Superfriends: The Lost Episodes - DVD
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Page 1 of 3 Warner / 1983 / 172 Minutes / Unrated / Street Date: August 18, 2009
I loved this show when I was younger - used to watch it all the time. With Batman and all the other superheroes of the DC universe going through so many changes over the years I always knew I’d look back at this show with some nostalgia and a lot of “I thought this was quality entertainment?” Nowadays only about half of the episodes don’t feel like an after school special and half of those have less plot than your average episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I’ll try to hit all the highlights (and lowlights) of the 24 episodes.
Disc One includes 12 episodes that are each around 7 minutes in length (basically 3 episodes to a half an hour). The first Three, Mxyzplik’s Revenge, Roller Coaster and Once Upon a Poltergeist start off the disc with a whimper. Mxyzplik’s Revenge involves putting Batman in an upside-down room and Superman in a giant garden. Um, really? Roller Coaster sees the Wonder Twins (I know a bad sign already) and Atom save some teens from an old condemned roller coaster, and Batman, Robin and Apatche Chief save the Wayne building from the poltergeist of an old Mohawk Indain in Once Upon a Poltergeist.
The Krypton Syndrome curiously enough has Superman go back in time to save his home planet. He returns to Earth and his own time and is surprised to find that the Legion of Doom has killed all of the super friends except Robin (so basically all of them). Realizing what he’s done he returns to destroy Krypton and every living person on it just to save a few super friends without a second thought. Really, Superman? Are we all good now? You’re not going to destroy any other planets?
Terror on the Titanic is one of my favorites. Divers find the remains of the Titanic and venture inside where they are captured by some strange algae blob creature. Of course Aquaman and Black Vulcan are called in to find that the titanic itself is a giant creature, which raises itself and begins devouring a ship and nearby town.
A hilarious episode in its ridiculousness and unexplained phenomenon. Keep an eye on the fishbowl on Black Vulcan’s head (for going underwater) to disappear and reappear in the next shot. Oops.
Playground of Doom felt very much like the old Star Trek episode where they are attacked by what turns out to be a child. In this episode three children the size of Apache Chief land on earth and play with cars and people as if they were toys and dolls.
Space Racers was another episode with super friends saving teens from their own destructive actions when two intergalactic hooligans are racing their spacecrafts through the galaxy.
Disc 2: Warpland was kind of crazy with characters Superfrog, Octoman and a Hippo (Hippoman?). They turn Superman into an Eagleman and Batman changes to more like Man-Bat.
Obviously fantasizing close to home, Bulgor the Behemoth involves an animator for a TV show being struck by lightning and turning into a giant monster that Superman and Apache Chief fight off. In the end Superman suggests the animator takes a vacation. Message to Producers: That was a hint!
Sleep, Demon of the Dream World is released from his prison accidentally by Superman in episode Prisoners of Sleep. He tortures Superman and Batman in their own dream worlds. Wonder Woman enters the dream world to save them.
An Unexpected Treasure finds another rebellious teen in trouble when they discover a UFO in the desert. The wonder twins jump into action and are useless without Hawkman and Hawkgirl to save them all.
In The Malusian Blob an Alien blob attacks a space shuttle and then the earth. Batman, Robin and Black Vulcan are around to save the day. I love that when it leaves the space shuttle the heroes all assume it will be destroyed by earth’s atmosphere and don’t give it another thought.
A Gumby-like creature accidentally releases three Kryptonians who were imprisoned by superman in Return of the Phantoms. They go back in time to capture Superman when he was just a boy. The adult Superman and Green Lantern show up to save the day.
Is George Lucas a fan of Superfriends? I found it oddly coincidental that Episodes Superclones and Attack of the Cats were paired up next to one another on this disc. Plus, the lab at the beginning of the latter was named Lucas Institute. Attack of the Clones anyone?
One Small Step for Superman had surprisingly little to do with Superman or any super friends. A boy falls in the woods while running from a bear. In a surprisingly traumatic turn for a kids animated show the bear kills the boy’s dog (off-screen). Well the kid is found and has convinced himself he can’t walk. The super friends need to convince him to walk again in a surprisingly bad after school special episode.
The last on the disc is Video Victims in which Bizarro captures Superman, Wonder Woman and Samurai in his own special video game that has more than a small resemblance to Pac-Man. The best part of this episode is its start in Bizarro world. Check out the trippy backgrounds. Someone had fun drawing that. |
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