7 Saturday Morning Cartoons That Battled the Cthulhu Mythos

3 – The Prank Call of Cthulu

While most entries on this list play the works of Lovecraft completely straight; some creators have tried creating a more comedic version of the Cthulhu Mythos. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy had an episode named “The Prank Call of Cthulu” (a play on the novel The Call of Cthulhu that had the first appearance of the titular god) where Billy and Mandy interact with a more light-hearted version of Cthulhu (spelled Cthulu in the episode), one who loves golf and whose skin is a delightful shade of lilac.

The story takes a more literal interpretation of the name Call of Cthulhu, as in this story it refers to a literal phone call made by him. Every time Cthulu prank calls someone, the recipient transforms into a tentacle monster like he is. Due to everyone in their hometown being turned into squid monsters, Billy and Mandy work out a plan to stop him. Cthulu is tricked by Mandy into attacking Grim through the phone lines, but she hangs up the phone while he is halfway through, trapping him in the space between the phone lines and his phone is destroyed, preventing his escape. This puts Mandy in the same power tier as the Justice League, as she also managed to dispose of Cthulu without too much trouble.

2 – Ben 10 vs Dagon

While Cthulhu is the most well-known of the Lovecraft creations, he is not the only who gets used in the work of others. Most recently was Hastur, aka the King in Yellow who was featured prominently in the first series of True Detective (although technically he was created by Ambrose Bierce; Lovecraft referenced Hastur in his own stories and he is considered an official part of the Mythos). Another Elder God who keeps showing up is Dagon, a being who is considered a lesser power compared to Cthulhu but is still mighty in his own right. Dagon got his time in the spotlight when he showed up as a villain in the popular cartoon series Ben 10, where he is named Diagon and is portrayed as the most powerful force of evil in the universe.

Diagon appears as a recurring villain throughout the series, first appearing in murals as an ancient godlike creature who brought technology to mankind and as a result was worshipped as a deity. It is rumoured throughout the series that anyone who possesses Diagon’s heart would allow someone to shape the universe. When he finally appears in the series he resembles a giant disembodied squid head with bright red eyes, essentially resembling Cthulhu (if he was beheaded). He is a creature of pure power, which turns out to be his downfall as he is defeated by the alien warlord Vilgax, who creates a weapon that can drain energy, which manages to destroy Diagon as he has no physical form beyond his own power. So Dagon is basically beaten on a technicality, kind of like the Witch King of Angmar only way less empowering.

1 – The Real Ghostbusters vs Cathulhu

Despite the importance of the works of H.P. Lovecraft to the genre of horror, there have been very few good adaptations of his books done in the film & television industry. While several video games have managed to capture the spirit of his work (such as Eternal Darkness on the GameCube), the motion picture industry has never quite grasped the subtlety of Lovecraft’s work.

That is with one notable exception…

Of all of the various attempts at adapting Lovecraft, no series has ever captured the essence of his work better than The Real Ghostbusters. That’s right, the Ghostbusters cartoon from the late eighties/early nineties was the one show that managed to grasp cosmic horror in its purest form.

The episode in question is named “The Collect Call of Cathulhu”. It starts with the Necronomicon being stolen from Miskatonic University, and due to the supernatural nature of the crime, the Ghostbusters are called to the scene. They follow the trail into the sewers and do battle with some Deep Ones. Upon realizing that their weapons don’t work, they are forced to flee (a major Lovecraft trope as very few real world weapons can harm monsters).

With no more leads, the Ghostbusters seek out a professor of Occult Sciences named Alice Derleth who puts them on the trail of an evil Cathulhu worshiping cult. The cult manages to summon a Shuggoth (a take on the Shoggoth) who helps them battle another Shuggoth. Alice reveals that she too can cast magic and turns the beast to stone. Ray then uses clues written by Lovecraft himself to track the evil cult to the docks where they are performing a ritual to summon Cathulhu. The Ghostbusters arrive too late and the summoning is successful, Cathulhu is brought into our world and it is up to the Ghostbusters to come up with a plan to stop him, even though this god is far more powerful than even Gozer was.

Anyone who is a fan of H.P. Lovecraft owes it to themselves to watch this episode. It perfectly manages to capture the feel of a few individuals standing against evil cosmic forces and only just surviving. While the PG nature of the programming prevents the show from going too far into the adult nature of the horror; this cartoon that was intended to sell toys to kids somehow managed to adapt the works of Lovecraft better than any TV show or movie ever could. While the upcoming reboot of Ghostbusters is looking more like a train wreck with each passing day; fans of the series can still have this treasure of an episode, where the only bloated, unfunny face belongs to Cathulhu himself and not Melissa McCarthy.

Previously by Scott Baird
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