What "TaleSpin" character did you find in your box of Kellogg's Cocoa Krispies cereal? Figures of Baloo, Kit, Molly and Don Karnage were available as part of a big promotion for the 1990 Disney Afternoon TV series. These figures could also be ordered as a set through the mail.
TaleSpin took Baloo the Bear, Louie the Orangutan, and Shere Khan the tiger from Disney's 1967 film, "The Jungle Book", and cast the characters in new roles. Baloo became a cargo pilot for a business called Higher for Hire. Louie became an island nightclub owner, and Shere Khan was a ruthless tycoon. Baloo and Kit Cloudkicker worked for Rebecca Cunningham (mother to Molly). The characters often had run-ins with air pirate Don Karnage.
Kellogg's made sets of figurines from other Disney Afternoon shows, too. This Kellogg's promotion also featured figure sets for Gummi Bears, DuckTales, and Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers.
Kellogg's also had a cereal prize promotion featuring TaleSpin stampers.
My favorite TaleSpin story is "Time Waits For No Bear." This was one of the very first episodes (it was shown on The Disney Channel before the series debuted on The Disney Afternoon) and there are some production glitches (the voices of the hilarious Gorilla Goon and Rhino Goon are accidentally switched in one scene, and mechanic lion Wildcat's costume is the victim of some paint color confusion as he gives a Hippo lady and her Stork husband a tour of the town of Cape Suzette). This episode sticks out in my mind not only because it is really funny, but also because it starts off with a robbery committed by an Elephant cat-burglar! It's not surprising that the police end up catching him (it's an elephant---how could they miss him?!?).
I still haven't seen any of these cartoons! I do remember the Disney Afternoon promotion at Disneyland. I think there was a Baloo "Meet and Greet" too, in a soundstage type of building....but I'm not completely sure. This time period for Disney and Disneyland stuff is a little foggy for me because I was heavily involved with school. I should go look for that DL guide....I think the characters are on the cover.
ReplyDeleteHey Dan,
ReplyDeleteI had Baloo! I was really really into PVC figures when I was young and it was cool to find these, though if I remember the quality was not quite what it was on other PVC's you found. Most notably they were thinner- Baloo's wierd dance pose he's in allows him to fill a relatively shallow space. Don't know if that held true for hte others but I noticed it with him.
I have these! I won them along with all the other character sets on E-bay around 2000. It came with a few extra sets from each series.
ReplyDeleteI've already seen this, but it's still pretty cool :)
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!: Somehow I have a Disneyland brochure featuring the Disney Afternoon Avenue (I think I wrote the park asking for this, because I did not visit California when this event happened). Yes, Baloo did Meet and Greets and there was a show called "Plane Crazy." The Motor Boat Cruise got a temporary Gummi Bear theme and Autopia got a Rescue Rangers overlay as part of this promotion.
ReplyDeleteHey Eric! I remember thinking the quality of these figures were not that great (yep, they were all thin and had minimal paint), but since they were cereal prizes, I cut them some slack. I also remember thinking Baloo's pose was bizarre. I think GizmoDuck from the "DuckTales" set was my favorite.
DinosaurPrince: Cool! These figures were very common in flea markets and garage sales once upon a time. Glad you were able to find them!
Thanks, steet! I'm not surprised that you have seen this. With your TaleSpin Source website, I bet you've seen more TaleSpin stuff than anyone! :-)
I wish more characters from "The Jungle Book" had made it into "TaleSpin". Couldn't they have at least found a role for Bagheera in the show?
ReplyDelete