If it weren't for the lips, it'd be a filmstrip! All 260 episodes of animated adventurer Clutch Cargo presented in their original broadcast order. Each story centers around Clutch Cargo, a writer and pilot with a muscular build, a white flat-top hair cut and rugged good looks. As is typical of adventure serials, Clutch Cargo is sent around the world on dangerous assignments. Accompanying him on the assignments are his young ward Spinner and his pet dachshund, Paddlefoot. Because of budgetary limitations and the pressure to create television animation within a tight time frame, Clutch Cargo was the first to use the "Syncro-Vox" optical printing system which superimposes live-action human lips over limited-motion animation or even motionless animation cels. Perhaps because of its unique style, Clutch Cargo has been referred to and parodied many times in contemporary pop culture. In 1990, clips from Clutch Cargo were run on The Comedy Channel (later Comedy Central). They plugged it with "If it weren't for the lips, it'd be a filmstrip!" In 1994, Quentin Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction included a scene in which a character was watching Clutch Cargo. And, for several years, the late-night television talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien frequently included fake interviews with celebrities in which live video of the impersonator's lips is superimposed over a still photo of the celebrity.
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