The American - Poster Giveaway
Ends Sep 5, 2010
Enter today for your chance to win this full-sized, double-sided theatrical poster from the upcoming Focus Features Film.
Rating: Country: USA Release Date: January 5, 2010 Distributor: Warner Home Video Cast: · Sherry Alberoni · Frank Welker · Olan Soule · Casey Kasem · Ted Knight · Danny Dark · Shannon Farnon · Norman Alden Related Sites: ·IMDb: Super Friends!
Grade: B+
There've been a number of releases featuring the Super Friends so far, but with this two-disc set Warner has given us the originals -- with Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog!
Memory may not reveal this to you, but these episodes were quite different than what would eventually follow with the advent of Wonder Twins Zan and Jayna. For one thing, these adventures were an hour long (okay, forty-plus minutes with commercials for sugary breakfast cereals), which meant that a little more thought had to go into the plots. To do this, the writers (including some of the most revered of the comic book pantheon like Jack Cole, Gardner Fox, and Mort Weisinger) mined some of the hot topics of the day, including the energy crisis and (yes, even then) global climate change.
Sometimes the villains weren't really bad men -- Dr. Shamon ("The Shamon 'U'") didn't mean for the side efffects of his sky-mining to happen, nor did Dr. Baffles ("The Baffles Puzzle") when he chose to make items from history disappear. In "Too Hot to Handle," an alien being is raising the temperature of the Earth because his own planet grew cold (a chilly 80 degrees!) due to an excess of pollution and excessive use of resources causing "Global Cooling." Comic fans will particularly enjoy this episode as it features a guest appearance by the scarlet speedster, the Flash.
In almost every episode, it was the bright Wendy (Sherry Alberoni, Family Affair) who picked up on the clues that led to a solution, with the eager-but-clumsy Marvin (the ubiquitous Frank Welker) sometimes pointing the way by accident. The rest of the voice cast was a small one -- Danny Dark as Superman, Shannon Farnon as Wonder Woman, Norman Alden as Aquaman, Olan Soule as Batman (who later voiced Professor Martin Stein when Adam West began voicing the role) and pop radio icon Casey Kasem as Robin (with voiceover by the irrepressible Ted Knight as the series narrator) -- and it was fun sometimes to pick out which of the troupe was voicing one of the many walk-on extra characters.
The bonus feature on this set, "Super Friends Challenge Quiz," was surprisingly fun -- and surprisingly challenging. The quiz is designed for one or two teams of players, and incorporates a randomizing "spinner" to determine what type of trivia question the player will be asked. There's some seriously good trivia here, although the payoff phrases for correct answers are a bit short-clipped.
In short, this is quite the enjoyable set, bursting with nostalgia and actually a lot better than remembered.
Super Friends!
Season One, Volume One
Disc 1
Disc 2
01. The Power Pirate
02. The Baffles Puzzle
03. Professor Goodfellow's G.E.E.C.
04. The Weather Maker Bonus: Super Friends! Challenge Quiz
05. Dr. Pelagian's War
06. The Shamon "U"
07. Too Hot to Handle
08. The Androids
