World Famous Comics: The Adventures of Aquaman - The Complete Collection (DC Comics Classic Collection) Aquaman
The Adventures of Aquaman - The Complete Collection (DC Comics Classic Collection) Aquaman
Starring: Adventures of Aquaman Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Animated, Full Screen, Color, Subtitled Label: Warner Home Video Number of Items: 2 Region Code: 1 Release Date: October 23, 2007 Running Time: 264 minutes
Description: Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas, also features his teen-aged sidekick Aqualad, Mera (who is referred to as an "Atlantean girl" in the series), and Aqualad's pet walrus, Tusky. Also featured are the Aqua-duo's sea horses, Storm and Imp. Set in the lost city of Atlantis, Aquaman is the hero from the deep who protects the sea against any foes who threaten the peaceful undersea life. Aided by his ward Aqualad, Aquaman fights for justice on the ocean floor while keeping close contact with friends on dry land.
Awesome show this show is pretty good. Aquaman is one of the neatest superheros out there. i hope they make a movie of him someday. that'll be neat. the show was sweet. if you haven't seen it then you should.
A TRIP IN THE WAY BACK MACHINE First, a little history behind the series. These Aquaman episodes were originally broadcast in 1967 - 1968 as part of the Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. The show featured not only the two heroes of the title, but also guest appearances by other characters such as The Atom, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Flash, and even the Teen Titans. Then in 1968, just the Aquaman episodes were repackaged by CBS and the animation studio, Filmation, as the Aquaman show, which then ran from 1968 - 1970 on Saturday mornings. All 36 episodes (running about 6 - 7 minutes each) are included in this brand new two DVD set.
The show starred Marvin Miller as the voice of Aquaman and Ted Knight as the shows narrator as well as Aquaman's nemesis Black Manta. Miller provided the voice of Robby the Robot in the sci-fi classic, Forbidden Planet. Knight of course is best known for his portrayal as news anchor Ted Baxter in the Mary Tyler Moore Show and also as Judge Smales in Caddyshack. Knight also did a lot of work in animation. Besides Aquaman, he was the long time narrator of the Super Friends animated show. My only complaint about Knight is that he pronounces the characters name as if it were spelled "ACK-waman", and it's quite annoying.
The show was produced by Filmation, a fairly prolific animation studio during the 60's through the 80's. Among the classic Saturday morning shows they produced were The Archie Show, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Star Trek the Animated Series, the live-action Shazam series, The Groovie Goolies, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and Bravestar. Filmation really has an incredible resume. Like rival studio, Hanna Barbera, Filmation perfected a low-cost approach to animation, particularly in their shows of the 60's and 70's. Backgrounds were repeatedly used over and over. An example of this is when Fred Flintstone runs through his living room and passes the same chair five times. They used rotoscoping a great deal as well to cut down on high animation costs. Still, they put out great TV shows and this is the kind of stuff I grew up on in the 70's. If only they would release the Jerry Lewis series on DVD!
These episodes are very basic. With the short running time there isn't much in the way of plot or character development. Generally we find out the threat in the first minute or so and then Aquaman along with Aqualad and his host of undersea allies has to save the day. There are some villains such as the aforementioned Black Manta but more often the threat is some kind of undersea monster like The Volcanic Monster, Ice Dragon, The Devil Fish, or the Satanic Saturnians. I was never a big Aquaman fan as he just seemed to me to be so limited. Everything had to be a sea adventure and how many times can you fight sea monsters. The animation, while budget, is pretty good and fluid. There is a pretty good featurette on the DVD called "The Sovereign of the Seas" and gives a history of the character from his creation in the 1940's to his Silver Age revamp to the present and includes comments and interviews with notable comic personalities as Paul Levitz, Mark Waid, Dwayne McDuffie, as well as former Filmation Director Hal Sutherland.
These animated shorts are dated but still fun, especially for baby boomers trying to relive their youth!
Come Tadpole, Let's Head for Home! Well Done!
I grew on this show and this will always be "The Aquaman!
I'm glad on its on DVD, cause now my kid can enjoy too!
Great fun under the waves The Adventures of Aquaman - The Complete Collection (DC Comics Classic Collection)
The summer of 1967 was one of the most exciting times of my childhood, once CBS began to run their ads for the "Superman/Aquaman Hour Of Adventure." I'd been an avid fan of Aquaman and Aqualad stories since their days in Adventure Comics, and, being that Aqualad was my favorite hero, I also followed his adventures with his land-bound friends, The Teen Titans. I watched the "Aquaman" series every Saturday for two years and for several years after on Sunday mornings at 7am. Thanks to "The Adventures Of Aquaman" DVD, I can now get my sleep and enjoy these cartoons any time.
The voice actors in the "Aquaman" series were amazing, most notably the manic performances of Ted Knight as the narrator, as well as playing nearly every villain featured. I can only imagine the contortions he went into while delivering lines for the Sea Sorcerer or Captain Barracuda. Marvin Miller, previously the voice of TV's "The Millionaire," made for a wonderfully regal yet benign Aquaman, and Jerry Dexter's voicing of Aqualad quite nicely matched the innocent zeal of Aquaman's faithful friend and sidekick. (Every time I see the "Jumpin' Jellyfish" ride at Disney's California Adventure, I hear Jerry's voice in my head saying that line). Diana Maddox had more work at playing the trouble-making Queen Vassa or the winsome Wonder Girl in the "Teen Titans" filler cartoons of this series than as Mera, here featured as the Aqua-Duo's gal pal, rather than the wife she was to Aquaman by that time in print stories. (Let's hope that the Teen Titans and Justice League member cartoons which are regrettably missing from this DVD release will soon appear on a companion release).
This series closely reflected the innocent, uncomplicated and gleeful sort of stories in which Aquaman and Aqualad appeared during their Adventure Comics run, facilitated by fan-favorite comic book writers such as Bob Haney, Oscar Bensol and Dennis Marks, with consultation by Mort Weisinger. It didn't seem to matter that Aquaman borrowed Mera's hard water magic from the comics for a power boost here, or that Tusky thwarted as many of the villains' attacks on Atlantis as the Aqua-Duo did, nor that Aqualad, everyone's favorite purple-eyed future mage, spends part of nearly every episode unconscious. ("Three Wishes To Trouble" almost foreshadows Aqualad's future role as the wizard Tempest, in its way). These characters are rendered with so much care and sense of fun that it was easy for an Aqua-fan to forgive such alterations. The artists at Filmation Studios made these undersea outings as inviting as that image of the ever-illuminated dome of Atlantis featured at the end of every show. Additionally, John Marion's lush soundtrack matched the sumptuous seascape backgrounds, making these undersea romps just that much more memorable.
Unlike the far more sinister and serious Aquaman later featured in Warner Bros. Animation's series "Superman" and "Justice League," these jaunts with the Aqua-Duo (or "Marine Marvels," take your pick) are a joy: light on violence (though Aqualad gets banged up early and often) and long on aquatic splendor, always ending in mirth and a hearty "Let's head for home, Tadpole" ...or "Sardine," "Squirt," "Shrimp" or "Minnow." (You'd think Aquaman could have had the decency to give the kid a real name, wouldn't you)? It's sad that it took forty years for WB Animation to clean up those bleeding reds from the old film stock and issue these fabulous cartoons as they originally appeared. If all you know of these episodes are the edited versions from USA Network or Boomerang, treat yourself to this set of the real deal. It is, as Aqualad says, "great fun" to see our intrepid aquatic heroes riding the waves to adventure in glorious comic book colors once again. Filmation owned my Saturday mornings in the late 1960s and I love reliving that era through this marvelous series.
"Amen to that, A-man!" Great gastropods! Aquafans everywhere are all a-tingle over this swell 2-DVD collection of 36 six-minute animated adventures starring the King of the Seven Seas, Aquaman (that's "ACK-wa-man," not "AH-kwa-man"). These charmingly corny programs, narrated by Too Close for Comfort's Ted Knight, are dripping with nostalgia and bubbling over with fun! Sadly, the discs come in one of Warner's universally despised el cheapo, super-skinny digipack cases. That means you can't remove Disc 2 without first removing Disc 1. Sufferin' starfish!--I loathe this type of case! On the plus side, the artwork printed on all sides of the cardboard is sensational. The picture quality of the cartoons themselves is also good, with vibrant colors that will make your eyeballs water with delight. As with most Filmation shows, the characters are drawn very simply with bold black outlines. The Sea King's suit lacks the scales seen in the comics, and the whites of his eyes are incorrectly flesh colored. The exotic undersea backgrounds are nicely detailed. But--holy haddocks!--doesn't that exact same school of fish appear in almost every episode?
As any comic book aficionado worth his saltwater knows, Aquaman has the power to communicate telepathically with sea creatures via a series of white rings that emanate from the center of his forehead. Oddly enough, the denizens of the deep always obey his commands. Wailin' wolf fish!--I wish my dog was half that obedient! What's more, the orange and green-clad marvel is able to keep his wavy blonde hair perfectly coifed at all times, despite the fact that he's constantly swimming in the ocean. Slitherin' seaweed!--his skin doesn't even get wrinkly in the water! Tragically, Aquaman cannot survive on land for more than an hour...which, as you can imagine, is quite an inconvenience.
The Sea King's ability to breathe in the ocean is shared by his excitable teenaged ally, the underwater boy wonder, Aqualad (a.k.a. "Tadpole"). Since he lacks the power to talk to fish, or to do anything else that's particularly useful, Aqualad spends much of his time thinking up clever new interjections to blurt into his ring radio whenever there's trouble. These exclamatory word-pairs typically consist of the name of a sea creature preceded by a verb, preferably beginning with the same letter of the alphabet, for example: jumpin' jellyfish, leapin' lobsters, bouncin' blowfish, etc. Note that it is customary not to pronounce the `g' at the end of the action word. Aqualad greatly enjoys repeating his alliterative exclamations with intolerable frequency. If the lad's hapless pet walrus, Tusky, could speak to him by way of mental telepathy, the toothy mammal would undoubtedly ask the ebullient teenager to stop yelling "Leapin' lampreys!" every other minute, and try barking for a change. And--mumblin' mantas!--Tusky does bark quite a bit, as he has a penchant for getting into trouble and becomes panic-stricken at the drop of a seashell.
The amazing Aquaduo, together with their freakishly overgrown seahorses, Storm and Imp, monitor the seven seas from the Aquacave--an ultra high-tech underwater laboratory crowded with waterproof computers and giant maps. These extraordinary electronics allow Aquaman to keep tabs on his countless enemies, such as: the infamous Black Manta and his red-faced Manta Men; the green-skinned mermaid queen, Vassa; the sandstorm-conjuring Sea Sorcerer, keeper of the vile Book of Magic; Captain Sly, with his invisible plastic bag traps; the demonic Mephisto, with his deadly vibro-beam; Snork the Great, the untrustworthy undersea genie; the blue-faced Sea Scamp and his trio of bear-like Bulks; and the hideously deformed diabolical genius known only as The Brain...just to name a few. Jumpin' jackfish!--the oceans are practically overflowing with bad guys!
Although the multi-talented A-man is sometimes called upon to solve problems in faraway places--like the time the golden-haired meddler traveled to Planet Q344 in a waterlogged spaceship to organize a peace conference between the Quatix and the Bimphars--he is primarily concerned with the protection of the shimmering city of Atlantis. Because the citizens of Atlantis breathe air, the underwater kingdom is shielded from the ocean by a massive glass dome. For some reason, most of Aquaman's adversaries desperately want to smash said dome so the seawater will--sputtering spoonbills!--rush in and flood the city! True, Aquaman can hurl balls of compressed water, and spin like a propeller to create powerful waves, but the oceanic guardian relies heavily on his fishy friends to assist him in thwarting the sinister plans of the myriad villains that threaten Atlantis on a daily basis. Of course, a great deal of strategy is required in deciding which gilled critter to employ to successfully carry out each required task. Nevertheless, the vulnerable people of Atlantis ultimately owe their lives to the whales, sharks, dolphins, and octopi, who are always willing to lend a fin, a flipper, or a tentacle to do their water-breathing master's bidding without hesitation or complaint.
The coveted Aquaman DVD set includes just one interesting extra: a 25-minute featurette entitled, "Sovereign of the Seas." Unfortunately, this mini-documentary focuses on the history of the Aquaman character, and offers little to no information about the making of these uniquely entertaining Filmation shorts. Weapin' weakfish!
I leave you with these words of wisdom from that pupilless clam-dweller, Oceanus, the sagacious Old Man of the Sea: "A two-legged fish can only be caught by a two-legged bait." Buzzin' barracuda!--that old man is smarter than The Brain!
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