Roger Ramjet is an American 1965 animation series of short length episodes about a heroic man and his assistants known as the eagles (after, presumably, the American national emblem the bald eagle). The good people in the series are the Americans, who fight the bad villains such as the solenoid robots. The theme tune, with the notes of 'yankee doodle went to town', explains the simplistic manner in which Roger faces the enemy, his usage of 'proton pills', which give him superhuman strength a bit like the magic potion in asterix. The show is quite entertaining. It has a very American feel to it, but it is still quite amusing to watch.
12 Reviews
Limited animation, unlimited imagination
Smartt28 August 2002
Roger Ramjet was created in 1965 by Ken Snyder and brought to cel life by director Fred Crippen and voice actor Gary Owens. And, even if the animation was so static it became the butt of jokes to this very day, Roger´s adventures still owe more to the anarchy of Jay Ward and Bob Clampett than, say, Sam Singer. Roger Ramjet, the `Daredevil, Flying Fool and All-Around Good Guy' is an obvious parody of super-hero antics AND patriotism itself, including the cold war paranoia. At first glance, it´s pure formula: our hero is assigned to some mission, always gets in trouble so the kids from the American Eagle Squadron can rescue him, and ends up kicking the villains´ badly animated behinds by ingesting the Proton Energy Pill, that grants him the power of twenty atom bombs for twenty seconds. But the similarities end here, cause RR is filled with clever puns, cultural references, Hollywood in-jokes and a LOT of adult-aimed dialogue which often went over kids´ heads. I´ll give you only one example, and that will be enough to lure you into the zany, adorable world of Roger. Let´s take the `The Shaft' episode from `Hero of Our Nation'. It´s about Roger creating a super-rocket that´s more powerful than
uh, anything else. Problem is, the rocket backfires and burrows a hole through the Earth. The ENTIRE darn planet. What we Earthlings do? Oh, not much. Just watch were we walk, to avoid falling in the hole and getting a free trip to China. Aye, we can live on a donut-shaped planet, no problem sir. The ONLY thing that bugs people is when winds runs through the hole, creating an annoying whistle. THEN the nations decide to join forces to fix the problem! See what I mean?
Exceeded expectations very funny show
jadica-3016225 October 2023
Immediately when I watched this show I was convinced the creator of family guy and American dad Seth MacFarlane had to be inspired by it. Its awfully similar except in my opinion this is better and more effortlessly funny than family guy at least. The comedy was so top tier I was convinced it was an adult cartoon lol. And Rodger Ramjet straight up has the same speech pattern as Stan Smith or rather Stan Smith sounds like him since this cartoon came out in the 60s.
I throughly enjoyed watching it every episode was funny and they do alot with limited animation you can really feel the passion, joy, & care that went into this despite limited technology and budget.
I throughly enjoyed watching it every episode was funny and they do alot with limited animation you can really feel the passion, joy, & care that went into this despite limited technology and budget.
Cheaply made but funny
JDono8 September 2001
Roger Ramjet, he's our man/Hero of our nation/For his adventures please stay tuned/To this same TV station...
Or something like that. It's been a while since I've heard the theme song, but it was sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle.
Roger Ramjet wasn't exactly a high-budget cartoon show. In fact, there's probably less actual *movement* in this show than any other cartoon ever made (with the possible exception of Clutch Cargo), so every episode looks as if it cost about 75 cents to produce. Still, it was a funny cartoon in the Dudley Do-Right vein--well-meaning but ineffectual hero bumbles his way to saving the day.
I used to work with a guy who was constantly quoting Ramjet's boss: "Ramjet, you always cease to amaze me."
Great Ramjet trivia: There was a classic Cold War villain named Noodles Romanoff.
Or something like that. It's been a while since I've heard the theme song, but it was sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle.
Roger Ramjet wasn't exactly a high-budget cartoon show. In fact, there's probably less actual *movement* in this show than any other cartoon ever made (with the possible exception of Clutch Cargo), so every episode looks as if it cost about 75 cents to produce. Still, it was a funny cartoon in the Dudley Do-Right vein--well-meaning but ineffectual hero bumbles his way to saving the day.
I used to work with a guy who was constantly quoting Ramjet's boss: "Ramjet, you always cease to amaze me."
Great Ramjet trivia: There was a classic Cold War villain named Noodles Romanoff.
My second favorite cartoon ever
acswecker5 April 2002
Animaniacs is in my opinion the best cartoon ever made, but Roger Ramjet comes right behind it. The animation is not smooth and continuous like most cartoons; it is stop-action animation that makes it seem like the animators weren't any good. But it was done that way on purpose. This form of animation adds a lot to the cartoon's humor. All the characters are well done and have good voices. I love the way some of the dialogue and narrative just come up as words on the screen (and sometimes some misspellings done on purpose). You should definitely check out the DVDs. Roger Ramjet should be every kid's hero.
Like Scarlett, Rhett, this series disappeared with the wind!
briankistler28 December 2002
Very interesting that the author of the commentary at the very top of the page (at least at the top of the page as of late December 2002) is from the same city as I! Equally interesting that none of the commentaries go back any earlier than 2001 or 2002.
As far as what this author from my hometown said about Rocky and Bullwinkle and Jay Ward----Roger Ramjet was not produced by Jay Ward and Bill Scott who put together Rocky and Bullwinkle. This was produced by Patomime Pictures, headed up by Fred Crippen. I am reading the "bible" of Jay Ward cartoons right now, "The Moose That Roared" and this book clearly states which cartoons were and were not part of Jay Ward (and this one was not). I also took a gander at the cast of voices. None of them were used on Rocky and Bullwinkle.
I do not remember this cartoon extremely well. I caught it in re-runs one to three years after it debuted. I think that by 1968 or 1969, it just totally disappeared from the viewing area where I grew up (Southeastern Pennsylvania; not far from Philadelphia).
I do recall really loving the animation. Perhaps part of this was because it reminded me of the animation for Jay Ward cartoons (which I always liked). It is possible that some of the artists who worked for Jay Ward also worked for Pantomime Pictures (I know that some of Ward's artists had worked for Total Television Cartoons---which brought us Tennessee Tuxedo and Underdog).
Since I was under 10 years old (when Roger Ramjet re-runs were apparently permanently banished from my area), it is possible that some of the folks, with the more negative reviews, may be correct. All I know, however, is that I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this cartoon at the time. I loved the voices and I remember really relishing the story lines back then. For a long time it came on late afternoons Monday through Friday. Eventually it was moved to Sunday mornings. It was a welcome, very pleasant diversion for me, right before I was whisked off to church by my parents.
I just could not believe, for the rest of my life, that I could never find it anywhere on TV again. Over the last few decades I have thought, many times, that I would love to see Roger Ramjet at least one more time. Perhaps it appears on cable, occasionally, but I have not had cable in years.
As far as what this author from my hometown said about Rocky and Bullwinkle and Jay Ward----Roger Ramjet was not produced by Jay Ward and Bill Scott who put together Rocky and Bullwinkle. This was produced by Patomime Pictures, headed up by Fred Crippen. I am reading the "bible" of Jay Ward cartoons right now, "The Moose That Roared" and this book clearly states which cartoons were and were not part of Jay Ward (and this one was not). I also took a gander at the cast of voices. None of them were used on Rocky and Bullwinkle.
I do not remember this cartoon extremely well. I caught it in re-runs one to three years after it debuted. I think that by 1968 or 1969, it just totally disappeared from the viewing area where I grew up (Southeastern Pennsylvania; not far from Philadelphia).
I do recall really loving the animation. Perhaps part of this was because it reminded me of the animation for Jay Ward cartoons (which I always liked). It is possible that some of the artists who worked for Jay Ward also worked for Pantomime Pictures (I know that some of Ward's artists had worked for Total Television Cartoons---which brought us Tennessee Tuxedo and Underdog).
Since I was under 10 years old (when Roger Ramjet re-runs were apparently permanently banished from my area), it is possible that some of the folks, with the more negative reviews, may be correct. All I know, however, is that I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this cartoon at the time. I loved the voices and I remember really relishing the story lines back then. For a long time it came on late afternoons Monday through Friday. Eventually it was moved to Sunday mornings. It was a welcome, very pleasant diversion for me, right before I was whisked off to church by my parents.
I just could not believe, for the rest of my life, that I could never find it anywhere on TV again. Over the last few decades I have thought, many times, that I would love to see Roger Ramjet at least one more time. Perhaps it appears on cable, occasionally, but I have not had cable in years.
Let's Have a Reunion
briankistler11 November 2004
I think it would be great to bring this show back, either as a full-length feature animated film, or as a one-hour special on TV. I know that this series is far from one of the most popular cartoon shows. But I would love to see a new episode. Maybe out there, there are others, besides me, who feel the same way.
Last I heard, Gary Owens, who did the voice of Roger Ramjet, was still alive. So at least there would be one member, from the original cast, in a reunion show (or movie). I believe that he is in his late 60s now. I would like to see him tapped to reprise his starring role, while he is still with us.
Sadly, nearly 40 years later, it is dubious that a new episode would capture the original spirit of this series. You know how "remakes" are; they tend to take great pains to "bring things up to date"....... often to the detriment of the original characters (and their story).
Last I heard, Gary Owens, who did the voice of Roger Ramjet, was still alive. So at least there would be one member, from the original cast, in a reunion show (or movie). I believe that he is in his late 60s now. I would like to see him tapped to reprise his starring role, while he is still with us.
Sadly, nearly 40 years later, it is dubious that a new episode would capture the original spirit of this series. You know how "remakes" are; they tend to take great pains to "bring things up to date"....... often to the detriment of the original characters (and their story).
Campy Fun
TimmyAnn30 August 2004
I get the feeling that some people do not realize that this is a put on. It is a parody of a cartoon about a super hero. I mean, Roger is voiced by Gary Owens - the announcer from Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, for crying out loud! The theme song is hokey on purpose. Roger's jokes are groaners because he is a moron who stops criminals by sort of stumbling upon them, not through his great brilliance. His super powers came from a pill that gave him the strength of "twenty atom bombs for a period of twenty seconds"! Come on, that is obviously a joke! I don't remember Roger's name being misspelled on the screen as another reviewer suggests (maybe it was just a funny looking "g" that looked kind of like a "j"), but IF it was, it had to be part of the joke. Among Roger's enemies were the "solonoid robots" (spelling?) who said "mmm" between words. ("We-mmm-are-mmm-here-mmm-to...") They were certainly not to be taken seriously. If you are looking for a super hero cartoon, look elsewhere. If you are looking for campy fun, I think you may enjoy this. I know I do.
Even Better This Time Around.
r-brasher3 March 2005
It was only a matter of time before ROGER RAMJET was released on DVD, just like most every classic TV show that ever existed (MY MOTHER THE CAR, anyone?). The bad animation and goofy dialog(much of which appeared in words on screen- often misspelled on purpose)add to the appeal of this lost classic cartoon series. I can more fully appreciate the humor now than when I was eight years old and took cartoons more seriously. I would highly recommend this series to anyone who feels the same way I do-believe me, it's that much better 40 years later.
You won't escape the awful fate of proton's mighty fury! Rating: ***** out of *****
You won't escape the awful fate of proton's mighty fury! Rating: ***** out of *****
Roger Ramjet he's our man hero of the nation for his adventures just make sure to be stay tuned to this station!
bcolquho25 June 2004
The above is part of the Roger Ramjet theme song. Roger Ramjet was a buffoon, a clown, an idiot, and a fool. In short, he was a do- gooder. His groupies were four awe-struck kids named Yank,
Doodle, Dan, and Dee. RR was a member of the American Eagle Squadron. His strength came from his proton energy pill which
gave him the power of twenty atom bombs for twenty seconds. I
used to watch it when I was a kid New Hampshire. My favorite RR episode was the Christmas one where RR was hypnotized by an evil magician and made to think that he was a little kid. Gary
Owens of Laugh In was the voice of Roger Ramjet. He was also
the voice of Space Ghost. Both are good classic cartoons.
Doodle, Dan, and Dee. RR was a member of the American Eagle Squadron. His strength came from his proton energy pill which
gave him the power of twenty atom bombs for twenty seconds. I
used to watch it when I was a kid New Hampshire. My favorite RR episode was the Christmas one where RR was hypnotized by an evil magician and made to think that he was a little kid. Gary
Owens of Laugh In was the voice of Roger Ramjet. He was also
the voice of Space Ghost. Both are good classic cartoons.
Watch it twice
chrothor28 February 2002
I'd say that Roger Ramjet is one of the best "second degree" cartoons I've ever seen. The Cold War atmosphere, the tongue-in-cheek theme played on Yankee Doodle, etc.
The closest modern cartoon would be the "Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot" series, made by Dark Horse.
You know what I mean : shining teeth hero, stars-and-stripes in background, and (important) silly-joke-everyone-laughs at the end.
The closest modern cartoon would be the "Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot" series, made by Dark Horse.
You know what I mean : shining teeth hero, stars-and-stripes in background, and (important) silly-joke-everyone-laughs at the end.
Animation vs. style
COMPFUNK26 May 2002
Roger Ramjet aired in 1965, and back then a lot of cartoons were said to have bad animation. (Of course, none of them compare to Japanimation.) Roger Ramjet actually had good animation, but the trouble was that the STYLE of the cartoon was bad. The beginning "credits" have a children's chorus singing a Roger salute to the tune of "Yankee Doodle", and a picture of Roger surrounded by a ring of stars. That part isn't so bad, but when the actual cartoon comes come, whenever the narrator says "Roger Ramjet" it shows a similar star-surrounded picture of Roger. If not that, Roger's name is displayed incorrectly in big letters on the screen (it says "Rojer Ramjet".) Also, for some reason when the narrator speaks (which is whenever the scene changes), the words he says come on the screen. In short, Roger Ramjet is the most generic cartoon I've ever seen.
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