Scheimer, Lou; Mangels, Andy (December 15, 2012). Creating The Filmation Generation. TwoMorrows. ISBN 9781605490441. Retrieved February 13, 2024. A week later we announced that we had a firm deal with Sport Billy Productions to produce at least 16 half-hour cartoons, with an option to do ten more if things worked out. Our plan was to debut the first of the toons at the Marche International de Producteurs conference (MIPCOM) in April at Cannes, which meant we were working on them in the off-season when the fall 1979 shows were finishing up, but before the fall 1980 shows were starting.
  20. ^ a b c d Scheimer, Lou; Mangels, Andy (December 15, 2012). Creating The Filmation Generation. TwoMorrows. ISBN 9781605490441. Retrieved February 13, 2024. Although preliminary development had begun in 1979, we didn't animate Sport Billy until 1980, and the show was first broadcast in Germany that year. We made the deal with this German group, and we had no ownership in the show as I recall; we produced the show, and they sold it all over the world themselves. We did make a royalty profit from it past the initial production fees of $200,000 per episode, for a total of $5,200,000. The biggest reason we took it was so that I could keep my animators working during the off-season. The Germans didn't have the same kind of delivery time for the fall that the U.S. networks did, so it enabled me to give more work to the people working at Filmation. I guess it was the opposite of "runaway production", as we were bringing work to the United Slates instead of taking it away like other studios. The Sport Billy character was already really popular throughout Europe and South America in comic books and toys, mainly connected to soccer, but we knew that the character needed to be broadened out, so we brought in all sorts of other sports that he got involved in. And we could teach fair play, teamwork, sportsmanship, and healthy concepts to kids watching. I don't remember how much of the backstory came from the comics, if any of it did, but the initial early concepts were by Rolf Deyhle. We had a twin planet for Earth called Olympus that rotated on the opposite side of the sun from Earth, so we never saw it. That's where all the god-like beings from mythology were from. And Billy came to Earth, along with a little girl named Lilly and a talking dog named Willy, to promote sportsmanship and the other values I mentioned. They travelled around in a spaceship that looked like a giant wind-up clock, and it could also travel through time, so we could go to different time periods. We also went to many different countries on the show, including Spain, Japan, Mexico, China, Norway, the Middle East, Peru, Russia, and all over Europe. Billy carried a magical bag with him called the Omni-Sack, which looked like an ordinary gym bag, but from which he could pull all sorts of wondrous things if they needed them on their adventures. He would pull out a miniature car or helicopter or baseball bat and they would grow to full size for him to use. And because every hero needed an adversary, they had an evil witch chasing them around who hated fairness. She was Queen Vanda from Vandalusia, and she had a groveling little henchman named Sipe. The head guy from Olympus was named President Sportikus XI. The shows were generally dubbed, though sometimes they were subtitled. The English language voices were my son Lane Scheimer as Sport Billy; Joyce Bulifant as Lilly, Queen Vanda and Sportikus' wife, Pandusa; and the great Frank Welker as Willy, Sipe and Sportikus. I did the voice of the Olympian Computer. There were also songs that ended each episode about the theme of the show.
  21. ^ Editorial Staff, Marketing Communications (1980). "Sports stars for hire". Marketing Communications. Retrieved September 8, 2024. We are also movie stars, appearing in a 26 episodes animated cartoon series, now being shot in Hollywood.
  22. ^ Scheimer, Lou; Mangels, Andy (December 15, 2012). Creating The Filmation Generation. TwoMorrows. ISBN 9781605490441. Retrieved February 13, 2024. Sport Billy was a big hit in Germany, so they picked us up for the second season very quickly, ordering the remaining ten episodes. The series was aired eventually in England, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Portugal, and a bunch of other places. It eventually aired in the United States in syndication and on NBC in the summer of 1982, though it took them forever to make that deal. The Sport Billy group had their own salespeople, although it was mainly dealt with by a Swiss guy named Pierre Rochat, who worked for the German gentleman, Wolfgang Stein, who put up the money for the series.
  23. ^ Scheimer, Lou; Mangels, Andy (December 15, 2012). Creating The Filmation Generation. TwoMorrows. ISBN 9781605490441. Retrieved October 24, 2024. Beginning July 31st, NBC aired six weeks of Sport Billy, replacing Bullwinkle at 12:30 p.m. It would be the show's only network airing, though it was sold into syndication throughout the country.
  24. ^ Scheimer, Lou; Mangels, Andy (December 15, 2012). Creating The Filmation Generation. TwoMorrows. ISBN 9781605490441. Retrieved October 24, 2024. In early December a company called DFS Program Exchange began syndicating 17 animated series from various suppliers, including most of the Jay Ward cartoons, a few from Hanna-Barbera, and Filmation's Sport Billy. Frankly, I suspect Sport Billy did fewer numbers in syndication than Bullwinkle, The Jetsons, or Jonny Quest, but more than Space Kidettes, Roman Holidays, or Young Samson.
  25. ^ "Lurgan Mail: RTE 2: Sunday Matinee (26 June 1986)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Ulster Star: RTE 2: Sunday Matinee (27 June 1986)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  27. ^ "New Ross Standard: RTE 2: SUNDAY MATINEE (27 June 1986)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Portadown Times: RTE 2: Sunday Matinee (27 June 1986)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  29. ^ "Wexford People: RTE 2: SUNDAY MATINEE (27 June 1986)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  30. ^ "Wicklow People: RTE 2: SUNDAY MATINEE (27 June 1986)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  31. ^ "Enniscorthy Guardian: RTE 2: SUNDAY MATINEE (27 June 1986)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  32. ^ "Sligo Champion: RTE 2: SUNDAY MATINEE (27 June 1986)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  33. ^ "Belfast News-Letter: RTE 2: SUNDAY MATINEE (28 June 1986)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  34. ^ "Irish Independent: RTE 2: Sunday Matinee (28 June 1986)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  35. ^ "Sunday Independent (Dublin): RTE 2: SUNDAY MATINEE (29 June 1986)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  36. ^ "16mm Sport Billy (1980) opening". YouTube. 4 March 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2024. The show did indeed end up a feature, with an extremely limited airing on Showtime or HBO. They redubbed all the voices with new actors to fit in a new script for linking the episodes together. The movie was released split in parts as "episodes" on VHS in the UK.
  37. ^ Editorial Staff, Herald-Journal (August 14, 1982). "Greatest Athlete". Herald-Journal. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  38. ^ News-Press, St. Joseph (August 21, 1982). "Saturday". St. Joseph News-Press. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  39. ^ "Michael Sporn Animation filmography". Michael Sporn Animation. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  40. ^ "KBHK-44 commercials, April 1986 part 1 (kids ads)". Internet Archive. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  41. ^ "Do you remember Sport Billy and Sport Lilly?". TikTok. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  42. ^ a b c d e f ""Sport Billy" (el grupo) (1982)". Arkivperu. 17 February 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  43. ^ "Sport-Billy – S.T." Galapagos Records. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  44. ^ "Conjunto Sport Billy con los Superagentes - Canal Volver (1983)". YouTube. 30 November 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  45. ^ "Sandro Parodi Cerna - Perú". LinkedIn. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
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