| Pac-man (tv Series) |
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Information AboutPac-man (tv Series) |
''Pac-Man'' was an animated TV series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions , which aired on ABC from September 1982 to December 1983 . Based upon the '' Pac-Man '' Arcade Game by Namco , reruns are now shown occasionally on Boomerang . The series is also available for purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 160 Microsoft Points per episode. The arcade game '' drew significant influence from it as well. Also, the Tengen release of the original arcade game for the Nintendo Entertainment System features box art based on the cartoon. OVERVIEW ''Pac-Man'' followed the adventures of the title character ), Pinky''', the hardcore street thug ghost (also voiced by Chuck McCann), '''Inky''', the requisite dumb one of the group (voiced by Barry Gordon ), '''Clyde''', the main ghost-monster (voiced by Neilson Ross ), and '''Sue''', the only female (voiced by Susan Silo ). Their leader is '''Mezmeron''' (voiced by Allan Lurie ), a mysterious Darth Vader -esque figure whose sole mission in life is to obtain the "Power Pellets" which give Pac-Man and the other inhabitants of Pac-Land their chomping abilities. (This should actually not be that difficult a task; Power Pellets are found nearly everywhere in Pac-Land, and serve as the '' Deus Ex Machina '' in nearly every episode, as they just happen to be found where the Ghost-Monsters have the Pac Family cornered. He is actually trying to locate the forest where the pellets are grown, so he can control the source) COMMON THEMES For whatever reason, nearly everything in Pac-Land takes the shape of a sphere (or is round, at the very least). Everything from natural backgrounds to houses to cars to animals and even (or especially) the people assume the form of a ball. Another recurring theme is the common use of "Pac-" as a prefix for verbs and famous or common existing nouns (an example: Pac-Hollywood, a town famous for its film studios). This is reminiscent of '' The Smurfs '' or '' The Snorks '', both animated series which replaced or altered several existing words with "Smurf" or "Snork," respectively. Pac-man himself is often referred to the nickname "Packy" by Pepper as a term of affection which unintentionally sounds like the racist term "paki". In a typical episode, the ghost-monsters are eaten in the beginning, and their eyes fly back to Mezmeron's lava-lair closet to get new ghost suits and plot something evil. Power Pellets (which were previously called "power pills", or "energizers") seem to be the focal point of nearly every episode, as Mezmeron and the Ghost-Monsters are intent upon finding them. In actuality, Power Pellets are plentiful and easy to find around Pac-Land. Although their primary purpose appears to be enabling the Pac-people to "chomp" Ghost-Monsters, Power Pellets also seem to be the staple of their diet. It's interesting to note that when Pac-Man (or any other Pac-person, or Pac-animal) eats a power pellet, instead of turning blue (like in the video game series) the "Ghost-Monsters" (known as simply "monsters" in the original arcade game, and as simply "ghosts" in the Atari 2600 version) turn "purple with panic" after which they make an obvious note of their situation ("P-P-P-P-P-Pac Power!"). Other changes from the video games include the following:
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