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Spider-Man was an American animated television series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man, which ran for five seasons (65 episodes) starting November 19 1994 and finishing January 31, 1998. The series was written by John Semper Jr and produced by the Marvel Films Animation. It is generally acclaimed to be the most accurate TV adaptation of the famous superhero in terms of art and general atmosphere. The plot, however, was heavily modified. This incarnation of Spider-Man stands out because the narrative was focused on drama instead of action like most cartoons for older children of the period.

The series tells the story of a nineteen year old Peter Parker at his first year at Empire State University, and his alter-ego the Amazing Spider-Man. As the story begins Peter has already gained his powers, is single and a part-time photographer for the Daily Bugle. The show features most of the classic villains from the Spider-Pantheon, including the Green Goblin, The Lizard, The Scorpion, Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, The Rhino, Venom, Carnage, The Kingpin, The Shocker, The Vulture, The Chameleon, and The Hobgoblin. Over the course of the series the single Peter Parker will have to contend with the romantic interests of Mary Jane Watson, Felicia Hardy and her alter ego, The Black Cat.

Marvel's previously successful X-Men: The Animated series was produced by Saban, but Marvel had ambitions to release multiple animated series' based on their franchises under a newly formed in-house company, Marvel Films Animation. Spider-Man was the first and only series to fly under this banner. The show was cancelled by Fox despite high ratings as a result of wanting their animation projects to be exclusively done with Saban, and not Marvel Films Animation. A two episode finale was quickly scripted and animated to give some form of closure to the series. Marvel Films Animation was subsequently shut down. Marvel conceded and Saban produced a sequel to this series, Spider-Man Unlimited in 1999, but was met with low ratings and cancelled after one season.

Creation

Stan Lee, Avi Arad, and Bill Kerstetter are the executive producers of the show. Stan Lee as one of the creators of Spider-Man had quite an interest in seeing Spider-man portrayed faithfully from the comic books. Lee claimed to check "every premise, every outline, every script, every model sheet, every storyboard, everything to do with putting the show together." To ensure the stories were told faithfully, Lee and producer John Semper recruited writers who had experience from the comic books to work on scripts, among them was Gerry Conway and Marv Wolfman.

Producer Bob Richardson desired to give the show a "contemporary live-action feel" by merging CGI and traditional animation. Richardson described the outcome to be more "NYPD Blue than The Smurfs."

One of the obligations of working with Fox was to make the show educational by introducing weighty issues that could be resolved that is appropriate for children. Semper argues that Spider-Man is more adept at this because the show takes place in real world New York making it able to tackle problems "closer to home."

Animation

To reproduce the New York's style background illustrators undertook a large amount of visual research, using photo archives from above New York, particularly rooftops. Maps were consulted for references and buildings were faithfully reproduced. It has been reported that when the animation cell depicting Manhattan's Pan Am Building were scrapped after being complete it was because the California-based art staff learned the Midtown landmark had gotten a new sign more than a year earlier.

The animation staff were directed to populate the city with cars and crowds on the street level. Semper believed that was one of the limitations of earlier Spider-Man animated projects.

Originally Marvel Films planned to make the backgrounds completely CGI while Spider-Man 'webslinged' around New York, yet due to budget constraints were forced to use traditional cel based animation while occasionally using CGI backgrounds.

Censorship

By 1994 heavy censorship was being enforced by Fox because certain shows like Power Rangers were being banned for excessive violence in some countries. So in a bid to make Spider-Man: The Animated Series as politically correct as possible the producers of the show were instructed to abide by their extensive list of requirements *. Among the notable restrictions were:
  • Not mentioning "Death", "Die", "Kill" or other words with a strong negative meaning - "destroy" and "destruction" were the most frequently employed synonyms. Additionally, death itself was directly avoided as a topic, leading Semper to employ such techniques as having characters falling through inter-dimensional portals as a substitute for falling to their deaths (as happened to Mary-Jane and the Green Goblin). Death was sometimes clearly implied, however, such as when Daredevil appears on the series, and it is indicated that his father was killed by Kingpin. It is also clearly stated that the Punisher's family was "caught in a crossfire between rival gangs", and the same applied to the wife of the Destroyer and Peter Parker's Uncle Ben. At one point, when the Goblin returns after seemingly perishing, Spider-Man goes "I thought you were--!" to which the Goblin cuts him off with "No, but you'll soon be!"
  • Realistic guns were not allowed, and no firearms could shoot bullets, instead firing colorful bright lasers complimented by 'futuristic' sound effects. This often led to even-comparatively preposterous scenes in which ordinary policemen wielded bizarre, futuristic pistols.
  • Spider-Man was not allowed to hit anyone with his fist.
  • No crashing glass.
  • No children in peril.
  • No vampires were allowed on the show. This created complications with the use of the characters Morbius the living vampire and Blade the vampire hunter. Consequently, Morbius only drained victims through suckers on his hands, rather than by biting them in the traditional vampire style, and rather than blood, his sustenance was referred to only as "plasma."
On a lighter note, Semper claims they also included such specific personal notes from censors as "when Spider-Man lands on the rooftop, be sure that he doesn't harm any pigeons".

Release Availability

Spider-Man was one of the most popular shows on Fox Kids, ranking with and even above other hits such as Power Rangers, Digimon, and X-Men. Even after the series ended, it still had an impact on the entertainment industry, boosting sales of myriads of Spider-Man merchandise and popularity.

Despite the fact that this particular series was produced over a decade ago, the success of the Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 movies has sparked more interest in new fans, allowing it to continuously run in reruns thanks to its new owners: Disney. Notably the episodes air in their chronological order, not Fox's original airdates. Therefore, the reruns are all in the correct order.

Select episodes have previously been released on VCD by Magnavision Home Video.

Only a few select episodes have been released on DVD by Disney. So far there are no plans from official release of season boxsets. The episodes that have been released are:

The Venom Saga released 7 June 2005
Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock released 29 June 2004
Daredevil vs. Spider-Man released 11 February 2003
Return of the Green Goblin released 29 October 2002
The Ultimate Villain Showdown released 30 April 2002 during the run of the Spider-Man movie.

Critical acclaim

Writer / Producer John Semper Jr. won an Annie Award in 1995 for "Best Individual Achievement for Writing in the Field of Animation" for the episode "Day of the Chameleon".

Spider-Man: The Animated Series was nominated for an Image Award in 1996 for "Outstanding Animated/Live-Action/Dramatic Youth or Children's Series/Special."

Spider-Man: The Animated Series was the top rated animated show in Germany, Portugal and Spain.

In the UK the premiere episodes averaged 2.5 million viewers.

In early 1996, the show was launched in Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, Israel, Mexico, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and South Africa, and it became a hit in those countries as well.

Credits

Produced by
  • John Semper - producer / story editor / lead writer
  • Avi Arad - executive producer
  • Stan Lee - executive producer

Original Music by

Art Department

Sound Department

Cast

Notable guest stars

Trivia

  • This marks the first time Venom and Carnage appear in a Spider-Man cartoon.
  • The series is notably lacking an origin episode at the outset to explain how Spider-Man got his powers. This was done because the series was expected to premiere alongside the Spider-Man feature length film in 1994, written by James Cameron. The film script included an origin story and, to prevent redundancy, the Animated Series did not include it. In part to make up for this, the third season episode "Make a Wish" contains an extended sequence in which Spider-Man explains his origin.
  • The Cameron movie was intended to feature the villains Electro and Sandman, and so as a result they were completely left out of plans for the series. When the movie eventually fell through Electro was added to one of the later episodes, but the Sandman remains one of the most prominent members of Spider-Man's Rogues Gallery not to appear in the cartoon.
  • In episode 1.08 "The Alien Costume Part 1," after acquiring a shape-shifting costume, Peter Parker suggests he looks like the "guy from Aerosmith." Joe Perry, the lead guitarist for the band Aerosmith, composed the theme song for the show.
  • The titles of the episodes "I Really, Really Hate Clones" and "The Secret War" are references to the infamous "Spider-Clone Saga" and "Secret Wars" storylines which ran through the comics.
  • Fox aired episode 1.01, "Night of the Lizard," months before the other Season 1 episodes as a special sneak preview.
  • In the comics, the Insidious Six are called the Sinister Six.
  • Of the six members of the Insidious Six, only two of the members of the Sinister Six make it into the team's roster: Doctor Octopus and Mysterio. The Shocker, The Chameleon, The Scorpion and The Rhino substitute for the Sinister Six's absent members - Sandman (who doesn't appear in the series at all), Electro (named Max Dillon in the comics, but shows up in Season Five as Rhienholdt Kragov, the step-brother of the Chameleon and the Red Skull's son for the series), The Vulture (who joins the Six to take Mysterio's place in Season Five) and Kraven the Hunter (the step-brother of the Chameleon in the comics).
  • The cast of the X-Men Animated Series were flown to Los Angeles from Canada for their respective roles in episode 2.04 "The Mutant Agenda."
  • The season 2 episode "Blade the Vampire Hunter," which originally aired on February 3, 1996, marks the very first appearance of Whistler, Blade's mentor.
  • The character Lewald that appeared in episode 2.04 "The Mutant Agenda" is named after the story editor on the X-Men cartoon (Eric Lewald).
  • In "The Sting of the Scorpion," Spider-Man explains to Jameson that if Scorpion opens a nuclear reactor, he'll destroy the city. When Jameson asks how he knows this, Spider-Man states, "What do I look like? The Tick?!" He is obviously referring to the title character from the superhero parody show that, coincidentally, was on Fox Kids during the same period as Spider-Man's show.
  • The character Madame Web is voiced by Stan Lee's wife, Joan Lee.
  • In episode 3.02 "Make a Wish," the little girl asks if Spider-Man is from a dying planet whose parents sent him as a baby on a little space ship, clearly referencing DC Comics character Superman.
  • After the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, ABC Family heavily edited the episode "Day of the Chameleon" to remove the World Trade Center buildings, parts of the New York skyline, and a helicopter crashing into a building, exploding, and falling to the ground below, among other shots. This resulted in the first scene being virtually implausible to comprehend as it was originally intended. Dialogue was re-looped to match the new, shorter version. Some production credits from the episode are missing as well, due to their being on screen during the omitted footage. They also removed the last two episodes of the second season since one of them featured the two buildings.
  • Syndicated versions of the pilot episode, "Night of the Lizard," omit a sequence in which the Lizard accidentally slams into his wife with his tail when turning.
  • Fox originally aired many of the seasons out of order.
  • The show's original plan never included the Green Goblin. Norman Osborn was originally going to become the Hobgoblin until the idea was scrapped by Stan Lee's intervention.
  • Aunt May was originally going to have a cat named Warren.
  • Voice actor Julie Bennett replaced Linda Gary as Aunt May after Linda's death.
  • The series used a novel system of one large story arc per season, developed by John Semper. As a result, each of the individual 65 episodes (starting with season 2) were called "chapters."
  • Martin Landau was the voice actor for The Scorpion, but after winning an Oscar he was no longer available for later episodes, and was replaced by Richard Moll.
  • Stan Lee makes an appearance in the series finale.

Merchandising

Three comics were produced on the Spider-Man: The Animated Series;

A number of video games were also produced:

Electronic versions of classic Spider-Man comics were released by Marvel that included narration by Christopher Daniel Barnes and featured animation and theme music from this series.

Novelisations of select episodes were also released.

A extensive toy line that ran over 8 series and included a staggering amount of play sets and vehicles.

There was a wide variety of themed merchandise produced such as lunch boxes, cereals, clothing etc.

Episode Guide

Season 1

Episode Title Screenshot Overview
Spider-Man must stop the Lizard without hurting the innocent man inside.
In order to pay off his debt to the crime boss known as the Kingpin, Norman Osborn hires Spencer Smythe to design a powerful robot called the Spider-Slayer to capture and destroy Spider-Man.
Alistar Smythe, Spencer Smythe's Son, builds a line of robots to destroy Spider-Man and the people he holds responsible for his father's death.
Mysterio masquerades as Spider-Man to frame the webslinger.
Spider-Man battles Doctor Octopus, who has kidnapped the young Felicia Hardy for ransom.
J. Jonah Jameson hires a petty thug to be transformed into a superhero to fight Spider-Man. But something goes awry, and the subject (dubbed "the Scorpion") turns on his creators and only Spidey can save the day.
Spider-Man finds himself caught in a deadly triangle with a doctor from Africa named Mariah Crawford and the man who has stalked her all the way to America...Kraven the Hunter.
Spider-Man comes across an alien substance attached to a spaceship crashlanded by John Jameson that attaches itself to Peter and forms a new black costume.
When Spider-Man's black costume displays aggressive tendencies, Peter gets rid of it only for it to find a new host.
The alien costume bonds with vengeful reporter Eddie Brock to make Venom, who sets out to destroy Spider-Man once and for all.
Spider-Man gets caught up in a power struggle between Norman Osborn, Wilson Fisk and the Hobgoblin.
Spider-Man takes on the Hobgoblin after he attacks Aunt May and Harry Osborn.
Spider-Man has to stop the terrorist the Chameleon from assassinating two major diplomats.

Season 2 (Neogenic Nightmare)

Episode Title Screenshot Overview
The Kingpin of Crime hires six of Spider-Man's most heinous villains to take down Spider-Man.
Spider-Man is kidnapped and unmasked by the Insidious Six, but manages to convince them that he is a fraud. Elsewhere, Wilson Fisk and Silvermane's power struggle continues.
Mary-Jane's old boyfriend comes back to stalk her. It turns out he can transform his body into water.
Spider-Man's worried about his increasing genetic mutation, so he goes to the X-Men for help.
Spider-Man and the X-Men team up to stop a sinister plan to eradicate mutants.
Dr. Mariah Crawford develops a possible cure for Spider-Man's disease, but Peter's infected blood sample is stolen and experimented on by Michael Morbius. The ensuing accident transforms him into a plasma-sucking vampire.
Spider-Man's genetic mutation has now given him six arms. To make matters worse, Morbius's rampage continues and the Punisher sets his sights on Spider-Man, blaming him for the attacks.
Spider-Man's horrifying genetic mutation reaches its culmination as he transforms into the Man-Spider. Mariah Crawford teams up with Kraven to cure him, while the Punisher seeks to destroy the monster.
The vampire hunter Blade arrives to New York to destroy Morbius.
Morbius attempts to use the Neogenic Recombinator to turn everyone else into a vampire. Spider-Man and Blade manage to stop him, but Morbius's mutation worsens considerably.
Aging crimelord Silvermane wants the Tablet of Time to regain his youth.
The Tablet of Time works too well, as Silvermane is transformed into an infant.
Adrian Toomes suits up as the Vulture and battles Spider-Man.
His youth taken away by the Vulture, Spider-Man seeks help from Curt Connors.

Season 3 (The Sins of the Fathers)

Episode Title Screenshot Overview
Peter's search for Mary Jane leads him to a mysterious cult led by a man called Brother Mordo. Doctor Strange makes an appearance.
Spider-Man is considering giving up, when he meets his biggest fan in a little girl called Tina. Spider-Man shares his origin with her.
With an amnesiac Spidey under Doc Ock's control, it's up to Tina to rescue him.
Norman Osborn disappears in an explosion, and in his place comes the Green Goblin.
Peter and the Rocket Racer take on the Big Wheel.
Peter Parker is framed by the Kingpin but is helped by blind lawyer Matt Murdock and his alterego Daredevil.
Spider-Man teams up with Daredevil to confront Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime.
Alistair Smythe is transformed into a half-cyborg, half-mutant creature to become the Ultimate Spider Slayer.
Robbie Roberston is losing his son to a gang led by Tombstone, a thug that Robbie has history with.
Venom returns with the help of Baron Mordo.
Baron Mordo and Dormammu help Eddie's cell-mate, mass murderer Cletus Kassidy become an alien symbiote, who dubs himself Carnage.
Dr. Jonathan Ohn invents a portable interdimensional technology that accidentally makes him the living embodiment of a portal. Dubbing himself the Spot, he begins a life of crime.
The Green Goblin and the Hobgoblin clash over Dr. Ohn's Time Dilation Accelerator.
Now knowing Spider-Man's secret identity, the Green Goblin kidnaps Mary-Jane Watson and takes her to the Brooklyn Bridge...

Season 4 (Partners in Danger)

Episode Title Screenshot Overview
Still dealing with the loss of Mary-Jane, Spider-Man helps Jonah clear Robbie's name after he is framed by Richard Fisk and Tombstone.
Felicia Hardy discovers her father is a cat burgular known as the Cat.
The Super-Soldier formula is tested on Felcia Hardy, who becomes the Black Cat.
After Dr. Crawford is mutated into Calypso, Spider-Man and Black Cat team up with Kraven to save her.
Spider-Man and Black Cat get involved in a complicated scheme to bring Silvermane back to his original form.
Debra Whitman tries to find a cure for Morbius.
Blade the Vampire Hunter returns to stop the Vampire Queen, who turns out to be his mother.
Harry Osborn follows his father's footsteps and becomes the new Green Goblin.
Spider-Man teams up with old foe Mysterio to rescue Mary Jane. Also, Peter reveals his true identity to her.
Doc Connors and Mary-Jane are kidnapped by a bunch of lizard people from the sewer, who claim that Connors created them.
Hobie Brown is unwittingly enlisted as the Prowler by the Kingpin.

Season 5 (Six Forgotten Warriors, Secret War)

Episode Title Screenshot Overview
Peter Parker and Mary Jane get married, but their wedding reception is crashed by Harry Osborn, AKA the Green Goblin.
The Insidious Six return. Peter travels to Russia to learn about his parents.
Silver Sable and the Wildpack guest star.
Six American Warriors from World War II return.
Captain America returns.
The Red Skull's son, Electro, causes havoc and its up to Spider-Man and the Six Forgotten Warriors to save the day.
Hydro-Man returns to cause havoc for Peter and Mary-Jane, yet it appears that Mary-Jane has water powers also. What is going on?
It is revealed that Hydro-Man and Mary-Jane are really clones concocted by Miles Warren.
Spider-Man is sent to an alien world with other heroes to determine if good is stronger than evil.
Spider-Man, Black Cat, Captain America, Lizard, and Iron Man take on the Red Skull.
Spider-Man and the heroes take on their last challenge...Doctor Doom.
Spider-Man meets up with versions of himself from different realities.
The Spider-Men enlist the help of Uncle Ben to stop Spider-Carnage, Spider-Man meets Stan Lee, and goes off with Madame Web to find Mary-Jane once and for all.

See also

References

External links

Spider-Man television series | Animated television series | X-Men television series | 1990s TV shows in the United States | Fox network shows | Marvel Animated Universe | Iron Man television series | Fantastic Four television series

Spiderman (serie de televisión) | Hämähäkkimies (animaatiosarja) | Spider-Man: The Animated Series

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Spider-Man: The Animated Series".

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