"Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" (1981) TV series 1981-1986

Creators:

Steve Ditko
Jack Kirby

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Genre:

Animation | Family

Plot:

Spider-Man battles crime in New York City with the help of Iceman and Firestar.

Plot Keywords:

Marvel Comics | Superhero Team | Prejudice | Based On Comic Book | Superheroine

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Dan Gilvezan	...	Spider-Man / ... (24 episodes, 1981-1983)
Kathy Garver	...	Angelica Jones / ... (24 episodes, 1981-1983)
Frank Welker	...	Iceman / ... (24 episodes, 1981-1983)
Stan Lee	...	Narrator (15 episodes, 1981-1983)
Dick Tufeld	...	Opening announcer (13 episodes, 1981)
June Foray	...	Aunt May Parker (8 episodes, 1981)

Runtime:

22 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-Y7

Company:

Marvel Productions

Trivia:

The character "Firestar," created for this show, proved so popular that she was inserted into the main-line comic-book continuity as part of the super-villain team "The Hellions" in "The Uncanny X-Men" in 1984. She soon got her own mini-series, and as of 2002, is still a main character in "The Mighty Avengers."

Quotes:

Spider-Man: So much for his plan to turn the town into Goblin City.
Green Goblin: Wrong again, insect. There's more than enough formula here for New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington...
Spider-Man: Mona, I'd better stop him before he reaches Anaheim, Azuza, and Cucamonga.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Mr. Incredible and Pals (2005) (V)

One of those shows from when I was a kid

ABC Family channel shows this in the mornings and so I made a point of waking up for the last few days so that I could see if it still held up. It does, but not for the reasons I liked it when I was a kid. This show is pure camp. Right now, I'm watching an episode where Dracula tries to steal Firestar away from the others and it should give you a good idea about the show.

Let's see, Dracula arrives back at his castle in Transylvania with a hypnotized Firestar. She says (Like I robot since she's hypnotized after all) "I-Am-So_Happy." Try to picture the groan that came out of my mouth.

Of course, Dracula's henchmen are the werewolf and Frankensteins monster.

I don't know about you, but if I intended to marry Firestar, I'd dress her in a different outfit than her superhero costume.

In short, this show is complete camp nowadays. It's fun to watch in that sense. Of course, now cartoons seem to have a more serious approach to storytelling (Even the Animaniacs made more sense than some of the stuff on this show). But it's fun.