| Genre: | Superhero Action Adventure |
| Creator: | Stan Lee |
| Director: | Brad Case |
| Narrated: | Dick Tufeld |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 13 |
| Executive Producer: | Lee Gunther |
| Runtime: | 21–22 minutes |
| Network: | NBC |
The New Fantastic Four (on-screen title: The Fantastic Four) is an animated series produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and Marvel Comics Animation in 1978.[1] It is the second animated series based on Marvel's comic book series Fantastic Four, following a 1967 series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions.[2]
The 1978 series replaced the character of the Human Torch with a robot named H.E.R.B.I.E. (Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics) because the 1978 television rights to use that character were tied up by a proposed television pilot movie in development by Universal Studios that ended up never being produced.[3] [4]
Ownership of the series passed to Disney in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide, which also includes Marvel Productions.[5] [6] [7]
After getting exposed to cosmic radiation, Reed Richards, Susan Storm and Ben Grimm, alongside their robot H.E.R.B.I.E., fight crime as the Fantastic Four.
DePatie–Freleng Enterprises had initially been slated to produce the Godzilla series while Hanna-Barbera was to produce The New Fantastic Four, but when Lee Gunther at DePatie–Freleng acquired the rights to the Fantastic Four, Hanna-Barbera objected leading to NBC brokering a deal between the studios wherein DePatie–Freleng would produce The New Fantastic Four while Hanna-Barbera would produce Godzilla.[8] [9]
Universal Pictures executive Frank Price had optioned several Marvel Comics including the Human Torch and as a result the series wasn't allowed to feature the character.[9] With the rights to one of the central characters tied up, Stan Lee decided a new fourth member of the team would be created that would take inspiration from R2-D2 from the successful film Star Wars.[9] Dave Cockrum was initially asked to submit designs for the robot character, but as Cockrum hated the idea of replacing the Human Torch purposefully submitted several terrible designs that resembled objects like trashcans or lamps crudely grafted onto wheels.[9] The assignment was then handed off to Jack Kirby who designed a streamlined flying robot named ZZ-123 that would be renamed to H.E.R.B.I.E..[9]
When the series was initially set up at Hanna-Barbera, Mark Evanier who wrote for the Hanna-Barbera line of Gold Key Comics heard the company wanted a Jack Kirby look and feel for the series which lead to Evanier contacting the animation director to say Kirby was available to work on the show.[8] Kirby was allowed to work on the show with Marvel Comics agreeing Kirby's work on the series would count towards the requirements of his contract with Marvel.[8] During their time working on the series, Marvel Comics then under the stewardship of President James Galtan decided they should become an animation company so they could deal with networks and not have to sell the rights to their properties leading to the company partnering with DePatie–Freleng and forming Marvel Productions.[8]
While certain episodes were direct adaptations of the earliest adventures written by Lee and Drawn by Kirby, several alterations had to be done for time limitations and adherence to Broadcast Standards and Practices.[10] Writer Roy Thomas, who worked on the series alongside Lee and Kirby, spoke about the imitations they encountered such as how The Thing was no longer allowed to hit "anyone, man beast or monster".[10] Depictions of guns and firearms were also strictly prohibited with Thomas crafting a scenario where Skrulls were using Star Trek-esque Phasers and received a note from the network stating "No guns of any kind!".[10]
In a private correspondence to Margaret Loesch, Stan Lee expressed dissatisfaction with the show's quality. Lee alluded to his intention to make changes for a second season.[8] In addition to the death of The Thing actor, Ted Cassidy, a second season was ultimately not produced as then NBC President Fred Silverman hated the show. Silverman considered the show to be of poor quality, and wanted it off the network.[8]
| Title | Written by | Original air date |
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In July 2012, scenes from Fantastic Four were re-cut, edited, and re-dubbed into comical shorts as part of Disney XD's comedic Marvel Mash-Up series of shorts for their "Marvel Universe on Disney XD" block of programming that included Ultimate Spider-Man and .[11]
Episodes of the series were included on Prism Entertainment's Marvel Comics Video Library series. The show appeared on Volumes 2 and 7 of the series.
Morningstar Entertainment has released 2 episodes on Region 1 DVD in Canada, however both The Impossible Man and Meet Dr. Doom are reissues of Volumes 2 and 7 of the 1980s Prism Entertainment Marvel Comics Video Library. Both DVDs were mastered from VHS copies of those old releases, and therefore contain the Spider-Man episodes that were added on as bonus episodes to the VHS releases.[12] Meet Doctor Doom is only available in the Villains Gift Set by Morningstar.
In April 2008, Liberation Entertainment secured the home media rights to select Marvel shows from Jetix Europe in select European territories, including The New Fantastic Four.[13] [14] The company had plans to release the series on DVD, but in October, the company closed their UK branch; leaving the DVD release cancelled.[15]
In 2009, Clear Vision took over the home media rights and released the complete series in a 2-disc set titled The Fantastic Four: The Complete Series on March 1, 2010 in the United Kingdom.[16]