Sport Billy

Sport Billy was originally a German comic character created by Rolf Deyhle in 1977, and already had a presence in Europe and parts of Latin America.^[10][11][12] The comics were written and drawn by Walter Neugebauer, Gisela Künstner and Kurt Italiaander, and followed the sporting adventures of Billy, his friends Susy and Dickie (who was later dropped from the comics), and his dog Hannibal.^{[13][14][15][16][17]} Sport Billy Productions, owners of the Sport Billy franchise, licensed the property to the American studio Filmation so it could create a cartoon based on the character. As a European character, Sport Billy's main sport was football, and this was reflected in the introductory sequence of the program.^[18][19][20] Susy and Hannibal were renamed "Lilly" and "Willy".^[16][17]

Sport Billy was adopted by FIFA as the Fair Play Mascot for FIFA World Cups, and a trophy of the character was presented to the most sporting team at each World Cup including the 1978 Tournament. The character was internationally used as a mascot in many sporting youth programs, for the purpose of promoting sportsmanship and fair play.^{[10][11][12][18][20][17]}

The series consisted of 26 episodes. It first premiered in Germany and was also shown in the United Kingdom, Cannes, France, Gibraltar, Italy, Yugoslavia, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Turkey, Peru, Mexico, Portugal, Romania, Czechoslovakia and other countries.^{[10][11][12][21][1][2][3][19][22][17]} Sport Billy was voiced by Lane Scheimer, the son of producer Lou Scheimer, who voiced the Olympian Computer. Sport Lilly, Queen Vanda and Pandusa were voiced by Joyce Bulifant, and Willy, Sportikus XI, Sipe and Poco were voiced by Frank Welker.^[20] The series was scheduled for broadcast on NBC in the United States in the fall of 1980, ready to pick up an audience on the back of US success in Moscow. Unfortunately, the Soviet-Afghan War led to a boycott of the Olympic Games by the US, almost bankrupting NBC. US audiences were less than enthused by the replacement event, the Liberty Bell Classic, a 29-country event that saw the home nation carry off twenty of the 33 gold medals on offer, and the series was shelved for two years until after the World Cup of 1982,^[17] when it aired as a summer replacement for The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends in NBC's Saturday morning children's programming.^{[4][1][5][6][7][8][9][23]} In contrast to its international success, the series did fewer numbers in syndication than Rocky and Bullwinkle, The Jetsons and Jonny Quest, but more than The Space Kidettes, The Roman Holidays and Samson & Goliath.^[24]

In addition to its broadcast in Germany and Cannes, the series was also shown as a feature film on Showtime and HBO in 1980 and RTÉ2 in 1986, written by Reubin Guberman, produced by William L. Cooper Jr. and Wolfgang Stein, and directed by Peter Fernandez. All the voices in the film were redubbed by Fernandez, Corinne Orr and Lionel Wilson to fit in the new script for linking the episodes together. The film was released split in parts as "episodes" on VHS in the UK.^{[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][17]}

The story revolves around a young boy named Sport Billy, who is from the planet Olympus (a twin of Earth on the opposite side of the Sun), which is populated by athletic god-like beings, ruled by the benevolent President Sportikus XI and his wife, Pandusa. Billy himself has a magic size-changing gym bag, the Omni-Sack, which produces various tools as he needs them. He travels to Earth on a mission to promote teamwork and sportsmanship. Described by the show's theme song as a "hero from another planet", Billy battles the evil Queen Vanda and her gnome-like henchman, Sipe. Vanda's mission is to destroy all sports in the galaxy since fairness disgusts her.

Billy is assisted by two faithful companions, his girlfriend named Lilly and her talking dog named Willy. The trio travels around in a time traveling spaceship named the Timeship, which is mounted on two rocket engines and resembles a giant wind-up clock, complete with a ringing bell. In each episode the trio travels through time in order to save a different Earth sport from Vanda's grasp.^[20]

• Lane Scheimer as Sport Billy
• Joyce Bulifant as Sport Lilly, Queen Vanda, Pandusa, additional voices
• Frank Welker as Willy, Sipe, Poco, Sportikus XI, additional voices
• Lou Scheimer (uncredited) as Olympian Computer, additional voices
• Corinne Orr (uncredited) as Sport Billy, Sport Lilly, Queen Vanda, Pandusa, additional voices (film)
• Lionel Wilson (uncredited) as Willy, Sipe, Olympian Computer, additional voices (film)
• Peter Fernandez (uncredited) as Sportikus XI, Narrator, additional voices (film)

• Developed by Arthur Nadel
• Writers: Paul Aratow, Paul Dini, Dan DiStefano, Barry Gaines, Jack Hanrahan, Martha Humphreys, Coslough Johnson, Ted Pedersen, Tom Ruegger

In addition to this series, there were also ten 30-second public service announcements produced by Michael Sporn Animation for syndicated TV during the general period when the series aired. These spots also taught the value of fair play and sportsmanship, but without the plot of the series.^[39][40][41]

During the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, in which Argentina participated, Buenos Aires-based music label Tonodisc S.A. held a mass casting to create a children's musical group that would promote sports through music and encourage Argentina in that World Cup. The group was named "Sport-Billy", and consisted of Fabiana Íncola, Analía Santos, Luis Gasparini, Marcelo Ragonesse and Walter Ferreyra. They released their first album on December 5, 1981, with their songs produced and directed by Bubby Lavecchia.^[42][43] In May 1982, they visited Peru to promote themselves and perform at the Estádio Nacional and the Jesús Obrero Coliseum in Comas, as well as in other towns in the country such as Iquitos, Tacna, Trujillo and Piura. In Lima, they were interviewed on various popular radio stations of the time, such as Radio Miraflores, Radio Panamericana, Radio 1160, and Radio Onda Popular Perú. The group also performed on Show del Tío Pepe on Radio Unión, with a multitudinous reception from the auditorium of said station.^[42]

In December 1982, Sport-Billy returned on their second visit to Peru and again visited the radio stations. This time, the songs were slightly more oriented toward youth, such as "100 kilos de barro" and "Medley a Triny Lopez". Sport-Billy performed again at the Estádio Nacional to modest success. They also performed on Segunda Teletón on Panamericana Televisión. According to Íncola, "That night of the presentation at the Estádio Nacional I was very sick, with a fever, but I got over it and went out to perform, and with the love of the public I was cured."^[42]

It was not until 1983 that Sport-Billy launched in Peru, with its second album on records and cassettes promoted by Panamericana Televisión. At that time in Argentina, amidst bitter discussions between the parents of the children and the record company, they released a shared album with the Spanish group Sus Amigos/Viva's (made up of former members of Parchis) entitled Vamos a la Playa. This album, although never released in the country, was promoted by Sport-Billy's fan club on different stations hoping for a return of the group. Shortly after the release of that album came Superagentes y titanes, an Argentine catch-up film in which Sport-Billy participated with two songs from their second album and two unreleased songs. The film was released in neighborhood theaters in Lima such as the now-defunct Cines México and Cines Bolívar. After this, the group broke up and Tonodisc ceased operations.^[42][44]

Since the group's last visit to Peru, Sport-Billy's fan club grew over time and became the radio station Sol Frecuencia Primera. In December 2008, the station's director and founder, journalist Sandro Parodi Cerna, interviewed Íncola (now a mother of three children) via telephone in Episode 43 of the journalist program Extremos, to the surprise of the former singer.^[42][45] Íncola recorded a song by the group Sin Bandera, "Que Me Alcance la Vida", although she stated that she no longer dedicates herself professionally to singing. This brought about a "nostalgic rebirth" of Sport-Billy on social networks in Latin America. Íncola and Ragonesse receive hundreds of admirers on Facebook to this day.^[42]