Clutch Cargo
Clutch Cargo is a syndicated Adventure Series from 1959 that is most remembered for its use of Syncro-Vox, a process in which the photographed lips of human actors were superimposed on static drawings (a technique spoofed in an extra on The Incredibles DVD and mostly remembered today as being a shtick for a Conan O'Brien sketch). Otherwise the animation was extremely limited. We're talking one frame every two, three seconds.
The hero, Clutch Cargo, was a brawny pilot who flew to various places around the world with his young ward, Spinner; Spinner's dog, Paddlefoot, and a bearded explorer, Swampy. The 52 stories were serialized into 26 half-hour episodes in five chapters of five minutes each.
Tropes used in Clutch Cargo include:
- Adventure Series
- Animated Series
- Cross-Dressing Voices: A woman voices Spinner and Paddlefoot.
- Expy: Clutch Cargo resembles Burt Lancaster in appearance.
- Lantern Jaw of Justice
- Limited Animation
- Motionless Chin: By way of Syncro-Vox. Cambria Studios, the makers of Clutch Cargo, also used Syncro-Vox in their other cartoons produced at the same time, Captain Fathom and Space Angel.
- Tagalong Kid: Spinner
- Walking the Earth
- Wheel-O-Feet: Whenever Paddlefoot ran.