The Get Along Gang was originally a Saturday morning television series that aired on CBS only for one season during 1984 to 1985. The Get Along Gang were a bunch of young, 12 year old animal characters who grew up in the town of Green Meadow. They had created a group, or a ‘gang’ that met up in an abandoned caboose. There were several members of the Get Along. Lead by Montgomery Moose – a clumsy but amiable character who regularly got his antlers caught up in objects the other characters included Woolma Lamb (who was obsessed with her appearance), Zipper Cat (the fun-loving sports guy), Portia Porcupine (the timid damsel in distress) and Dotty Dog (a cheerleader type, giggly).
The Get Along Gang went on lots of adventures as they strived to save each other and the town from the two bullies Leland Lizard and Catchum Crocodile, but the moral of the story was essentially always the same – to learn to be flexible and tolerant in order to keep others happy rather than simply be concerned for your own well-being and interests.
The Get Along Gang first got it's TV break after Nelvana produced a pilot episode on Nickelodeon in April 1984. In this pilot episode the twelve members of the Get Along Gang went on a scavenger hunt. Nelvana didn’t go on to produce the rest of the Get Along Gang episodes, that privilege was passed on to DIC Entertainment.
As the series progressed more characters were introduced like Braker Turtle (a nerdy type) and troublemaker Roco Rabbit appeared.
Despite its short-life on TV the Get Along Gang was extremely popular and spurred on several different merchandise and spin-off projects including Tomy’s action figure toys, plush toys and a series of storybooks published by Scholastic Press. Even when the series ceased airing there was still demand for the loveable animals and a series of comic books were commissioned in America. These ran for six bi-monthly issues in 1985 and 1986 and were published by Marvel Comics’ Star Comics. There was wide spread appeal in the UK too and Marvel UK published a weekly Get Along Gang comic that ran for a very impressive 93 issues from April 1985 until January 1987. As well as the Plush Toys and Miniature figures from Tomy you could also purchase the Clubhouse Caboose Playset.
All good things must come to an end, however, and by the end of 1985 the Get Along Gang toys and greeting card sales starting falling. No longer were the Get Along Gang in the public eye or on TV, other than a few repeats and by 1987 the greeting cards and toys were discontinued.
Get Along Gang trivia
The Get Along Gang characters were actually created as part of a project by the toy design and licensing division, American Greetings, but were only originally intended for use on greetings cards rather for TV or for toys.
There have been talks of a Get Along Gang revival and plans have been announced for the revival of Get Along Gang toys, clothing and games. There is also rumour of a DVD release of the series by S’More Entertainment, although no official release date has been revealed.
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Fiona said:
Out of all the characters, Montgomery Moose sticks out the most, classic.
Wednesday January 21, 2009, 01:57 PM
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