Crusader Rabbit: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Crusader Rabbit is the first animated series produced specifically for television. The concept of an animated series made for television came from animator Alex Anderson, who worked for Terrytoons Studios. Terrytoons turned down Anderson's proposed series, preferring to remain in theatrical film animation. Consequently, Anderson approached Jay Ward to create a partnership—Anderson being in charge of production and Ward arranging financing. Ward became business manager and producer, joining with Anderson to form "Television Arts Productions" in 1947. They tried to sell the series (initially presented as part of a proposed series, The Comic Strips of Television, which featured an early incarnation of Dudley Do-Right) to the NBC television network, with Jerry Fairbanks as the network's "supervising producer". NBC did not telecast Crusader Rabbit on their network, but allowed Fairbanks to sell the series in national syndication, with many NBC affiliates (including New York and Los Angeles) picking it up for local showings. WNBC-TV in New York continued to show the original Crusader Rabbit episodes from 1950 through 1967, and some stations used the program as late as the 1970s.

Series details

• Title: Crusader Rabbit
• Format: Animation
• Language: English
• Genres: Comedy, Family
• Premiere date: 1950-08-01
• Final broadcast date listed: 1950-08-01
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: Syndication
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 22327
• IMDb ID: tt0042097
• TVDB ID: 76170

Cast and credited roles

• Vern Louden — Ragland T. Tiger
• Roy Whaley — Narrator
• Russ Coughlan — Dudley Nightshade
• GeGe Pearson — Crusader Rabbit (13 episodes, 1957)
• Lucille Bliss — Crusader Rabbit

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1950-08-01; final listed air date 1950-08-01; episode order: 10.

Source and licence

Adapted from Crusader Rabbit on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.