"The All-New Superfriends Hour: Season One, Volume One" DVD Talkback (Spoilers)

[Kolbar]

A little late, but I've had some time to watch some of these and we need a talkback.

Warner Home Video (WHV) and DC Comics bring Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman and Aquaman back together for 32 action-packed adventures with the release of the All-New Super Friends Hour Season 1, Volume 1 DVD on January 8, 2008 for $26.99 SRP. The 2-Disc Collector set features renowned DC Comics characters as they fight evil and protect the good people of planet Earth.

Originally airing on ABC, the All-New Super Friends Hour was a huge ratings success for the network and an instant fan favorite. Featuring the World's Greatest Super Heroes, the show also introduced a slew of new characters including Zan and Jayna (aka The Wonder Twins), and their space monkey Gleek. With their iconic exclamation "Wonder Twin Powers Activate!," the twins would touch fists in a burst of light transforming Jayna into the shape of any animal and Zan into any form of water imaginable. The cartoon series also featured guest stars Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, Hawkman and Hawkgirl. The 32 cartoon episodes follow the Super Friends as they confront their old foes and new villains such as the Hydronoids and Dr. Cranum in their quest to protect mankind.

DVD special features include:

• "One Dimensional Goodness: The Super Friends and the Good Old Days" - In the 1970s one of the last bastions for conservative programming was the Saturday morning cartoon. This documentary examines how this trend made its way into the world of the Super Friends, and includes a comparison of the characters' treatment in future television incarnations of the Justice League as well as their appearance in comic books.
• "Origins of the Guest Stars" - Hawkman, Hawkgirl, the Atom, and Green Lantern made their first animated appearances on Super Friends during this season. Show writers and producers discuss the introduction of these beloved characters to the line-up and their DC Comics origins. Also featured will be the classic rogues gallery associated with each of these iconic heroes.

Comments?

[likewow]

I was thrilled to see that the episodes are intact and unedited, including open and closing themes and segments like 'Safety' and 'Decoder.' Finally, a show is on DVD as it originally aired!

Makes me even madder that WB Home Video screwed up The Scooby Doo/Dynomutt Hour.

[AarHan3]

Originally Posted by likewow

I was thrilled to see that the episodes are intact and unedited, including open and closing themes and segments like 'Safety' and 'Decoder.' Finally, a show is on DVD as it originally aired!

Makes me even madder that WB Home Video screwed up The Scooby Doo/Dynomutt Hour.

I share your pain, brother.

[greg!]

I wish they had included the whole series & some commentaries. Otherwise I am happy about this release. Did anyone else notice how much cooler Black Vulcan & Apache Cheif were in these original shows? I really love Rima, I wish she had been in more shows.

[Silverstar]

Originally Posted by greg!

I really love Rima, I wish she had been in more shows.

I agree. Rima should've been in Challenge of the Superfriends and Galactic Guardians, so Wonder Woman wouldn't have been the only female Justice Leaguer. I would've chosen Rima over Hawkman in a split-second.

[Tobias]

Originally Posted by greg!

I wish they had included the whole series & some commentaries. Otherwise I am happy about this release. Did anyone else notice how much cooler Black Vulcan & Apache Cheif were in these original shows? I really love Rima, I wish she had been in more shows.

We'll probably see the rest of the series released in the Summer/Fall. WB's starting to release Superfriends more frequently, so we'll probably see final three seasons released by 2010 as well.

[hobbyfan]

Originally Posted by Silverstar

I agree. Rima should've been in Challenge of the Superfriends and Galactic Guardians, so Wonder Woman wouldn't have been the only female Justice Leaguer. I would've chosen Rima over Hawkman in a split-second.

One problem. While Rima had a short-lived DC comic in the early 70's, she wasn't a DC creation. The DC series was based on a series of books. After appearing on "All New Super Friends Hour", I think DC's license for Rima expired, and DC & H-B couldn't use her anymore. I believe part of the source material was H. Rider Haggard's "Green Mansions", IIRC.

[greg!]

I have searched around trying to find out (definitively) who did the voice of Rima, I love the sultry exotic quality. I found somewhere that said it was Liberty Williams, but if I remember correctly they also said Butch Cassidy's drummer was named Harvey Obviosly they have NEVER seen even 5 minutes of an episode...Rima was way underused.

[adoptedBatpuppy]

I loved the original Superfriends series, it has a lot of charm not to mention some funny moments. I wonder when the second set is coming out? How many seasons are there to this show?

[Tobias]

Superfriends (With Wendy & Marvin)
The All new Superfriends Hour
The World's Greatest Superfriends
Challenge of the Superfriends
The Superfriends (The first half of the challenge hour which featured the Wonder Twins
Three seasons worth of 7 minute shorts
Superfriends: The Legendary Superpowers Show
Superpowers Team: Galactic Guardians

The ones in bold have been released on DVD already. The second half of the All New Superfriends Hour should be out, probably in the summer.

[SF4Ever]

The 1977-78 season of The Superfriends was unquestionably the best of the series, especially since Volume 1(and likely Volume 2) features not only two shorts of the Justice League heros, one with the Wondertwins, a full half-hour adventure, safety tips, de-coders and magic & craft spots per broadcast. I haven't yet purchased the Super Powers Team series, but I will before it goes out of print. The World's Greatest series will also be released on DVD, as will the hour-long original series from the 1973-74 season, plus all the Superfriends shorts from the 1980-81, 1981-82 and the 1983-84 seasons(the 1983-84 shorts aired overseas and were later televised by ABC in the 1984-85 season, paired with Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show). I sometimes wonder if Warner Home Video is considering eventually releasing the entire Superfriends series in a DVD package set? It's looking like that could be a possibility. Nonetheless, this is classic animated entertainment for the whole family to see, so if you have a chance to purchase The Superfriends on DVD, I encourage you to go get it. For people that are my age, who have children, you can definitely show the program to them and talk to them about you watching the show when you were your children's age.

[AarHan3]

Originally Posted by SF4Ever

The 1977-78 season of The Superfriends was unquestionably the best of the series, especially since Volume 1(and likely Volume 2) features not only two shorts of the Justice League heros, one with the Wondertwins, a full half-hour adventure, safety tips, de-coders and magic & craft spots per broadcast. I haven't yet purchased the Super Powers Team series, but I will before it goes out of print. The World's Greatest series will also be released on DVD, as will the hour-long original series from the 1973-74 season, plus all the Superfriends shorts from the 1980-81, 1981-82 and the 1983-84 seasons(the 1983-84 shorts aired overseas and were later televised by ABC in the 1984-85 season, paired with Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show). I sometimes wonder if Warner Home Video is considering eventually releasing the entire Superfriends series in a DVD package set? It's looking like that could be a possibility. Nonetheless, this is classic animated entertainment for the whole family to see, so if you have a chance to purchase The Superfriends on DVD, I encourage you to go get it. For people that are my age, who have children, you can definitely show the program to them and talk to them about you watching the show when you were your children's age.

Amen, brutha.

That's why I voted even though I don't have the DVD set yet.

[Toddman]

Originally Posted by hobbyfan

One problem. While Rima had a short-lived DC comic in the early 70's, she wasn't a DC creation. The DC series was based on a series of books. After appearing on "All New Super Friends Hour", I think DC's license for Rima expired, and DC & H-B couldn't use her anymore. I believe part of the source material was H. Rider Haggard's "Green Mansions", IIRC.

In addition to the two appearances Rima made during "The All-New Superfriends Hour", she also appeared in one other short from 1980:

Return Of Atlantis
First aired: Saturday October 25, 1980 (7 Minutes); Aquaman is captured by Queen Oceana when the lost city of Atlantis rises from the sea. Oceana plans to conquer the world with her female warriors, but Wonder Woman and Rima gather the Amazons of Paradise Island to stop her. Note: In an inexplicable breach of both DC Comics' and the Super Friends TV show's own continuity, this "Atlantis" is not the kingdom over which Aquaman reigns.

Toddman

[Mister Intensity]

I just saw the special features and I'm disappointed. I would love to have more info on the history of the show, not just, "yeah Super Friends had watered down versions of DC Heroes, "yeah Super Friends couldn't show violence," etc. We know that, I would rather know the thought process behind the show and why certain heroes were featured over others, etc.

Mister Intensity

[Doyng]

Before I give my response, let me say that I'm back I know it's been nearly 2 years since my last post. I had mixed feelings about the channel's (Boomerang) new direction, but I still love and support the classic toons (good and bad to some). Good move for the name change on the forum, because it's retro! Now, onto the response....

This set was what I've waited for a long time
It had the teasers, decoder/safety/magic/health/craft segments! Thank you, WB for this. I'll be waiting for volume 2 this year. I'm very satisfied with it

[Hypestyle]

i'm a little confused with the way they've been jumping around, but I'm glad it's at least been released..

[Rebis]

Originally Posted by hobbyfan

One problem. While Rima had a short-lived DC comic in the early 70's, she wasn't a DC creation. The DC series was based on a series of books. After appearing on "All New Super Friends Hour", I think DC's license for Rima expired, and DC & H-B couldn't use her anymore. I believe part of the source material was H. Rider Haggard's "Green Mansions", IIRC.

William Henry Hudson's Rima would have been public domain when Kanigher and Redondo adapted her for the DC comic in '74, so I'm not sure if the character's disappearance from Super Friends was a result of licensing. Not sure why she made so few appearances, though. I agree with others that it would have been great to see more of her.

I've always had a something of an interest in this character. And since she's still public domain (like Tarzan, Dracula, Captain Nemo and other literary creations), it would be really cool to see DC get "retro" and reintroduce her to the current comics continuity. Don't ya think?

[AarHan3]

Originally Posted by Doyng

This set was what I've waited for a long time
It had the teasers, decoder/safety/magic/health/craft segments! Thank you, WB for this. I'll be waiting for volume 2 this year. I'm very satisfied with it

Just bought my copy last Friday from Barnes & Noble in Metarie. And may I add...kudos to WHV for finally getting it right on a Hanna-Barbera release this time!

Seems the SuperFriends DVDs are the only H-B DVDs Warners are treating properly. At least it appears that they're starting to redeem themselves.

Only time will tell.

[Mister Intensity]

Besides the documentary, my other complaint is that the episodes aren't in order. While it's usually not a concern with a DVD like this, the DVD does contain the "Next Week on..." segments but what's promoted as airing "next week" isn't the next episode on the DVD.

Mister Intensity

[Power Guy]

I really don't understand why WB would release only half the season at a time. We've seen other packages from the Super Friends show contain 4 discs. Why couldn't they have done the same with this one?

All that aside, I enjoyed seeing Green Lantern, Flash, the Hawks, Atom, Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, and Rima in the guest-spots. It's a shame that Hawkgirl and Rima never saw much action after this season.