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Miss Minerva - Beautiful
golden-haired mermaid queen featured on the live-action children's marionette
adventure DIVER DAN/SYN/1961.
Miss Minerva, Trigger Fish & The Baron
Beneath the waves of the Sargasso Sea, the kind Miss Minerva (Suzanne
Turner) interacted with Diver Dan (Frank Freda), an intrepid
human who explored the ocean depths in his metal-domed diving
outfit.
Their nemesis was
Baron Barracuda and his stooge sidekick Trigger
Fish who live in a cave by Teetering Rock. They were continually
hatching plans to take over the bottom of the sea.
Other fishy friends of Miss Minerva included: Finley
Haddock; Gabby the Clam; Gill-Espie, a bongo-playing beatnik
fish; Glow Fish who lived by the Bottomless Pit; Goldie the
Goldfish; Hammer-head Shark; Hermit Crab; Sawfish Sam; Doc
Sturgeon; Georgie Porgie; Scoutfish who sported an Indian tomahawk and feathers; Sea Biscuit
the Seahorse; and Skipper Kipper. Allen Swift provided the
voices for all the marionettes.
The DIVER DAN show was produced by Hal Tunis and Louis Kellman.
The program was inspired by the comic strip Fish Tales
created by John Ferlaine.
To achieve a real watery
experience, the show's cameras filmed the action through an
aquarium filled with real fish.
Filmed like a serial with
cliffhanger endings, the locally syndicated program consists of
104 episodes that ran seven minutes in length.
Puppeteers John Caracciolo, Martin Kreiner and Harold B. Taylor manipulated the
show's marionettes.
"The Ballad of Diver Dan"
(written by Jack Sky)
Below in the deep there's adventure and danger;
That's where you'll find Diver Dan!
The sights that he sees are surprising and stranger
Than ever you'll see on the land!
He moves among creatures
Of frightening features:
Flashing teeth, slashing jaws,
Flapping fins, snapping claws!
He protects and he saves
His friends under the waves;
That's where you'll find Diver Dan!
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