Gilligan's Planet

Gilligan's Planet is an American Saturday morning animated series produced by Filmation and MGM/UA Television which aired during the 1982–1983 season on CBS. It was the second animated spin-off of the sitcom Gilligan's Island (the first being The New Adventures of Gilligan).

Gilligan's Planet was the last cartoon series that Filmation produced for Saturday mornings; afterwards, they transitioned from Saturday mornings to producing cartoons exclusively for syndication. It was also the first Filmation series to feature the Lou Scheimer "signature" credit (as opposed to the rotating Lou Scheimer/Norm Prescott "wheel" credit which had been used since 1969). In addition, it was one of the last 1980s Saturday morning cartoons to be fitted with an adult laugh track, as the popularity of the practice had subsided.

Gilligan's Planet featured all of the original actors but one; Tina Louise, who has consistently refused to participate in any Gilligan's Island-related material since the series ended, again declined to reprise her role as Ginger Grant, who again was portrayed as a platinum blonde (as was the case in The New Adventures) instead of Louise's red hair. Dawn Wells, who had been unavailable during the production of The New Adventures of Gilligan, returned to the franchise, voicing both her own character (Mary Ann Summers) and Ginger. Gilligan's Planet would also be the final time that Backus and Hale would portray their respective characters, Mr Howell and the Skipper before their deaths in 1989 and 1990 respectively.

Premise
Gilligan's Planet is a spin-off of The New Adventures of Gilligan, based on the premise that the Professor had managed to build an operational interplanetary spaceship to get the castaways of the original cartoon series off the island. True to the castaways' perpetual bad luck, they rocketed off into space and crash-landed on an unknown planet that supported human life. In many ways, the planet was like the island, but with a strangely colored and cratered surface with more land to get around. The rocket was severely damaged in the crash; thus, the castaways were still stranded and the Professor resumed his attempts to repair their only way home.

Overall, Gilligan's Planet re-presented the source material of the original live-action series with space and alien themes. Encounters with headhunters and other shipwrecked people instead became encounters with alien creatures. A new character named Bumper was added, who appeared as a reptilian alien pet/sidekick for Gilligan and company.

Production notes
The theme song from The New Adventures of Gilligan was recycled, with new narration to explain the new show's premise. Sherwood Schwartz, who had hands-on involvement in the New Adventures series, was not as heavily involved in Gilligan's Planet. Two of the show's primary writers, Tom Ruegger and Paul Dini, would emerge at Warner Bros. Animation in the 1990s.

This is one of the few Filmation series not currently owned by successor Universal Television/Classic Media. It is instead owned by Warner Bros. Television Studios through Turner Entertainment Co. as it is a part of the pre-May 1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library.

Cast

 * Bob Denver as Gilligan
 * Alan Hale Jr. as Skipper Jonas Grumby
 * Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III
 * Natalie Schafer as "Lovey" Wentworth Howell
 * Russell Johnson as Professor Roy Hinkley
 * Dawn Wells as Mary Ann Summers, Ginger Grant
 * Lou Scheimer as Bumper

Home media
On July 22, 2014, Warner Archive released Gilligan's Planet: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Warner Archive Collection. This is a manufacture-on-demand release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.