Lassie's Rescue Rangers was a lackluster and generally disappointing follow-up to Filmation's ABC Saturday Superstar Movie Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain. While all of the characters returned and much of the animation from the film was re-used for the series. The new animation was generally unimpressive, especially compared against some of the better footage from the film, which boasted impressive moments and had approached the earlier The Hardy Boys quality wise. Lassie's Rescue Rangers had none of the style or nice looking backgrounds of these earlier cartoons, a point all too painfully obvious.

Lassie and the Turner family were still hard at work, saving people and the wilderness alike from the likes of forest fires, tidal waves, and even drug smugglers.

After the promise of Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain, which was included in the series package as a two-part episode, it is a shame that Lassie's Rescue Rangers disappoints, but Filmation would at least right the ship with that year's Star Trek and later with Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. The series was also later released as part of The Groovie Goolies and Friends syndicated package. Several of the episodes have been previously released on VHS by Family Home Entertainment, including "Spirit of Thunder Mountain" and "Lost" on one tape. They are not easy to find, but ebay is a pretty good bet.

Lassie

Rescue 1

Group shot

Family