"Hilariously, Pop, the guy who owns and runs the school, is played by Scatman Crothers, who is the absolute last person who could convincingly play a karate master. He barely even tries to seem like a martial artist, although he does throw a couple of unconvincing punches in one fight scene."
Crothers was the voice of the animated cartoon character Hong Kong Phooey, a similarly inept karate "expert", in a series that debuted around the same time. I'm pretty sure that the people at Hanna-Barbera who developed the show saw this movie and decided to imagine Pop in Black Belt's place...
"Hilariously, Pop, the guy who owns and runs the school, is played by Scatman Crothers, who is the absolute last person who could convincingly play a karate master. He barely even tries to seem like a martial artist, although he does throw a couple of unconvincing punches in one fight scene."
Crothers was the voice of the animated cartoon character Hong Kong Phooey, a similarly inept karate "expert", in a series that debuted around the same time. I'm pretty sure that the people at Hanna-Barbera who developed the show saw this movie and decided to imagine Pop in Black Belt's place...
Oh wow, I had no idea Scatman Crothers was the voice of Hong Kong Phooey! That's an interesting connection, and I wonder which one came first.