"Spider-Man - The '67 Classic Collection" DVD Talkback (Spoilers)

[Stu]

Nothing Beats The Original

Spider-Man: The '67 Classic Collection
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Release Date: June 27th (Pre-Order release) / June 29th, 2004

Synopsis: Available on DVD for the first time ever, Spidey's classic 1967 animated adventures are brought together in the amazing Spider-Man: The '67 Classic Collection DVD box set. This nostalgic six-DVD set brings together all 52 fully restored classic Spider-Man episodes from the original 1967 TV series. It's non-stop action and excitement as Spidey takes on his biggest foes, including Dr. Octopus, The Green Goblin, Mysterio, The Rhino, The Kingpin, Dr. Magneto, and many more! This unique set is a must-own collectible for every Spider-Man fan,

Features:
-All 52 episodes digitally remastered!
-Written Introduction By Stan "The Man" Lee!

Comments?

 

[Spider-Friends]

Here's a repost of my review which is also at www.spider-friends.com

1. PICTURE QUALITY: The picture quality is STUNNING! It feels bizarre to be watching this show in such good picture quality since I have never seen it look this good. Discs 1-4 are completely remastered though many episodes vary in quality. Anybody should be more than satisfied with them. However that are some strong exceptions:

Disc 5 : Episodes that are washed out and blurry:

• "The Winged Thing"
• "Conner's Reptiles"
• "Sky Harbor"
• "The Big Brainwasher"
• "The Vanishing Doctor Vespasian"
• "Scourge of the Scarf"

Disc 6 : Only one episode that is washed out and blurry:

• "Up from Nowhere"

Disc 5 & 6 do have even more episodes that aren't quite as cleaned up as others but the difference isn't near as shocking as the above listed episodes. Keep in mind that those episodes may be better looking than they ever have been but compared to others on the disc they do not look good.

2. PACKAGING: Initially this was a disappointment to me. It could have been done a lot better. They did use some artwork from the show though, so it COULD have been a lot worse. Inside the package is a cool shot of Peter looking at his radiated hand that looks very appropriate. I'll say it again: COULD HAVE BEEN A LOT WORSE. For an example, look at the Spider-Man vs. Daredevil DVD.

3. MENUS: They are okay. They used some quick flashes of a very "paused" looking web for the menu intro that doesn't look so good, but the use of the music is pretty great. The menu itself has a nice retro look.

4. EXTRAS: None unfortunately. I read that Mark Evanier recorded an interview for this thing but it is nowhere to be seen. But for $60 this is still a great deal. It would have been nice to have a documentary on the show and some interviews with the people involved but beggars can't be choosers, right?

ALL IN ALL: What more do you really need? All 52 episodes are here in excellent quality. I'll be happy enough if they do the same for Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Which brings me to my next point:

EVERYBODY PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BUY THE 67 COLLECTION!!! I WANT MORE MARVEL CARTOONS ON DVD!!! IF this sells well Buena Vista will want to put out more Marvel Cartoons! PLEASE!!!!

ALSO: Ralph Bakshi discusses his role with the 1960's SPIDER-MAN TV cartoons in the Toronto Globe and Mail.

 

[AarHan3]

EVERYBODY PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BUY THE 67 COLLECTION!!!

That's what I plan to do! I remember getting a first eyefull of 1967-70 Spider-Man repeats in the late 1970s after school every Monday-to-Friday afternoon @ 4 p.m. (Central) on my local CBS affilliate, WWL-TV Channel 4, New Orleans. Once you've been bitten by that bug, you're hooked for life!

Sure would like to see a tribute to the 1967 edition of Spidey on your Spider-Friends.com page, Spider-Friends!

 

[Spider-Friends]

Sure would like to see a tribute to the 1967 edition of Spidey on your Spider-Friends.com page

THUD! (That sound you hear is me falling over dead.)

As much as I am enjoying watching the 67 Collection, I actually HATED the show as a child so the nostalgia factor is not there for me. I loved Spider-Man & his Amazing Friends (obviously) so I rented & recorded a video tape from the early 80s that had the first 5 episodes of season two of the 67 show.

When I watched it, the repeated swinging, jazzy music & Spidey's "superhero" voice were all unbearable to me. Being a kid though, I watched the tape quite a few times, all-the-while telling myself how much I hated it. As I grew older I pretty much avoided the show because of those memories. Now I wish I hadn't because I think I would have enjoyed the first season episodes since they had the comic book villains that I wanted to see.

Reading that interview with Ralph Bakshi made me glad to find someone to blame for what I hated about the show: "Whenever we fell short a couple of minutes, I just kept the son of a b**** swinging." AARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

Glad to hear that you are buying the set!

 

[Stu]

That was a nice little interview with someone who appears to be very angry.

My set came in the mail this morning, and I've watched the first 2 discs so far, and they've been great. A solid presentation so far. I'm a little dissapointed about the lack of features, a few episode introductions or Stan Lee's Soapbox would've been great, but I can't really complain...the cartoon is nearly 40 years old, and we've got every single episode in a box set.

I'll be reviewing it in length for Toon Zone News and The Marvel Animation Age soon.

 

[Jon T]

Well, got my set this morning and am very satisfied! This is how cartoons should be treated on DVD, with every single episode released in one handy boxset! I've seen most of the episodes before, so there are no surprises for me.

It is nice however, to be able to watch a great majority of them (haven't gotten to the poorer picture quality episodes yet) with such clear picture quality. Should Disney ever release any of the other older Marvel shows, they should definitely go back to the original negatives and get some new prints made. The results with this show and with others that have had the same treatment (such as Rhino's DVD releases of Transformers & G.I. Joe) are immediately obvious.

One thing I did notice however, that the seconds long scenes of Spidey climbing on a web that used to go between two of the half-hour stories have been removed from a majority of episodes. I did spot one in a second season ep, so at least there is an example of it on the set. Also, the next episode previews have been removed. I believe that the 2nd and 3rd season previews were virtually identical, with only a voiceover by Spidey giving information about the following episode. For the 1st season, we are treated to a few visuals of Spidey talking to the camera and actual clips from the following episodes are shown.

I had heard that a mini documentary about the show was filmed with at least Stan Lee and Mark Evanier participating, but there's no sign of it on the set. I don't think it was meant to be too long, but even a small extra such as that would have been very welcome. It's a shame Disney left it out of the set.

Aside from these not altogether unexpected removals, I'm very satisfied with the set. Could the '81 collection and beyond be far behind?

Oh and here's another interview, this time with a surprisingly knowledgeable Paul Soles:

http://www.superherohype.com/articles/index.php?id=1615

 

[The Overlord]

Yeah Ralph Bakshi was one who replaced all the grounded stories featuring Spidey's comic book rogues, with insane tales involving aliens, demons and monsters in season 2.

 

[GrantM]

Anyone know if the DVD set is getting a UK release?

 

[Spider-Man]

I had heard that a mini documentary about the show was filmed with at least Stan Lee and Mark Evanier participating, but there's no sign of it on the set. I don't think it was meant to be too long, but even a small extra such as that would have been very welcome. It's a shame Disney left it out of the set.

I heard about that, too. What about the "written introduction" by Stan Lee that is supposedly on the DVD set? What does it cover?

 

[bradvickers69]

is anything censored?

Is there any gunplay or any other bits cut like they do sometimes on the ABC FAMILY channel?

 

[Stu]

The gunplay seems to be there. Some edits do seem have been taken place, one of which is in "The Origin Of Spider-Man". The shot of his costume coloured in incorrectly is missing.

I heard about that, too. What about the "written introduction" by Stan Lee that is supposedly on the DVD set? What does it cover?

It's in the free booklet that came with the disc. It's basically a 2 page written article, the typical Stan Lee goodness you'll have no doubt heard before.

I'm onto disc 3 of the set now, what's happened? The quality of the series has taken a slight dip and there's no Spidey villians in site! He's fighting people from the bottom of the earth and stuff. In damn weird backgrounds too.

And he must spend a good 5 minutes webslinging in every single episode. Ralph Bakshi obviously ran short in every episode.

 

[Spider-Friends]

I'm onto disc 3 of the set now, what's happened? The quality of the series has taken a slight dip and there's no Spidey villians in site! He's fighting people from the bottom of the earth and stuff. In damn weird backgrounds too.

You've hit the second season and are feeling my pain, I see. I like that there is more to Peter's social life but besides that I don't know how many of these episodes I can make it through. I started fast-forwarding through the web swinging scenes in "King-Pinned" and will continue to do so in each and every episode from here on out!

 

[Stu]

You've hit the second season and are feeling my pain, I see. I like that there is more to Peter's social life but besides that I don't know how many of these episodes I can make it through. I started fast-forwarding through the web swinging scenes in "King-Pinned" and will continue to do so in each and every episode from here on out!

It got beyond a joke on some of the episodes. He must have been swinging for hours in the caves below earth...

I noticed they moved him back to school too. Jameson and Betty are now long gone too, to my dissapointment. They've changed the designs, and made them look far too cheap. It's not been too good at all so far.

I thought seeing The Scorpion being 20 feet tall would be the weirdest thing I'd see in the set

 

[Jon T]

The gunplay seems to be there. Some edits do seem have been taken place, one of which is in "The Origin Of Spider-Man". The shot of his costume coloured in incorrectly is missing.

Which shot was that? I know they reversed the red and blue in the scene where he first appears in costume and jumps through his window, but that shot was still there.

You've hit the second season and are feeling my pain, I see. I like that there is more to Peter's social life but besides that I don't know how many of these episodes I can make it through. I started fast-forwarding through the web swinging scenes in "King-Pinned" and will continue to do so in each and every episode from here on out!

I think a large part of my nostalgia for the show comes from the fact that the majority of episodes available on rental tapes here were wisely taken from the 1st season. I only saw some of the 2nd and 3rd season eps for the first time years later, and hated them. I do kind of like some of the gloomy mood and music present in the later episodes, but the shockingly poor animation, lack of any Marvel villains, and downright weirdness of the stories does put me off quite a bit as well. Things probably would have been easier to watch if they'd kept the same writers as the 1st season.

It's obvious that Krantz Films alone were very short on time and resources to make the show compared to Grantray-Lawrence's work on the first season. Indeed, the animation on some of the 2nd and 3rd season episodes is so poor, that they come off worse than the old G-L Marvel Superheroes shows! I bet Bakshi was elated when he got a hold of G-L's stock animation cels of Spidey swinging away!

So I'm afraid the only episodes that most people will see any merit in (and consequently, the only ones highlighted in advertising) are the 1st season ones. Still, at least all of those episodes were actually re-mastered!

 

[Stu]

Which shot was that? I know they reversed the red and blue in the scene where he first appears in costume and jumps through his window, but that shot was still there.

I must've missed it. I was probably looking for thw wrong version.

Some of these second season episodes have been a chore to watch. I heard the quality dipped but they've messed everything up, even Jameson's design! The scene with him talking is exactly the same thing everytime. Not a single thing changes. Beyond a joke. I'm on disc 4 now.

Do any more good villians appear? I thought them using Dr. Magneto in the first season took the piss...

 

[batmanosaurus]

Spider-man: The Soundtrack!

Disclaimer: Hopefully this doesn't qualify as advertising and break any rules. That's not my intent.

I just want to let you fellow spider-fans know something I'll know you'll enjoy. An indie band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada called Volume teamed up with the series' composer, Ray Ellis, and in 2002 released a cd. This is the only way you'll ever get any of the show's music (aside the famous theme song -which Ellis didn't write) albeit it's not the original recordings.

This is no small feat. The original recordings were lost. Volume figured everything out by going over old VHS's and of course by working with Ellis. It's a fantastic album and a must-have for anyone who picked up the DVD's.

I'm not going to include a direct link to where you can buy this album online (and it's only available online) because that's obvious advertising. But here's the link to the band's site where you can hear a few samples. I'm sure you'll figure it out from there.

http://www.spider-band.com/

 

[angilbas]

I'm onto disc 3 of the set now, what's happened? The quality of the series has taken a slight dip and there's no Spidey villians in site! He's fighting people from the bottom of the earth and stuff. In damn weird backgrounds too.

That's "Menace From the Bottom of the World," the first of Bakshi's 'trippy' episodes in which Spidey encounters bizarre creatures and humanoids against psychedelic backgrounds. But with a time-and-money budget of one week and $14,000 per episode, it's remarkable that Bakshi's works, for all their oversights and mistakes, look as good as they do. Evidence of cost-cutting predominates, but nice animation touches are seen here and there. Some of the character designs are very fine. And Bakshi made sure that the soundtrack had a variety which was lacking in Season One.


-Tony

 

[Senbei Norimaki]

I just got this set today. Which Episode in the the set has Mary Jane in it?

 

[Spider-Friends]

I just got this set today. Which Episode in the the set has Mary Jane in it?

"The Big Brainwasher"

 

[Anarky]

as a lover of superheroes and all things comics, i am obligated to my duty and i will buy this set..even though i've never seen a single episode of the '67 series...or the '81 series.

remember, one good turn deserves another:
BUY BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES VOLUME 1

*i'm still waiting for box sets of the 90's Spidey series.