| Genre: | Superhero Action Adventure |
| Voices: | Michael Bell Bob Holt Michael Horton B. J. Ward |
| Narrated: | Stan Lee |
| Composer: | Johnny Douglas |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 13 |
| Executive Producer: | David H. DePatie Lee Gunther |
| Producer: | Don Jurwich |
| Company: | Marvel Productions |
| Network: | NBC |
The Incredible Hulk is an animated television series based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. The series ran for 13 episodes on NBC in 1982, part of a combined hour with Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (as The Incredible Hulk and the Amazing Spider-Man).[1]
Compared to the live-action The Incredible Hulk television series from Universal, this series followed the Hulk comic books much more closely, particularly with regard to the Hulk's origin, the supporting cast (though Rio and his only daughter Rita do not appear in the comics), the army base setting, the heavy use of fantastical elements, and the Hulk being capable of speech (albeit limited). The series also retained from the comic book "Bruce Banner" as the name of the Hulk's human identity (rather than "David Banner" as in the live-action series).
This was the second Hulk animated series: in 1966, the Hulk appeared in 13 seven-minute segments as part of TV's The Marvel Super Heroes.[2] The "Spidey Goes Hollywood" episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, first broadcast in late 1981, served as something of a backdoor pilot for The Incredible Hulk as it guest-starred the version of Bruce Banner/the Hulk that would later feature in the 1982 series.
Ownership of the series passed to Disney in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide, which also includes Marvel Productions.[3] [4] [5]
The series focuses on Dr. Bruce Banner attempting to cure himself of his transformations into the Hulk, and the Hulk defeating various monsters and villains whilst fending off the army's attempts to subdue and capture him.
The 1982 Incredible Hulk series featured accompanying narration by Hulk co-creator Stan Lee. Some of the same background music tracks were used for Dungeons & Dragons. Boyd Kirkland, who became a writer/director for and , was one of the layout artists for The Incredible Hulk.
The character design for both Bruce Banner and the Hulk were based on the artwork of Sal Buscema, who penciled the Incredible Hulk comic during the 1970s and 1980s. There is also the more frequently remembered quirk that whenever the Hulk transformed back to Bruce Banner, his clothes would miraculously return to normal (instead of being with only what is left of his pants, as happens in the comics and subsequent media). Also, the series would frequently reuse the same stock sequences when Banner transformed into the Hulk.
See main article: List of The Incredible Hulk characters.
| No. | Title | Written by |
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Bruce Banner was played by voice actor Michael Bell, while the Hulk himself was voiced by Bob Holt, whose stock library of roars created for this series would be used in various other Marvel Productions series and movies.
Scenes from Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and The Incredible Hulk were re-cut, edited, and re-dubbed into comical shorts as part of Disney XD's Marvel Mash-Up shorts for their "Marvel Universe on Disney XD" block of programming that includes Ultimate Spider-Man and .[6]
In April 2008, Liberation Entertainment secured the home media rights to select Marvel shows from Jetix Europe in select European territories, including The Incredible Hulk.[7] [8] A two-disc boxset of the series was due out for August but was delayed until October due to unforeseen circumstances before being fully released on November 3 through Lace International, after Liberation shuttered their UK division at the end of October.[9] The DVD contains all the episodes produced, as well as a short restoration featurette.[10]
Clear Vision later took over rights and re-released the complete series on DVD in the United Kingdom on June 7, 2010[11] and in Germany on June 14, 2010.[12]