Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show |
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| Genre | |
| Created by |
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| Written by |
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| Directed by |
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| Creative director(s) | Iwao Takamoto |
| Voices of |
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| Narrated by | William Woodson |
| Theme music composer | Hoyt Curtin |
| Composer(s) |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 8 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Kay Wright |
| Editor(s) |
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| Running time | 30 minutes (including commercials) |
| Production company(s) | |
| 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 TV show about a team of superheroes. It aired from 1984 to 1985 on ABC. This show was made by Hanna-Barbera Productions and is based on the Justice League and other comic book characters from DC Comics. It's part of the longer Super Friends cartoon series.
Contents
What Makes This Show Special?
Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show brought a new style to the Super Friends series. Each half-hour episode had two separate stories, each lasting about ten minutes. This was different from earlier shows that had longer stories.
Instead of the Wonder Twins always being the main young heroes, Firestorm became a key teenage superhero. The Wonder Twins still appeared, but they often teamed up with other Justice League members. For example, in one episode, they worked with Firestorm and Robin.
Why Was the Show's Name Changed?
This Super Friends series was made to connect with a toy line called the Super Powers Collection. These toys were produced by a company called Kenner. That's why the show's name changed to include "The Legendary Super Powers Show." The toys and the show shared a common story: Earth's heroes teamed up to fight the villain Darkseid and his evil friends.
Meet the Heroes: The Super Friends
Thirteen heroes were part of the Super Friends team in this show. They worked together to protect the world.
- Superman
- Batman
- Robin
- Wonder Woman
- Green Lantern
- Firestorm
- Black Vulcan
- Gleek (the Wonder Twins' alien monkey)
- Apache Chief
- Samurai
- El Dorado
- Wonder Twins (Zan and Jayna)
Aquaman and The Flash only appeared in the opening credits of the show. This series was also the first time Wonder Woman's costume on TV had the "W" symbol instead of the eagle design. A cool fact is that Adam West, who played Batman in the live-action TV show, became the voice of Batman in this cartoon. He took over from Olan Soule.
Meet the Villains
The Super Friends faced many challenges from a group of powerful villains.
- Darkseid – This was the first time Darkseid appeared outside of the comic books. He wanted to conquer Earth and even tried to make Wonder Woman his bride! Darkseid made the show more serious.
- Kalibak – Darkseid's son, Kalibak, often tried to help his father. He was usually shown as boastful and not very effective against the heroes.
- Desaad – Another one of Darkseid's evil followers.
- Brainiac – This villain appeared as a robot. In one episode, Brainiac said he changed his look when he worked with Darkseid.
- Mirror Master – He could trap the Super Friends inside mirrors! The heroes had to find a way to escape his "sixth dimension."
- Lex Luthor – Superman's main enemy. He appeared in a few episodes, sometimes with his special power suit.
- Mister Mxyzptlk – This tricky character loved to annoy the Super Friends. His name is pronounced "Miks-ill-plik" in the show.
- The Robber Baron and Sleeves – A pair of criminals.
- Dollmaker – A villain who used dolls in his crimes.
For this series, the characters of Lex Luthor and Brainiac were updated to look more like their comic book versions.
Episode Guide
There were 8 exciting episodes in Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show.
Voice Actors: Who Played Who?
Many talented voice actors brought these characters to life.
- Jack Angel – Samurai
- René Auberjonois – DeSaad
- James Avery – Alien Auctioneer, Cromar
- Michael Bell – Zan, Gleek
- Gregg Berger – Benny the Bungler, Ernie
- Arthur Burghardt – General Plankton
- Howard Caine – Dr. Dan Corwin, King Timon
- Connie Cawlfield – Diana Prince / Wonder Woman
- Danny Dark – Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman
- Fernando Escandon – El Dorado
- Patrick Fraley – Captain Mystery/Sidney Wanamaker, Bank Guard, Remlar
- Liz Georges – Little Superman
- Buster Jones – Black Vulcan
- Stan Jones – Lex Luthor, Robber Baron, Sleeves
- Casey Kasem – Dick Grayson / Robin , Mirror Master
- Mary McDonald-Lewis – Lois Lane
- Mickey McGowan – Princess Tara
- Stanley Ralph Ross – Brainiac
- Michael Rye – Apache Chief, Hal Jordan / Green Lantern, Dr. Dan Corwin's Assistant
- 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, Inspector Throckmorton, Dollmaker
- Adam West – Bruce Wayne / Batman
- Bill Woodson - Narrator
It's important to know that Adam West started voicing Batman in this version of the show. He took over from Olan Soule.
Behind the Scenes: The Crew
These are some of the people who worked hard to create the show.
- Gordon Hunt - Recording Director
- Mitch Schauer - Title Design, Story Director
