Richie Rich (1980 TV series)

Richie Rich is a Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and was broadcast on ABC from November 8, 1980, to September 1, 1984, based upon the Harvey Comics character of the same name.^[1] The series shared time slots with Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Little Rascals, Pac-Man and Monchhichis over its original four-year broadcast run.^[2] 13 half-hours were produced, split into segments of 12, 7 and 4 minutes.^[3]

Richie Rich
Richie Rich and Gloria, in a scene from Hanna-Barbera's Richie Rich series.
Genre	Adventure
Based on	Richie Rich by Alfred Harvey Warren Kremer
Directed by	Ray Patterson George Gordon Rudy Zamora Bob Hathcock (1982–84) Carl Urbano (1982–84)
Voices of	Dick Beals William Callaway Nancy Cartwright Al Fann Joan Gerber Christian Hoff Stanley Jones Sparky Marcus Frank Welker
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	41 (103 segments)
Production
Executive producers	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Producers	Don Jurwich (1980–81) Oscar Dufau (1982–84)
Production companies	Hanna-Barbera Productions The Harvey Entertainment Company
Original release
Network	ABC CBS
Release	November 8, 1980 (1980-11-08) – September 1, 1984 (1984-09-01)

Many of the titles of segments were never revealed on air, but the titles were used in comic book issues then recently published at the time of production.

In 1988, the series was re-broadcast as part of the weekend/weekday programming block The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera.^[3]

The series was also the voice acting debut for Nancy Cartwright who has since become better known as the voice of Bart Simpson.

Plot

This show details the various adventures of Richie Rich, his family, and his friends.

Segments

Richie Rich's adventures are sorted into different segments:

• Richie Rich Riches – this segment deals with threats to the Rich family or more specifically Richie.
• Richie Rich Treasure Chest – segments that revolve around Dollar and/or Cadbury.
• Richie Rich Gems – short segments for humor like the Wing Dings of Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. These segments were based on one-page comic book stories.
• Richie Rich Zillion-Dollar Adventures – this segment deals with Richie Rich and his friends fighting master criminals, aliens, and other threats to the world. While Dr. Blemish appeared in one episode, some episodes have an exclusive villain called the Collector as a recurring enemy.

Adaptation changes

The animated series took a number of liberties from the original comics:

• Richie is depicted as slightly older, inconsistently voiced as a child between 10 and 14, and wears a red sweater with a large "R" on the front as well as long trousers. In the comics, he wears a black suit with a red bow tie and blue short pants.
• Gloria is shown as the same age as Richie and wears a white long-sleeved a blouse, pantyhose, purple sweater or sweater vest and purple mini skirt. In the comics, she wore a bow in her hair and wore a white blouse with a short skirt supposedly made of tartan.
• Dollar is more anthropomorphized with Walter Mitty-like fantasies. Dollar is similar to Scooby-Doo.
• Irona the Robot Maid is given a greater presence in the series with additional duties as Richie's personal bodyguard as seen in the "Zillion Dollar Adventures" segments. To fulfill that role, Irona can convert her body into various alternative modes as necessary. For instance, the moment she receives a summons from Richie, she would change her body into a jet plane mode and immediately fly to the boy.

Broadcast history

Richie Rich was originally broadcast in these following formats on ABC:

• The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show (November 8, 1980 – September 18, 1982)
• The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show (September 25, 1982 – September 3, 1983)
• The Monchhichis/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show (September 10, 1983 – September 1, 1984)

It later aired on CBS as reruns from January 11 to August 30, 1986, and then again from November 15 to December 27 the same year.

Episodes

Season 1 – The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show

#	Title/Plot	Airdate
1	The Robotnappers Treasure Chest Piggy Bank Prank Gems Muscle Beach	November 8, 1980
2	The Rare Scare Treasure Chest Kitty Sitter Gems One of Our Aircraft Carriers is Missing	November 15, 1980
3	Silence is Golden Treasure Chest The Shocking Lady Strikes Again Gems Spring Cleaning	November 22, 1980
4	The Kangaroo Hop Treasure Chest Car Wash Gems The Blur	November 29, 1980
5	Irona Vs. Demona Treasure Chest Chef's Surprise Gems The Snow Bounders	December 6, 1980
6	The Abominable Snow Plan Treasure Chest Miss Robot America Gems Constructo	December 13, 1980
7	Counterfeit Dollar: A couple of thugs take Dollar away and one of them dresses as Dollar to get hold of Richie's fortune. Treasure Chest: Gloria's Birthday The Greatest Invention in the World: Professor Keanbean invents a machine to invent inventions, but Mr. Rich does not approve of the changes it makes. Gems: Small Tour Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Bug: During a restoration on Dollar's size, Professor Keanbean detects a coming robot alien bug invasion.	December 20, 1980
8	Poor Little Richbillies: In the midst of a family reunion attended by rich relatives, Richie visits his poorest relatives Alfalfy and Thistle who are hillbillies that are refusing to sell their land to greedy slickers. Treasure Chest: Admirers Chowhound: Dollar sneaks into the Poochie Yum-Yum's factory, but gets caught in the production line. Gems: Lunchbag Mystery Mountain: Richie, Dollar and Gloria travel to Mystery Mountain to investigate the disappearances of animals stolen by the evil circus owner Barnup Bullwhip.	December 27, 1980
9	Wiped Out Treasure Chest Welcome, Uncle Cautious Gems Disaster Master	January 3, 1981
10	TV Dollar Treasure Chest Disappearing Dignitaries Gems The Most Unforgettable Butler	January 10, 1981
11	Prankster Beware Treasure Chest Clothes Make the Butler Gems Phantom of the Movies	January 17, 1981
12	Cave Boy Richie Treasure Chest Young Irona Gems The Great Charity Train Robbery	January 24, 1981
13	Baseball Dollar Treasure Chest The Sinister Sports Spectacular Gems It's No Giggling Matter	January 31, 1981

Season 2 – The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show

#	Title/Plot	Airdate
14	Space Shark Treasure Chest The Chef's Watch Dog Gems Schoolhouse Romp	September 19, 1981
15	Richie of the Round Table Treasure Chest I Want My Mummy Gems Canine Cadet	September 26, 1981
16	Voodoo Island Treasure Chest Tooth is Stranger Than Friction Gems Butlering Made Easy	October 3, 1981
17	A Special Talent Treasure Chest Villains Incorporated Gems Bye-Bye Baby	October 10, 1981
18	Rich Mice Treasure Chest King Bee Gems Chilly Dog	October 17, 1981
19	Money Talks Treasure Chest Mischief Movie Gems An Ordinary Day	October 24, 1981
20	Dog Gone Treasure Chest Carnival Man Gems The Day the Estate Stood Still	October 31, 1981
21	Around the World on Eighty Cents Treasure Chest No Substitute for a Watch Dog Gems Robot Robber	November 7, 1981

Season 3 – The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show

#	Title/Plot	Airdate
22	Born Flea How Human	September 25, 1982
23	The Collector Money Plant
24	The Midas Touch Ball Room	October 2, 1982
25	Genie With the Light Brown Hair Dignified Doggy
26	Coin Flipper Mayda Munny	October 9, 1982
27	Busy Butler The Haunting of Castle Rich: Richie, Dollar, and Gloria visit Castle Rich where they encounter the ghosts of Richie's descendants who were cursed to haunt their castle by one of the villages when they have been framed for the loss of the bank books by Cyrus Grudge. Now Richie and Gloria must find a way to break the curse by contending with Cyrus Grudge IV and his henchmen.
28	Shoe Biz Sugar Bowl	October 16, 1982
29	Suavo The Giant Ape Caper
30	Richie Goes to Shirik The Pie-Eyed Piper	October 23, 1982
31	Guard Dog Giant Pearl
32	The Youth Maker Robot Bug Guards	October 30, 1982
33	I Say You All Boy of the Year
34	Dollar's Exercise Richie's Cube	November 6, 1982
35	The Maltese Monkey Everybody's Doing It
36	Hard to Study Gold Frame	November 13, 1982
37	Look Alike Sky Hook

Season 4 – The Monchhichis/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show

• Only Zillion-Dollar Adventures were produced for this season.

#	Title/Plot	Airdate
38	Richie Hood The T.V. Phantom	September 17, 1983
39	A Whale of a Tale Rich No More	September 24, 1983
40	The Ends of the Earth The Snowman Cometh	October 1, 1983
41	The Irona Story Mayda and the Monster	October 8, 1983
42	Video World

Cast

The voice cast included:^[4]

• Sparky Marcus – Richie Rich
• Christian Hoff – Freckles, Pee Wee
• Nancy Cartwright – Gloria Glad
• Stanley Jones – Mr. Rich, Cadbury the Butler
• Joan Gerber – Mrs. Rich, Irona the Robot Maid
• Bill Callaway – Professor Keenbean
• Frank Welker – Dollar the Dog, Dr. Blemish, Suavo
• Dick Beals – Reggie Van Dough
• Robert Ridgely - Collector

Home media

On May 20, 2008, Warner Home Video released The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show: Volume 1 on DVD in Region 1.

DVD name	No. of episodes	Release date
The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show: Volume 1	7	May 20, 2008 October 3, 2017 (re-release)

References

1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 503–504. ISBN 978-1538103739.
2. Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. pp. 236–237. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
3. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 665–666. ISBN 978-1476665993.
4. Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 19 March 2020.

External links

• Richie Rich at IMDb