It’s Asian History Month, so I am (perhaps stupidly) going to discuss one of the first American cartoons to feature Asian/Asian-American leads– Hanna-Barbera’s The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan. I say “one of” because I’m not certain, but I *think* HB’s Young Samson may have been the first, but the lead character’s ethnicity wasn’t directly addressed that I know of. And of course, anime started airing in the U.S. prior to this as well.
The Honolulu-based detective Charlie Chan was featured in a series of novels by Earl Derr Biggers and was previously adapted into several movies. Alas, I’m pretty sure he was always played by white actors in “yellowface.” BUT these depictions were seen as a welcome relief from the “yellow peril” (i.e. evil) depictions of Asians in most films of that period.
The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan was another of Hanna-Barbera’s MANY Scooby-Doo knockoffs, but this one seems to hold some nostalgia to many that grew up with this show. It originally aired on CBS in 1972 but hasn’t been rerun much since then.
While Charlie Chan is the headliner, the focus was mainly on his ten children. Yes, TEN! (This is something that connects back to the novels and movies.)
- Henry (voiced by Robert Ito) is the oldest and is… kind of a hunk. He serves as leader of the kids and plays the drums in the band that the older kids play in together.
- Stanley (Stan Chan?) (Lennie Weinrib) is kind of the jokester of the group and is a master of disguise and plays guitar and sings lead (although his lips never match the words) in the band. He frequently exclaims “Wham-Bam! Somebody’s in a Jam!”
- Susie (Cherylene Lee) is basically the Asian-American Daphne Blake. She plays tambourine.
- Alan (Brian Tochi) is the snazziest dresser of the group and is one of the two brainiest members of the family. He creates the gadgets the kids use including the Chan Van. (Chan Van?) He plays the oboe (!) in the band.
- Anne (seriously… Anne Chan?!) (Jodie Foster… YES! THAT Jodie Foster!) is the tomboy among the girls and is a feminist. She plays guitar and percussion.
- Tom (John Gunn) is the other brainy sibling. While Alan is also smart, Tom is a little snootier about it. He plays the trombone in the band. (Okay, seriously, there is no oboe or trombone in ANY of their songs!)
- Flip (Gene Andrusco) is the oldest of the younger kids and doesn’t play in the band.
- Nancy (Beverly Kushida) is the chubby one and sadly, due to the time period, is often the subject of fat-shaming jokes. And like most big girls in various shows and movies, she is the “funny” one.
- Mimi (also Cherylene Lee) is the second-youngest and can be a little bossy toward the youngest kid…
- Scooter (Michael Morgan) is the youngest and loves helping Scooter in solving mysteries.
The younger kids are always accompanied by their dog Chu Chu (Don Messick).
Keye Luke (Brak on the original Space Ghost and Mister Wing in Gremlins) was the first actor of Chinese ancestry to portray Charlie Chan.
Don Kirshner, who wrote the songs for The Monkees and The Archie Show, provided the songs for this series. Ron Dante, who provided the lead vocals for The Archie Show, also sang the leads for the Chan Clan. Originally, the Scooby-Doo gang was supposed to be a band, but that was dropped before the show went into production. I guess HB was hell-bent on having a band featured on one of its cartoons and this was the result.
Maybe it was because there were so many characters on this show, but The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan looks kind of cheap. A lot of times the backgrounds are just not colored. But like I said, maybe it’s because all the money had to go into animating 12 main characters and guest stars.
There is a feeling that this series was kind of racist but… it isn’t. Yes, two of the boys– Alan and Tom– are gadget-y and brainy, but there are ten kids. Some of them had to be the smart ones.
What IS kinda racist is that these characters, who are of Chinese descent, were recast as Japanese on Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law.
For a somewhat minor show, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan got quite a bit of merchandising, headlining their own comic book and having coloring books, a lunch box, and a board game based on it.
The entire series is available on DVD on demand from Warner Archive (available through Amazon).
Mimi popped up on Krypto the Super Dog and Susie appeared on Scooby-Doo: Mystery Inc. Apparently, the whole crew appeared on Jellystone!, which I really need to watch but haven’t.
Were you a fan of The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan?
