The Osmonds was an animated series produced by Rankin/Bass. It premiered on ABC in 1972.
In this series, the Osmond Brothers were chosen as good will ambassadors for a concert tour all over the world. Accompanied by their kid brother, Jimmy, and Jimmy's pet Akita, Fuji, they traveled to Spain, Paris France, China, Denmark, and other countries. In the series finale, they returned to their home state of Utah.
A running gag of the series was that whenever Jimmy caused a plan to backfire, one of the brothers would ask him, "Now do you see what you got us into?" to which Jimmy invariably replied, "I can't see anything. I've got my eyes closed." Another was Donny being relentlessly pursued by his number one fan, Hortence Bird, an elderly lady. Also, in each episode, Donny met and temporarily won the heart of a girl close to his age(he was 14 when the series premiered.).
Unlike the Jackson 5ive series from the previous year, all six Osmond brothers provided their own voices. The songs performed in each episode were sung either by the group as a whole, or by Donny solo. There were even a couple of solo numbers sung by Jimmy: "Killer Joe" and "Long-Haired Lover From Liverpool."
The theme song was "One Bad Apple," which had been a Number One song for the Osmonds the year before.
During its first season, the series aired right after The Jackson 5ive. During the 1973 season, reruns aired on Sunday mornings.
The Osmonds' older brothers, Virl and Tommy, and sister Marie were absent from the animated series. Donny and Marie later recorded remakes of oldies from the 1960's, hosted their own variety show, and starred in the 1978 movie Goin' Coconuts. They later hosted a talk show, and had residency in Las Vegas. Donny also played the title character in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and returned to the charts in 1989 with the songs "Soldier of Love" and "Sacred Emotion."
Voice Cast
Alan Osmond Himself
Melvin Wayne Osmond Himself
Merrill Osmond Himself
Jay Osmond Himself
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond Himself
Jimmy Osmond Himself
Fuji/Hortence Bird/Additional Voices Paul Frees
Trivia
- Ironically, in real life, rock groups were not allowed to perform in Mainland China until the 1980's, when the British duo Wham performed there.
- After The Osmonds was cancelled, there were no more animated series about real life boy bands until DIC produced a Saturday morning animated series about The New Kids On The Block in 1990.