Fantastic Four 60s question

[lc_rip]

Does anyone have any information on why instead of the Sub-Mariner and Atlantis they used a character called Triton (who technically seemed to be the same character filling the same role) and a place called Pacifica? Was it down to rights issues that conflicted with the Marvel superheroes series? If it was I'm surprised as I thought Marvel themselves would have given permission for all the official characters to be used.

I did read somewhere a while back there was a Sub Mariner film planned but I'd be surprised if it ever surfaces (no pun intended!), I expect it'd be more likely he would be in a future Fantastic Four film as a supporting character, maybe with the Puppet Master.

[AlgeaX]

Does anyone have any information on why instead of the Sub-Mariner and Atlantis they used a character called Triton (who technically seemed to be the same character filling the same role) and a place called Pacifica? Was it down to rights issues that conflicted with the Marvel superheroes series? If it was I'm surprised as I thought Marvel themselves would have given permission for all the official characters to be used.

I did read somewhere a while back there was a Sub Mariner film planned but I'd be surprised if it ever surfaces (no pun intended!), I expect it'd be more likely he would be in a future Fantastic Four film as a supporting character, maybe with the Puppet Master.

The rights to Namor had indeed been given to the different same company com that did those cheesy "animated" Captain America and Iron Man shows, while the Fantastic Four had gone to Paramount. Namor even had his own show.

[Jon T]

Does anyone have any information on why instead of the Sub-Mariner and Atlantis they used a character called Triton (who technically seemed to be the same character filling the same role) and a place called Pacifica? Was it down to rights issues that conflicted with the Marvel superheroes series? If it was I'm surprised as I thought Marvel themselves would have given permission for all the official characters to be used.

You guessed correctly; it was all down to a simple case of different companies having the animated rights to the character. Grantray-Lawrence had the rights to Sub-Mariner and included him in 1966's The Marvel Super Heroes. When Hanna-Barbera did The Fantastic Four in 1967, Sub-Mariner alone was off-limits (in contrast to Dr. Doom, who actually appeared in one of the Sub-Mariner episodes), presumably since he was a starring character in the Grantray-Lawrence series.

This was probably the very first instance of Marvel running into trouble with certain characters being precluded from appearing in a given series due to that character's specific animation rights being tied up with another company. It's a problem that persists to this very day, such as Kingpin not being allowed to appear in Spectacular Spider-Man since the character is regarded as exclusively being a part of the Daredevil franchise as far as other media outside of the comics are concerned.

[joltman]

The rights to Namor had indeed been given to the different same company com that did those cheesy "animated" Captain America and Iron Man shows, while the Fantastic Four had gone to Paramount. Namor even had his own show.
FYI, Captain American, Iron Man and Namor, along with Hulk and Thor, weren't different shows by the same people, they were all part of the same show, The Marvel Superheroes. Each day (Monday through Friday) one of the five heroes would have their own episode. On home video, they have basically been released as if they were five different shows, which is where the confusion comes from.

[AlgeaX]

FYI, Captain American, Iron Man and Namor, along with Hulk and Thor, weren't different shows by the same people, they were all part of the same show, The Marvel Superheroes. Each day (Monday through Friday) one of the five heroes would have their own episode. On home video, they have basically been released as if they were five different shows, which is where the confusion comes from.

My bad, my only real exposure to these shows were some old home videos I had as a kid.

[Lavenderpaw]

I never saw the series, I just like the 60's part. ^^

[lc_rip]

You guessed correctly; it was all down to a simple case of different companies having the animated rights to the character. Grantray-Lawrence had the rights to Sub-Mariner and included him in 1966's The Marvel Super Heroes. When Hanna-Barbera did The Fantastic Four in 1967, Sub-Mariner alone was off-limits (in contrast to Dr. Doom, who actually appeared in one of the Sub-Mariner episodes), presumably since he was a starring character in the Grantray-Lawrence series.

This was probably the very first instance of Marvel running into trouble with certain characters being precluded from appearing in a given series due to that character's specific animation rights being tied up with another company. It's a problem that persists to this very day, such as Kingpin not being allowed to appear in Spectacular Spider-Man since the character is regarded as exclusively being a part of the Daredevil franchise as far as other media outside of the comics are concerned.

Thanks, I thought it would be something like that. I actually really enjoyed watching the Sub Mariner cartoons which I saw for the first time recently. Out of all the Marvel heroes in that show he was one I knew very little about so I found them interesting. I enjoyed all the Marvel Superhero shows simply because they come across as very faithful to the comics, I dont recall them ever being shown in the UK either.

[lc_rip]

My bad, my only real exposure to these shows were some old home videos I had as a kid.

I remember hiring a couple of Hulk videos in the 80s and thinking they were terrible at the time. Strangley though the Hulk theme song stuck in my head for years and recently made me want to watch them again. Glad I did because I appreciate them much more now!

[Jon T]

Thanks, I thought it would be something like that. I actually really enjoyed watching the Sub Mariner cartoons which I saw for the first time recently. Out of all the Marvel heroes in that show he was one I knew very little about so I found them interesting. I enjoyed all the Marvel Superhero shows simply because they come across as very faithful to the comics, I dont recall them ever being shown in the UK either.

Glad you enjoyed the series; even though they're very primitive, they still have quite a bit of charm! Most, if not every episode of The Marvel Super Heroes was released on UK rental tape in the very early 1980s, and they were shown on Sky back in the 1990s, when there was a wider variety of programming on offer (yes, when there were fewer channels!).

Interestingly enough, the last one of these series shown on terrestrial TV was the 1966 Hulk series, which was shown on early weekday mornings in 1984. Their broadcast was undoubtedly in response to the earlier airing that year of the 1982 Hulk series, which was presumably fairly successful for ITV.