FRANKENSTEIN JR. AND THE IMPOSSIBLES (1966-1967)
2-Disc Blu-ray Set
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 383 Minutes
Audio: English DTS HD-MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Directors: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
Voice Cast: Dick Beals, Ted Cassidy, Paul Frees, Don Messick, Hal Smith, John Stephenson
More Hanna-Barbera animation treats from the Warner Archive! This time it's the complete two season set of the superhero half-hour double-feature Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles which rans from 1966-1967. This was well before my time but I know I've seen these in my youth at some point in the 70s airing on TV. The half-hour episodes were split into two different cartoon, and they switch up the running order throughout the series. We got Frankenstein Jr. featuring hero boy-genius Buzz Conroy (voiced by Dick Beals) who builds the powerful robot Frankenstein Jr. (voiced by Ted Cassidy, Lurch from '60s The Addam 's Family) which he powers with his energy ring, with assistance from his father Professor Conroy (voiced by John Stephenson, The Flintstones). Each episode Buzz and "Frankie" face-off against goofy comic villains like The Alien Brain from Outer Space, Spyder-Man, The Shocking Electrical Monster, The Menace from the Wax Museum, and so on. It;s pretty goofy stuff but I love it, reminding me a bit of Frank Miller and Geof Darrow's comic book Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, which was also made into a short-lived TV series in the 90s. I am sure there are earlier Japanese shows this cribbed from, but I am not too familiar with any of them and this is my closet touchstone so to speak.
The second half of the episode would be the crime-fighting adventures of The Impossible, comprised of costumed heroes Multi Man (Voiced by Don Messick, the voice of Scooby-Doo!), Coil Man (voiced by Hal Smith, The Andy Griffith Show) and Fluid Man (voiced by Paul Frees, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town) , whose alter ego are the beatnik fab-three who tour the world and often find themselves fighting super-villains like Spinner (Hal Smith, again), Doll Man (Messick, again) and Professor Stretch (Frees, again), all of whom appeared multiple times, as well as villains of the week like Smogula (Alan Reed, The Flintstones), Timeatron (Keye Luke from the Charlie Chan flicks from the '30s) and Mother Gruesome (June Foray, The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show). This sort of brought to mind stuff like Josie and the Pussycats with more of a superhero disguised as musicians angle to it. There's lots of punny dialogue that was pretty hip for the era, perhaps a bit strange now to modern ears, but still curious in an entertaining way. The superpowers of the heroes are a bit lacking, with fluid man transforming into various fluid presentations ala Zan from the Super Friends; while Coil Man literally turns into a coil which was verry silly. The best of the trio is easily team-leader Multiple Man who can multiply himself, which at least is useful in more instances. I won't lie, some of the musical numbers of pretty fun in a schlocky low-rent Beatlemania sort of way. The 2-disc collects all 18 episode remastered in High Definition from 4K scans of the original camera negatives of the series, and they look terrific!
Special Features:
- Monster Rock: The Adventures of Frankenstein Jr. & The Impossible (5:25)
Screenshots from the Warner Archive Blu-ray:
Extras:
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