Diver Dan is a series of 104 seven-minute live-action shorts made for children's television from 1960 to 1970. Made by Brian Cartoons, it was syndicated (mainly to NBC affiliates)Kennedy's TV SF Guide , accessed 29 September 2007 and distributed by ITC Entertainment. The shows were sometimes re-edited into half-hour (including commercials) blocks by local stations.

The series featured the adventures of a diver in an old-fashioned diving suit who talked to the passing fish. The series was filmed in live action with puppet fish; the underwater effect was achieved by shooting through an aquarium.

Production Diver Dan debuted in 1960, the brainchild of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, cartoonist J. Anthony (John) Ferlaine, as a spinoff of his comic strip, Fish Tales. Ferlaine, who worked as an art director at Philadelphia's CBS affiliate WCAU-TV, produced two Fish Tales live-action marionette pilots. When CBS did not pick up the show, Ferlaine and promoter Martin Young partnered with Philadelphia producer Louis W. Kellman, who with his staff produced local TV spots and film shorts and filmed NFL football games. They produced the shorts over nine months and syndicated them.

In New York City, Diver Dan shorts ran as part of Felix & Diver Dan, a 30-minute children's show airing from January 4, 1960, to August 31, 1962, which also included Felix the Cat.TVcom: Felix & Diver Dan In Chicago during the 1960s, Diver Dan was regularly shown on the WGN-TV show "Ray Rayner and His Friends" even though Rayner would frequently read on-air letters from children requesting that he get other cartoons.

The series opening and closing themes were written, performed, and sung by the show's sound engineer, Jack Sky, in a double tracked recorded voice.https://web.archive.org/web/20031119133114/http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2003-05-20 [i]Comic Book Resources[/i], Issue #791, May 20, 2003

Main cast Allen Swift as the voices of many puppets, the unseen Captain Murphy, and the narrator. Frank D Freda as Diver Dan. Suzanne Turner as Miss Minerva, a mermaid.

Episodes Ep. # Episode title 01 Hard Water 02 Goldie The Goldfish 03 Talking Fish 04 Skippers Gold 05 Treasure Ship 06 Sawfish Rescue 07 Shell O Phone 08 The Octopus 09 Murder Ink 10 Bottomless Pit 11 Teetering Rock 12 Barons Capture 13 An Unusual Treasure 14 Triggers Revenge 15 An Unusual Fish 16 The Verdict 17 Horaces Dilemma 18 The Trap 19 The Trap Is Sprung 20 Riddle Of The Hermit Crab 21 Sargasso Sea 22 Lost In The Sargasso Sea 23 Current Flow 24 The Storm 25 Goldies Heroism 26 Dynamite 27 Ghost Is Clear 28 Captain Barney 29 Lost City 30 Secret Of The Throne 31 Crawling Danger 32 The Strange Fish 33 The Bomb 34 The Bubbling Pit 35 The Volcano 36 Depth Charge 37 School Daze 38 Strange Vines 39 Savage Seaweed 40 The Magnet

Credits

Produced by Louis W. Kellman A Brian Cartoons, Inc. production in association with Young Productions, Inc. Executive producer: Hal Tunis Associate producer: Harvey Blake Created by J. Anthony Ferlaine Writers included: Joseph Bonaduce, Ron Ronszel Puppeteers: Martin Kreiner, John Caracciolo, Harold Taylor, Alfred Sandstrom Directors: Leon Rhodes, Mort Heilig Production manager: Ben Berk Cameraman: Morris Kellman Script supervisor: Ruth Clyman Editors: Arthur Spieller, Margot Mor Sound: Jack Sky Art director: Frank Heininger Lighting: John Wynn

DVD release Alpha Video released two collections of Diver Dan episodes on DVD (Region 0). All episodes in both volumes are black & white.

Diver Dan (Catalog # ALP 5152D, UPC #0 89218 51529 2, Release Date September 26, 2006)

01 (Episode #34) THE BUBBLING PIT 02 (Episode #35) THE VOLCANO 03 (Episode #36) DEPTH CHARGE 04 (Episode #25) GOLDIE'S HEROISM 05 (Episode #26) DYNAMITE 06 (Episode #27) GHOST IS CLEAR 07 (Episode #37) SCHOOL DAZE 08 (Episode #38) STRANGE VINES 09 (Episode #39) SAVAGE SEAWEED 10 (Episode #12) BARON'S CAPTURE 11 (Episode #13) AN UNUSUAL TREASURE 12 (Episode #14) TRIGGER'S REVENGE 13 (Episode #20) RIDDLE OF THE HERMIT CRAB 14 (Episode #21) SARGASSO SEA 15 (Episode #22) LOST IN THE SARGASSO SEA

Diver Dan Volume 2 (Catalog # ALP 5710D, UPC #0 89218 57109 0)

01 (Episode #01) HARD WATER 02 (Episode #02) GOLDIE THE GOLDFISH 03 (Episode #03) TALKING FISH 04 (Episode #04) SKIPPER'S GOLD 05 (Episode #05) TREASURE SHIP 06 (Episode #06) SAWFISH RESCUE 07 (Episode #32) THE STRANGE FISH 08 (Episode #33) THE BOMB 09 (Episode #23) CURRENT FLOW 10 (Episode #24) THE STORM 11 (Episode #11) TEETERING ROCK 12 (Episode #40) THE MAGNET 13 (Episode #31) CRAWLING DANGER 14 (Episode #16) THE VERDICT 15 (Episode #17) HORACE'S DILEMMA

Three DVD (Region 0) releases have also been produced by East West Entertainment LLC. All episodes in all three volumes are black & white.

Diver Dan Vol. One (UPC #8 43156 02012 2)

Episode #01 - HARD WATER Episode #02 - GOLDIE THE GOLDFISH Episode #03 - TALKING FISH Episode #04 - SKIPPER'S GOLD Episode #05 - TREASURE SHIP Episode #06 - SAWFISH RESCUE Episode #07 - SHELL-O-PHONE Episode #08 - THE OCTOPUS Episode #09 - MURDER INK

Note: Each of the first 8 episodes has its own chapter stop except for Episode #09. It continues immediately after Episode 08. Pressing >> skips Episode 09 and cycles back to Episode 01.

Diver Dan Vol. 2 (UPC #8 43156 02014 6)

Episode #01 - HARD WATER Episode #02 - GOLDIE THE GOLDFISH Episode #03 - TALKING FISH Episode #04 - SKIPPER'S GOLD Episode #05 - TREASURE SHIP Episode #06 - SAWFISH RESCUE Episode #07 - SHELL-O-PHONE Episode #08 - THE OCTOPUS Episode #09 - MURDER INK

Note: Followed by five Van Beuren Corporation and three Fleischer Studios cartoons on Track 2.

Diver Dan Vol. 3 (UPC #8 43156 02015 3)

Episode #19 - THE TRAP IS SPRUNG Episode #20 - RIDDLE OF THE HERMIT CRAB Episode #21 - SARGASSO SEA Episode #22 - LOST IN THE SARGASSO SEA Episode #23 - CURRENT FLOW

In other media Dell Publishing issued a Diver Dan comic book, as issue #1254 (February–April 1962) of its series Four Color. A follow-up issue, #2 was also published, dated June–August 1962.Grand Comics Database (GCD) - "Diver Dan"

In 1963, songwriter and record producer Tony Piano of Columbia Records put out a children's album based on the series titled Diver Dan and the Bermuda Onion, featuring comedian Del Close and children's album star Kay Lande.

References

External links

TV Party: Lost Kids Shows