SuperFriends

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SuperFriends is a long-running franchise of animated action series produced by Hanna-Barbera for ABC between 1973 and 1986, featuring characters from DC Comics. The core heroes were Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman and Robin. The last two had previously been guest stars on The New Scooby-Doo Movies. Later series added more heroes and villains.

Overview

In the inaugural series, produced for the 1973/74 season, the five core heroes are joined by Wendy Harris and Marvin White (the "Junior SuperFriends") and Marvin's pet, Wonder Dog. The heroes assemble in the Hall of Justice and receive assignments from Colonel Wilcox. Each of the 16 episodes was an hour long, and the "villains" tended to be well-intentioned extremists.

When SuperFriends was revived in 1977, the stories were reduced to fit the standard 30-minute slot. Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog were replaced by Zan and Jayna, the shape-shifting Wonder Twins, and their pet monkey, Gleek.

From 1980 through 1983, the series produced three short segments each seven minutes in length. However, the 1983 season was never aired on ABC initially. It could be inferred that the 1983 season was originally intended to be produced and launched in 1982 as a lead-in to The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show, but production never went ahead until 1983 due to the 1982 Animators Strike. Reruns of SuperFriends from the 1970s aired as a placeholder for the entire season, under the title The Best of the SuperFriends. The 1983 season was never aired on ABC possibly because ratings for the rebroadcasts in 1982 were low enough, and the 1983 season was shelved in favor of rebroadcasts of pre-1979 Scooby-Doo cartoons. Although three episodes from the 1983 season did air in 1984, the 1983 season of SuperFriends never aired in its entirety until USA Network, and later Cartoon Network and Boomerang aired it in syndication.

In order to provide educational content, each episode featured a 30-second Health or Safety Tips segment, originally featuring the principal characters, and by 1980 started featuring Samurai, Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, and The Wonder Twins. Each episode of 1977's The All-New SuperFriends Hour featured a Safety and Health Tip, in addition to a De-Coder puzzle (split up into three parts), and either a Magic trick or Craft segment (each of which is split up into two parts).

Episodes

The Power Pirate
The Baffles Puzzle
Professor Goodfellow's G.E.E.C.
The Weather Maker
Dr. Pelagian's War
The Shamon "U"
Too Hot to Handle
The Androids
The Balloon People
The Fantastic Frerps
The Ultra Beam
The Menace of the White Dwarf
The Mysterious Moles
Gulliver's Gigantic Goof
The Planet Splitter
The Watermen

Successor Series

The All-New SuperFriends Hour (1977/78)
Challenge of the Superfriends (1978/79)
The World's Greatest Superfriends (1979/80)
SuperFriends (1980-81, 1983)
The Best of the SuperFriends (1982, consisting of rebroadcasts of the highest-rated 1970s episodes)
Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984/85)
The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985/86)

Voice Cast

Sherry Alberoni as Wendy Harris
Norman Alden as Aquaman
Danny Dark as Superman
Shannon Farnon as Wonder Woman
Casey Kasem as Robin
Olan Soule as Batman
John Stephenson as Colonel Wilcox
Franklin Welker as Marvin White and Wonder Dog

Credits

Executive Producers: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
Directed by: Charles A. Nichols
Creative Producer: Iwao Takamoto
Associate Producer: Lew Marshall
Story: Fred Freiberger, Bernie Kahn, Ken Rotcop, Art Weiss, Willie Gilbert, Dick Robbinsa, Henry Sharp, Marshall Williams
Story Direction: Bernard Atkins, Chuck Couch, Clark Haas, George Jorgensen, George Singer, Irv Spector, Howard Swift
Voices: Sherry Alberoni, Norman Alden, Danny Dark, Shannon Farnon, Casey Kasem, Ted Knight, Olan Soule, John Stephenson, Franklin Welker
Titles: Iraj Paran
Dialogue Editor: Wally Burr
Musical Director: Hoyt Curtin
Musical Supervisor: Paul DeKorte
Character Design: Jerry Eisenberg, Alex Toth
Layout: Robert Smitt, Monty Wedd
Animation Supervisors: Rudy Zamora, Alex Toth
Animation: Jim Davis, Richard Dunn, Cam Ford, Peter Gardiner, Sue Gilcrist, Gerry Grabner, Richard Jones, Cynthia Leech, Ray Nowlan, Vivien Ray, Joe Shearer, Stan Walker
Background Styling: F. Montealegre, Albert Gmuer
Backgrounds: Graham Linley
Sound Direction: Richard Olson, Bill Getty
Supervising Film Editor: Larry Cowan
Music Editor: Richard Allen
Effects Editors: Sam Gernette, Terry Moore
Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer
Post Production Supervisor: Joed Eaton
Camera: Joe Dugonics, Wayne Smith
Consultants: Carmine Infantino, Nelson Birdwell, Julius Schwartz
Based upon the characters appearing in Justice League of America magazine published by NationalPeriodical Publications, Inc.
A Hanna-Barbera Production · Produced at Eric Porter Studios