Why didn't Aquaman get water projecting abilities in Superfriends?

[Antiyonder]

Aquaman is more known and spoofed for his Superfriends appearances where all he can do is talk to sea creatures and swim. Of course that is due in part to the censors preventing the characters from being able to throw a punch or a kick.

As brought up in the recent Batman The Brave And The Bold talkback:
Aquaman used his hard water ball attacks and aqua shapes (a sword and a shield) in addition to his telepathy.

Any idea as to why they didn't incorporate those attacks in Superfriends? Heck, the Filmation Aquaman cartoon used the water balls.

[Spider-Friends]

Aquaman is more known and spoofed for his Superfriends appearances where all he can do is talk to sea creatures and swim. Of course that is due in part to the censors preventing the characters from being able to throw a punch or a kick.

As brought up in the recent Batman The Brave And The Bold talkback:

Any idea as to why they didn't incorporate those attacks in Superfriends? Heck, the Filmation Aquaman cartoon used the water balls.

I didn't even know those existed...but I'm pretty familiar with 80's censorship.

1. Hurling anything to hit someone would have been considered as bad as a punch.
2. There weren't any real comic fans writing the show. If the show's bible didn't mention any powers beside the telepathy then the writers would have thought that any other powers weren't to be used.

[Tobias]

We barely saw Superman showing off his main powers beyond flight and superstrength, yet alone Wonder Woman being SEVERELY depowered, so I doubt they'd make any special exceptions for Aquaman.

[hobbyfan]

Aquaman is more known and spoofed for his Superfriends appearances where all he can do is talk to sea creatures and swim. Of course that is due in part to the censors preventing the characters from being able to throw a punch or a kick.

As brought up in the recent Batman The Brave And The Bold talkback:

Any idea as to why they didn't incorporate those attacks in Superfriends? Heck, the Filmation Aquaman cartoon used the water balls.

A little clarification.

In the 1967 series, Aquaman could throw the water balls, but it was part of the hard water powers transferred from Mera, who wasn't even his wife on the show. 6 years later, the water balls are gone, and Mera never even shows up on Super Friends throughout its 13 year history.

BTW, I caught the first part of B & B Saturday morning, and I am not impressed with this incarnation of Aquaman. Vanity is not one of his traits.

[Anthonynotes]

Most likely the 70s kidvid standards against violence precluded Aquaman hurling any hard-water balls at anyone, or anything else that'd seem remotely violent...

-B.

[Collie]

Most likely the 70s kidvid standards against violence precluded Aquaman hurling any hard-water balls at anyone, or anything else that'd seem remotely violent...

-B.

I'm pretty sure you're right. Nobody ever slugged anybody on Superfriends (until, perhaps, the last season with Cyborg ... and that's iffy in my mind). Anybody and everybody, including super-strong guys like Bizarro and Solomon Grundy, could be easily bound by the Batarang/rope combo or anything nearby that Superman happened to twist into a straitjacket.

[Eric B]

In that vein, they could have had the water balls then immobilize the villains, and it really wouldn't have been much different from capturing someone with the bat gear or magic rope.
Great observation. I never thought about the water balls not being used in the Superfriends.

[Collie]

In that vein, they could have had the water balls then immobilize the villains, and it really wouldn't have been much different from capturing someone with the bat gear or magic rope.
Great observation. I never thought about the water balls not being used in the Superfriends.

True, it's not like that show's writers, or most of its audience, were big on physics. :)

What really stinks about being Aquaman is ... he's actually pretty cool. The problem is that he hangs around with the wrong crowd.
He's superstrong ... but hangs around with Wonder Woman.
He's a telepath ... but hangs around with the Martian Manhunter.
He's superfast ... but hangs around with the Flash.
He's supertough ... but hangs around with Superman.
Basically, everything he can do, someone else in the Justice League can do better.

[Toddman]

The reason the "hardwater balls" (typing that makes me giggle) were never used in Superfriends was because they were not a power Aquaman possessed in comics (unlike his aquatic telepathy). The hardwater power was an invention of the Filmation series only. It's the same reason why in Superfriends he didn't wear black boots: only the Filmation cartoon.


Toddman

[hobbyfan]

The reason the "hardwater balls" (typing that makes me giggle) were never used in Superfriends was because they were not a power Aquaman possessed in comics (unlike his aquatic telepathy). The hardwater power was an invention of the Filmation series only. It's the same reason why in Superfriends he didn't wear black boots: only the Filmation cartoon.


Toddman

Didn't you pay attention to what I wrote earlier in this thread? In the Filmation series, they transferred Mera's hard water powers to Aquaman. It was not "an invention of the Filmation series". Simply a case of making Aquaman more powerful to the audience, on a par with Superman.

[Silverstar]

What really stinks about being Aquaman is ... he's actually pretty cool. The problem is that he hangs around with the wrong crowd.
He's superstrong ... but hangs around with Wonder Woman.
He's a telepath ... but hangs around with the Martian Manhunter.
He's superfast ... but hangs around with the Flash.
He's supertough ... but hangs around with Superman.
Basically, everything he can do, someone else in the Justice League can do better.

Which is precisely why Aqua-Dude would have benefitted from the hard water-based powers (which, as hobbyfan pointed out, were originally Mera's in the comics). It's simply not enough for Arthur to be super-strong, fast, tough or a mind-reader; in each case, there's another Justice Leaguer who can already do one or more of those things, and do them 10 times better. Giving Aquaman hydrokinetic powers just makes sense to me. Without a standout ability of his own, he's always looked like a lame-oh amongst the DC superhero hierarchy. Just talking to fish wasn't enough.

[Toddman]

Didn't you pay attention to what I wrote earlier in this thread? In the Filmation series, they transferred Mera's hard water powers to Aquaman. It was not "an invention of the Filmation series". Simply a case of making Aquaman more powerful to the audience, on a par with Superman.

Yes, I paid attention to your earlier post, but with all due respect, it's not entirely accurate.

In the Aquaman comics, Mera had the ability to form complete structures out of water that weren't nearly as limited as Aquaman's hardwater balls (still giggling at that).

The Aquaballs (doesn't sound much better, does it?) in the Filmation cartoons were not as elaborate or even as solid as the constructs used by Mera in the comic books. The hardwater power that Aquaman uses in the latest Brave & Bold episode is a direct copy of Mera's power.

But the waterballs were in fact an invention of the Filmation show.


Toddman

[hobbyfan]

Yes, I paid attention to your earlier post, but with all due respect, it's not entirely accurate.

In the Aquaman comics, Mera had the ability to form complete structures out of water that weren't nearly as limited as Aquaman's hardwater balls (still giggling at that).

The Aquaballs (doesn't sound much better, does it?) in the Filmation cartoons were not as elaborate or even as solid as the constructs used by Mera in the comic books. The hardwater power that Aquaman uses in the latest Brave & Bold episode is a direct copy of Mera's power.

But the waterballs were in fact an invention of the Filmation show.


Toddman

Mera's use of hard water is exactly the same as Green Lantern creating solid objects with his power ring. That may be the underlying reason why she didn't haver her powers on TV. In contrast, Aquaman didn't have the Aquaballs in the comics, but they were used strictly as an offensive weapon as shown in the 1967 series. It was NOT an invention. If it was, cite your source material, if you please.

[Toddman]

It was NOT an invention. If it was, cite your source material, if you please.

Hmmm...can I use you as a source?


...Aquaman didn't have the Aquaballs in the comics, but they were used strictly as an offensive weapon as shown in the 1967 series.


Toddman

[Antiyonder]

True, it's not like that show's writers, or most of its audience, were big on physics. :)

What really stinks about being Aquaman is ... he's actually pretty cool. The problem is that he hangs around with the wrong crowd.
He's superstrong ... but hangs around with Wonder Woman.
He's a telepath ... but hangs around with the Martian Manhunter.
He's superfast ... but hangs around with the Flash.
He's supertough ... but hangs around with Superman.
Basically, everything he can do, someone else in the Justice League can do better.

Actually, the problem is that the other Super Friends had a way to apprehend the bad guy without hurting him/her. Outside of dealing with a bad guy in the sea/ocean, Aquaman had no BSP friendly way to apprehend the bad guy.

[Collie]

Actually, the problem is that the other Super Friends had a way to apprehend the bad guy without hurting him/her. Outside of dealing with a bad guy in the sea/ocean, Aquaman had no BSP friendly way to apprehend the bad guy.

True, I was mostly referring to the Justice League comics rather than the Superfriends cartoon. Though, if they'd remembered that growing up adapted to the crushing pressure of the ocean floor would give him super-strength, he could have easily pulled the 'bend something metal into a restraint' trick, too.