On DVD: Super Friends The Legendary Super Powers Show The Complete Series

Created By Hannah-Barbera

Starring Adam West

Ah the good ol' days when Saturday mornings were cartoon days for kids.  I know there are a few animated series on television now but they aren't on the major networks and they come on and go off long before the morning is actually over.  I guess kids these days just don't get up and watch cartoons on Saturday mornings anymore.  Back in the day Hannah Barbera was one of the production companies that churned out show after show for kids, and most of their shows were classics such as Scooby-Doo and The Flintstones.  They were also responsible for the last incarnation of The Super Friends....

The Series

For those who read comic books the Super Friends are just a dumb down young kid friendly version of the Justice League.  The basic story is a group of DC Comics heroes including Superman, Wonder Woman, Bat Man, Samurai, and Black Lightning.  Each episode is a simple often message driven adventure where various team-ups of the heroes save the day against various villains most notably The Legion of Doom led by Lex Luthor.

The animation is simple as is the art style.  It's indicative of the early 80's era and of Hannah-Barbera.  The most notable thing about this series is that it's the first series to truly partner with a toy company to create a series.  it was done later with shows like The Transformers but this was the first.  The show is called "Super Powers' show to tie it in to the new line of action figures also carrying that name.  The different waves of action figures started with the figures that appeared in the series and then expanded further into the DC universe of characters that never even appeared in the series.  These action figures are also notable for their motion abilities.  They punched ran and twisted.  Often their ability tied to the super power of the character and just as often the ability made little sense when compared to the power of the character on the show or in the comics.

The show isn't just known for its rampant consumerism.  It's also known for making an attempt at diversifying the characters.  The previous incarnations of Super Friends and of most other super hero-ish shows featured all white characters.  For this new series the writers and artists created some new heroes that never even appeared in the comics to bring variety to the show.  Some of those new characters were Black Lightening, Samurai, Apache Chief.  Looking at the series compared to today's comics and similar shows these attempts seem pretty ham fisted.  For example, Black Lightning's super power has nothing to do with the word black so the reason he gets this name is obvious, and unnecessary.  Also all of these characters feel a way stereotyped.  Sure the inclusion of these characters is definitely clumsy but this show was the start of more diversified animated series so it should definitely go down in history for that alone. 

The real problem here is that the stories aren't sophisticated enough to engage adults coming back to the series and the animation is shall we say, too retro, for children of these days.  The only demographic left are those wanting to watch the show for nostalgic reasons, like me.  If you grew up with this series then you'll enjoy revisiting it, and some of the extras will enhance that experience.

8/10

The Video

Colors in this full frame presentation appear fairly vibrant, but not consistently so.  On occasion some scenes will have a more washed out look than others.  There's also the expected grain and some print damage here and there.  Overall though the series comes off looking good for its age.

7/10

The Audio

The audio presentation is very basic but acceptable for the kind of series we're watching.  There are some times when the dialogue can feel a bit muffled but overall the cheesy audio effects and canned score comes though as good as I've ever heard it.  I love the staple sound effects that appear in nearly every Hannah Barbera series.

7/10

Packaging and Bonus Features

The 2 DVD's are presented in very slim case with retro artwork that does a good job of selling the series and feeling very nostalgic.

Their are commentaries on five episodes from the writers of the episodes and a historian.  Unfortunately the commentaries are sparse with lots of time with just the episodes playing.  Another issue is that some of the information given in the commentaries is repeated in the featurettes.  Fans that grew up with the series should at least give them a listen once but I doubt you'll revisit them over and over.

"Evolution, New Heroes, Viler Villains, and Ethnic Additions" is a featurette covering the impact of the series culturally and the addition of culturally diverse characters.  The creators look back at their series honestly and they talk about the ups and downs of the series.

"The Super Powers Collection" is a featurette focusing on the toy line that basically funded the television series.  My favorite part of this featurette were the scenes with someone playing with many of the action figures and demoing all the odd twists and punch abilities built into the action figures.

I was really happy to see some real special features on this release.  So often these classic animated series are just dumped on DVD with no extras.  Seeing the discussions of how the series came to be and seeing those old toys really hit me in the nostalgia nerve.

7/10

This series isn't for everyone, in fact it's for a fairly niche audience, and for those fans Warner Brothers has done a pretty solid job of presenting it.

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

The Series 8/10

The Video 7/10

The Audio 7/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 7/10

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

-Stephen Lackey