Rating:  -
My husband and I remember this show as a child. I even have a Superfriends pillow case. Our 6 year old son loves superheroes. The shows on TV now just seem so overstimulating and we decided not to let him watch them. This is the good old basic superhero show.....nothing fancy. We loved sharing it with our son and he knows we use to watch it when we were young...good old Saturday morning cartoons. I think it is a geat investment for anyone from 4-8 years old, especially boys!!! Enjoy!!
Rating:  -
For the 1984-85 season, Hanna-Barbera produced its latest and next-to-last Superfriends incarnation: SUPER FRIENDS: THE LEGENDARY SUPER POWERS SHOW, the "Super Powers" tag being added so as to tie in with Kenner's action figure line. I know I nagged my parents for some of them neat action figures (I think I still have Flash and his kicking legs somewhere). Superfriends was a regular Saturday morning staple which I'd much looked forward to in my childhood. But I have to admit that the more sophisticated kids of today would find these very simplistic episodes beneath them. Nowadays, the Superfriends series is appreciated and savored mostly by nostalgia buffs and by "kids" of my generation.
Heroes are only as good as their villains. This time around, the show discards well-intentioned scientists who've strayed off the righteous path (well,excepting "Island of the Dinosoids"). This particular season introduces a decided upgrading in supervillainy. The regal Darkseid, whose malevolent presence is felt in seven episodes, shows up to inflict misery on the Superfriends even as he crushes on Wonder Woman (as a side note, does anyone else think that he sounds like an evil Cookie Monster? No? Okay.). Brainiac reappears, this time oozing more palpable menace in his revamped, now metallic skeleton guise. Luthor also swings by, and in a power suit, natch. On the side of the angels, the matter-converting teen superhero Firestorm, he of the surprising secret identity, debuts and gets a lot of face time. Other heroes don't fare as well. Word to the wise: Despite Aquaman and the Flash showing up in the opening credits, neither makes an appearance in this season.
Around this time, the show had apparently received a mandate from the high muck-a-mucks to present a more ethnically diverse cast. Thus, Black Vulcan (the cool-costumed electricity emitter), Apache Chief (size shifter), El Dorado (telepath), and Samurai (wind master) are showcased more prominently, with each actually taking turns in saving the day. The writers and animators meant well, but the results of this racial integration come off more as clumsy and even condescending. But, hey, it's the thought that counts, right? And I guess this did pave the way for superheroes like John Stewart's GL, Static Shock, and even Stan Lee's dubious The Condor.
The extra features (which are decent) go more into it, but, regarding animated shows, there were very strict codes being held up back in the day. As well as other issues. Did you know, for example, that Darkseid became a major bone of contention as it was felt that the spelling of his name might aggravate the German fans? As well, heavy restrictions were placed on cartoon combat which severely limited the action sequences. In fact, I don't recall seeing anyone hit anyone else with their fists or feet in these shows. Firestorm saved a lot of hair pulling on the writers' part as, a lot of times, he resolved a lot of the conflicts by merely pointing and doing his thing. Less violent? Certainly. Boring? Infinitely.
SUPER FRIENDS: THE LEGENDARY SUPER POWERS SHOW - THE COMPLETE SERIES is comprised of 16 episodes, each about 10 to 11 minutes long. This exercise in brevity means that each episode moved briskly, as opposed to the prior hour-long episodes which sometimes just draaaagged. Of course, the downside with having these short episodes is that no time at all is spent in character or plot development. But, then again, if you're a 6-year-old kid criticizing a TV character's motivation, then you need to be put in a corner and given Sandman comic books. Anyway, yes, the animation is crude and the stories are more campy than interesting. SUPER FRIENDS: THE LEGENDARY SUPER POWERS SHOW, as well as most of the other Superfriends versions, are more quaint than anything else. Old school charm. Yeah, that's what it's got going for it. Oh, and Adam West as Batman. Three and a half stars for this one, as nostalgia wins out.
Disc One:
Episodes 1 & 2 - "The Bride of Darkseid (Parts 1 & 2)" - The Superfriends are bemused as a mysterious new superhero gallivants around the country saving the day. Meanwhile, Darkseid, in search of a bride, has his eye on Wonder Woman.
Episode 3 - "The Wrath of Brainiac" - The re-tooled Brainiac creates robotic doppelgangers of Superman and Wonder Woman, with a final assist from Darkseid. Darkseid, by the way, again proposes to Wonder Woman.
Episode 4 - "Reflections in Crime" - One by one, Mirror Master traps the Superfriends in the 6th Dimension (the dimension behind mirrors), until, finally, only Samurai is left.
Episode 5 - "No Honor Among Thieves" - Darkseid and Luthor siphon off the Superfriends' powers and then begin backstabbing each other. Darkseid proposes to Wonder Woman for the 3rd time.
Episode 6 - "Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Magic Lamp" - The mischievous other-dimensional imp passes himself off as a genie and begins harassing the superheroes.
Episode 7 - "The Case of the Shrinking Super Friends" - Left in charge of the Hall of Justice, the junior members of the Superfriends go up against Lex Luthor, who shrinks them. Featuring the Wonder Twins. Cameo by Green Lantern (Hal Jordan).
Episode 8 - "The Mask of Mystery" - The bumbling Captain Mystery fits perfectly into Luthor's scheme to destroy the Superfriends.
Episode 9 & 10 - "Darkseid's Golden Trap (Parts 1 & 2)" - An intergalactic underworld auction puts up rare gold kryptonite for bidding. Later, El Dorado challenges Kalibak on the Moon of Games.
Disc One Special Features: somewhat revealing episode commentaries by DC Comics writer and historian Mark Waid and various writers of the series on "The Wrath of Brainiac," "No Honor Among Thieves," and "The Mask of Mystery."
Disc Two:
Episode 11 - "Island of the Dinosoids" - A mad scientist transforms various animals into their dinosaur counterparts and Batman and Wonder Woman into dinosoids.
Episode 12 - "Uncle Mxyzptlk" - Superman is exposed to red kryptonite and reverts to a little boy, and a bratty one, at that. Mxyzptlk pops in to make things even more miserable to Samurai, Firestorm, and the Wonder Twins.
Episode 13 - "The Case of the Dreadful Dolls" - The Dollmaker has magic mud and, with it, he'll take over the minds of the Superfriends. This one's right up El Dorado's alley.
Episode 14 - "The Royal Ruse" - An alien princess, whose planet has been invaded by Darkseid, begs for assistance from the Superfriends.
Episode 15 - "The Village of Lost Souls" - While on a hike, Apache Chief and the Wonder Twins stumble into a mining town crawling with zombified inhabitants.
Episode 16 - "The Curator" - A beam from outer space causes the world's most famous landmarks to vanish.
Special Features: Episode commentaries (again by Mark Waid and various series writers) on "The Case of the Dreadful Dolls" and "The Royal Ruse"; the two featurettes "Evolution: New Heroes, Viler Villains and Ethnic Additions - How Super Friends Prefigured the Era of Cultural Diversity in Animation" (18 minutes, and interesting) and "The Super Powers Collection: The Effect of the Toy Industry on the Super Friends" (7 minutes).
Rating: -
Long before The Justice League animated series on the Cartoon Network there was the Super Friends on Saturday Morning TV. Premiering in 1973, the Super Friends went through various incarnations over the years until the final season during 1985 - 1986. The show featured a number of DC Comics' superheroes but the mainstays were Batman & Robin, Superman, and Wonder Woman. The show was geared toward Saturday Morning TV viewers and not comic book fans. Thus the stories were more simplistic and the violence was toned down quite a bit. One thing that the Super Friends did was to introduce ethnically diverse heroes to Saturday Morning TV with an African American (Black Vulcan), a Native American (Apache Chief), an Asian (Samurai) and a Hispanic (El Dorado)
This particular series, The Legendary Super Powers, was a rather ingenious media tie-in with Kenner Toys' line of action figures called the Super Powers Collection. This is truly one of the great action figure lines of all time. First, the line featured many characters who would not be seen in action figure form until the DC Direct series. This included Red Tornado, Dr. Fate, Martian Manhunter, and Captain Marvel. In addition, many of the figures were short-packed, creating instant collectibles for figures such as Cyborg, Plastic Man, and Mr. Miracle. It was a great line of toys.
Onto the DVD...The Two Disc set includes the complete, 16 episode series to go along with some nice special features. No one will ever accuse Hanna-Barbera of producing great animation, at least not in the 70's and 80's. Animation was still on the downslide prior to being revived by Disney in the late 80's and early 90's. Hanna-Barbera did what they do very well...and that was produce animated shows quickly and cheaply and it's a far cry from today's animated TV shows.
Each episode runs about 9 - 11 minutes in length and there are a couple of two-parters on here as well. The First episode, "The Bride of Darkseid" (a two-parter) introduces Firestorm. This is the first version of the character who is made up of teenager Ronnie Raymond and Professor Stein. The mysterious new hero aids the Super Friends and is soon welcomed into their ranks to help battle Darkseid who has kidnapped Wonder Woman and intends to make her his bride. The hilarious thing about Firestorm is that the flames atop his head never move, making him look like he's wearing some kind of a goofy hat. That's just one of the many corners that Hanna-Barbera cut to keep costs down.
In, "The Wrath of Brainiac", the new and improved Brainiac is introduced in his new robotic body as he and Darkseid join forces to destroy the Super Friends. "The Royal Ruse", "Island of the Dinosoids" and "Darkseid's Golden Trap are other standout episodes. The disc comes with commentary on five of the shorts by the episode's original writer, and comic writer/historian Mark Waid. These provide some insightful and often humorous revelations about the constraints placed on the writers on how they had to present the heroes. There are two special features on the set, the first a look at the previously mentioned cultural diversity of the Super Friends; and the second a look at the Super Powers Toy line.
The Commentaries and documentaries are very good and worth the price of the set alone. Yes the animation is very outdated and the stories are rather juvenile but taken within the context of the era they were produced, the Super Friends was still a great series and its nice to see these on DVD. Total run time is 179 minutes.
REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON
Rating: -
I title this review after a phrase that was uttered by El Dorado, the super-hero whose main power is creating hologram's. This series of SUPERFRIENDS is the next-to-last installment of the classic era. It was followed by SUPER POWERS TEAM: GALACTIC GUARDIANS in 1985. The super-hero that the writers were spotlighting the most was Firestorm, a hero with an unusual alter-ego. Firestorm was one half of Professor Stein. See, college student Ronald Raymond got tangled up in an experiment gone wrong by the Professor. As a result of the freak accident, both Ronald and the Professor if they concentrate could fuse into the super-hero, Firestorm. There are 8 episodes on this collection...each episode contained two segments that range 10-11 minutes each. Each segment is counted as an "episode" and therefore the DVD is promoted as having 16 episodes. 5 episodes {broken down into 10 short segments} appear on DVD #1 while the final 3 episodes {broken down into 6 short segments} appear on DVD #2. Lex Luthor makes several appearances...he is toned down somewhat because he plays opposite Darkseid in "NO HONOR AMONG THIEVES". The writers must have felt that the strong-willed, ruthless Luthor from CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS wasn't needed because of Darkseid, a demonic villain from the planet Apokolips, and so they played Luthor's character pretty much for laughs. Luthor appears in NO HONOR AMONG THIEVES, THE CASE OF THE SHRINKING SUPERFRIENDS, and THE MASK OF MYSTERY. Brainiac, as he appeared in the comic books in the mid 1980's, shows up in robotic skeletal form in these episodes THE WRATH OF BRAINIAC {where he goes one on one with Darkseid} and THE VILLAGE OF LOST SOULS {about an island of zombie slaves}. One of the highlights, among the appearance of Luthor and Brainiac, is Mirror Master and Doll Maker...in the short REFLECTIONS IN CRIME, Mirror Master traps several of the Superfriends behind mirrors {the 6th Dimension as it's explained}. In a funny scene, Superman is flying around looking into mirrors trying to get help when he looks into one mirror and a lady screams...Superman says something like: "I'm sorry, Miss..." and then flies off talking to himself: "i gotta be more careful...". The 5th dimensional joker, Mr Mxyzptlk, appears in MR MXYZPTLK AND THE MAGIC LAMP about a petty crook who believes Myxzptlk to be a genie...the story is basically a series of practical jokes against the SUPERFRIENDS...ending with the villain tricked into saying his last name backwards...sending him back to the 5th Dimension. His other appearance is in UNCLE MXYZPTLK where the Wonder Twins find red kryptonite and innocently expose it to Superman...who turns into a small kid as a result. The other Superfriends refer to the boy as "Super Brat". The story is played for laughs...Mxyzptlk trying to win over Super-Brat's attention in a series of stunts to prove he's more popular than the Superfriends. Darkseid appears in much of the cartoon shorts...one stand-out is DARKSEID's GOLDEN TRAP, which airs in 2 parts. That episode focuses on gold kryptonite...which according to the Superman history is an element that strips Superman of his powers forever. THE CURATOR closes out the collection...that episode features Samuri and Firestorm tracking down an intergalactic museum curator who's stealing landmarks from around the globe. In THE CASE OF THE DREADFUL DOLLS, the Superfriends are up against Doll Maker...sort of a voo-doo villain who makes clay dolls of the Superfriends for a strange plot. Throughout much of Darkseid's appearances, there is always this love he has for Wonder Woman. From the start of THE BRIDE OF DARKSEID and continuing on through the other episodes that feature Darkseid as the villain, it was always made clear that Darkseid has a soft-spot for Wonder Woman. The voices of the characters remained the same except for two notable changes. Batman was no longer voiced by Olan Soule...instead, Adam West was called in to voice Batman. West had portrayed Batman in the live-action TV show in the mid '60s. Olan Soule, on the otherhand, was called upon to voice Professor Stein, one half of Firestorm. In the episode ISLAND OF THE DINOSOIDS, there's a lengthy scene between Professor Stein and Batman. Lex Luthor's base of operations in this series is "L Island". Darkseid, his son, Kalibak, and henchman, Dessad, hail from Apocolips. Brainiac holds fort in his Starship. Mxyzptlk roams freely once he leaves the 5th Dimension until he's sent back to the 5th dimension "for 90 days" if tricked into saying his last name backward. BJ Ward took over the role of Wonder Woman in this series...previously the character had been voiced by Shannon Farnon for years. William Woodson was once again on hand to narrate the action. All in all this is a great installment of SUPERFRIENDS.
Rating: -
This is the 6th installment of Super-Friends, Here are all the others and air dates (1973) Super Friends(16 Episodes), (1977) All-New Super Friends Hour (47 Episodes), (1978) Challenge of the Super Friends (32 Episodes), (1979) The Worlds Greatest Super Friends (8 Episodes), (1980-1983) Super Friends (66 Episodes), (1984) Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers (16 Episodes) and finally (1985) The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (10 Epsidoes)
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