༺💕༻ Episode 23 : "The Opening Act" October 14, 1972 ༺💕༻
A promoter books the brothers on a heavy radio tour schedule, while trying to find an opening act for their upcoming concert.
Songs: ༺♫༻ "Little Bitty Pretty One" and "If I Have to Move a Mountain" ༺♫༻
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The Jackson 5ive is a Saturday morning cartoon series that aired on ABC from September 11, 1971 to October 14, 1972. Produced by Rankin/Bass and Motown Productions, it is a fictionalized portrayal of the careers of Motown recording group the Jackson 5. The series was rebroadcast in syndication between 1984 and 1985, during a period when Michael Jackson was riding a major wave of popularity as a solo artist. It also briefly re-aired in 1999 on TV Land as part of their "Super Retrovision Saturdaze" lineup. The series was animated mainly in London at the studios of Halas and Batchelor, and some animation done at Estudios Moro, Barcelona, Spain and Topcraft, Japan.
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Overview :
Due to high demands on the group, the roles of Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael were played by voice actors, with records of the group's songs being used for the musical tracks of the show. The group did make some contribution to the cartoon in the form of live photographs of each member morphing into a cartoon which was shown in the title screen medley. Although the musical scenes of the cartoon were chiefly animation, an occasional live-action footage of a concert or music video of The Jackson 5 would be spliced into the cartoon series. The actual Jackson 5 also contributed to the show by posing for pictures prior to the cartoon's debut which were used as posters, newspaper clips and TV Guide spots advertising the forthcoming TV series.
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Though Berry Gordy did not provide the original voice (his character was voiced by Paul Frees) nor advertised his name, his character was frequently involved as the "adult figure" to the group. R&B/Pop singer Diana Ross contributed to voice her fictionalized self in the debut episode. The premise of the show is that the Jackson Five would have adventures similar to Josie and the Pussycats, Alvin & the Chipmunks or The Partridge Family, with the unique addition being that Berry Gordy, the manager of the band in the show's universe, would come up with an idea for publicity for the band, such as having to do farm work or play a concert for the President of the United States. The series was followed by The Jacksons, a live action variety show, in 1976.
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Music :
A specially recorded medley of five Jackson 5 #1 hits — "I Want You Back", "The Love You Save", "ABC", "I'll Be There", and "Mama's Pearl" — served as the show's theme song. Each episode would feature two songs by The Jackson 5. The songs were derived from their albums Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, ABC, Maybe Tomorrow, and Third Album. In the newer episodes, from 1972, eight songs were derived from Michael Jackson's album Got to Be There and two songs from The Jackson 5 album Lookin' Through the Windows.
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Pets :
Because Michael Jackson owned many pets in real life, a few pets were added as extra characters to the cartoon. They included Michael's pet mice, Ray and Charles (alluding to singer Ray Charles, one of his idols), and his pet snake Rosey 'the Crusher' (who is male). Other than the mice squeaking, the pets never spoke, but usually either attributed to assistance, mischief or joining the Jackson brothers in performances on the show.
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Laugh track :
The Jackson 5ive contained an adult laugh track. Rankin-Bass experimented with creating their own laugh track, a practice Hanna-Barbera had implemented in 1971. This was done to avoid paying large fees to Charley Douglass, who edited laugh tracks onto the majority of network television shows at the time. Like Hanna-Barbera, Rankin/Bass isolated several snippets of canned chuckles from Douglass’ library, and inserted them onto the soundtrack. The laughs initially consisted of only loud eruptions; mild jokes received unnatural bouts of laughter, while other times, the laughter would erupt mid-sentence.
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Title Card :
* Written by Romeo Muller
William J. Keenan
Hal Hackady
Lou Silverstone
Susan Milburn
* Directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. - Jules Bass
* Starring Cast :
Paul Frees as The Jackson 5's producer
Donald Fullilove as Michael Jackson
Edmund Sylvers as Marlon Jackson
Joel Cooper as Jermaine Jackson
Mike Martinez as Tito Jackson
Craig Grandy as Jackie Jackson
Diana Ross as herself (pilot episode only)
* Theme music composer The Jackson 5
* Composer Maury Laws
* Country of origin United States United Kingdom
* No. of seasons 2
* No. of episodes 23
* Producers Arthur Rankin Jr. - Jules Bass
Production companies Rankin/Bass Productions
Motown Productions
Halas and Batchelor
Topcraft
Release : Original network - ABC
Audio format : Mono
Original release September 11, 1971 – October 14, 1972
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