“Weird Al” presents all the best Saturday-morning cartoons 1984 had to offer

By Erik Adams  |  August 15, 2016 | 5:30pm
Aux Features TV
“Weird Al” presents all the best Saturday-morning cartoons 1984 had to offer

“Weird Al” Yankovic’s relationship with Saturday-morning TV extends beyond his eponymous CBS series from 1997: In addition to his Hanna-Barbera-by-way-of-Kiedis-Flea homage “Bedrock Anthem,” he once voiced a version of himself on Eek! The Cat and participated in multiple comic-book capers for Cartoon Network’s DC Nation block. And way back in 1984, Yankovic joined Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (or two humans dressed like the Doos, at least) at “happening fun park” Knott’s Berry Farm to introduce a fresh slate of animated offerings from ABC.

Preserved in part on YouTube, ABC Saturday Morning Preview Park finds the song parodist driving bumper cars and participating in some light pyrotechnics, in service of setting up clips from Turbo Teen (in which a young man, through the miracle of science, gains the power to transform into a sports car) and Dragon’s Lair (in which a video game, through the miracle of already being animated by Don Bluth, becomes a TV series). The special aired shortly after Yankovic’s first major chart success, referenced in the introductory voice-over, which refers to him as “‘The man who brought you ‘Eat It.’” He’d be known for more than lampooning Michael Jackson in the years that followed, though ABC Saturday Morning Preview Park wouldn’t be the last time he co-hosted a show with someone who’s seen the inside of a cartoon character: His Comedy Bang! Bang! colleague Scott Aukerman once played Br’er Bear, Goofy, and Captain Hook at Disneyland.

 
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