Well overdue for a DVD release ...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHyz_3OriYg[/youtube]

Damn right it is.

My first FF cartoon series was the one with Herbie the Robot instead of Human Torch. I didn't know why they did that. I decided it was because current cartoon technology didn't allow for the depiction of the Torch's flames.

Later in life, I saw this cartoon and felt betrayed because the Torch looks pretty faithful to the comics.

I think it was some licensing issue that caused Herbie to replace Torchie Worchie.

Either that, or they thought kids would start fires and stuff while trying to play 'Human Torch' with the gas stove.

ah, memories..

watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecs8rCw60To

And i still don't know how to embed the player in my post

The French theme song is better.

And Stephane, you look for the "embed" line just to the right of the video, and cut and paste that text into your post.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecs8rCw60To[/youtube]

It was because they knew young Jay Fremont (even old Jay Fremont) would set him self on fire to imitate the Torch.

Heh. Jay is dumb, young and old.

Robbie: Byrne answered to that some month ago. it was because they already had sold he right for the human torch to another producer that they could use it in the cartoon from the 80s. Never saw it anyway and don't want to.

This one from the sixties is better . And given what i wrote above i can say that even without having saw the 80s one

Yeah, Robbie. Heh. From now on, it's Robbie.

Not Byrne, some guy named Mark Evanier:

http://povonline.com/iaq/IAQ02.htm

Is it true that the Human Torch was replaced in the 1978 Fantastic Four cartoon show because the network was afraid that kids would imitate him and set themselves on fire?

No. In 1977, Marvel made a deal that licensed a number of their characters to Universal Studios to be developed as live-action TV-movies and potential series. The Incredible Hulk TV show (the one with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno) came out of that deal, as did TV-movie/pilotss of Dr. Strange and Captain America that never became regular series. The Human Torch was one of the characters that Universal wanted to develop, and a teleplay was written but never produced.

This meant that, the following year when NBC wanted to buy a new, animated Fantastic Four series, the rights to the Torch were encumbered. Universal — which was not to be involved in the cartoon show — would not make a deal that would allow the Torch to be included. Therefore, he was replaced by a robot named H.E.R.B.I.E., conceived and named by Stan Lee and designed by Jack Kirby.

The rumor that is asked about above was abetted by a few statements from folks who worked on Marvel animated projects, saying that the Torch was omitted for the cited reason. Either they had short memories or figured there was some P.R. benefit to claiming that. And, of course, it's theoretically possible that had they not had to make the switch, there would have been some objection to the Torch. But it never came to that.

And it is perhaps worth noting that the Fantastic Four cartoon series in question was produced out of the DePatie-Freleng studio on Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys, California...a building that burned to the ground a year or so later. Make your own connection.

The Torch commited arson, pissed he wasn't included.

Fred and Barney meet the Thing was better. Thing ring do your thing!

I loved that cartoon! They re-ran a few on Cartoon Network when my kids were real little. I guess it is now on Boomerang. Dig that jazzy theme music!

Loved this as a lad, love it now as an old fart.

Yep this one and the Spider-Man cartoon from the sixties were very faithfull to the Lee/Kirby Lee/Ditko stories they adapt.

aithfulness meant nothing to me back then - I loved both this series and Spider-Man, but also Batman POW SOCK BAM style...I haven't seen that intro posted above since I was a kid ....thanks Lindameister, you've made a happy man very old

And inspired by this, I went to look for this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o29VoxtsFk[/youtube]

The original FF cartoon was before my time. I didn't see any of it until Cartoon Network started showing it when I was in college. I'd probably pick it up if they gave it a decent DVD treatment, though!

Here's what a comic book-based animated series looks and sounds like in my memory bank:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQwNwQIY73U[/youtube]

The og FF was suprisingly really good. Watched it on Sci-Fi when they were playing reruns for a while. Really true to the Lee/Kirby stories and spirit.

I think Ralph Bashki worked on that.

I'm with you Frank. The Amazing Friends introduced me to a whole world of Marvel that I never new existed. I was surprised to learn that Iceman didnt change like he did on the show and Firestar wasnt real. I dreamed of X-men adventures with the australian Wolverine and Thunderbird that turned into a bear. Remember having nightmares about video man.

Loved that show.