Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone

Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone is an animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera in conjunction with Sleepy Kids PLC. It was known as Potsworth & Co. in the UK (which is reflected in the theme song's lyrics in the UK broadcast), as the BBC felt that the suggestion of children being awake after midnight was inappropriate - similarly they renamed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Hero Turtles.

Premise
The series revolves around Potsworth, an English Springer Spaniel, based upon a real-life springer spaniel called Potsworth, bought from the Battersea Dogs Home in 1983 by Martin Powell and Vivien Schrager-Powell, the show's creators and founding directors of Sleepy Kids Plc. The other main characters are four young children: Carter, Keiko, Rosie, and Nick. When they go to sleep at night they turn up in the Dream Zone where, as the Midnight Patrol, they are appointed by the Grand Dozer to protect it from nightmares and other threats and are given their missions by the Snooze Patrol. Their main enemy is the Nightmare Prince.

Whilst they are in the Dream Zone, the five have special powers. Keiko has a flying skateboard; Carter can draw anything and then have it come to life; Nick is able to fly (in addition his stuffed toy Murphy comes to life); whilst his cynical sister Rosie tags along. Potsworth himself acquires the power of speech which enables him to complain about the way he is treated in the real world, and make wry comments about the kids and their own attitudes and relationships. The cartoon Potsworth had a very "English" accent, even in the American version of the programmes, reflecting his real-life counterpart's British origins.

The "real" Postworth became something of a celebrity when he featured extensively in the British media as part of the promotion campaign for the cartoon series when it first aired in the UK in 1990/91.

Premiering on The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera in 1990, Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone lasted only 13 episodes.

A comic strip based on the show featured in the merged Beezer and Topper and, when that comic closed, the Dandy.

Midnight Patrol
The 5 Midnight Patrol members are the main stars of the show. Each one has his/her individual abilities.


 * Potsworth (Age 10): The sarcastic dog who usually has a stern voice when he enters the Dream Zone.


 * Nick (Age 6): The little boy who is a flying superhero when he's in the Dream Zone (thus, he is also known as "Super Nick"). He is assisted by his stuffed toy dinosaur Murphy.


 * Rosie (Age 8): Nick's big sister. An annoying brat who gives the group a very hard time (in ways similar to Lucy van Pelt), though she still helps out in dangerous situations. She calls Nick by his full name Nicholas whenever she yells at him, which is quite often.


 * Keiko (Age 9): An Asian-American girl who rides a flying skateboard. She is energetic and very optimistic and likes to be seen as the leader of the group.


 * Carter (Age 10): An African-American who is an expert artist. In the Dream Zone his magic paintbrush can bring many things to life. He is Potsworth's owner.

Other Dream Zone characters
The Dream Zone has a number of inhabitants, the principals of which include:


 * The Grand Dozer: King of the Dream Zone, he spends his time half-asleep on top of a pile of mattresses. He has to stay this way because if he were to be fully awake the Dream Zone will come to an end. He gives advice but in the form of riddles which can be a bit of a frustration.


 * The Chief: A large but friendly woman who heads the local police and assigns the Midnight Patrol with their missions.


 * Sebastian: The Grand Dozer's head butler. He is always anxious that his King is sleeping.


 * The Greystone Giant: He lives in a cave filled with various objects which he supplies for people's dreams. Because there are so many dreamers he is always at work and never stops grumbling about it, though deep down he loves his job.

Antagonists

 * The Nightmare Prince: The villain of the series. The Nightmare Prince is always coming up with ways of disrupting the Grand Dozer's sleep or other nasty schemes in order to allow nightmares to take over from dreams. He is the Midnight Patrol's main enemy, though he is such a bungling idiot that his plans can fail due to his own incompetence.


 * The Nightmare Prince's Mother: This unseen character is always phoning up to tell her son to get on with destroying happy dreams, and reproving him when things go wrong. The fact that the Prince has a large-sized telephone (as opposed to a mobile) literally up his sleeve means that she calls him almost all the time. (Her constant yapping through the phone is reminiscent of the General from Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines).

Episode guide

 * 1) Night of the BedBugs (original air date 1 September 1990): The Nightmare Prince accidentally unleashes a horde of creatures called BedBugs and he needs their Midnight Patrol's help to get rid of them.
 * 2) The Dozer Walks Among Us (original air date 8 September 1990): When the Midnight Patrol gets into an argument, the Nightmare Prince frees the sleepwalking Grand Dozer and the Midnight Patrol has to stop his sleepwalking around the Dream Zone.
 * 3) King Potsworth (original air date 15 September 1990): Potsworth tries on a crown which makes him king of a kingdom where people respect him. When he goes to a kingdom with dogs, he must confront a giant cat.
 * 4) The Nightmirror (original air date 22 September 1990): The Nightmare Prince plans to use the Nightmirror to make evil twins of the Midnight Patrol to wreak havoc in the Dream Zone.
 * 5) When Bubba Rules (original air date 29 September 1990): The Nightmare Prince, after many defeats is replaced by a monstrous Count Bubba Bonebreaker and the Midnight Patrol wants to have the Nightmare Prince back.
 * 6) Nick's Super Switch (original air date 6 October 1990): Super Nick switches abilities with the powers of Wonder Kid after he has read many of his Wonder Kid comic books.
 * 7) Dozer Quest (original air date 13 October 1990): In order for the Grand Dozer to get a proper slumber, the Midnight Patrol must get the Dozer some milk.
 * 8) Rosie's Extra Sweet Day (original air date 20 October 1990): After Rosie's conversation with a talking tree, she gets turned into the nicest girl in the Dream Zone.
 * 9) I Was a Teenage Babysitter (original air date 27 October 1990): Rosie must take care of the Greystone Giant's little son Rocky, and Rosie experiences a lot of problems trying to take care of Rocky.
 * 10) The Wishing Whale (original air date 3 November 1990): The Midnight Patrol (minus Keiko) have their favorite wishes come true with the Wishing Whale, but soon their wishes get out of hand.
 * 11) Santa-Napped (original air date 10 November 1990): The Nightmare Prince captures Santa Claus, and the Midnight Patrol must rescue him to save Christmas.
 * 12) Save the Cave (original air date 17 November 1990): The Greystone Giant is too far behind in his dream supplies, so the Midnight Patrol must help him keep up with the dream orders.
 * 13) Rosie's Fuss Attack (original air date 24 November 1990): Rosie changes form every time she complains, so the Midnight Patrol must find a special cure for her.

Cast

 * Michael Bell - Sebastian
 * Hamilton Camp - The Grand Dozer
 * Joan Gerber - Nightmare Prince's Mother
 * Elisabeth Harnois - Rosie
 * Whitby Hertford - Nick
 * Janice Kawaye - Keiko
 * George Lemore - Carter
 * Kenneth Mars - Greystone Giant
 * Scott Menville - Wonder Kid
 * Rob Paulsen - Nightmare Prince
 * Clive Revill - Potsworth
 * Frank Welker - Murphy, Nosey Bird, Rocky

Production Credits

 * Executive Producers: William Hanna, Joseph Barnera, Paul Sabella
 * Executive Producers for Sleepy Kids PLC: Martin Powell, Vivien Schrager-Powell
 * Executive in Charge of Production: Jayne Barbera
 * Supervising Producer: Jeff Segal
 * Producer: Davis Doi
 * Story Editors: Lane Raichert, Bill Matheny
 * Creative Consultant: Mike Young
 * Created by: Martin Powell, Vivien Schrager-Powell
 * Executive Producer on Behalf of the BBC: Theresa Plummer-Andrews
 * Animation Directors: Joanna Romersa, Sam Nicholson, Robert Alvarez, Joan Drake, Bill Hutten, Glen Kennedy, Ed Love, Tony Love, Irv Spence, Alan Wilzbach
 * Supervising Director: Ray Patterson
 * Directors: Don Lusk, Paul Sommer
 * Storyboard Artists: Bob Onorato, Michael V. Bennett, Sonia Cook, Bill Diaz, Jaime Diaz, Scott Jeraids, Saniel St. Pierre, Bob Dranko, Patricia Wong
 * Recording Director: Gordon Hunt
 * Animation Casting Director: Kris Zimmerman
 * Talent Coordinator: Jamie Thomason
 * Voices: Charles Adler, Christine Avila, Michael Bell, Hamilton Camp, Brian Cummings, Jim Cummings, Judyann Elder, Patrick Fraley, Dick Gautier, Joan Gerber, Dorian Harewood, Elisabeth Harnois, Whitby Hertford, Janice Kawaye, Emily Kuroda, George Lemore, David Lander, Marilyn Lightstone, Allan Lurie, Kenneth Mars, Scott Menville, Brian Mitchell, Howie Morris, Ron Palillo, Rob Paulsen, Henry Polic II, Clive Revill, Ronnie Schell, Tom Scott, Hal Smith, B.J. Ward, Frank Welker, Anderson Wong
 * Music by: Michael Tavera
 * Title: Davis Doi, Michael V. Bennett
 * Graphics: Iraj Paran, Tom Wogatzke
 * Graphics Assistant: Parviz Parandoush
 * Character Design: Eric Clark, Robert Sledge, Bwana Takamoto, Kirk Hansen, Lance Falk, Barbara Krueger, Jesus Rodriguez, Jim Fransen, Lane Raichert, Don Dougherty
 * Design Supervisor: Scott Jeralds
 * Unit Head: Scott Hill
 * Layout Supervision: Margaret Parkes, Ping Capatl
 * Layout Keys: Andrew Gentle
 * Animation Supervisor: David Mitchener
 * Layout Artists: Levy Vergara, Joel Avila, Fides Gutierrez, Abe Ocampo, Danny Javier, Diony Rogue, Nath Rubile
 * Animation: Frank Andrina, John Walker, Brenda Banks, Barry Anderson, Mike Bennett, Oliver Callahan, Ernesto Lopez, Kunio Shimamura, Mark Christiansen, Bill Nunes, Moon Choi, Bob Bemiller, Frank Gabriel, Jang Woo Lee, Bob Tyler, Derek Eversfield, Bill Reed, Robert Sledge, Ken Southworth, Bill Pratt, Jason So, Edwardo Olivares, Mike Fellows, Lee Namkook, Hingsik Kim, Harold Duckett, Paul Sparagano, Nelson Rhodes, Byun Kwanswon, Joel Pink, Brian McKaig, Eui Sun Hwang, Gerry Brown, Sung Jin Kim
 * Animation Coordinator: Alan Kennedy
 * Assistant Animation Supervisor: Nary Jamlig
 * Animation Checking Supervisor: Gina Bradley
 * Clean-Up Supervisor: Butch Orosa
 * Xerography: Star Wirth, Emy Figueroa
 * Animation Checking: Jan Adams, Jan Browning, Beth Goodwin, Karen Hepburn, Bob Revell, Howard F. Schwartz, Vicki White
 * Background Supervisors: Al Gmuer, Poi Barona
 * Background Artists: Jim Hickey, Patti Palmer, Rube Chavez, Bonnie Callahan, Jonathan Goley, Craig Robertson, Jerry Loveland, Steve Butz, Don Watson, Joe Binnegell, Andy Phillipson, Ron Roesch, Lalaine Labayana, Rex Avila, Dan Dictado, Hanibal Inaido, Arnaldo Caranto, Simon Almorez, Bert Delizo
 * Color Stylist: Alison Leopold, Candy Alejandrino
 * Color Key: Kathleen Hardin
 * Production Coordinators: Yvonna Palmer, Vicki Casper
 * Ink and Paint Supervisor: Stella Rayes
 * Production Assistants: Vicroeia McCollum, Sandy Benenati, Dan Conte, Shannon Fallis-Kane, Erika Grossbart, Debby Lathrop, Sue Van Santen
 * Camera Supervisors: Daniel Bunn, Raul Salgado
 * Unit Publicist: Sarah Baisley
 * Program Administrator: Barbara Simon-Dierks
 * Camera Operators: Aaron Caughran, Ron Jackson, Bob Jacobs, James Keefer, Steven Mills, Neil Viker, Steve Wilzbach, Elias Macute, Frank Aguila, Richard Chuidian, Eric Mata
 * Music Editors: Jess Navarro
 * Sound Editor: Bert Navia
 * Sound Direction: Alvy Dorman, Stan Wetzel
 * Supervising Film Editors: Terry W. Moore, Larry C. Cowan
 * Editors: Pat Foley, Gil Iverson, Tim Iverson
 * Track Department: James Hearn, Kerry Iverson, Kay Douglas, Denise Whitfield, Carol Iverson
 * Technical Advisor: Tony Barnes
 * Post Production Supervisor: Jepot de Jesus
 * Post Production Coordinator: Louie Jhocson
 * Production Coordinator: Jo Harn
 * Production Supervisor: Jerry Smith
 * Produced in Association with The Sleepy Kid Company Limited
 * © 1990 Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc and Sleepy Kids PLC All Rights Reserved

Computer game
An officially licensed computer game of the series, using its British title of Potsworth and Co, was released in 1992 by Hi-Tec Software for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64.

In this scrolling platform game, the player took on the role of one of the characters in each themed level and had to collect various items and then reach the exit.