The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan

I only saw these episodes in syndication and it only adds to the theory of how generic some of the animation in Hanna-Barbera cartoons were back in the 1970s. In another "Scooby-Doo" rip-off (even though it was based on Charlie Chan movies), "The Amazing Chan..." always had a mystery to solve where Chan's kids would figure out the mystery and Chan himself would add the finishing touches. But the most generic element of this cartoon (other than the tendency for the characters to pass the same scenery whenever they're running or riding in a car) was to see the kids play in the band. They were always moving the same way while different songs were playing (notice the two kids in the back playing horns and trumpets but you hear none of those instruments, as well as the girl playing the tambourines; same goes for the guy just tapping the drums and the lead singer just moving his/her lips, not matching any of the lyrics). Maybe kids weren't supposed to notice these things, but hey, I did.

This can be pretty much seen as the end of the line for the teen sleuth cartoon series that pretty much dominated Saturday mornings for much of the late 1960's to early 1970's. Unfortunately, this follows the usual pattern of most of those shows. The kids discover a mystery that is baffling the police and try to solve it themselves. However, the main twist in this series is that the kids are all the children of the famous detective Charlie Chan, who is finally played by an Asian actor, even though it is just the voice of Keye Luke. Of course, Keye Luke played Lee Chan (aka Number 1 Son) in the movie series. However, that is probably the only thing that distinguishes this from the other teen detective series that were on at the same time. Another thing that I didn't like about it was that the kids did all the work while their father who pretty much does nothing during each episode winds up solving the mystery. Also, you know that it is a turkey when this show is pretty much used to try to sell very lame bubble gum rock songs, a la shows like "Josie and the Pussycats" and the second season of "Scooby Doo, Where Are You". Thankfully, this show only lasted one season and it marked the beginning of the end of the teen sleuth comedies.

This series stands out from the rest of the teen sleuth cartoons that dominated Saturday morning in the 70's. The focus is primarily on the 10 children of Charlie Chan as they interfere with his cases by trying to solve them. Charlie Chan is in control all of the time and makes the key conclusions in the manner one would expect him to make but as for the children their antics lead them to hilarious encounters with the multiple suspects during undercover work. Often times these acts may hold Charlie back some in solving the case but in their acts they manage to find various clues relevant to the cause. The 10 kids tend to take a lesson from the old JSA/JLA comics where they split up into groups generally age specific. The groups are generally broken up into three. The kids perform many slapstick type routines when pursuing the criminals placing this in the lead in humor. A Few of the kids perform in a band, as was the rage in the day and the viewer is treated to a nice period pop song that still appeals to the modern ear. As for Charlie Chan, he is handled with full respect as to the character and any Chan fan should be glad to experience this wonderful take on the characters.The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan still stands out from other shows of its era and is still featured Prominently on Cartoon Network's Boomerang. Can a DVD release be far behind?

I have warm childhood memories of watching Charlie Chan and the Amazing Chan Clan, starring the always fabulous Keye Luke and the classic Charlie Chan films starring Warner Oland, Sidney Toler, and Roland Winters. I even enjoyed Ross Martin's Chan movie The Return of Charlie Chan a.k.a. Happiness Is A Warm Clue, and eventually read the original Chan mysteries by the great Earl Derr Biggers and Charlie Chan Returns by Dennis Lynds.Growing up on all things Chan was wonderful, and a big part of that fun was Charlie Chan and the Amazing Chan Clan. Yes it is silly, but what do you expect from a children's cartoon? I loved it as a boy and will always be grateful for the happy memories.

I can recall thinking this show was good at six years old. Having never seen any of the old Charlie Chan movies, I always believed this concept had to do with the unavailability of an actor, possibly Keye Luke, to portray Chan's son in a movie, so it was recast and we had number two son. This cartoon merely sought to carry it all the way to ten kids.

Keye Luke was the connection. Having played Number One Son in the old movies to Warner Olandt as Detective Charlie Chan, he now did the voice of the father. Luke is possibly better known to a later generation as the Ancient One on the seventies show, Kung Fu, with David Carradine as Grasshopper. I would like to think he had fun doing this cartoon.

The Chan Clan was another Scooby Doo clone and this time seemed to have a Partridge Family influence, which I didn't remember. I have seen episodes since on Cartoon Network. Several of the older kids had a band and performed, and very forgettable songs are played. Look for one child to be playing the drums in one scene and another child is playing them in the next scene.

If the show had any thing going for it, it was the kids' stereotypical characters; the smart one, the obese one, the beautiful one, the tomboy one, the bossy one, the stylish one (funny for the seventies), even an Oriental Shaggy one. A turnoff is the adventures and I do recall disliking the pet, Chu-Chu. It was joked in one episode as to if it were a cat or a dog and I didn't like that it was unclear. I think now it was a dog. I had also totally forgotten the Chan van that can change appearance.

Robert Ito, who did the voice of the oldest son, Henry Chan, is perhaps better known for appearing on the seventies show, Quincy, with Jack Klugman, and funnily enough, when the children who did the voices had too thick accents and couldn't be understood and were recast with obviously Anglo children, Jodie Foster, about ten or eleven years old at this time, came in and did the voice of the tomboy.

Not the greatest cartoon. If you can't get enough Scooby Doo in your system, you can check this one out. I remember thinking the beautiful one was like an Oriental version of Daphne Blake in Scooby Doo.