The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!
The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! | |
---|---|
Captain Marvel in the Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! | |
Country of origin | USA |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
Norm Prescott Lou Scheimer |
Producer(s) | Arthur H. Nadel |
Production company(s) |
Filmation DC Comics |
Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
Release | |
Original network | NBC |
Original release | 12 September 1981 – 11 September 1982 |
The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! is an NBC Saturday-morning cartoon produced by Filmation Studios in 1981.
Plot
This contained two segments
- Hero High - A group of students attend a high school for superheroes.[1]
- Shazam! - The adventures of Captain Marvel and his Marvel Family as they fight enemies like Doctor Sivana, Mister Mind, Black Adam, Mister Atom, Ibac, and more.
From time to time the characters of one show would appear in the other. Isis from The Secrets of Isis also made a guest appearance in animated form on Hero High.
The actors who voice the Hero High cartoon characters perform onstage as their characters each week in live-action song-of-the-week and comedy-sketch segments during the program.
The Hero High Singing Group:
- Captain California: Lead Vocals
- Glorious Gal: Keyboards/Organ, Background Vocals
- Weatherman: Keyboards/Organ, Trumpet, Background Vocals
- Misty Magic: Tambourine, Background Vocals
- Dirty Trixie: Bass Guitar, Background Vocals
- Rex Ruthless: Drums, Background Vocals
- Punk Rock: Lead Guitar, Background Vocals
Episodes
Hero High
Shazam
- Who's Who at the Zoo - When some new animals arrive at Fawcett City zoo, one of the gorillas soon recognized as Dr. Allirog, a talking super-intelligent animal that recently escaped from a cave, having been placed there by the Marvel Family. Allirog is intent on making sure that animals are the more dominant species. He captures Mary and Freddy, then Uncle Marvel, binding and gagging them all, and uses a device that increases Captain Marvel's powers meaning he cannot control them.
- The Incredible Sinking City - Mister Mind assembles an army of worms in a plot to take over Fawcett City.
- Best Seller - Freckles Marvel comes to visit and brings Mary a book. That night, the Hiss-Men emerge from the book, capture Billy, Mary, and Freddy by binding and gagging them, and bring them to Ibac in prehistoric times. The three heroes are turned into Hiss-Men as part of the plot to take over pre-historic humanity.
- Flight 601 Has Vanished - A tornado ends up sending Mary Batson, Uncle Dudley, and Doctor Sivana into the Fourth Dimension as Billy and Freddy follow as well. Once there, they end up as playthings for a giant girl named Manga alongside any other creatures that ended up caught in the Dimension Transporter.
- Black Adam's Return - After a 5,000-year absence, Black Adam has returned to Earth with a plot to resurrect Princess Jemia. When the princess is destroyed, Black Adam captures Mary Marvel and flies off into outer space with Captain Marvel & Captain Marvel Jr in pursuit.
- Family Affair - Doctor Sivana, Georgia Sivana, and Sivana Jr. end up meeting an alien who gives them an amulet that gives them superpowers equal to those of the Marvel Family. The Sivana Family calls out The Marvels for a battle royal.
- Uncle Dudley's Wedding Day - Aunt Minerva kidnaps Uncle Dudley who wants him to be her husband. It's up to the Marvel Family to save him. The Marvels are however bound and gagged by Minerva's henchmen after she sees their transformation and placed inside a machine which will make them Minerva's slaves.
- A Little Something Extra - A disguised Black Adam tosses Freddy a false news publication with the headlines stating, "Captain Marvel Vanishes!". Freddy, as Captain Marvel Jr., rushes the news to Mary to find Billy who might be in danger, assuming that whoever made the false publication knows their secret identity.
- The Airport Caper - Night Owl goes to the airport to steal some gold and two tiger cubs. When Mr. Tawny fails to retrieve them and ends up captured, it's up to the Marvel Family to save him and defeat Night Owl.
- Mister Atom, the Smasher -
- The Circus Plot - Doctor Sivana and Mister Mind create a magic grid that harnesses the power of the sun. Meanwhile, Mr. Tawny tries to audition to join Beauregard Jason's circus.
- Star Master and the Solar Mirror - When Star Master captures Mary Batson and Freddy Freeman, Captain Marvel goes to Hero High to obtain some help into fighting Star Master. Glorious Gal, Rex Ruthless, and Weatherman join forces with him to stop Star Master from launching an attack on New York City.
Cast
Hero High
- John Berwick - Rex Ruthless
- Jere Fields - Misty Magic
- Linda Gary - Miss Grimm
- Jim Greenleaf - Weatherman
- Christopher Hensel - Captain California
- Maylo McCaslin - Dirty Trixie
- Alan Oppenheimer - Mr. Sampson
- Rebecca Perle - Glorious Gal
- Erika Scheimer - Brat Man
- Lou Scheimer - A.W.O.L.
- Johnny Venocour - Punk Rock
Shazam
- Barry Gordon - Captain Marvel Jr./Freddy Freeman
- Dawn Jeffory - Mary Marvel/Mary Batson, Freckles Marvel, Aunt Minerva
- Burr Middleton - Captain Marvel/Billy Batson
- Alan Oppenheimer - Doctor Sivana, Mr. Tawky Tawny, Uncle Marvel/Uncle Dudley, Shazam, Mister Mind
- Norm Prescott - Narrator
- Lou Scheimer - Sterling Morris, Black Adam, Ibac
Reception
In 1982, The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! was nominated for a Young Artist Award for "Best Children's Television Series," and Rebecca Perle won a Young Artist Award for "Best Young Actress in a Daytime Series."[2]
DVD
The rights to the Shazam! portion of the program rest with Warner Bros. (due to the ownership of the Marvel Family cast of characters through DC Comics), who have no plans at this time to release those cartoons. However, Hero High — The Complete Series has seen a DVD release containing all twenty-six episodes (which includes guest appearances from Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel, as well as Filmation creation Isis). However, "Shazam!" is listed by Entertainment Rights on its website as having the "Worldwide Free TV" rights to the series, which means the company can license the series for broadcast on television. However, it is unclear whether it refers to the animated segments from this series or the live action series made by Filmation in the mid-1970s.
It has been a long standing misconception that there are 13 animated episodes of Shazam!. There are in fact only 12. "Girl of My Dreams" is not and has never been a missing SHAZAM episode. This can be confirmed in the book Animation By Filmation. Hero High has an episode entitled "Girl Of His Dreams", which is probably where the misconception came from.
In Brazil, the complete series of 12 SHAZAM cartoons was released by Focus Filmes in 2011.
References
- ↑
- ↑ "Awards for The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 16 October 2008.
External links
- Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! @ Animated Superheroes
- Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! at the Internet Movie Database
- Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! at TV.com