SuperFriends (1978)

What is SuperFriends?

It can be so much to different people. At the time, it was a typical superhero series with the bad guys always being outsmarted by the good guys. Yet, nowadays, over 30 years after it was made, what is it really? Is it an action-adventure or is it that and more?

The SuperFriends franchise stands today as a testament to the mindset of its time. With a target audience of young children, the show – by and large – reflects that mentality. Not only is it excruciatingly ‘simplistic’ – such as the characters always directly verbalizing everything that is happening on the screen – but also it’s paradoxically beyond complex. The show demands that you suspend all disbelief as well as setting aside your internal logic, i.e., not only do the characters do amazing feats, but also sometimes act contrary to their character. Lastly, because this was a children’s program, it was – at that time – not permissible to show violence against any beings. The result was, for example, Rokan, a vicious man-eating beast, preferring to nibble on trees as opposed to the people inches away from them.

"So let me get this straight,” you say. “It’s an ‘action’ cartoon with no violence, and it’s essentially unbelievable, if not to say ridiculously so. So the question is, why, as an adult, would I watch this?” Certainly, pleasure can still be had if not from nostalgia, than simply at its expense. The show is seriously ‘flawed’ and from our present vantage point, adults can use their logic and reason to see the gaping plot holes – that are big enough to drive Optimus Prime through – and therein is the appeal; it really is ridiculous and teeters on the hilarious.