The Marvel Superheroes

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The Marvel Superheroes

A title card from segment The Mighty Thor
Genre Animation
Starring Peg Dixon
Paul Kligman
Arthur Pierce
John Vernon
Chris Wiggins
Country of origin Flag of Canada Canada
No. of episodes 65
Production
Running time Half-hour series
Broadcast
Original channel Syndication
Original run Sept. 1 - Dec. 1, 1966 –
Links
IMDb profile

The Marvel Superheroes[1] is a Canadian-made animated television series first syndicated, on U.S. television, in 1966 and starring five popular comic-book superheroes from Marvel Comics. Produced by Grantray-Lawrence Animation, headed by Grant Simmons, Ray Patterson and Robert Lawrence,[2], it was an umbrella series of five segments, each approximately seven minutes long, broadcast on local television stations that aired the show at different times. The series ran initially as a half-hour program made up of three seven-minute segments of a single superhero, separated by a short description of one of the other four heroes. It has also been broadcast as a mixture of various heroes in a half-hour timeslot, and as individual segments as filler or within a children's TV program.

The segments, and their original rotations, were:

Appearing in guest roles were:

  • The X-Men — The original lineup of the Angel, the Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, and Marvel Girl appeared in a Sub-Mariner episode, "Dr. Doom's Day / The Doomed Allegiance / Tug of Death". The story was an adaption of Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965), but since Grantray-Lawrence Animation did not own rights to the Fantastic Four, the producers substituted the X-Men — although referring to them instead as "Allies for Peace". The characters retained their original designs and individual names from the comics, however.
  • The Avengers — The lineup beginning in Avengers #4 (March 1964), with Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, the Wasp and the newly installed Captain America, appears in several Captain America episodes.

Contents

[edit] Production

Title card for a Sub-Mariner episode
Title card for a Sub-Mariner episode

Sixty-five episosdes of three seven-minute segments were produced, for a total of 195 segments that ran initially in broadcast syndication from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1, 1966.[3] The color series is known for having extremely limited animation produced by xerography, consisting of photocopied images taken directly from the comics and manipulated to minimize the need for animation as much as possible. The cartoons were presented as a series of static comic-strip panel images; generally only the lips moved, when character spoke, and the occasional arm or leg. Some animation fans have criticized the production as shoddy[citation needed] while noting[citation needed] that the series used the original stories largely in their entirety, showcasing classic Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Don Heck art, among others, from the period fans and historians call the Silver Age of comic books.

Stan Lee, Marvel's editor and art director at the time, said in 2004 that he believed that publisher Martin Goodman negotiated the deal with Grantray-Lawrence and that Lawrence choose the characters to be used. Lawrence rented Lee and his wife a penthouse at 30 East 60th Street, near Madison Avenue, for Lee's use while he worked on the series. (Lee lived in Hewlett Harbor, New York, on Long Island, at the time.) He recalled, "I really don't remember any reaction from the Marvel artists involved. I wish I could claim to have written the [theme song] lyrics, because I think they're brilliant, but alas, I didn't".[4]

[edit] Voice cast

  • Captain America / Steve Rogers - Arthur Pierce
  • Hulk / Bruce Banner - both voiced by Beranrd Cowan and Paul Sols (a.k.a. Paul Soles)
  • Iron Man / Tony Stark - John Vernon
  • Sub-Mariner - John Vernon
  • Thor - Chris Wiggins
  • Narrator - Bernard Cowan

[edit] Stations

A Captain America title card
A Captain America title card

Source: Marvel Comics house ad in The Amazing Spider-Man #45 (Feb. 1967), which contained the notation "This List Incomplete At Time Of Publication".

Alphabetized by city.

[edit] Others

[edit] Quotes

BadMoviePlanet.com: "The plots are lifted straight from the comics. Stan Lee's stories play out great on the comic book panels but are extremely corny on the screen. I mean the The Bottomless Pit of Perdition? The Iron Idol of Infamy? The scripts are very repetitive as the characters constantly remind you where they're going and what they're doing. It is corny, melodramatic and even a bit maudlin but it's still a good time".[5]

[edit] Theme songs

Meet a sulky, over-bulky, kinda hulky super hero
Altruistic and electrically transistored superhero
An exotically neurotic and aquatic superhero
The Marvel superheroes have arrived!

Superpowered from their foreheads to their toes
Watch them change their very shape before your nose
See a cane-striking superhero change to Viking superhero
A humdingin', real swingin', shield-flingin' super hero
They're the latest, they're the greatest, ultimatest super heroes
The Marvel superheroes have arrived!

[edit] "Captain America"

When Captain America throws his mighty shield
All those who chose to oppose his shield must yield
If he's led to a fight and a duel is due
Then the red and the white and the blue'll come through
When Captain America throws his mighty shield!

[edit] "The Incredible Hulk"

Doc Bruce Banner, belted by gamma rays
Turned into the Hulk. Ain't he unglamou-rays!
Wreckin' the town with the power of a bull
Ain't no monster clown. Who is that lovable?
It's ever-lovin' Hulk! Hulk! Hulk!

[edit] "The Invincible Iron Man"

Tony Stark makes you feel
He's a cool exec with a heart of steel
As Iron Man, all jets ablaze
He fights and smites with repulsor rays
Amazing armor! Iron Man!
A blaze of power! Iron Man!

[edit] "The Mighty Thor"

'Cross the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard
Where the booming heavens roar
You'll behold in breathless wonder
The God of Thunder, Mighty Thor!

[edit] "Prince Namor, The Sub-Mariner"

Stronger than a whale, he can swim anywhere
He can breathe under water and go flying through the air
The noble Sub-Mariner, prince of the deep
So beware you deadly demons, Lord Namor of Atlantis
is the Prince of the Deep.

[edit] End Theme: "Merry Marvel Marching Society"

Stand a little straighter
Walk a little prouder
Be an innovator
Laugh a little louder
Grow forever greater
We can show you how to
And where will you be then?

(Chorus) You belong, you belong
You belong, you belong
To the Merry Marvel Marching Society

March along, march along
March along to the song
Of the Merry Marvel Marching Society

If you growl, if you grown
With a down sour outlook
If you howl, if you moan
You can lose your sour grout
By keeping trim and in step
With the vim and the pep
Of the Merry Marvel Marching Society.

Be an early riser
Strive to be ambitious
Speak a little wiser
Try to be judicious
Be a good advisor
never ever vicious
Where will you be then?

Face front!
Lift your head!
You're on the winning team!
Nuff Said!

(Reprise chorus)

If you growl, if you groan
And your star is nearly zero
Do not howl, do not moan
You can be a superhero

Marching right along
To the fighting song
Of the Merry Marvel Marching Society.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Owning to the segmented nature of the program, its overall title is often rendered in different ways. This article title uses the name and spelling found at its entry on the Internet Movie Database, at IGN.com, at the TV reference site TV.com, and at the animation site Toon Tracker
  2. ^ Robert Lawrence interview, Jack Kirby Collector #41, Fall 2004, pp. 42-47.
  3. ^ TV.com: The Marvel Superheroes Episode Guide
  4. ^ "A Minute of Stan's Time" (sidebar by Adam McGovern), Jack Kirby Collector #41 (Fall 2004), p. 47
  5. ^ BadMoviePlanet.com: "The 3B Theater: The Sub-Mariner"

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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