Pop culture Q&A

September 12, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

By Rich Heldenfels

McClatchy Newspapers

Q. When I was a child in the ’50s, I loved a cartoon called “Crusader Rabbit.” Do you have any information about this cartoon and know if it is available in any form?

A. “Crusader Rabbit” is generally considered to be the first cartoon series made specifically for TV, first produced in the late ’40s, and the often cheap animation certainly looks like something made on the low TV budgets of the ’40s and ’50s. Still, as Don Markstein’s online Toonopedia notes, it had “one saving grace — its young viewers thought it was funny.” Indeed, one of the creators was Jay Ward, later renowned as the mastermind of the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” tales.

Adds Markstein: “‘Crusader’s’ basic formula was simple — humorous adventure stories told [by narrator Roy Whaley] in short episodes, with cliffhangers, about a little, smart hero [Crusader Rabbit, voiced by Lucille Bliss, who many years later was the voice of Smurfette], a big, dumb hero [Rags the Tiger, voiced by Vern Loudon], and an inept recurring villain [Dudley Nightshade, voiced by Russ Coughlin].”

The cartoons were sold to individual TV stations for use in program packages. There have been some cartoons issued on DVD, although fans of the series have raised questions about at least one of the packages; where “Crusader Rabbit” told serialized stories, the DVD did not include the complete serial. If you just want to revisit the show, YouTube has quite a few cartoons posted.

Q. I have been trying to remember a movie that I watched on television probably in the 1970s. It was about a family whose father was in the Navy and son was a pilot. A daughter was in Europe at the time of World War II and she was put in a housing area or camp with the Jewish people. This was a long movie and as I remember it took about three or four nights to see it complete. Seems like in the beginning it was set in Hawaii.

A. Although some of the details are not quite as you remember them, most likely you are thinking of “The Winds of War,” the seven-night 1983 miniseries based on Herman Wouk’s novel of the same name. Robert Mitchum starred as an American naval officer in this sprawling saga leading up to World War II. An even longer sequel, “War and Remembrance,” aired in 1988-89.

Q. “Liberty’s Kids” was on PBS several years ago. I would like to buy it on DVDs but the company DIC doesn’t return my e-mails and it’s not listed in a PBS catalog. Is it available?

A. The animated series about young people during the American Revolution has been released on DVD. It is available from online sellers such as Amazon.com and Deepdiscount.com.

Q. I watched the finale of “Persons Unknown” and was disappointed. It promised to give answers, and I didn’t see many. Will it be back?

A. I would not expect more of “Persons Unknown,” which aired on NBC during the summer — although an upcoming DVD is being billed as having the “first season.”

Its fans were relatively few. The network cared so little about the serialized drama, it didn’t even bother to televise the 11th of 13 episodes, making it available online only. It appears that NBC just used it to fill some summer hours with new but inexpensive programming.

The series was made by Fox studios with backing from Mexican and Italian networks, so it was offered at low cost to American telecasters. Other series produced in that way included “Mental” (not “The Mentalist”) and “Defying Gravity.” But cost- effectiveness guarantees neither quality nor an audience, any more than a big budget does.