Shazzan

Shazzan was a Saturday morning cartoon, created by Alex Toth and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1967) for CBS. The series followed the adventures of two teen-aged siblings (Chuck and his sister Nancy) traveling around a mystical Arabian world, mounted on Kaboobie the flying camel. During their journey they face several dangers, but they're always helped by Shazzan, a genie with magical powers out of this world.

The intro to the cartoons and the first episode give this plot description: "Inside a cave on the Maine coast, Chuck (voiced by Jerry Dexter) and Nancy (voiced by Janet Waldo) find a mysterious chest containing the two halves of a ring. When they join the rings, the word Shazzan is formed. After uttering this magic command, the twosome are transported to the magical kingdom of the Arabian Nights. Here they find the genie Shazzan (voiced by Barney Phillips). Shazzan presents them with Kaboobie (voiced by Don Messick), a flying magical camel. Shazzan will serve them every time when they call him, but they cannot return home until they take back the rings to their rightful owner. And so, they start their fantastic voyages."

This animated series is notable for several reasons: for having an Arabian Nights setting, for featuring very imaginatively designed villains and locations, and for the fact that Shazzan was literally invincible- for all their boasts, nothing the villains ever did could hurt Shazzan, and in fact, he laughed at their threats and defeated them in imaginative, often embarrassing ways. In addition to the Shazzan rings, Chuck and Nancy were also equipped with other magical items, such as a rope that would move on command and a cloak that made the wearer invisible.

Trivia

Shazzan is not to be confused with Shazam!, the 1970s comic book/television revival of Golden Age super hero Captain Marvel, created by C.C. Beck.
Robert Smigel's TV Funhouse created a parody of Shazzan, appearing on the May 14, 2005 broadcast of Saturday Night Live. The parody, entitled "Shazzang!", depicted the genie Shazzan(g) quickly defeating the villain, but then maiming and executing the villain in an increasingly sadistic fashion, to the consternation of Chuck, Nancy, and Kaboobie. The parody was generally well-received, but some viewers found the segment to be excessively violent and disturbing.

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