SuperTed

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SuperTed

Genre	Animated series
Running time	10 mins
Creator(s)	Mike Young
Executive producer(s)	Siriol Productions Mike Young Roger Fickling
Starring	Derek Griffiths Melvyn Hayes Roy Kinnear Jon Pertwee Victor Spinetti Sheila Steafel
Narrated by	Peter Hawkins
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original channel	S4C
Original run	1 November 1982–
No. of episodes	48
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

SuperTed is a Welsh language animated television series from the United Kingdom that first aired on 1 November 1982. It was commissioned by Welsh television channel S4C, and later dubbed into English. The series won numerous awards, including the 1987 BAFTA for best animation. It was also produced by Siriol Productions and Kalato Ltd in association with Abbey Home Media.

SuperTed is the creation of Mike Young, who now works out of his studios in California, USA, along with his wife, Maura. SuperTed was created as a bedtime story for his young son, who was very afraid of the dark.

Every episode starts with the tale of how SuperTed came to life: He was a teddy bear found to be defective in the toy factory where he was made, and then disposed of into a storeroom in the basement. A Spotty man found him there and brought him to life with his "cosmic dust". He was later taken to Mother Nature and given magical powers that enabled him to fight evil. This evil invariably takes the form of Texas Pete (An evil cowboy) and his gang; Bulk (an overweight, bumbling fool) and Skeleton (an undead cowardly skeleton with pink slippers). Texas Pete's plots are generally aimed at advancing his own wealth and power or the destruction of SuperTed, his nemesis.

SuperTed's powers are activated by his "secret magic word", which (as the name suggests) remains a secret. SuperTed whispers it every time he or someone else is in peril and he transforms into a Superman-like red suit with rockets built in to the boots. These allow him to fly. In one episode, Bulk overhears the secret magic word and also whispers it, briefly acquiring identical powers to SuperTed. However, he subsequently forgets the word. The magic word is often humorously regarded as "being a profanity"

The episodes take place all over the world (but quite often in Wales) and even in space (SuperTed being the owner of his own space station). He also has a tree house in an unspecified jungle.

In 1992, Superted was revived in America by Hanna Barbera (who also made Fantastic Max, another Mike Young creation) this time named The Further Adventures of Superted. Only Jon Pertwee returned from the original cast to voice Spotty. The new series takes on a more epic format, often splitting its episodes into two parts: Texas Pete, Bulk, and Skeleton are joined also by new, original villains and the theme song was also ditched for a more dramatic overture. This Superted series is considered poor quality, inferior to the original and did not last beyond one season due to the audience in the U.S. being unable to understand SuperTed^{[citation needed]}.

SuperTed has many similarities to Captain Marvel. Like Captain Marvel, SuperTed gets his powers from saying a word. SuperTed's costume is very similar to that of Captain Marvel. SuperTed was given his powers by a being known as Mother Nature, much like how Captain Marvel's powers were given by the wizard Shazam.

SuperTed also appeared in a Public Information Film, along with Spotty & his sister, Blotch. The film, commissioned by the now defunct 'Central Office of Information', was entitled "Supersafe with SuperTed", and featured the three characters being flown to Earth by SuperTed, in order to teach Spotty how to cross the road safely. A flashback during the short reveals an incident when Spotty very nearly got killed, running across the road on the planet Spot (his home), to talk to his sister.

SuperTed proceeds during the animation, to teach Spotty the right way to cross the road, i.e not running, not standing behind vehicles, etc. He then warns the viewer that He "can't always be there to save you, especially on planet Earth".

[edit] Episode List

Series 1

SuperTed and Mother Nature
SuperTed and The Gorilla
SuperTed and The City Of The Dead
SuperTed and the Elephants Graveyard
SuperTed and The Giant Kites
SuperTed and The Goldmine
SuperTed and The Great Horrendo
SuperTed and The Gun Smugglers
SuperTed and The Inca Treasure
SuperTed And The Lumberjacks
SuperTed In The Arctic
SuperTed Kicks Up The Dust
SuperTed on Planet Spot
Bulk's Story
SuperTed Meets Father Christmas
SuperTed And The Crystal Ball
SuperTed and The Magic Word - Part 1
SuperTed and The Magic Word - Part 2
SuperTed and The Whales
Superted Goes To Texas
SuperTed In Spotty And The Indians
SuperTed and The Rattle Snake
SuperTed Goes Round The Bend
SuperTed's Dream
Tex's Magic Spell

Series 2

Phantom of the Grand Ol' Opry
Dot's Entertainment
Knox, Knox, Who's There?
The Mysticetae Mystery
Texas is Mine
Sheepless Nights
We Got Nutninkhamun
Leave it to Space Beavers
Bubbles, Bubbles Everywhere
Farewell, My Lovely Spots
Ben-Fur
Spotty Earns His Stripes
Ruse of the Raja

[edit] Credits

Produced by: Mike Young, John Parkinson
Directed and Designed by: David Edwards
Written by: Robin Lyons
Based upon characters created by: Mike Young
Film Producer: Roger Flickling
Animation: Hugh Workman
Key Animators: Les Orton, Chris Fenna, Tony Guy, Chris Evans, Don Spencer
Additional Animation by: Malcolm Bourne
Assisant Animators: Lloyd Sutton, Gary Hurst
Inbetweeners: Mike Price, Steve John, Toni Ardolino
Backgrounds: Ian Henderson, Mike Wall
Storyboards and Layouts: Tom Bailey, Andrew Offiler, Wayne Thomas
Editing and Sound Effects: Terry Brown, Charlotte Evans
Dubbing Studio: Magmasters
Music Composed by: Chris Stuart, Mike Townend
Arranged and Conducted by: Mike Townend
Music Produced by: Ambarel
Personal Assistant: Andrea Tudor
Paint Design and Color Mixing: Wendy Keay-Bright
Checkers: Sara Markham, Sue Rider
Special Effects: Graham Bebbington
Assistant: Gerald Emmanuel
Infotec Operator: Christopher Plummer
Film Editors: William Oswald, Jane Murrell, Robert Francis
Production: Lynne Stockford (assistant), Ceri Griffin (coordinator), Mary Pollinger (supervisor), Ellen Pierce Lewis (manager), Jane Morgan (secretary), Joan M. Bentley (accountant)
Trace and Paint Supervisor: Philip Watkins
Trace and Paint: Ron Erickson, Jacqui Miller, Fiona Fenna, Sue Paton, Melanie Hill, Samantha Reynolds, Frank Koller, Phil Simmonds, Carol Leslie, Mick Stubbs, Carl Matthews, Lisa-Ann James, Hazel Guy, Martyn Yates, Anna-Louise Roberts, Mathew Guy, Rosemary Thorburn
Siriol Line Test Camera: Peter Jessett
Siriol Rostrum Camera: Richard Pimm, Nic Jayne
Executive Producer: Christopher Grace
Film Laboratories: Studio Film and Video Laboratories
Made in Wales by: Siriol Animation Ltd