If
Not for the Super Friends... Animation
Directors Brandon Vietti and James Tucker Remember...
Available
July 20! Did they say Plastic Man?
Brandon Vietti is just two weeks away from his solo directorial
film debut with Warner Home Video’s looming release
of Batman: Under the Red Hood, a dark, emotionally
wrenching journey as Batman’s past and present collide.
James
Tucker is enjoying another successful season producing the
Warner Bros. Animation/Cartoon Network hit series, Batman:
The Brave and the Bold, a much lighter take on the
Caped Crusader’s adventures
Ironically,
the super hero roots of both contemporary animators can
be found in the same content – Super Friends,
the one-hour ABC series that began in 1973, inspiring generations
of young imaginations and spawning numerous cartoon series
sequels.
Both
Vietti and Tucker fondly recall the wide-reaching impact
Super Friends had on their young lives.
“The
Super Friends show was my first exposure to the world
of DC super heroes,” says Vietti, who also co-directed
Superman Doomsday and was the director for much
of the first season of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
“The show was on TV during the first 12 years of my
life so I was the prime audience. From the first episode
I ever watched, I was hooked! My parents bought me the DC
action figures, the Super Friends bed sheets, and,
of course, the Underoos. I guess the Super Friends
show was a rather formative influence on me as a kid since
I now have career making cartoons about DC super heroes.”
"I'm
really reminded of waking up at 6 a.m...."
“To
me, Super Friends really represented what Saturday
morning cartoons were all about,” remembers Tucker.
“When I think of Super Friends, I’m
really reminded of waking up at 6 a.m., getting my bowl
of cereal, and camping in front of the TV for about four
or five hours of cartoons.
“It
was probably the first show I saw that featured DC Comics
characters that wasn’t in reruns. It was just cool
seeing heroes in animation that I was reading in the comics
at the time. And even though I knew the cartoon wasn’t
at the same intensity level as the comics, it was still
cool. The novelty of watching animated super heroes was
enough to make up for the goofy stories and non-violence.”
The
series also placed some important design and character seeds
in minds of two of the leading super hero animation veterans
in the industry today.
"I
loved the scale of the adventure..."
“I
loved the scale of the adventures in Super Friends,”
Vietti adds. “Episodes would often take place in fantastic
locations under ground, under the sea, or in deep space.
There was no end of aliens, monsters and evil scientists
that had to be stopped before executing some evil plan.
The Super Friends show was my first exposure to
stories and characters like that, so that kept me tuning
in again and again.”
“I
thought the designs were appealing at the time – I
didn’t know Alex Toth had done them, but they felt
like the comic book designs,” Tucker says. “They
had the anatomy that the comics had, and there was a simplicity
to them that I can appreciate now but I probably wasn’t
aware of back then.
“Super
Friends was a consistent version of the DC characters
when you just didn’t get that in another cartoon show.
It kept those characters alive in my imagination, and I
know it has had a direct effect on the way I work in animation
today. I always say that Batman: The Brave and the Bold
is the show I was watching when I watched Super Friends.
The spirit, the fun, the excitement and the innocence of
that series is what I wanted to capture with Batman:
The Brave and the Bold.”
Warner
Home Video and DC Entertainment will release Super Friends!: Season One, Vol. Two
on July 20, 2010. Available for
the first time since its debut in 1973, this highly-anticipated
deluxe two-disc collector’s set features eight exciting
one-hour episodes starring the most recognizable DC Comics
super heroes and villains of all time.
Super
Friends! Season 1 Volume 2 follows the adventures of Superman,
Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman and Aquaman as they join forces
to save the world from unthinkable disasters. This crime-stopping
squad, along with heroes in training Wendy, Marvin and Wonder
Dog, combine their special superhuman skills to defeat the
evil villains at hand. The collection also features DC Comics
favorites Plastic Man, The Flash and Green Arrow. Each hour
is packed with timeless adventures of the universe’s
greatest heroes as they pave the way for a brighter future.
on July 20, 2010. Available for
the first time since its debut in 1973, this highly-anticipated
deluxe two-disc collector’s set features eight exciting
one-hour episodes starring the most recognizable DC Comics
super heroes and villains of all time. 
