Manka Kids
Ollie Ostrich was Manka Bros.' first animated character - first appearing in the 1924 one-reeler 'Who Stole My Baby?'
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Bill Frog caused a panic (and two murders!) at the Manka Palace Theater in New York after he became the first cartoon animal to talk! He was a popular character during the 1920s and 1930s (featured mostly with Orange Ostrich). He was always so proud that he was '25% smarter than an average amphibian.''
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Cryin' Wolf was created in 1927 but didn't become popular until the 1940s and 1950s. His catchphrase 'There is no God!' rubbed many people the wrong way. In 2022, Manka Bros. had received so muich hate mail and pressure from parents and religious groups that they changed the catchphrase to 'God is awesome!'
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Pelican't - This pelican with low self-esteem ('I can do it! No... I can't.') was created and incorporated into the Manka Toons stable of characters. Pelican't starred in a series of shorts in the 1930s and 1940s and was a 'spokesbird' for war veterans' rights after World War II.
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Sabaturtle - Villainous Soviet turtle created during the Cold War who is always caught because he escapes VERY slowly. Sabaturtle played the villain in several Manka Toons shorts throughout the 1960s as well as a pathetic, out-of-place appearance with the Animaltered gang in 2009.
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The Shrieking Potato - Acquired from Idaho Public Television in 1969 for $3 million. The Shrieking Potato hosted a Saturday morning variety hour on MBS for ten years from 1970-1980. After giving a controversial interview with The New Yorker in 1980 in which The Potato came out as Pro Choice, it was eaten ceremoniously by a far right church group and never was revived.
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Dolphinsect - One of the more popular of the Animaltered gang, Dolphinsect plays the wise karate sensei who is always coming to the rescue when one of the others gets in trouble. (He was killed off briefly in 2012 after a voice-over contract dispute - but is now alive again.)
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Hippopotamoose - St. Patrick's Parade Disaster - March 17, 1994 - Manka Bros.' annual St. Patrick's Day Parade is canceled forever after a massive Hippopotamoose float collapses onto hundreds of spectators. Hippopotamoose was being introduced to the world as a new character on the ‘Animaltered’ animated series (Chimpanzebra, Dolphinsect, Rhinoscerostrich, etc.)
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