The All New Super Friends Hour: Season One - Volume
Two (DC Comics/Warner DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Episodes: C+
Over the
years many of our superhero favorites have seen many incarnations and DC’s All New Super Friends Hour continues to
be one of this reviewers least favorite.
The animated series does have its merits, but overall the simplistic
animation and campy atmosphere are all too distracting to hold my interest for
long. This new set contains the last eight episodes of Season One (the first Volume contained the first seven) and even
though the cover of the set promotes “32 cartoons on 2-Discs,” it is really
only 8 episodes. Not much has changed
since the last set and in all honesty the episodes indistinguishably blend together
into one mass of uninspiring superhero cheesy, randomness. The best thing about this set is the
nostalgia factor and that’s about it. If
this same series premiered today, fans would most likely be readying their
kryptonite pitch forks and human torches.
It is nice to see how our superhero pals have evolved over the years;
but it is more noticeable now than ever that fans want substance and depth in
their fabricated super universe and The
All New Super Friends Hour has none.
The
original Super Friends series hit
the airwaves in 1973, but quickly got axed as fans did not seem to connect with
the campy romp with superheroes. In 1977
Hanna-Barbera “reinvented” the series as The
All New Super Friends Hour and for the most part seemed to be much of the same
old material. The big difference for
this new adventure was the addition of Zan and Jayna (the Wonder Twins), whose
powers were so ridiculous and misconceived they were laughable. The Wonder “why we’re here” Twins had powers
that after a long winded incantation allowed Jayna to turn into any animal of
her choice and Zan into any form of water of his choice…wait what? Yea, that’s right. Zan got to turn into a fear invoking puddle
of water! We see who got the shallow end
of the cosmic gene pool on this one. If
the Wonder Twins’ somewhat questionable powers weren’t enough to perplex fans,
Hanna-Barbera decided to include the duos’ clumsy furry companion Gleek “the
space monkey.” Apparently his tail had
many forms as it could turn into springs and such, but overall he was another
useless, “poo flinging” monkey. I
suppose the Wonder Twins were meant to be the voice of a new, cool generation,
while Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman did all the work; but really they
characters fell flat on their useless faces.
It is scary to think that the writers had to sit around and come up with
a way to include an animal, a puddle of water, and a “Space Monkey” in each
episode with some degree of relevance.
The episodes that included the rest of the superheroes were not so bad,
but when it was a Zan and Jayna centric episode all bets were off. The insanely bad segments that came from the
Wonder Twins are memorable because they are just that bad and should have never
seen the light of day.
The other
superhero segments aren’t so great either and only hold the viewers’ interest
as they feature some of the best heroes the comic book world has to offer. This is not to say they are anywhere near as
bad as Zan and Jayna, but they are just not showcased in the manner such
legendary characters deserve. Fans of
the series should continue indulging their childhood fantasies with this set,
but newcomers will get a rude awakening if they think The All New Super Friends Hour: Season One- Volume Two is anything
like newer DC installments like Justice
League or straight to Blu-ray films.
The
technical features on this 2 disc set are much like the last volume; with a
solid presentation, but are simple at best. Like the last volume this
reviewer is still not certain if the episodes are in their original airing
order, but imagines they are, judging from the segmental breakdown of each
episode. The picture once again is presented in an adequate but not
crystal clear 1.33 X 1 Full Screen that can be seen as disappointing, but this
newest release seems to have gotten a similar minimalist restoration effort as
the previous volume and the rest of the Hanna-Barbera DC titles (which is
little at best). The sound is again presented in its original Dolby
Digital 1.0 Mono that has depth issues and often times sounds soft, but once
again a problem with older super hero cartoons and most Hanna-Barbera DVD
features. The extras are sparse and more annoying this time around; the
extras include a single featurette on the infamous Wonder Twins entitled “The Wonder Twins Phenomenon: Zan and Jayna’s
Impact on Pop Culture.” The
featurette is nicely done and more than anything pokes fun at the Wonder Twins
lack of contribution to the superhero universe and their overwhelming
contribution to how pop-culture has learned to mock the ill conceived duo’s
existence.
An ok set
for long time superhero fans, but overall there are better adventures out
there.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
