1981 Shorts

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Channel:

ABC

Aired:

1981

Episodes:

18

Production

Writer(s):

Haskell Barkin
Dick Conway
Willie Gilbert
Donald F. Glut
Mark Jones
Elana Lesser
Dick Robbins
Cliff Ruby

Director(s):

Oscar Dufau
George Gordon
Charles A. Nichols
Ray Patterson
Carl Urbano

Creative Director:

Iwao Takamoto

Produced by:

Hanna-Barbera
DC Comics

Executive Producers:

Joseph Barbera
William Hanna

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Seasons

Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Season 4
Season 5 • Season 6 • Season 7
Season 8 • Season 9

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Chronology

Previous Series:

1980 Shorts

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Next Series:

The Best of the Super Friends re-runs only (1982)

1981 shorts, Episode Lengths: 7 minutes

This incarnation of the Super Friends ran in 1981 on the ABC Network.

We find ourselves with seven-minute shorts once again. Viewers would be treated to 3 new episodes weekly and a rerun from one of the previous six years.

These new adventures featured appearances by the core group of the five classic Super Friends (Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman and Aquaman) along with the illustrious Wonder Twins (Zan, Jayna and their pet monkey Gleek). There were also guest appearances from members previously depicted in Challenge of the SuperFriends series. Occasionally, a DC Villain, namely a couple of former members of the Legion of Doom would resurface to menace our heroes, but for the most part, our heroes would continue to deal with non comic villains and threats.

The 1981 season was unfortunately shorter than 1980 season due to an animator’s writers strike. It was reduced down to a 30 minute show, only consisting of these new shorts, and eventually melting in with the reruns of the past. There was no special title and the quality of these shorts were the same as the previous ones. There was one new addition to the Super Friends.

Eventually, the strike cleared up and suddenly, the SuperFriends now faced some real animated Super Hero competition on Saturday mornings. Reruns of Thundarr the Barbarian were on the ABC lineup that year as well. NBC had three Super Hero hits. Hanna-Barbera featured Space Stars (these shows used a lot of stock music heard on the SuperFriends). Filmation’s presented the Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam. Also some real competition for the SuperFriends came along with a 3 season show by Marvel/Sunbow Productions called Spiderman and His Amazing Friends. Over at CBS, Filmation presented the Tarzan/Lone Ranger/Zorro Adventure Hour and the fantasy themed cartoon series, Blackstar.

Notes

• Black Vulcan, Samurai, and Apache Chief were promoted to starring status on the series short.

• Another aspect of this season was that there were new health and safety tips as well as crafts that were made, this time being hosted by Black Vulcan, Samurai, Apache Chief, and the Wonder Twins as well as the original five heroes.

• With the exception of Mxyzptlk Strikes Again, these episodes have been edited and aired as part of the 90's syndicated Superman/Batman Adventures package. The series featured edited episodes of various seasons of the SuperFriends, as well as the 1983 lost episodes of the Super Friends for the first time on television, which has aired on USA, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang. It has been reported that these shorts have all aired uncut on TV stations in Canada.

Intro and Cast

• Narrator – voiced by William Woodson (1977-1985)

SuperFriends Cast

• Superman – voiced by Danny Dark (1980-1981)
• Batman – voiced by Olan Soule (1980-1981)
• Robin – voiced by Casey Kasem (1980-1981)
• Aquaman – voiced by William Callaway (1980-1981)
• Wonder Woman – voiced by Shannon Farnon (1980-1981)

Also starring

Junior SuperFriends:

• Wonder Twin, Jayna – voiced by Louise Williams (1980-1981)
• Wonder Twin, Zan – voiced by Michael Bell (1980-1981)
• Gleek – voiced by Michael Bell (1980-1981)

• Samurai – voiced by Jack Angel (1980-1981)
• Hawkman – voiced by Jack Angel (1980-1981)
• Hawkgirl – voiced by ---------------------- (1980-1981)
• Green Lantern – voiced by Michael Rye (1980-1981)
• Black Vulcan – voiced by Buster Jones (1980-1981)
• Rima the Jungle Girl – voiced by Shannon Farnon or Kathy Carver (1 episode: Return of Atlantis 1980-1981)

• Mr. Mxyzptlk – voiced by Frank Welker (1 episode: The Planet of Oz, 1980-1981)
• The Riddler – voiced by Michael Bell (1980 -1981)
• The Atom – voiced by Wally Burr (1 episode: Elevator To Nowhere 1980-1981)
• El Dorado – voiced by Fernando Escandon (4 episodes, 1980-1983)

• Bizarro – voiced by Bill Calloway (1980-1981)
• Brainiac – voiced by Stanley Ralph Ross (1980-1981)
• Sinestro – voiced by Vic Perrin (1980-1981)
• Solomon Grundy – voiced by Jimmy Weldon (1980-1981)

DVD / Media info

For a DVD set of SuperFriends Shorts (Parts 1-3) check out I Miss My TV Show, an incredible website for old and rare cartoons.

Episode List:

Ep #	Episode Name			Air Date
1	Outlaws of Orion	Three Wishes	Scorpio	September 25, 1981
2	Mxyzptlk's Flick	Sink Hole	Alien Mummy	October 3, 1981
3	The Evil from Krypton	The Creature from the Dump	Aircraft Terror	October 10, 1981
4	Lava Men	Bizarroworld	The Warlord's Amulet	October 17, 1981
5	The Iron Cyclops	Palette's Perils	Colossuss	October 24, 1981
6	Stowaways from Space	The Scaraghosta Sea	The Witch's Arcade	October 31, 1981

Season 1 (1973)   Season 2 (1977)   Season 3 (1978)   Season 4 (1979)   Season 5, 1980 Shorts Season 6, 1981 Shorts   Season 7, 1983 Shorts   Season 8 (1984)   Season 9 (1985)
Previous Series: 1980 Shorts	Next Series: The Best of the Super Friends – re-runs only (1982)