Crazylegs Crane

Crazylegs Crane
First appearance	Go for Croak (1969) (Tijuana Toads cartoon)
Created by	Hawley Pratt
Portrayed by	Larry D. Mann Bob Holt Daws Butler
In-universe information
Species	Crane
Gender	Male
Children	Crazylegs, Jr.

Crazylegs Crane is a 16-episode made-for-television cartoon series produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises in 1978 for The All New Pink Panther Show on ABC.^[1]

Production

This was Crazylegs Crane's first series dedicated solely to him. Previously, he had made regular appearances as an antagonist in the three DePatie-Freleng animated comedies: Tijuana Toads, The Blue Racer and The Dogfather. Larry D. Mann voiced him in all but two of his appearances, with Bob Holt voicing him in the Tijuana Toads short "Flight to the Finish", and Daws Butler voicing him in the Dogfather short "The Goose That Laid a Golden Egg". His personality is similar to the Disney character Goofy. In the German series, this character was known as "Dummvogel", literally "stupid bird".

The character's name was never spoken in the theatrical shorts, only being referred to as a "chicken" or a "crane" by other characters. When his own series entered production he was initially called "Ichabod Crane"^[2] before settling on "Crazylegs Crane".

Plot

In the cartoons that star Crazylegs Crane (voiced by Larry D. Mann), he goes through various misadventures, often accompanied by his son Crazylegs Crane Jr. (voiced by Frank Welker). He often encounters his frenemy, a fire-breathing dragonfly (voiced by Frank Welker impersonating Andy Kaufman).

Appearances

None of the Crazylegs Crane shorts contained any credit information; only the series title and episode title were shown.

Tijuana Toads

1. Go For Croak (1969)
2. Snake in the Gracias (1971)
3. Two Jumps and a Chump (1971)
4. The Egg and Ay Yi Yi! (1971)
5. A Leap in the Deep (1971)
6. Flight to the Finish (1972)

The Blue Racer

1. Blue Aces Wild (1973)
2. Snake Preview (1973)
3. Aches and Snakes (1973)

The Dogfather

1. The Goose That Laid a Golden Egg (1974)
2. Mother Dogfather (1974)

Crazylegs Crane

1. Life With Feather
2. Crane Brained
3. King of the Swamp
4. Sonic Broom
5. Winter Blunderland
6. Storky and Hatch
7. Fly by Knight
8. Sneaker Snack
9. Barnacle Bird
10. Animal Crack-ups
11. Jet Feathers
12. Nest Quest
13. Bug Off
14. Beach Bummer
15. Flower Power
16. Trail of the Lonesome Mine

Reruns

Crazylegs Crane previously aired as part of The All-New Pink Panther Show on This TV on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 am Eastern Time until September 22, 2011. Also, most of the shorts often aired as filler material on Boomerang. Some episodes have also appeared on YouTube, Hulu and other online video sites.

Home video

A DVD^[3] and Blu-ray^[4] containing the 16 episodes were released on April 26, 2016 from Kino Lorber.

References

1. Arnold, Mark (2015). Think Pink: The Story of DePatie-Freleng. BearManor Media. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-59393-170-4.
2. Beck, Jerry (2005). Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town!. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 61. ISBN 140530930X.
3. "Crazylegs Crane (16 Cartoons)" – via www.kinolorber.com.
4. "Crazylegs Crane (16 Cartoons)" – via www.kinolorber.com.

External links