Richie Rich

Richie Rich is a Saturday-morning cartoon series, produced by Hanna-Barbera for ABC, from 1980 to 1984. It is based on the fictional character who appeared in Harvey Comics from 1956 until 1994. Beginning in January 1986, rebroadcasts of the series started airing on CBS, replacing CBS Storybreak. Richie's CBS run was believed to have lasted only one month. Hanna-Barbera's character designs for Richie Rich differed significantly from the comics.

Segments

Richie's cartoons were produced in four different lengths (excluding the title card):

• "Gems": about twenty-five seconds, usually animated versions of one-page stories in the comic book series. In the first two seasons, two such segments were seen on each episode. During the third season, only one such segment was seen per episode (the other was replaced by a 30-second Little Rascals comedy skit), and during the fourth and final season, the "Gems" segments were dropped. At least four "Gems" segments did not feature Richie with any lines, and of the four, Richie is completely absent from three.
• "Riches": about six minutes and thirty seconds, usually involves a robbery or an event that could affect Richie and his family or mansion staff. Dollar the Dog appeared in all of these segments.
• "Treasure Chest": about three minutes, usually based on five-page comic book stories and are funny segments usually centered on Dollar and/or Cadbury, or on rare occasions, Irona. Richie is completely absent from at least two of the segments.
• "Zillion Dollar Adventures": about eleven minutes, and usually involves an event that could impact Richville or the world, and Richie defeating a tough villain, whether it be a powerful crook or an alien. On rare occasions, an episode may involve a mystery-solving plot. Many of these segments involved world travel, where investigations would occur in another country, and several investigations took place in outer space. This was the only segment that was seen in all four seasons of the series. Dollar appeared in all of these segments.

Overview

Most of the titles listed below were also used in then-recently published Richie Rich comic stories, but the television versions used a different storyline than in the comic book series. For example, "Sky Hook" was originally published in a 1981 issue of Richie Rich and Cadbury, but the 1982 cartoon version didn't feature Cadbury. "Whale of a Tale" was featured in an issue of Richie Rich Digest Stories in late 1981, but the cartoon version featured Gloria Glad, while the comic book story used Cadbury.

By the early 1990s, some segments were featured in several VHS compilations, which featured the syndicated opening. In April 1995, two VHS releases containing only Zillion Dollar Adventures segments - including all of the season 4 segments except for two, the last two from Season 3, and one from Season 2 - were released: Richie Rich: Priceless Toys and Richie Rich: A Boy's Best Friend.

In May 2008, Volume 1 of The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show was released on DVD by Warner Archive, which contained the first seven episodes from the first season. Currently, there are no plans to release a Volume 2 set, possibly due to lower-than-expected sales.

Openings

Each of the three series that Richie Rich appeared in had its own opening.

Version 1, from the first two seasons, had Richie involved in various events, showcasing his wealth and numerous gadgets, including Richie watching Scooby-Doo cartoons on his big screen TV, with Cadbury by his side, and Irona lifting the sofa while Richie and Dollar are sitting on it, while she does her vacuuming task; Richie on skis on top of a hill made of jewels; and Irona playing tennis with Richie. Shaggy Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo then appeared uttering "That's rich!" before a $100,000 banknote depicting Richie's portrait (and the amount of his weekly allowance) zoomed inward before showing the show's title logo one more time. When this intro was aired in the entire syndicated run, the scenes involving Scooby-Doo characters were replaced by various scenes from the Riches segment "The Rare Scare".

During Season 2, the opening to Richie Rich was updated - this time replacing the shots where Irona lifts the sofa with Richie seated on it while watching Scooby-Doo on a big screen TV with brief footage of Richie bringing his excess allowance money to the allowance vaults from Season 1's "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Bug?" and Dollar juggling watermelons with Richie and Irona clapping from Season 2's "Schoolhouse Romp" - with a cloud exploding to dollar signs transition in between scenes.

Version 2, from Season 3, had a shortened version of the chorus of singers used, as Richie walked through the mansion's hallway, then arrived at one of the vaults to open the safe and observe the wealth. This was the only opening in which Dollar did not appear.

Version 3, from Season 4 had Richie riding in a wheelbarrow operated by Cadbury with Dollar walking in front, then Dollar gasps, then showing a close-up of Richie's face, and Richie arriving at a vault to collect some money to put in the wheelbarrow and Richie riding in the wheelbarrow back to the Rich mansion.

Trivia

• Richie's receives an allowance of $100,000 per week.
• With a net worth of $24.7 billion in 2002, Richie Rich ranked #2 on Forbes magazine's first annual "Fictional 15" list of wealthiest fictional characters for 2002, despite that Richie Rich had not published for eight years at the time. Forbes' "Fictional 15" list ceased publication since 2013.
• The narration during the title cards earlier in the series was provided by Frank Welker, since it sounds similar to Fred Jones from earlier and current Scooby-Doo series.
• When aired in syndication, the opening and closing themes feature part of the Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo theme. The second season's closing theme involved music from The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang.
• Richie's sweater with the gold "R" on its front may have been inspired by the outfits of the same color scheme worn in Where's Huddles? Also, on Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics, the Really Rottens wore a shirt with the letter "R" on it.
• Aside from this series, other Hanna-Barbera produced series based on comic books included The Fantastic Four, Josie and the Pussy Cats, SuperFriends, Casper and the Angels and Smurfs respectively.

Gallery

Series Chronology

• The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show (1980–82)
• The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show (1982/83)
• The Monchhichis/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show (1983/84)

Episodes

Season 1 (1980/81)

1. Piggy Bank Prank / Reggie's Pet Monkey / Muscle Beach / Dollar's Itch / The Robotnappers
2. The Rare Scare / Richie's Tan / Kitty Sitter / Richie and the Baseball Diamonds / One of Our Aircraft Carriers Is Missing
3. Spring Cleaning / Richie's Stuffed Pillows / Silence Is Golden / Richie and the Wishing Well / The Shocking Lady Strikes Again
4. The Blur / Professor Keenbean's Super Computer / Cur Wash / Robot Bank Teller / The Kangaroo Hop
5. Irona vs. Demona / Richie and the Department Store Santa / Chef's Surprise / Richie's Art Gallery / The Snowbounders
6. The Abominable Snow Plan / Richie's Camping Trip / Miss Robot America / Richie Feeds his Goldfish / Constructo
7. Counterfeit Dollar / Gloria's Birthday / The Greatest Invention in the World / Winslow's Visit / Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Bug?
8. Poor Little Richbillies / Richie's Birdhouse / Chowhound / Richie's Lunch Bag / Mystery Mountain
9. Wiped Out / Richie's Broken Telephone / Welcome, Uncle Cautious / Richie's Artificial Planet / Disaster Master
10. The Most Unforgettable Butler / Richie on a Game Show / T.V. Dollar / Dollar and the Eye Chart / Disappearing Dignitaries
11. Prankster Beware / Clothes Make the Butler / Phantom of the Movies
12. Caveboy Richie / Richie and Gloria Go to the Movies / Young Irona / Richie's Farm / The Great Charity Train Robbery
13. It's No Giggling Matter / Leaky Ceiling / Baseball Dollar / Richie's Guitar Case / The Sinister Sports Spectacular

Season 2 (1981/82)

1. Schoolhouse Romp / Richie's Garden / The Chef's Watchdog / Richie's Wind-Up Toys / The Space Shark
2. I Want My Mummy / Mrs. Rich Plays a Video Game / Canine Cadet / Reggie's Accident / Richie of the Round Table
3. Tooth Is Stranger than Fiction / Richie and the Secret Passage / Butlering Made Easy / Irona's Birthday / Voodoo Island
4. Bye-Bye Baby / Reggie and the Golf Ball / A Special Talent / Richie and the Giant Band-Aid / Richie's Jellybeans / Richie's Robot Milkshake Maker / Villains Incorporated
5. Chilly Dog / Richie's New Car / Rich Mice / Richie and the Robin's Nest / King Bee
6. The Money Talks / Richie and the Diamond Mine / An Ordinary Day / Irona and the Robots Clean the Yard / Mischief Movie
7. The Carnival Man / Richie and the Drive-In Movie / Dog Gone / Freckles Plays Croquet / The Day the Estate Stood Still
8. Robot Robber / No Substitute for a Watchdog / Around the World on 80 Cents

Repeats from Season 1 aired during the latter five episodes of Season 2 on ABC.

Season 3 (1982/83)

In this season, one Richie Rich Gems segment was dropped. This might have been due to being replaced with a 30-second Little Rascals skit, or a sign of declining ratings at this point.

1. Born Flea / Gloria and the Money Plant / How Human! / The Collector
2. The Midas Touch / Richie and the Ball Room / Dignified Doggie / The Genie with the Light Brown Hair
3. Mayda Munny / Coin Flipper / Busy Butler / The Haunting of Castle Rich
4. Suavo / Gloria and the Sugar Bowl / Shoe Biz / The Giant Ape Caper
5. The Pie-Eyed Piper / Giant Pearl / Guard Dog / Richie Goes to Shirik
6. Boy of the Year / Robot Bug Guards / I Say You All / The Youth Maker
7. Everybody's Doing It / Richie's Cube / Dollar's Exercise / The Maltese Monkey
8. Look-Alike / Gold Frame / Hard to Study / Sky Hook

Repeats of Riches, Treasure Chest, and Zillion Dollar Adventures segments were aired during the last five episodes of Season 3. There is no certainty if the 1982 Animators Strike had anything to do with the repeats. Brand new Richie Rich Gems segments were still aired regardless. Here are some of the Gems segments aired on ABC but never aired in syndication:

• Richie's Toy Jet
• Gloria's Gift Box
• Wind-Up Mr. Rich

Season 4 (1983/84)

Only Zillion Dollar Adventures were produced for this season.

1. The T.V. Phantom / Richie Hood
2. Whale of a Tale / Rich No More
3. The Snowman Cometh / The Quake Maker
4. Irona Story / Mayda and the Monster (Syndicated finale)
5. Video World (Official finale, aired on ABC, never aired in syndication, but was released on a VHS compilation in April 1995 and is currently available on the Boomerang app)