up from the depths...

Since Godzilla was still very popular on television and in the comics here in the States, Hanna-Barbera licensed the character and turned him into a cartoon in 1978.  I remember reading about the series in Starlog (I think) and was sort of excited by it.  Whoever they talked to did discount the Smog Monster, saying that sort of monster wouldn't be in the series, nor would any other Toho kaiju, since the licensing fees would be too much for H-B to pay.

The first episode I saw was "The Earth Eater" which was fairly fun.  There really wasn't enough monster fighting for me at the time, but looking at it now I enjoy the series.  There are a few clunker episodes and Pete and Godzooky getting into trouble every episode got old, but overall it's a decent series.

It's too bad they didn't use Godzilla's actual roar though.  I love Ted Cassidy, but that's not how Godzilla sounds.  I still wonder why they added laser rays for his eyes, but given the 70s nature of Godzilla, that wasn't so bad.

There are some good episodes, and one of the best is where Godzilla trashes Cobra, which is remarkably like the one GI Joe never defeated in their later cartoon.  There were 26 episodes, but I never saw all of them during the original  run.  When gino was released there were 3 DVDs for sale, with the episodes from the first season.  I didn't buy any, though I might pick up a complete set if it comes out later.

That remake has to be good for something, right?