Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show

Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show
Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show
Also known as	Super Friends VII
Genre	Adventure; Fantasy; Science fiction;
Created by	E. Nelson Bridwell; Carmine Infantino; Julius Schwartz (consultants);
Based on	Justice League; by Gardner Fox;
Written by	Alan Burnett; Gerry Conway; Rich Fogel; Cynthia Friedlob; Glenn Leopold; William M. Marston; Al Milgrom; John Semper; Joe Shuster; Jerry Siegel; Jeff Segal; Marc Scott Zicree;
Directed by	Ray Patterson (supervising); Oscar Dufau;
Creative director	Iwao Takamoto
Voices of	Jack Angel; René Auberjonois; Michael Bell; William Callaway; Constance Cawlfield; Danny Dark; Fernando Escandon; Buster Jones; Stan Jones; Casey Kasem; Stanley Ralph Ross; Olan Soule; Mark L. Taylor; B. J. Ward; Frank Welker; Adam West;
Narrated by	William Woodson
Theme music composer	Hoyt Curtin
Composers	Hoyt Curtin; Paul DeKorte;
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	8 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Joseph Barbera; William Hanna; Margaret Loesch (supervising);
Producer	Kay Wright
Editors	Michael Bradley; David Cowan; Mary Gleason; Jon Johnson; Carol Lewis; Catherine MacKenzie; Kerry Williams; Jerry Winicki; Cecil Broughton; Daniels Mclean; Terry Moore; Joe Sandusky; Giv Iverson;
Running time	30 minutes (including commercials)
Production companies	Hanna-Barbera Productions; DC Comics;
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	Color
Audio format	Mono
Original release	September 8, 1984 –; August 31, 1985
Chronology
Preceded by	Super Friends
Followed by	The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians

Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 1984 to 1985 on ABC. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and is based on the Justice League and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics.^[1]

Format[]

Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show was the first Super Friends series in a new format since 1979's The World's Greatest Super Friends.^[2] Continuing the previous three years' policy of producing short stories, this series' format was two stories per half-hour, so all the separate stories were ten minutes long each. Furthermore, the Wonder Twins were largely supplanted as audience identification figures by Firestorm, a well established teenage superhero in the DC Comics Universe. However, continuing the trend from the "lost season" episodes, the Wonder Twins were paired with other Justice League members, as opposed to always teaming up with Wonder Woman or Batman & Robin. In "Case of The Shrinking Super Friends" they are teamed with Firestorm and Robin. In "Uncle Mxyzptlk" they work with Firestorm and Samurai. In "Village of The Lost Souls" they work with Wonder Woman and Apache Chief.

Toyline tie-in[]

Unlike previous series, Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show was produced to tie-in with the Super Powers Collection toyline produced by Kenner, hence the name change. The general story, as detailed in the mini-comics that accompanied the figures, was that the major heroes of Earth had teamed up to fight Darkseid and his villains.

Characters[]

Super Friends/Justice League of America[]

Thirteen heroes made up the Super Friends. They were:

Superman
Batman
Robin
Wonder Woman
Green Lantern
Firestorm
Black Vulcan
Gleek
Apache Chief
Samurai
El Dorado
Wonder Twins (Zan and Jayna)

According to DC writer/historian Mark Waid, Aquaman's sole appearance in The Legendary Super Powers Show comes via his appearance within the opening credits.^{[citation needed]}^[3] The same is true for The Flash. This was the first time Wonder Woman was animated with the W symbol on her costume instead of the eagle design; this carried over into the final series, Galactic Guardians. Shannon Farnon was unable to reprise her voice work for Wonder Woman because the new voice director cast his girlfriend Connie Cawfield in her place. The series was also noteworthy for using Adam West as the voice of Batman, two decades after the end of his live action television series of Batman. West replaced Olan Soule and would continue through the subsequent Galactic Guardians series.

Villains[]

Darkseid – Outside of the comic books for the first time, Darkseid was still attempting to conquer Earth (often with help from other villains), but also had a secondary goal, of making Wonder Woman his bride. Darkseid brought a degree of seriousness to a show that had largely lacked it.
Kalibak – His appearance was not as brutish as in later TV incarnations, more like the original Jack Kirby design for the character. He was almost always depicted as boastful, dull-witted and ineffectual against the heroes.
Desaad
Brainiac – The mechanical version of Brainiac appeared in the episodes "The Wrath of Brainiac" and "The Village of Lost Souls". In "The Wrath of Brainiac," Brainiac reveals that he shed his earlier appearance when he worked alongside Darkseid.
Mirror Master – Mirror Master appeared in an episode entitled "Reflections in Crime". The Flash does not appear in this episode. In the episode, Mirror Master sets about trapping the Super Friends in this particular episode inside mirrors called the sixth dimension. The Super Friends managed to escape and trap Mirror Master in a House of Mirrors.
Lex Luthor – He appeared in the opening and the episodes "No Honor Among Super Thieves" (in which acquires his power suit from the comics of then), "Case of the Shrinking Super Friends" and "The Mask of Mystery".
Mister Mxyzptlk – In this series, Mxyzptlk's name is pronounced as Miks-ill-plik (backwards, Kilp-ill-skim) and he takes to tormenting all the members of the team, even when Superman is absent.
The Robber Baron and Sleeves
Dollmaker

For this series, Lex Luthor and Brainiac were completely revamped to resemble their comic book counterparts.^{[citation needed]}

List of episodes[]

Cast[]

Jack Angel – Samurai
René Auberjonois – DeSaad
James Avery – Alien Auctioneer (in "Darkseid's Golden Trap"), Cromar (in "Darkseid's Golden Trap")
Michael Bell – Zan, Gleek
Gregg Berger – Benny the Bungler (in "Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Magic Lamp"), Ernie (in "Mr. Mxyzpltlk and the Magic Lamp)
Arthur Burghardt – General Plankton (in "Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Magic Lamp")
Howard Caine – Dr. Dan Corwin (in "Island of the Dinosoids"), King Timon (in "The Royal Ruse")
Connie Cawlfield – Diana Prince / Wonder Woman
Danny Dark – Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman
Fernando Escandon – El Dorado
Patrick Fraley – Captain Mystery/Sidney Wanamaker (in "Mask of Mystery"), Bank Guard (in "Mask of Mystery"), Remlar (in "The Curator")
Liz Georges – Little Superman (in "Uncle Mxyzptlk")
Buster Jones – Black Vulcan
Stan Jones – Lex Luthor, Robber Baron (in "Mask of Mystery"), Sleeves (in "Mask of Mystery")
Casey Kasem – Dick Grayson / Robin , Mirror Master (in "Reflections in Crime")
Mary McDonald-Lewis – Lois Lane
Mickey McGowan – Princess Tara (in "The Royal Ruse")
Stanley Ralph Ross – Brainiac
Michael Rye – Apache Chief, Hal Jordan / Green Lantern, Dr. Dan Corwin's Assistant (in "Island of the Dinosoids")
Olan Soule – Professor Martin Stein
Mark Taylor – Ronald Raymond/Firestorm
Dick Tufeld - Announcer
B.J. Ward - Jayna
Frank Welker – Uxas / Darkseid, Kalibak, Mister Mxyzptlk, Trucker (in "The Wrath of Brainiac"), Inspector Throckmorton (in "Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Magic Lamp"), Dollmaker (in "The Case of the Dreadful Dolls")
Adam West – Bruce Wayne / Batman
Bill Woodson - Narrator

Note: Beginning with this version, Adam West replaced Olan Soule as the voice of Batman.

Crew[]

Gordon Hunt - Recording Director
Mitch Schauer - Title Design, Story Director

Production credits[]

Producer: Kay Wright
Story Editors: Alan Burnett, Jeff Segal
Supervising Director: Ray Patterson
Director: Oscar Dufau
Assistant Director: Jay Sarbry
Story Direction: Bill Barry, Michael Maliani, Lew Saw, Mitch Schauer, Kay Wright
Recording Director: Gordon Hunt
Animation Casting Director: Ginny McSwain
Voices: Jack Angel, René Auberjonois, James Avery, Michael Bell, Gregg Berger, Arthur Burghardt, Howard Caine, , Danny Dark, , Pat Fraley, , Buster Jones, Stanley Jones, Casey Kasem, , , Howard Morris, Kathy Najimy, Stanley Ralph Ross, Michael Rye, Olan Soule, Mark Taylor, B.J. Ward, Frank Welker, Adam West, Bill Woodson
Title Design: Mitch Schauer
Graphics: Iraj Paran, Tom Wogatzke
Musical Director: Hoyt Curtin
Musical Supervisor: Paul DeKorte
Creative Producer: Iwao Takamoto
Design Supervisor: Bob Singer
Character Design: Geoff Darrow, Gabriel Hoyos, Lew Ott
Animation Supervisors: Sean Newton, Don Spencer,Roger Chiasson, Don Patterson,
Sound Direction: Alvy Dorman, Phil Flad
Camera: Bob Marples
Supervising Film Editor: Larry C. Cowan
Dubbing Supervisor: Pat Foley
Music Editors: Cecil Broughton, Daniels McLean, Terry Moore, Joe Sandusky
Effects Editors: Michael Bradley, David Cowan, Mary Gleason, Jon Johnson, Carol Lewis, Catherine MacKenzie, Kerry Williams, Jerry Winicki
Show Editor: Gil Iverson
Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer
Post Production Supervisor: Joed Eaton
Production Coordinator: Peter Aries
Production Manager: James Wang
Executives In Charge of Production: Jayne Barbera and Jean MacCurdy
Supervising Executive Producer: Margaret Loesch

Home media[]

On August 7, 2007, Warner Home Video (via DC Entertainment, Hanna-Barbera Productions and Warner Bros. Family Entertainment) released The Complete Series of Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show on DVD, featuring all 16 episodes of the eighth Hanna-Barbera-produced Super Friends series on a 2-Disc DVD boxed set, uncut and unedited, presented in its original broadcast presentation and original airdate order.^[4]

DVD name	Ep No.	Release date
The Complete Series	16	August 7, 2007

References[]

^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 802–804. ISBN 978-1476665993.
^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 606–610. ISBN 978-1538103739.
^ Waid, Mark. Audio Commentary, "The Wrath of Brainiac" Episode, Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, The Complete Series Region 1 DVD Set Disc 1.
^ Cyrenne, Randall (2007-09-30). "Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show: The Complete Series • Animated Views". Animated-views.com. Retrieved 2016-06-01.

External links[]

Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show at Big Cartoon DataBase
Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show at IMDb

[Erickson-1] Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 802–804. ISBN 978-1476665993.

[2] Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 606–610. ISBN 978-1538103739.

[3] Waid, Mark. Audio Commentary, "The Wrath of Brainiac" Episode, Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, The Complete Series Region 1 DVD Set Disc 1.

[4] Cyrenne, Randall (2007-09-30). "Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show: The Complete Series • Animated Views". Animated-views.com. Retrieved 2016-06-01.

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show v t Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1980s
First-run animated series	The World's Greatest Super Friends (1979–80) The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show (Mighty Man and Yukk Fangface Rickety Rocket) (1979–80) Spider-Woman (1979–80) Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979–80) Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels (1977–80) Super Friends (1980-82) The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang (1980–82) Richie Rich (1980–84) Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (shorts) (1980–82) Thundarr the Barbarian (1980–82) The Heathcliff and Dingbat Show (1980–82) Laverne & Shirley in the Army (1981–82) Goldie Gold and Action Jack (1981–82) Pac-Man (1982–84) The Little Rascals (1982–84) Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour (1982–83) The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour (1982–83) The Puppy's Further Adventures (1982–84) Monchhichis (1983–84) Rubik, the Amazing Cube (1983–84, 1985) The Littles (1983–86) Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984–85) Mighty Orbots (1984–85) Turbo Teen (1984–85) Dragon's Lair (1984–85) Wolf Rock TV (1984) The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show/The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1983–85) Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1985–90) Ewoks (1985–87) Droids (1985–86) The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985–86) The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985) Pound Puppies (1986–88) The Care Bears Family (1986–88) The Flintstone Kids (1986–89) The Real Ghostbusters (1986–91) My Pet Monster (1987–88) Little Clowns of Happytown (1987-88) Little Wizards (1987-88) The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil (1988) The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988–1991) A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988–91) Beetlejuice (1989–92)
First-run live-action series	ABC Weekend Special (1977–97) American Bandstand (1957–87) Animals, Animals, Animals (1976–81) Kids Are People Too (1978–82) Menudo on ABC (1983–85) ABC Funfit (1985) ABC Fun Facts (1988)
Rebroadcasts	The Best of Scooby-Doo (1983–84) The Bugs Bunny Show (1985–2000) Scary Scooby Funnies (1984–85) Scooby's Mystery Funhouse (1985–86) Pink Panther and Sons (1986) The Wuzzles (1986–88)
Related	Animation in the United States in the television era Modern animation in the United States

show v t The New Gods
Jack Kirby
Inhabitants of New Genesis	Bekka Big Barda Forager Forever People Highfather Lightray Orion Mister Miracle Takion
Inhabitants of Apokolips	Darkseid DeSaad Devilance Doctor Bedlam Female Furies Bernadeth Lashina Mad Harriet Stompa Glorious Godfrey Granny Goodness Grayven Kanto Mantis Parademons Pharzoof Steppenwolf Virman Vundabar
Other characters	Black Racer Infinity-Man Metron Shilo Norman Oberon Sonny Sumo
Locations	New Genesis Apokolips
Storylines	Jack Kirby's Fourth World The Great Darkness Saga Legends Cosmic Odyssey Genesis Countdown to Final Crisis Death of the New Gods Final Crisis
In other media	Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984–1985) The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985–1986) Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010) Smallville (season 10) (2010–2011) DC Universe Online
Related articles	Anti-Life Equation Eternals Mother Box The Source