Today, for this Flashback Friday, I’m going to showcase the various animations of possibly the most animated superhero team ever… THE FANTASTIC FOUR.
Though HANNA-BARBARA produced many superhero animations, this 1967 version of the Fantastic Four gave our super quartet the respect it deserved. As with most of the Hanna Barbara superhero stuff, the animation wasn’t the best. But they gave us some classic FF stories and characters right out of the comics. And as always, Hanna-Barbara had that great jazz score to accompany the animation. Check out the intro:
Oh, but Geek Soul Brother isn’t finished yet. In 1978, Depatie-Freleng Enterprises developed THE NEW FANTASTIC FOUR. Now I was hating on this version as a kid because they got rid of The Human Torch and added a corny robot called H.E.R.B.I.E. I had always heard that they did that because they were afraid kids would start playing with matches and light themselves on fire. But according to this Wiki Page, that was an untrue rumor. The real reason was that the rights of the Human Torch character were tied up with Universal in hopes of making a TV series. I still believe they were nervous about the match thing. Cartoon Censorship had gotten outrageous in those few years. But even though I was hating it, my comic lovin’ kid-brain couldn’t help but watch it during Saturday Mornings. Anyway, check out this trailer:
Now this 1994 FANTASTIC FOUR is a series I didn’t get much of a chance to watch. I was a little too busy raising a family to fully get into my geekness at the time. I have to say though, the intro is making me want to go back watch it, I’m feeling the lyrics. This was part of The Marvel Action Hour.
And Finally, with everything being touched by anime, the re-imagined FANTASTIC FOUR WORLD’S GREATEST HEROES hit television back in 2006. I watched a couple of episodes back then, but they didn’t grab my attention. Maybe I didn’t give it a chance. I guess my love of the FF is too nostalgic.
The Fantastic Four was one of my favorite comics growing up. It’s always cool to see them portrayed on TV or in Movie form. Not many superhero groups had the family dynamics that they did. I hope you get a chance to go back and check out some of the older series. Let me know what you think.
Loading tweets...