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Show:		6.0
Picture:		6.0
Sound:		5.0
Extras:		4.0
Score:		5.0

Director(s):	George Gordon • Rudy Zamora
Writer(s):	David Villaire, Jeffrey Scott
Starring:	Casey Kasem • Frank Welker • Michael Bell • Olan Soule • Danny Dark • Louise Williams • Shannon Farnon • William Callaway
Genre:	Animation • Children & Family • Comic Book • Television
Release Date:	August 11, 2009

List Price:	DVD - $19.99
Amazon:

You have to hand it to the old Super Friends episodes, and to DC, for cramming a surprising amount of DC lore into small 7-minute sized servings. While incredibly silly in nature, there’s enough substance in each little adventure to make watching them all a breeze. But even if you can’t bear to see your favorite superheroes treated like the Scooby gang, take solace in knowing that these mindless shorts were the basis for the fan-favorite Justice League (their nemesis group the Legion of Doom makes an early appearance here). You’ll either love these cartoons or hate them, but the off-the-wall plotlines for each cartoon makes the series unpredictable fun and campy.

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Wonder Twins, Robin and even the Green Lantern combat forces both terrestrial and alien in the name of earth’s safety. From their headquarters in the Hall of Justice, the team responds to danger with a pun-flavored zeal. Did you enjoy the camp of the Adam West Batman? The cheap one liners of the Richard Donner Superman movies? Well, your refined comic sensibilities will feel right at home amongst these “lost episodes” of the Super Friends series. But how grave are the threats faced here? How intricate can you make a plot in such short time? You’d be surprised.

7 minutes is just enough time for…

Superman and Batman to be transported to the fifth dimension for battle with Mxyzptlk

Superman to travel back and forth through a black hole to mess with the timeline of Krypton’s destruction

Wonder Woman to discover an underground world where dinosaurs still live

The Wonder Twins to save a group of kids who get stuck on a condemned roller coaster

Aquaman to locate a man in the Amazon whose son needs a blood transfusion

Superman and Wonder Woman to gain the unwanted attention of aliens who want them to play Spaceball

The Legion of Doom to spring a dastardly trap on Superman, Batman and Robin

Aliens to disguise themselves as toy robots and attempt to take over the world

And to think, moments ago you were doubting the virtues of a seven minute show format. It’s impressive how many weird and random situations they were able to write into the show, but here are a few familiar themes. Superman still represents the crutch of the Super Friends team; when in doubt, Superman’s really strong. Most of what Wonder Woman can do is ridiculous: her golden lasso (which at times is an excellent conductor), her invisible airplace/space shuttle, and her outfit. The Wonder Twins are just horribly useless in any situation that might actually be dangerous, so give them civil servant tasks. Every cheesy cartoon needs a Scrappy Doo, so Super Friends has a blue monkey.

But the best part about Super Friends? You get to see your DC heroes put into situations which today DC might consider too humiliating and therefore forego. Sure, Mxyzptlk’s fifth dimension storylines for Superman are always really bizarre, but a Superman in a straw hat is something that should happen more often.

The 1980 version of Super Friends picks back up with a lot of the voice actors of the original 1973 series resuming their roles, including: Danny Dark as Superman; Olan Soule as Batman; Casey Kasem as Robin; and Shannon Farnon as Wonder Woman. William Callaway becomes the new voice for Aquaman just as Louise Williams and Michael Bell become the voices for the Wonder Twins Jayna and Zan, respectively. As you might suspect, voice acting guru Frank Welker lends his voice to various roles here as well, because that man is everywhere.

The animation has held up remarkably well even if the colors are somewhat subdued. The set is labeled as “The Lost Episodes” but really it’s just the third season with the episodes out of order. It’s a fun piece of cartoon history and DC fans should get a kick out of the collection.

DVD Bonus Features

There are two old school Super Friends comic books you can download courtesy of the DVD, and I gotta say they’re kind of a nice throwback. The comics included are “The Mindless Immortal” and “Wendy and Marvin Meet the JLA”, even though Wendy and Marvin were absent in this version of the Super Friends.