Drak Pack Explained

Genre:	Adventure
Runtime:	30 minutes
Director:	Chris Cuddington
Narrated:	John Stephenson (opening narration)
Company:	Hanna-Barbera Pty. Ltd.
Language:	English
Network:	CBS
Num Episodes:	16

Drak Pack is a 1980 animated television series about the classic Universal Monsters villains fighting for good.^[1] It aired in the United States on CBS Saturday Morning from September 6 to December 20, 1980.^[2] It was produced by the Australian division of Hanna-Barbera.

Premise

The series centers on three young men: Drak Jr., Frankie and Howler, descendants of Count Dracula, the Frankenstein monster, and the Wolf Man. To atone for their ancestors' wrongdoings, the three, united as the Drak Pack, became superheroes.^[3]

They appear initially as normal humans. But whenever trouble arises, they strike their right hands together and shout "Wacko!" This is called the Drak Whack. They then transform into a vampire, a Frankenstein monster, and a werewolf, respectively.

Their principal mode of transport is an amphibious flying car which they called "the Drakster".

The Drak Pack's principal opponent is Dr. Dred, a blue-skinned evil genius. His evil organization O.G.R.E. ("The Organization of Generally Rotten Enterprises" or "Endeavours") includes Toad, Fly, Mummyman, and Vampira.^[4]

When the Drak Pack needs counsel, they go to Drak's great-great-uncle Count Dracula himself, known to the team as "Big D".

Characters

• Drak Jr. (voiced by Jerry Dexter) - The great-great-grandnephew of Count Dracula and leader of the Drak Pack. Drak's powers include flight, telekinesis, changing shape, and walking on walls. Unlike most cartoon vampires, Drak may assume a variety of forms, although he favors a bat.
• Frankie (voiced by William Callaway) - The descendant of the Frankenstein Monster. Frankie has superhuman strength and can emit electrical charges from the bolts in his neck whenever he gets angry.
• Howler (voiced by William Callaway) - The descendant of the Wolf Man. Howler has an ultrasonic howl and super-breath.
• Count Dracula (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer) - Drak's great-great-granduncle, who the Drak Pack turn to when they need his counsel. The Drak Pack refers to him as "Big D". Count Dracula is the president of the Transylvania Retired Spooks, Spectres, and Spirits Society. He also has a pet spider in the series that often gets injured when Count Dracula is giving the Drak Pack orders.
• OGRE - Short for "The Organization of Generally Rotten Enterprises" or "Endeavours", OGRE is the principal antagonist of the series. OGRE's headquarters is an artificial island called "the Dredquarters", but occasionally called "the Drednought" and "OGRE Island". They travel in an airship that Dr. Dred calls the "Dredgible".
  • Dr. Dred (voiced by Hans Conried) - A blue-skinned evil genius and the leader of OGRE.
  • Toad (voiced by Don Messick) - Toad is Dr. Dred's toad-like right-hand minion and a member of OGRE. Very often, he unwittingly assists the Drak Pack.
  • Fly (voiced by Don Messick) - A humanoid fly and a member of OGRE who buzzes, flies, and walks on ceilings.
  • Mummyman (voiced by Chuck McCann) - A large mumbling mummy and a member of OGRE. He has super-strength and can stretch his wrappings indefinitely, often using them to tie up the Drak Pack.
  • Vampira (voiced by Julie McWhirter) - Vampira is a female vampire with shape-shifting powers similar to Drak's and a member of OGRE. She has something of an unrequited crush on Drak.

Home media

Visual Entertainment released Drak Pack: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only) on February 5, 2008.^[5] On September 6, 2011, VEI (distributed by Millennium Entertainment) released the complete series on DVD in the U.S.^[6]

External links

• • Episode guide at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Drak Pack at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on May 5, 2016.

Notes and References

1. Book: Perlmutter . David . The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows . 2018 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1538103739 . 166 .
2. Book: Woolery . George W. . Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981 . 1983 . Scarecrow Press . 0-8108-1557-5 . 14 March 2020 . 84–85.
3. Book: Leszczak . Bob . Single Season Sitcoms of the 1980s: A Complete Guide . 2016 . McFarland & Company . 9781476623849 . 30 . 9 March 2020.
4. Book: Erickson . Hal . Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 . 2005 . 2nd . McFarland & Co . 978-1476665993 . 287–288.
5. Web site: The Drak Pack DVD news: Release Date Change for Drak Pack - The Complete Series . TVShowsOnDVD.com . 2012-03-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110915031224/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Drak-Pack-Release-Date-Change/8868 . 2011-09-15 .
6. Web site: The Drak Pack DVD news: Announcement for The Drak Pack - The Complete Series (USA) . TVShowsOnDVD.com . 2012-03-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110916031315/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Drak-Pack-The-Complete-Series/15417 . 2011-09-16 .