I still enjoy watching the older Saturday Morning cartoons, even at age 51. Something about getting a big bowl of cereal and watching the latest, or repeated, cartoons was a favorite enjoyment of mine.
One of my cartoons was the “Superfriends”. This was my first introduction to the DC comics world. Although, this cartoon series was a lot tamer than the comics are, they were still enjoyable to watch.
Being older now and thanks to HBOMax, I am able to still watch those timely episodes. I have to admit that it is different now watching them. Especially since I have read some of the DC comics story lines, seen most of the movie adaptations, and have a more analytical mind, in part to my software developing job. Here are a couple of things in the Superfriends cartoon that give a bit of a pondering too.
- The availability of Kryptonite. For something that is so lethal to Superman, I am amazed at how easily this glowing green rock is available. It seems like any villain, super or otherwise, can pick it up. In one of the later season’s episode, all the kryptonite was locked up in the Fortress of Solitude. Otherwise, if someone wanted to commit a crime and get away, he can get a piece, either rock or in unique forms, of Kryptonite.
- A problem with stopping Superman. In a couple of episodes of season 4, Superman was the villain, either by amnesia or from an parallel universe. Somehow, the other Superfriends, forgot about using Kryptonite to stop him. In one run of the comics, Superman had given Batman a Kryptonite ring as a security measure.
- “Wonder Twin powers activate”. Granted, it was an interesting twist adding them into the mix. I don’t recall ever seeing them in the comics. They were, for most part in the first season, a bit of comic relief. However, in later seasons, before they went to shorter episodes, they were used only once. There was an episode in the 3rd season, where they were called back to their home planet to fight a villain. They only “got” one shot at it and were not used again.
- Adam West as Batman. In the last season of the Superfriends, they brought back the original Batman, Adam West, to voice him. They even introduce his “back story” and gave him a demeanor similar to his comic book counterpart.
All in all, I still enjoy watching these old classic episodes. Now, watching it, you can see the direction of the show was more toward the “younger” audience. Some of the “humor” was a bit dry but otherwise still tolerable.
