13 QUICK THOUGHTS on the Quirky Screen Debut of the JUSTICE LEAGUE
THE FILMATION FILES: A birthday salute to Filmation maven LOU SCHEIMER… — UPDATED 10/19/23: The late Filmation impresario Lou Scheimer was born 95 years ago! Perfect time to “reprint” this groovy piece from February 2020! Dig it. — Dan — Welcome to THE FILMATION FILES, a recurring series that takes a deep dive into some of the most entertaining cartoons ever – the DC Comics segments first broadcast in the ’60s but which were also a staple of ’70s syndication. Click here for the complete index of features, as well as links to our podcast with John S. Drew. — I considered starting this new feature any number of ways but I figured it was best to begin with Filmation’s Justice League of America shorts that debuted in 1967’s Superman-Aquaman Hour of Adventure. This way, you get a glimpse of most of the DC heroes in the studio’s stable. See, the guest-star “Super Superhero” shorts, as Filmation called them, featured the Atom (voiced by Pat Harrington), the Flash (Cliff Owens), Green Lantern (Gerald Mohr), Hawkman (Vic Perrin) and the Teen Titans. The studio took the four adult heroes, joined them with top headliner Superman (Bud Collyer) and – voila! – screendom’s first Justice League was born. I’ve written about Filmation’s JLA before (click here) but it deserved a fresh look as part of THE FILMATION FILES — especially since these and the studio’s Aquaman adventures have been beautifully remastered on the DC Universe app. So here are 13 QUICK THOUGHTS ON THE QUIRKY SCREEN DEBUT OF THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: — 1. I know this is a strange way to start but of all six “Super Superhero” features, Justice League of America is the weakest. One of the episodes is solid but the other two are variations on the same theme and lack a certain oomph. — 2. But I do hasten to add that I still enjoy these because they are, after all, Filmation – and I have a deep appreciation for the wonderfully schlocky animation, simplistic storytelling and frequently off-model costuming. — 3. If you’re wondering why Batman wasn’t in the segments, it’s because these Saturday morning cartoons were on CBS and the Caped Crusader’s rights were tied up by the Adam West show on ABC. (Filmation didn’t produce Batman cartoons until Batman ’66 was cancelled in 1968.)...
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