Clutch Cargo - Volume 4 (DVD)

Sign on for adventure with Clutch Cargo, his young pal, Spinner, and their dog, Paddlefoot, as they travel the globe on dangerous missions! Shifty crooks and spies lurk around every corner, and deadly cliff-hanging perils await our heroes in every episode!

A surprise hit in children's television of the late 1950s, the serialized adventure cartoon Clutch Cargo introduced audiences to the patented Syncro-Vox animation system. To keep production costs low, voice actors were filmed as they delivered their dialog, and their moving lips were superimposed over still drawings of the characters' faces. Radio actor Richard Cotting was the voice of Clutch, while Margaret Kerry (the model for Tinker Bell in Peter Pan) played his pals Spinner and Paddlefoot. Hal Smith, best remembered as Otis on The Andy Griffith Show, provided most of the other voices.

Series creator and head writer, Clark Haas, was a test pilot before he was hired by legendary cartoonist Roy Crane to write and draw the Sunday edition of his popular newspaper adventure strip, Buz Sawyer. Haas brought his love of planes to Clutch Cargo, as evidenced by the care he lavished on the drawings of them used on the program. Acclaimed jazz flutist, Paul Horn, can be heard perfecting his early chops in the show's minimalist flute & bongo soundtrack.

MISTER ABOMINABLE (5 episodes): Clutch and company travel to the Himalayas to find the abominable snowman.

PIPELINE TO DANGER (5 episodes): A supercriminal is siphoning his nation's oil supply.

THE DEVIL BIRD (5 episodes): Clutch is called in to investigate a giant prehistoric bird sighted on a remote island.

THE MISSING TRAIN (5 episodes): Clutch suspects foul play when a train carrying $50,000 in gold mysteriously disappears.

Voices by Richard Cotting, Margaret Kerry and Hal Smith. Created and written by Clark Haas. Directed by Phil Booth. Music by Paul Horn

• television