Spider Man (1981 TV series)

Production background

The series was created to launch Marvel Productions, successor of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, who had previously produced the 1978 New Fantastic Four and 1979 Spider-Woman animated series (where Spider-Man made two appearances).

Synopsis

The series featured Peter Parker having to balance his alter ego crimefighting with his responsibilities as a university student, a part-time photographer for the Daily Bugle and caring for his elderly Aunt May Parker. The series was not as popular with fans as Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, another animated series that aired on NBC around the same time, but Spider-Man still provided viewers with plenty of comic book villains, including Chameleon, Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, The Kingpin, The Lizard, Sandman, Silvermane, Vulture, Mysterio, Magneto, Red Skull, Kraven the Hunter, Wizard, Sub-Mariner, Black Cat, Medusa, and the Green Goblin. One other major difference was an overall arc, where Dr. Doom attempts to conquer Earth, while a group of rebels try to free Latveria from his rule with the help of Spider-Man.

Character designs

The character design for Peter Parker (as well as other supporting characters including Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson) was also quite faithful to the comic books of the period and hearkened back to the illustrations by John Romita Sr. of the young hero in Spider-Man’s newspaper strip adventures from the 1970s. Due to network constraints and demands from parents, characters such as Spider-Man were not allowed to make a fist to strike an opponent, but the show’s creators managed to conceal these issues with a focus on action and relatively fluid animation.

Much like the Spider-Man newspaper strip of the late 1970s, Peter Parker’s character design did away with the 1960s crew cut for a more modern hairstyle during this time, which the character continued to be portrayed with through the 1980s and early 1990s.

Likewise; Parker abandoned the conservative suit and tie of the 1960s comics and previous animated series in favor of dark blue straight-legged linen pants; Paired with a hip turquoise/light blue jacket over a yellow turtleneck (although he infrequently wore a button down shirt in the series and put on a tie for the President’s arrival at the New York City airport in “Dr. Doom, Master of the World”). Stan Lee once remarked that John Romita Sr. often drew Parker with a turtleneck instead of a collared shirt since he felt it would better hide his Spider-Man costume, which was always worn under his street clothes.

Peter’s mask was connected to his costume at the back of the neck, almost like a hood, which he would pull over his head when he changed into Spider-Man.

In relation to Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends was originally believed to be something of a sequel to this solo Spider-Man animated series, although this has since been disputed since both series were originally first aired at the same time on September 12, 1981. The two series are connected in the latter's third-season episode “Origin of the Spider-Friends.” Although not as well known as Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, it does remain faithful to the character's origin. The animation style of both incarnations and incidental music soundtrack are completely identical, although the voice actors are different.

One seeming inconsistency is Norman Osborn (The Green Goblin). In this series, he is portrayed similarly in the comics: wearing a costume and having a split personality. In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends he seems to be portrayed as having a serious medical condition as a result of a lab accident, and physically transforming into the Goblin. However, at the end of Triumph of the Green Goblin, he is shown falling, with his disguise in shreds (after colliding with electric wires), and tells Spider-Man he'll go back to the clinic he left to be cured, which can be interpreted as either having a treatment for his Goblin transformation or therapy for his split personality.

In the episode "The Prison Plot" of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, there is a flashback sequence that depicts a scene from this series' "When Magneto Speaks...People Listen", which hints the two shows are, in fact, connected.

Reruns and DVD release

All 26 episodes have been released on DVD in the UK by Clear Vision, over 4 DVD volumes. To avoid confusion with other Spider-Man DVD titles, Clear Vision released the show on DVD under the name Spider-Man 5000.

As was the case with Amazing Friends, the series was later re-aired in the late 1980s as part of the 90-minute Marvel Action Universe, a syndicated series that was used as a platform for old and new Marvel-produced animated fare (the newer programming featured RoboCop: The Animated Series, Dino-Riders and on occasion, “X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men”, which was intended to serve as a pilot for a potential X-Men animated series).

The rights to all Marvel shows were with Disney, before Marvel acquired them back in 2008. Currently there are no plans for a DVD release in the US or other places in the world. In Canada, Morningstar Entertainment has released the episode The Vulture Has Landed on DVD in the set entitled Spider-Man Vs. The Vulture. The set also contains The Vulture's Prey and The Dark Terrors, both from the 1967 Spider-Man TV series. Morningstar has also released Canon of Doom (on the Fantastic Four VS. Doctor Doom set, included in the Villains Showdown Gift Set that also includes Spider-Man Vs. The Vulture), although the episode is the Bonus episode on the disc. Arsenic And Aunt May was also released in the Heroes box set. All the Morningstar DVD's were mastered from VHS/Betamax copies that were released by Prism Video in 1985 as part of their Marvel Video Library series.

The series became available for instant streaming via Netflix during the summer of 2011. However, streaming rights were lost effective 8/31/2013.

Episodes

The episodes featuring Doctor Doom had an ongoing storyline about rebels in Latveria trying to topple Doom. Throughout these episodes Doom is able to trick people, especially Jameson, into thinking that he is a kind ruler and international humanitarian.

Cast

NOTE: Neil Ross and Linda Gary would reprise their roles for the 1994 Spider-Man cartoon. Ross returned to play both Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin, while Gary reprised her role as Aunt May.

Crew