Pac-Man (1982)

Pac-Man (1982)
PAC-MAN, That’s me!
Genre: Adventure Fantasy Comedy Running Time: 30 Minutes Country: United States Release Date: September 25, 1982– November 5, 1983 Created by: Toru Iwatani (original character) Jeffrey Scott Distributed by: Worldvision Enterprises Starring: Marty Ingels Barbara Minkus Russi Taylor Allan Lurie Neil Ross Susan Silo Barry Gordon Chuck McCann Seasons: 2 Episodes: 44 (42 episodes, 2 specials)

Pac-Man is a 30-minute Saturday morning American animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions based on the Namco video game franchise of the same title. It premiered on ABC and ran for 44 episodes over two seasons from September 25, 1982, to November 5, 1983. It was the first cartoon based on a video game.

Why It Deserves a Power Pellet

1. First off, it is the first cartoon (and TV series in general) to be based on a video game. Even before shows, such as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show and Earthworm Jim years later.
2. Neat animation from the talents of HB animators in the first season, followed by an overseas Australian staff in the second.
3. Good music scores fitting for the series. The theme song is catchy and is the background music of the game.
4. Has some great episodes, like:
   • “A Bad Case of the Chomps”
   • "Once Upon a Chomp"
   • "Presidential Pac-Nappers"
   • "Super Ghosts"
5. Talented voice acting from Manty Ingels, Barbara Minkus, Chuck McCann, Barry Gordon, Neil Ross, Susan Silo, Russi Taylor, Allan Lurie, etc.
6. Follows source material very well, with the Power Pellets and the Ghosts turning blue (Purple)
7. Pac-Man is still a good character along with some other characters.
   • Lord Mezmeron is an interesting villain.
8. The plot of Pac-Man fending the Power Pellet Forest from the Ghosts Monsters is interesting.
9. It was so popular that Namco decided to make an arcade game based on it, that game being Pac-Land.

Bad Qualities

1. The grasp to the source material can sometimes look off putting. For example: Clyde is the leader of the Ghost Monsters instead of Blinky (Who has turned into a coward), and Pinky is male in this series and has the deepest voice of all the Five Ghosts.
2. The intro isn't the best out there, especially considering how cheesy it is. It has an uninspired theme song and the consistently deep voice clip "PAC-MAN" being reused sounds weird and really jarring.
3. Super-Pac and PJ, two characters introduced in the second season, cause more trouble than help due to the annoyance that they cause.
   • The former has a weird chomping problem. Fortunately, Pac-Man sends him back home to his interdimensional portal.
   • The latter causes trouble and Pac-Man is left to blame. He once dropped out of high school because he hates it, but fortunately enrolls back because the girls fawn over him.
4. Confusing Mythos: Pac-Man, or an Inhabitant of Pacland must eat power pellets to eat a Ghost Monster. Subsequently, there are some episodes where Pac-Man or Pac-Baby were able to chomp a ghost without power pellets no problem. Also, a ghost monster chomping a pac-person is presumably the equivalent of Pac-Man dying after being touched by a ghost in the original arcade game. But instead of dying, that Pac-person would just be deflated and tired out, and power pellets can give them their energy back.

Trivia

• Some of the lines in this cartoon spawned memes, for example “This is a Wrench!”

Reception

Pac-Man was the highest-rated Saturday morning cartoon show in the US in 1982. It recieved positive reception from critics and Pac-Man fans.

Some Pac-Man fans consider this show better than Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures

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