The show follows the adventures of the title character, Pac-Man, his wife Pepper Pac-Man, their child Pac-Baby, their dog Chomp-Chomp and their cat Sour Puss. The family lives in Pac-Land, a place in which the geography and architecture seem to revolve primarily around sphere-like shapes. Most episodes of the series center around the ongoing battle between the Pac family and their only known enemies, the Ghost Monsters: Blinky, Inky, Pinky, Clyde, and Sue. They work for Mezmaron, whose sole mission is to locate and control the source of "Power Pellets", which serve as the primary food and power source for the city, and also is the deus ex machina in virtually every episode. The second season later introduces Super-Pac and Pac-Man's teenage cousin P.J.
Influence
The show's initial success inspired ABC's rival CBS to create Saturday Supercade, which featured other video game characters from the golden age of video arcade games. Even some of the next Namco games were based on or influenced from the cartoon. Pac-Land and are major examples. Also, the Tengen release of the original Pac-Manarcade game for the Nintendo Entertainment System features box art based on the cartoon.
Aired as part of The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show
Season 2 (1983)
Aired as part of The Pac-Man/Rubik, the Amazing Cube Hour.
Specials
''Pac-Man Halloween Special''
The Halloween special consisted of two segments from the show, "Pacula" and "Trick or Chomp". The special aired in primetime on ABC on October 30, 1982. It has been replayed on channels like Cartoon Network and Boomerang during Halloween in recent years.
''Christmas Comes to Pac-Land''
Christmas Comes to Pac-Land In this Christmas special, Pac-Man and his family help Santa Claus after he crash lands in Pac-Land. Mezmeron was the only character from the cartoon that is not in the special. It is shown every December on the Boomerang Christmas Party.
Since the original run, reruns have turned up on the USACartoon Express on USA in the 1980s, Cartoon Network from 1995 to 1999, and Boomerang from 2000 to 2014. The Christmas-themed episode currently airs each year as part of The Boomerang Christmas Party, an annual marathon of classic Christmas cartoons, but otherwise is not included in the channel's rotation. The show has also been aired a few times on Toonami. The series is also available for purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace. In the United Kingdom it was first Broadcast on TVAM as a part of the Roland Rat show.
Home media
In 1982, Worldvision Home Video Inc. distributed a Pac-Man and Family VHS in Australia and featured the episodes, Pacula, Trick or Chomp, Super Ghosts, The Pac-Man in the Moon, Invasion of the Pac-Pups, Journey to the Center of Pacland and the special Christmas Comes to Pacland. In 2012, Warner Archive released both seasons of Pac-Man on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection. The first season was released on January 31, 2012, followed by the release of the second season on September 11, 2012.
