The New Adventures of Gilligan

Summary
The New Adventures of Gilligan is an animated Saturday morning animated series created by Filmation Studios with Sherwood Schwartz as executive producer and consultant. It aired on ABC from 1974 to 1977, seven years after the last episode of Gilligan's Island. It involved the further adventures of Gilligan and The Castaways, but Ginger was turned into a blonde to avoid litigation with Tina Louise over the rights of her image. The character was further voiced by voice-over actress Jane Webb, since Louise declined to reprise her role as Ginger. Webb also voiced Mary Ann since Dawn Wells had been in a play traveling on the road. She offered to do the part if the producers would pay off the troupe for breaking her contract, but it was decided Wells wanted too much money with that request as well as salary. The rest of the series cast returned to reprise their characters. Following the family-friendly formula of 1970s Saturday morning cartoons, particularly from Filmation's popular series "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids", the studio's staff of writers based each episode on a certain moral, ending with Gilligan and Skipper talking about what they had learned that episode. Many episodes also recycled plots from the original television series. The New Adventures of Gilligan, like many Filmation series at the time, included an adult laugh track. The series was followed by Gilligan's Planet in 1982.

The series was released on DVD for the first time in April 2016.

Theme song
To avoid paying royalties to CBS and Sherwood Schwartz over the live-action theme song, Filmation decided to adopt its own variation of the theme by creating a spoken-word song featuring the voices of the cast: Skipper - "Now listen to this story that we will tell to you." Ginger - "The story of the Minnow, five passengers and crew." Professor - " With Gilligan aboard the ship, the Skipper by his side." Mrs. Howell - "An unexpected storm came up and tossed them with the tide." Thurston Howell III - "They've found themselves a shipwrecked clan lost on Gilligan's Isle." Skipper - "Gilligan and Skipper, the Millionaire, his Wife..." Mary Ann - "...the Movie Star, the Professor and Mary Ann began a brand new life." Professor - "What creatures they encounter, what riddles did they face?" Mrs. Howell - "What mysteries did haunt them in a strange but happy place?" Thurston Howell III - "On the New Adventures of Gilligan." Everyone - "All on Gilligan's Island!"

Disparities
Because The New Adventures of Gilligan was animated in the 1970s where it was specifically intended for younger audiences, there are some major diversions from the original series, including differences in character personalities, plots, and other oddities that were established in the original. Some examples:
 * In this series, Ginger's hair was changed to blonde instead of her natural red. This was primarily due to possible objections between Filmation and Tina Louise over using her likeness in the spin-off.
 * Mrs. Howell is far more incompetent than her live-action self. Although she was portrayed in the original series as proper, poise and unaware of common life, she was relegated to a more submissive, inept, one-dimensional character in the animated series.
 * The Skipper and Gilligan have switched bunks and seem to be enjoying their time on the island.
 * Gilligan befriends a monkey named Stubby, who mostly becomes comic relief for the rest of the castaways.
 * The character of Stubby was most likely inspired by Scooby-Doo, which served as a mascot and template for many shows during the 1970s, especially Hanna-Barbera, who created the character.

Main Cast

 * Bob Denver as Gilligan
 * Alan Hale Jr. as Skipper
 * Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III
 * Natalie Schafer as Mrs. Howell
 * Russell Johnson as The Professor
 * Jane Webb as Ginger and Mary Ann
 * Lou Scheimer as Stubby

Trivia

 * None of the original Gilligan's Island cast members had any cartoon voice-over experience and were initially uncomfortable except for Jim Backus, who was famous as the voice of Mr. Magoo. Backus was relied on to help the others with their work.