Richie Rich is an American 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. 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. 13 half-hours were produced, split into segments of 12, 7 and 4 minutes.
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.
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 – 7 minutes - These segments deal with threats to the Rich family or more specifically Richie. Richie Rich Treasure Chest – 3 minutes - These segments revolve around Dollar and/or Cadbury. Richie Rich Gems – 30 seconds - These short segments were based on one-page comic book stories. Richie Rich Zillion-Dollar Adventures – 11 minutes - These segments deal 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 # Episode Title Airdate 1 Riches: Piggy Bank Prank Gems #1: Pictures Treasure Chest: Muscle Beach Gems #2: Sunlamp Zillion Dollar Adventures: The Robotnappers November 8, 1980 2 Riches: The Rare Scare Gems #1: Diamond Treasure Chest: Kitty Sitter Gems #2: Computer Zillion Dollar Adventures: One of Our Aircraft Carriers is Missing November 15, 1980 3 Riches: Spring Cleaning Gems #1: Pillows Treasure Chest: Silence is Golden Gems #2: Wishing Well Zillion Dollar Adventures: The Shocking Lady Strikes Again November 22, 1980 4 Riches: The Blur Gems #1: Phone Call Treasure Chest: Cur Wash Gems #2: Santi Clause Zillion Dollar Adventures: The Kangaroo Hop November 29, 1980 5 Riches: Irona Versus Demona Gems #1: Monkey Treasure Chest: Chef's Surprise Gems #2: Piggie Bank Zillion Dollar Adventures: The Snow Bounders December 6, 1980 6 Riches: Counterfeit Dollar Gems #1: Long Distance Call Treasure Chest: Miss Robot America Gems #2: Feed The Fish Zillion Dollar Adventures: Who's Afraid of Big Bad Bug December 13, 1980 7 Riches: The Abominable Snowman Gems #1: Roughing It Treasure Chest: The Greatest Invention in the World Gems #2: A Box of Chocolates Zillion Dollar Adventures: Constructo December 20, 19808 Riches: Poor Little Richbillies Gems #1: The Telephone Treasure Chest: TV Dollar Gems #2: Stupendous Vehicle Zillion Dollar Adventures: Mystery Mountain December 27, 1980 9 Riches: Wiped Out Gems #1: Tickets Treasure Chest: Chowhound Gems #2: Big House Zillion Dollar Adventures: Disaster Master January 3, 1981 10 Riches: It's No Giggling Matter Gems #1: Lunch Treasure Chest: Welcome Uncle Cautious Gems #2: The Vault Leak Zillion Dollar Adventures: Disappearing Dignitaries January 10, 1981 11 Riches: Prankster Beware Gems #1: Ordinary Farm Treasure Chest: Clothes Make the Butler Gems #2: Name That Person Zillion Dollar Adventures: Phantom of the Movies January 17, 1981 12 Riches: The Most Unforgettable Butler Gems #1: Monkey Under Foot Treasure Chest: Young Irona Gems #2: Rainbow Zillion Dollar Adventures: The Great Charity Train Robbery January 24, 1981 13 Riches: Cowboy Richie Gems #1: Mom's Jewels Treasure Chest: Baseball Dollar Gems #2: The Eye's Have It Zillion Dollar Adventures: Sinister Sports Spectacular 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 HumanSeptember 25, 1982 23 The Collector Money Plant 24 The Midas Touch Ball RoomOctober 2, 1982 25 Genie With the Light Brown Hair Dignified Doggy 26 Coin Flipper Mayda MunnyOctober 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 BowlOctober 16, 1982 29 Suavo The Giant Ape Caper 30 Richie Goes to Shirik The Pie-Eyed PiperOctober 23, 1982 31 Guard Dog Giant Pearl 32 The Youth Maker Robot Bug GuardsOctober 30, 1982 33 I Say You All Boy of the Year 34 Dollar's Exercise Richie's CubeNovember 6, 1982 35 The Maltese Monkey Everybody's Doing It 36 Hard to Study Gold FrameNovember 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 September 1, 1984
Cast The voice cast included:
Sparky Marcus – Richie Rich Dick Beals – Reggie Van Dough Bill Callaway – Professor Keenbean, Chef Pierre Nancy Cartwright – Gloria Glad Joan Gerber – Mrs. Rich, Irona the Robot Maid Christian Hoff – Freckles, Pee Wee Stanley Jones – Mr. Rich, Cadbury the Butler Robert Ridgely - Collector Frank Welker – Dollar the Dog, Dr. Blemish, Suavo
Home media On May 20, 2008, Warner Home Video released The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show: Volume 1 on DVD in Region 1.
DVD nameNo. of episodesRelease date The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show: Volume 17 May 20, 2008
References
External links