The Jackson 5five cartoon is turning 50 this year! The Cartoon was first aired on ABC on Saturday 11, 1971.
The series had 2 seasons with 23 episodes depicting the Motown raising group “The Jackson 5” with the last episode aired on October 14, 1972.
But did you know that the voices of the brothers were not actually theirs? As the group was busy recording, touring and promoting their music, Motown decided to cast voice actors to play the brothers and Berry Gordy. Berry Gordy was played by Paul Frees, Donald Fullilove played Michael, Edmund Sylvers played Marlon, Joel Cooper played Jermaine, Mike Martinez played Tito and Craig Grandy played Jackie. The only Motown star who actually did the voice over for her own character is Diana Ross.
You might recognised the name Donal Fullilove as he played the mayor “Goldie Wilson” in Back to the Future saga but he also did the voice for Mushu in Mulan!
The Jackson 5 participated at the production by taking a photoshoot which will provide the base to draw the cartoon’s characters. You can actually see those photos in the generic. The production was mainly done in London at the studios of Halas and Batchelor and some parts were done in Spain and Japan.
The series returned on the small screen in 1984 and 1985 after Michael became popular after “Thriller”. Then it went back on TV very briefly in 1999. But it is only in 2013 that the full series was finally released on DVD and Blu-ray in the USA only.
You can watch the episodes on youtube as Motown has put each episode there in 2018:
Happy 50th Anniversary The Jackson 5ive Cartoon!
The Best Cartoon I ever watch since I was a little kid and I really enjoy all the songs they made but 2 main I like
1) We’ve got blue skies
2)Can I see you in the morning