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Post by dbutler69 on Feb 2, 2019 16:24:39 GMT -5
The 70's was a sad time in animation for America with VERY limited animation of the worst kind. Yet there are still gems and fond remembrances of some shows for me. Filmation was strong on Saturday morning still with Flash Gordon, Batman/Tarzan/Zorro/Lone Ranger, Return to the Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, Archie, Sabrina, and the Groovie Goolies. Hanna- Barbera's Challenge of the Superfriends was great if only for sharing screen time with many of the DC villains. Dynomutt was silly camp fun. Funky Phantom, Speed Buggy, Hong Kong Phooey, Godzilla, Grape Ape, Laff-A-Lympics, Harlem Globetrotters, Josie and Pussycats, Scooby Doo Movies were other faves of the H/B shows. Enjoyed Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Hulk not so much. After school syndication for Battle of the Planets (editing the G-Force anime) helped to kick in the new generation of Japanimation coming to the US. For the most part I barely remember the Ruby Spear's shows Spider-Woman and Plastic Man and Superman. They were only on 1-2 seasons for Saturday's and never left any lasting impression. It was the shows in perpetual Saturday rotation that mostly capture my memories. That Tarzan cartoon was my absolute cartoon back in the day! I still enjoy it. Batman and Lone Ranger were pretty good, too. Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends was also great. Hulk was OK, not so great, like you say. Scooby Doo is of course an all-time classic. Thundarr is also on my Mount Rushmore of Saturday morning cartoons.
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Post by tarkintino on Feb 2, 2019 17:00:22 GMT -5
Nobody else remember Mighty Man & Yukk? I remember the commercials for it, but was not interested in comedic "superhero" shows. Despite being a Marvel series, it followed the Superman template often, with Jessica Drew learning of some problem through her profession (editor/reporter), then acting to solve it as Spider-Woman. The animation was okay for its time, but it--like most network series--was handcuffed to the anti-violence orders brought down by meddling organizations such as Action for Children's Television. Regarding was it like She-Ra? Not really, and there was not some moral directed at the audience at the end of each episode, as in the case of many a Filmation production. I think you meant Filmation's The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty (NBC, 1975), where live action footage of the titular cat, his bird friend, bulldog enemy and cat love interest served as the wraparound for adventures based (mostly) on existing Filmation cartoons, such as "Cat Trek" (bearing a strong resemblance to Filmation's Star Trek series), or "Cat Man" (again, being a comedic version of the company's The Adventures of Batman from 1968). I recall the series was only interesting at a time when the cartoons which inspired the segments were long cancelled and/or not in current syndication (in my region of the country) in 1975. I place the imported Japanese cartons in a different category, as all of those productions ( Star Blazers / Space Battleship Yamato, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman / Battle of the Planets, Mach GoGoGo / Speed Racer, etc.) were always "must see" cartoons for me. They were of a level that truly matched adventure comics, and even some movies in a way 99% of American cartoons could not, and its not just about violence or adult themes, since each Japanese cartoon was often heavily edited/reworked to remove some content deemed unfit for children. That said, the edits did not stop those imports from leaving American cartoons in the dust in so many categories.
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Post by zaku on Feb 2, 2019 17:48:55 GMT -5
I'm realizing now that almost all the superhero 70's cartoons tried (unsuccessfully) to emulate the campy tone of the 60's Batman tv show. Really, it would difficult for me to choose the best (least worse?) superhero animated show of that decade.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 2, 2019 18:09:15 GMT -5
I'm realizing now that almost all the superhero 70's cartoons tried (unsuccessfully) to emulate the campy tone of the 60's Batman tv show. (...) No, they didn't.
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Post by zaku on Feb 2, 2019 18:13:49 GMT -5
I'm realizing now that almost all the superhero 70's cartoons tried (unsuccessfully) to emulate the campy tone of the 60's Batman tv show. (...) No, they didn't. Dynomutt? Mighty man? Batman? And sometimes they went straight to farcical (The Robonic Stooges? Really?)
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 2, 2019 18:45:11 GMT -5
Dynomutt, Mighty Man, and Plastic Man for that matter, were billed more as comedies, but even then I don't think they were intentionally trying to emulate the campiness of the '60s Batman. The Filmation Batman, even with Adam West and Burt Ward doing the voice-acting, was nothing like the 60s TV show; it was played pretty straight, with Bat Mite tacked on for comedy relief. Super Friends, Fantastic Four, Young/Space Sentinels, Super 7 and a number of others similarly vied for straight super-heroics, regardless of how successful they were at it.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 2, 2019 19:23:41 GMT -5
I should add that the Saturday morning fare from the 1970s that came closest to matching the camp of the Batman TV was another live-action offering, Elektra Woman and Dyna Girl:
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Post by tarkintino on Feb 2, 2019 19:48:39 GMT -5
I should add that the Saturday morning fare from the 1970s that came closest to matching the camp of the Batman TV was another live-action offering, Elektra Woman and Dyna Girl: Yes, with Judy Strangis (Dyna-Girl) trying to do her best Robin/Burt Ward impression with her "Dyna___!!" expressions, instead of Ward's "Holy___!!"-isms. Another connection to the 1966-68 Batman series was that Strangis appeared as a screaming fan of real life signing duo Chad and Jeremy in the Catwoman episodes "The Cat's Meow" / "Batman's Kow Tow", and was the sister of Sam Strangis, one of the unit production managers of the series.
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Post by jason on Feb 2, 2019 20:10:21 GMT -5
Speaking of Superfriends, it's a shame that the series ended just as they were getting real good with the Galactic Guardians season. They ditched the 70s-era designs for designs based off the Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez designs from the DC style guides, had better stories (ie, The Fear, which was the first depiction of Batman's origin outside of the comics), and got rid of the Wonder Twins (who I actually liked, but it was time to go in a new direction). It also gave us the first animated appearance of Cyborg (who wouldnt show up in animation again until 2003), and the only Hanna-Barbera depictions of Penguin and Joker.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 2, 2019 22:36:41 GMT -5
Nobody else remember Mighty Man & Yukk? Was Spider-Woman all that much different to She-Ra? I don't remember it well but I don't recall it being bad, but I do remember Plastic Man being bad. There was also a New Shmoo cartoon and Grape Ape I seemed to like, but not as much as Secret Lives Of Walter Kitty where he'd dream of being a superhero, a robin hood type, a jungle king or a spaceship captain. I loved Walter Kitty! It had a live action start and end with real cats and a bulldog. If there was a Krofft show on though in the '70s, even as a re-run, I always went with that over animation. Stuff like ArkII, the live Isis, or re-runs of The Banana Splits I would also choose over M*U*S*H, Funky Phantom, Scooby Doo etc. Really, only Star-blazers/Yamato hooked me from the animated side of things! I had to see each one while Battle Of The Planets was okay but you didn't care at all if you missed one. I remember Mighty Man & Yukk. It was part of the Plastic Man show. There was also Fangface and Rickety Rocket. MUSH was part of Uncle Croc's Bloc. The show was a parody of local kid shows, with a live host showing cartoons. Charles Nelson Riley was Uncle Croc, and the cartoons were MUSH (a MASH spoof, with dog Mounties), Wacky & Packy (caveman and pet mammoth) and Fraidy Cat (cat haunted by his previous 8 lives, while he is in the 9th and final). The cartoons weren't that great and the live action stuff was horribly unfunny. The Shmoo was also paired up with Fred & Barney, at one point. Funky Phantom was a decent Scooby swipe (with Mickey Dolenz doing one of the voices). Clue Club was another, thanks to the two dogs, Woofer and Wimper. Butch Cassidy and the Sundace Kids was a relatively decent take on Josie & the Pussycats, with a bad who are actually secret agents. Banana Splits Show was fantastic, with the Toth designed Three Musketeers and the Arabian Nights, plus the truly awesome Danger Island (with Jan Michael Vincent).
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 2, 2019 22:39:18 GMT -5
Speaking of Superfriends, it's a shame that the series ended just as they were getting real good with the Galactic Guardians season. They ditched the 70s-era designs for designs based off the Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez designs from the DC style guides, had better stories (ie, The Fear, which was the first depiction of Batman's origin outside of the comics), and got rid of the Wonder Twins (who I actually liked, but it was time to go in a new direction). It also gave us the first animated appearance of Cyborg (who wouldnt show up in animation again until 2003), and the only Hanna-Barbera depictions of Penguin and Joker. Not quite, on the last point. Penguin and Joker appeared in the Batman episodes of The New Scooby Doo Movies, which was Hanna-Barbera.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 2, 2019 23:04:51 GMT -5
Here was an interesting little experiment from the 70s: The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie.
This was a showcase for pilots, for potential animated series. The content providers were hanna-Barbera, Rankin-Bass, Filmation, Depatie-Freleng and Warner Bros, with a few other production companies involved (as they adapted other media properties. Some successfully launched series, while others were one-time specials.
Pilots that led to series:
The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island-launched the Brady Kids cartoon, from Filmation Yogi's Ark Lark-launched the Yogi's Ark tv series, where the H-B comedy animals travelled in a flying ark, dealing with pollution and other social issues Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain-launched Lassie's Rescue Rangers
Adaptations of other media:
Nanny & the Professor-based on the series, with Juliet Mills Nanny & the Professor and the Phantom of the Circus-second season sequel Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection-based on the Gidget tv series, with Sally Field Tabitha & Adam and the Clown Family-based on the Bewitched kids That Girl in Wonderland-based on That Girl, with Marlo Thomas Lost In Space-adapted from the series, with only Jonathan Harris involved and it does not feature the Robinson Family, as such. Alex Toth designs. Luvcast USA-based on :Love, American Style Mini-Munsters-Munsters spin-off One-shots (more or less):
Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters-animated spin-off of the Mad Monster Party. Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter-Popeye battles a fiend who kidnaps the stars of various King Features newspaper strips, including the Phantom, Steve Canyon, Flash Gordon, Dagwood, Snuffy Smith, Hi & Lois and others. Willie Mays and the Say Hey Kid-Willie Mays voices himself, as a guardian angel offers to help win the pennant, if he looks after an orphan girl. Oliver & the Artful Dodger- A sort of sequel to Oliver Twist, as his guardian has died and he ends up on the streets. Alex Toth did the designs, Richard Dawson voices the villain. Shown in two parts Adv. of Robin Hoodnik-Robin Hood, with animal characters, a year before the Disney Robin Hood The Red Baron-the aviator is a heroic dog, fighting evil cats. Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park-the Splits have to rescue a young girl from a witch
and the most infamous:Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet The Groovie Goolies. Filmation produced it, with the okay from Warner bros, using Daffy & Porky and the Goolies (which were Filmation characters). The animation is horrible and there is a bizarre live-action race, with some animated effects over it.
Oliver & the Artful Dodger got a VHS release and was included with other H-B specials, from the Warner Archive. Lost in Space was included with the 2015 Blu-Ray release of the tv show.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 2, 2019 23:13:44 GMT -5
The Brady Kids brings up a couple of interesting points. The actors did their own voices for the first season; but, several held out for more money for the second and were replaced, including by Lou Schiemer's daughter. The parents are never seen and there is a mynah bird, introduced in the pilot film. There was an episode with a Lone Ranger crossover, one with Superman, and one with Wonder Woman, before the debut of the Super friends. This was the media debut for Wonder Woman, in any form (not counting the unaired mini-pilot for the campy tv show, produced by te Batman folks).
In the vein of the Brady Kids, Filmation also produced Mission Magic, a series with a magical teacher who draws a door on a blackboard, which then opens to different worlds and times, where the tour guide is an animated version of Rick Springfield, before he was a hit singer, in the US (just and Australian teen idol). Filmation also produced 2 Gilligan's Island cartoons: The New Adv. of Gilligan and Gilligan's Planet. The first show featured the cast, except Tina Louise and Dawn Wells (who was doing a movie), with Jane Webb voicing Mary Ann and Ginger. Dawn Wells did take part in Planet and also voiced Ginger.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 3, 2019 3:51:02 GMT -5
Yes, with Judy Strangis (Dyna-Girl) trying to do her best Robin/Burt Ward impression with her "Dyna___!!" expressions, instead of Ward's "Holy___!!"-isms. Another connection to the 1966-68 Batman series was that Strangis appeared as a screaming fan of real life signing duo Chad and Jeremy in the Catwoman episodes "The Cat's Meow" / "Batman's Kow Tow", and was the sister of Sam Strangis, one of the unit production managers of the series. It's too bad, though, that the show just wasn't as entertaining as Batman; visually they were similar, and the stories, and villains, were suitably ridiculous, but it just didn't have the wink/smirk at the camera quality that Batman had - of course, if they had attempted to fully capture the spirit of the latter, with double entendre-laden dialgoue, etc., this or that group of 'moral' watchdogs would have been up in arms I'm sure. Mostly, the episodes were a bit boring. Otherwise, I wonder if this costume worn by one of the villains, Spider-Lady, ever made anyone at Marvel do a double take:
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Post by zaku on Feb 3, 2019 5:56:33 GMT -5
Dynomutt, Mighty Man, and Plastic Man for that matter, were billed more as comedies, but even then I don't think they were intentionally trying to emulate the campiness of the '60s Batman. The Filmation Batman, even with Adam West and Burt Ward doing the voice-acting, was nothing like the 60s TV show; it was played pretty straight, with Bat Mite tacked on for comedy relief. I admit that my memory of the show is a little fuzzy (it's literally been decades since I saw an episode), but virtually every review of it mention that they tried to recapture some of the campiness of the original show. And really, unless you are Grant Morrison, how can you do a straight Batman story with Batmite in it??! ETA: And I believe that it was obvious that they tried to emulate the Adam West's version of Batman with Blue Falcon. Mannerism and so on.
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