Fantastic Four (1978 TV series)

The Fantastic Four is an animated series produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and Marvel Comics Animation (both owned by Marvel Entertainment) in the late 1970s.

Premise
It is the second animated series based on Marvel's comic book series Fantastic Four. The 1978 series replaced the character of the Human Torch with a robot named H.E.R.B.I.E., (Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics). A long-lasting rumor stated that this change was made by the TV network (NBC) because executives did not want young viewers to imitate the Human Torch by setting themselves on fire. This rumor proved to be untrue, as the 1978 television rights to use that character were tied up by a proposed television pilot movie in development by Universal Studios (now a sister company to NBC) that ended up never being produced.

Episode list

 * 1) A Monster Among Us - A spaceship containing a giant alien monster crash-lands on Earth and heads for New York. The Fantastic Four must find a way to contain the giant alien monster before a second spaceship arrives.
 * 2) The Menace of Magneto - Magneto challenges Mister Fantastic for leadership of the Fantastic Four. Magneto wins and makes the team commit crimes disguised as good deeds.
 * 3) The Phantom of Film City - When the Fantastic Four are invited to make an epic film adventure, the movie set is plagued by the mysterious Phantom of Film City and some all too real Skrull actors.
 * 4) Medusa and the Inhumans - Upon investigating reports of mysterious beings living in the Alps, the Fantastic Four are captured by the Inhumans led by Medusa who are making plans to take over the Earth.
 * 5) The Diamond of Doom - Queen Sebel of Manopal hires the Fantastic Four to retrieve the Great White Stone that was stolen from her not knowing what Queen Sebel plans to do with the Great White Stone.
 * 6) The Mole Man - When Power Plants from all over the world sink beneath the Earth, the Fantastic Four discover that Mole Man is behind this.
 * 7) The Olympics of Space - Thing is abducted by aliens and forced to compete on the Moon in a contest between warring factions. Thing ends up fighting the other alien race's champion Monstro.
 * 8) The Fantastic Four Meet Doctor Doom - Doctor Doom introduces himself to the Fantastic Four and takes them back to Latveria where he forces them into going back in time and recovering the treasure of Blackbeard.
 * 9) The Frightful Four - In order to combat the Fantastic Four, Wizard brings together Medusa, Sandman, and Trapster to form the Frightful Four.
 * 10) Calamity on the Campus - Professor Gregson Gilbert introduces his creation Dragon Man to the Fantastic Four in order to use it for good. Unfortunately, Professor Gilbert's assistant George steals the controls to Dragon Man in order to use it for his own purposes.
 * 11) The Impossible Man - A green alien that can do anything lands on Earth and is called Impossible Man by the criminal it befriends.
 * 12) The Final Victory of Doctor Doom - Doctor Doom blackmails the United States into making him its leader causing the Fantastic Four to spring into action.
 * 13) Blastaar, the Living Bomb Burst - Mister Fantastic discovers the Negative Zone and unknowingly lets Blastaar onto Earth who goes on a rampage.

Cast

 * Ted Cassidy - Thing/Benjamin J. 'Ben' Grimm, Mole Man
 * Mike Road - Mister Fantastic/Prof. Reed Richards
 * Dick Tufeld - Narrator
 * Ginny Tyler - Invisible Girl/Susan 'Sue' Richards
 * Frank Welker - H.E.R.B.I.E., Impossible Man

Additional voices

 * Joan Gerber -
 * Don Messick -
 * Gene Moss - Trapster
 * Vic Perrin -
 * Hal Smith -
 * John Stephenson - Doctor Doom, Magneto, Karnak, Professor Gregson Gilbert
 * Nancy Wible -

Marvel Mash-Up
In July, scenes from Fantastic Four will be re-cut, edited, and re-dubbed into comical shorts as part of Disney XD's Marvel Mash-Up shorts for their "Marvel Universe on Disney XD" block of programming that includes Ultimate Spider-Man and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

DVD release
The company Liberation Films was going to release this series on DVD in the UK in November 2008, but due to the company going into bankruptcy, that never happened. However the company Clear Vision in the UK which had acquired the rights to the Marvel shows, released the series on DVD in March, 2010.

Morningstar Entertainment has released 2 episodes on Region 1 DVD in Canada, however both The Impossible Man and Meet Dr. Doom are reissues of Volumes 2 and 7 of the 1980s Prism Video Marvel Comics Video Library. Both DVDs were mastered from VHS copies of those old releases, and therefore contain the Spider-Man episodes that were added on as bonus episodes to the VHS releases. Meet Doctor Doom is only available in the Villains Gift Set by Morningstar.