| Spider-Man | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action / Adventure |
| Format | Cartoon series |
| Created by | Stan Lee and Steve Ditko |
| Developed by | Fox Studios |
| Voices of | Christopher Daniel Barnes Jennifer Hale Edward Asner |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 65[1] (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Supervising Producer Bob Richardson Supervising Director Bob Richardson |
| Running time | 21 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Marvel Entertainment Group Marvel Films Animation |
| Distributor | New World Communications (1994-1997) Saban Entertainment (1997-2001) BVS Entertainment (2001-present) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | FOX (Fox Kids) |
| Original run | November 19, 1994 – January 31, 1998 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends |
| Followed by | Spider-Man Unlimited |
Spider-Man, also known as Spider-Man: The Animated Series, is an American animated series starring the Marvel Comics superhero, Spider-Man.[2] The show ran on Fox Kids from November 19, 1994, to January 31, 1998. The producer/story editor was John Semper, Jr. and production company was Marvel Films Animiation.[3] The instrumental theme song for the series (including the lyrics) was performed by Joe Perry of Aerosmith. Reruns can currently be seen in various countries on Jetix, now known as Disney XD, as well as the instant streaming section of Netflix.
Contents |
The series focuses on Spider-Man and his alter-ego Peter Parker during his college years at Empire State University. As the story begins, Peter has already gained his superpowers and is a part-time freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle. The show features most of Spider-Man's classic villains, including the Kingpin, the Green Goblin, the Lizard, the Scorpion, Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Shocker, the Rhino, the Vulture, the Chameleon, and Venom. Over the course of the series the single Peter contends with the romantic love interests of Mary Jane Watson, Felicia Hardy and her alter ego, the Black Cat. The series also features numerous crossovers by other Marvel Comics characters, including the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Blade, the Punisher, and Captain America. The show also has an ongoing gag about a gargoyle nicknamed "Bruce" (in reference to Bruce Wayne); Spider-Man frequently goes to "Bruce" about his problems and confides in him.
While Marvel's X-Men: The Animated Series was being produced by Saban, Spider-Man was produced by the newly formed Marvel Films Animation; it was the only series that in-house studio produced, but was animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha with Korean studios.[4] The series is the second longest-running Marvel show created, after X-Men, as well as the longest-running series based on Spider-Man. It is currently owned and distributed by The Walt Disney Company, which acquired all Fox Kids-related properties from News Corporation and Saban International in 2001.
To reproduce New York City's style, background illustrators undertook a large amount of visual research by using photo archives from above New York, particularly rooftops. Maps were consulted for references and buildings were faithfully reproduced.
It has been reported that the animation cells depicting Manhattan's Pan Am Building were scrapped after being complete because the California-based art staff learned the Midtown landmark had been given a new sign more than a year earlier.
The animation staff were directed to populate the city with cars and crowds on the street level. Semper believed that was one of the limitations of earlier Spider-Man animated projects.
Originally, Marvel Films planned to make the backgrounds completely CGI while Spider-Man 'webslinged' around New York, yet due to budget constraints were forced to use traditional cel based animation while occasionally using CGI backgrounds. As well, reuse of animation became more common as the series progressed, which also included reuse of animation involving a character speaking (these scenes were sometimes slowed down in order to better match the actor's voice to the animation).
On December 27, 2011, Influence Films announced via their website that they were producing a Spider-Man fan film based on the series. The new episode will be released online as a short film in June 2012 and stars Sara Ballantine, who voiced Mary Jane Watson on the animated series. It also stars Mike Vaughn in the role of Spider-Man. (Vaughn had previously voiced Spider-Man in the popular video game, "Spider-Man: Web of Shadows." )
The trailer for the fan film also features Sara Ballantine as Mary Jane Watson and can currently be viewed on the Influence Films website.
Spider-Man: The Animated Series was one of the most popular shows on Fox Kids, ranking with other hits such as Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men: The Animated Series. Its ultimate cancellation after five seasons was not due to ratings trouble, but due to disagreements between executive producer Avi Arad and network head Margaret Loesch.
Even after the series ended, it still had an impact on the entertainment industry, boosting sales of myriads of Spider-Man merchandise and popularity. The show was named the 84th best animated series by IGN.[5]
Three comics based on the series were produced:
A number of video games based on the series were also produced:
Electronic versions of classic Spider-Man comics were released by Marvel that included narration by Spider-Man's voice actor Christopher Daniel Barnes and featured animation and theme music from this series. Spider-Man novels inspired by selected episodes were also released. A wide variety of themed merchandise (lunch boxes, cereals, clothing, etc.) was produced. McDonald's produced a themed line of Happy Meal toys for the show. However, this paled in comparison to the extensive official toy line that ran over eight series, and included a staggering amount of play sets and vehicles and actually lasted longer than the television series itself.
Despite the fact that the show ended more than a decade ago, the success of the live-action Spider-Man films have sparked more interest in new fans, allowing the series to air in reruns due to its new owners: Disney. Notably, the episodes aired in their chronological order, not Fox's original air dates. Unfortunately, as with revivals of similar shows, several scenes are cut out.
As of August 2009, Marvel.com is uploading episodes, available for streaming, on a weekly basis.[11]
The entire series is currently available for instant streaming on Netflix.
Region 1
To date, the only DVD releases of the series in the U.S. have been several volume sets from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment that feature 4-5 episodes each.
| Title | Release Date | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spider-Man: The Ultimate Villain Showdown[12] | 30 April 2002 | ||||
Episodes:
Features[13]
|
|||||
| Spider-Man: The Return of the Green Goblin[14] | 29 October 2002 | ||||
Episodes:
Features[15]
|
|||||
| Daredevil vs. Spider-Man[16] | 11 February 2003 | ||||
Episodes:
Features[17]
|
|||||
| The Ultimate Spider-Man Collection[18] | 2 November 2003 | ||||
DVD Sets:
|
|||||
| Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock[19] | 29 June 2004 | ||||
Episodes:
Features[17]
|
|||||
| Spider-Man: The Venom Saga[20] | 7 June 2005 | ||||
Episodes:
|
|||||
Region 2
In the UK and Germany, Clear Vision Ltd. has released the all five seasons on DVD as of October 19, 2009.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Complete Season 1 | 13 | June 22, 2009[21] |
| Complete Season 2 | 14 | August 3, 2009[22] |
| Complete Season 3 | 14 | August 17, 2009[23] |
| Complete Season 4 | 11 | September 15, 2009[24] |
| Complete Season 5 | 13 | October 19, 2009[25] |
| The Complete Collection | 65 | November 7, 2011[26] |
Other releases
Bootleg DVDs of the show have become popular among fans due to a lack of official DVD releases. The bootlegs feature all of the episodes but some of them have low video quality and watermarks. This is likely to change as the entire series becomes available in the UK. Spider-Man: The Animated Series is currently the 16th most wanted unreleased DVD at TVShowsOnDVD.com.[27]
Writer / Producer John Semper Jr. won an Annie Award in 1995 for Best Individual Achievement for Writing in the Field of Animation for the episode "Day of the Chameleon". Spider-Man was also nominated for one 1996 Image Award for Outstanding Animated/Live-Action/Dramatic Youth or Children's Series/Special.[28]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||