Uploaded August 2009 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
On DVD soon. Shown on TV stations in the 1950's and early 1960's. This was a rare and obscure classic early-morning cartoon series about a space rescue mission to Mars by a boy searching for his lost astronaut father with the help of the wise "Professor Nordheim" and a strange co-pilot named "Smitty the Navigator." The rocket spaceship named "Polaris" had a large clear front window where all the oncoming stars and asteroids and other planets could be seen. There was also a cool red blinking light with a beeping sound called the "Iridium Detector."
First to air in 1958, it is rated by some as one of the #1 factual early space cartoons, because the writers used consultants from the United Stated Air Force (USAF) and the Hayden Planetarium Planetarium to encourage young children to develop an interest in space research and travel.
Trivia collector's will want to know that the very first television airing of The Space Explorers feature film was shown in 1958 by Claude Kirchner on WOR-TV, Channel 9, in New York.
Please share this with other people you know that may remember it. The DVD may be released soon.
* Official website is TheSpaceExplorers.com
Radio & Television Packagers, Inc.
William Cayton - Producer
Fred Ladd - Director, Animation
The Space Explorers and The New Adventures of the Space Explorers by CARTOON CLASSICS© are Copyrighted by Radio & Television Packagers, Inc.
All original images and multimedia sound clips are courtesy of Radio & Television Packagers, Inc. and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of Radio and Television Packagers Inc.
Animatoons™ is a trademark of Radio & Television Packagers, Inc.
On DVD soon. Shown on TV stations in the 1950's and early 1960's. This was a rare and obscure classic early-morning cartoon series about a space rescue mission to Mars by a boy searching for his lost astronaut father with the help of the wise "Professor Nordheim" and a strange co-pilot named "Smitty the Navigator." The rocket spaceship named "Polaris" had a large clear front window where all the oncoming stars and asteroids and other planets could be seen. There was also a cool red blinking light with a beeping sound called the "Iridium Detector."
First to air in 1958, it is rated by some as one of the #1 factual early space cartoons, because the writers used consultants from the United Stated Air Force (USAF) and the Hayden Planetarium Planetarium to encourage young children to develop an interest in space research and travel.
Trivia collector's will want to know that the very first television airing of The Space Explorers feature film was shown in 1958 by Claude Kirchner on WOR-TV, Channel 9, in New York.
Please share this with other people you know that may remember it. The DVD may be released soon.
* Official website is TheSpaceExplorers.com
Radio & Television Packagers, Inc.
William Cayton - Producer
Fred Ladd - Director, Animation
The Space Explorers and The New Adventures of the Space Explorers by CARTOON CLASSICS© are Copyrighted by Radio & Television Packagers, Inc.
All original images and multimedia sound clips are courtesy of Radio & Television Packagers, Inc. and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of Radio and Television Packagers Inc.
Animatoons™ is a trademark of Radio & Television Packagers, Inc.
