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The Adventures of Aquaman - The Complete Collection (DC Comics Classic Collection)
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List Price: $26.98
Our Price: $13.49
Your Save: $ 13.49 ( 50% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Adventures of Aquaman
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0085391153184
Format: Animated
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2007-10-23
Running Time: 264
Studio: Warner Home Video
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Editorial Reviews:
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Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas, also features his teen-aged sidekick Aqualad, Mera (who is referred to as an "Atlantean girl" in the series), and Aqualad's pet walrus, Tusky. Also featured are the Aqua-duo's sea horses, Storm and Imp. Set in the lost city of Atlantis, Aquaman is the hero from the deep who protects the sea against any foes who threaten the peaceful undersea life. Aided by his ward Aqualad, Aquaman fights for justice on the ocean floor while keeping close contact with friends on dry land.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The kids love it!!
Comment: The kids liked this and for a change so did I. It was actually not-numbing slop like the rest of today's stuff. We need more retro-shows brought back for our kids.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome show
Comment: this show is pretty good. Aquaman is one of the neatest superheros out there. i hope they make a movie of him someday. that'll be neat. the show was sweet. if you haven't seen it then you should.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A TRIP IN THE WAY BACK MACHINE
Comment: First, a little history behind the series. These Aquaman episodes were originally broadcast in 1967 - 1968 as part of the Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. The show featured not only the two heroes of the title, but also guest appearances by other characters such as The Atom, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Flash, and even the Teen Titans. Then in 1968, just the Aquaman episodes were repackaged by CBS and the animation studio, Filmation, as the Aquaman show, which then ran from 1968 - 1970 on Saturday mornings. All 36 episodes (running about 6 - 7 minutes each) are included in this brand new two DVD set.
The show starred Marvin Miller as the voice of Aquaman and Ted Knight as the shows narrator as well as Aquaman's nemesis Black Manta. Miller provided the voice of Robby the Robot in the sci-fi classic, Forbidden Planet. Knight of course is best known for his portrayal as news anchor Ted Baxter in the Mary Tyler Moore Show and also as Judge Smales in Caddyshack. Knight also did a lot of work in animation. Besides Aquaman, he was the long time narrator of the Super Friends animated show. My only complaint about Knight is that he pronounces the characters name as if it were spelled "ACK-waman", and it's quite annoying.
The show was produced by Filmation, a fairly prolific animation studio during the 60's through the 80's. Among the classic Saturday morning shows they produced were The Archie Show, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Star Trek the Animated Series, the live-action Shazam series, The Groovie Goolies, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and Bravestar. Filmation really has an incredible resume. Like rival studio, Hanna Barbera, Filmation perfected a low-cost approach to animation, particularly in their shows of the 60's and 70's. Backgrounds were repeatedly used over and over. An example of this is when Fred Flintstone runs through his living room and passes the same chair five times. They used rotoscoping a great deal as well to cut down on high animation costs. Still, they put out great TV shows and this is the kind of stuff I grew up on in the 70's. If only they would release the Jerry Lewis series on DVD!
These episodes are very basic. With the short running time there isn't much in the way of plot or character development. Generally we find out the threat in the first minute or so and then Aquaman along with Aqualad and his host of undersea allies has to save the day. There are some villains such as the aforementioned Black Manta but more often the threat is some kind of undersea monster like The Volcanic Monster, Ice Dragon, The Devil Fish, or the Satanic Saturnians. I was never a big Aquaman fan as he just seemed to me to be so limited. Everything had to be a sea adventure and how many times can you fight sea monsters. The animation, while budget, is pretty good and fluid. There is a pretty good featurette on the DVD called "The Sovereign of the Seas" and gives a history of the character from his creation in the 1940's to his Silver Age revamp to the present and includes comments and interviews with notable comic personalities as Paul Levitz, Mark Waid, Dwayne McDuffie, as well as former Filmation Director Hal Sutherland.
These animated shorts are dated but still fun, especially for baby boomers trying to relive their youth!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Come Tadpole, Let's Head for Home!
Comment: Well Done!
I grew on this show and this will always be "The Aquaman!
I'm glad on its on DVD, cause now my kid can enjoy too!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great fun under the waves
Comment: The Adventures of Aquaman - The Complete Collection (DC Comics Classic Collection)
The summer of 1967 was one of the most exciting times of my childhood, once CBS began to run their ads for the "Superman/Aquaman Hour Of Adventure." I'd been an avid fan of Aquaman and Aqualad stories since their days in Adventure Comics, and, being that Aqualad was my favorite hero, I also followed his adventures with his land-bound friends, The Teen Titans. I watched the "Aquaman" series every Saturday for two years and for several years after on Sunday mornings at 7am. Thanks to "The Adventures Of Aquaman" DVD, I can now get my sleep and enjoy these cartoons any time.
The voice actors in the "Aquaman" series were amazing, most notably the manic performances of Ted Knight as the narrator, as well as playing nearly every villain featured. I can only imagine the contortions he went into while delivering lines for the Sea Sorcerer or Captain Barracuda. Marvin Miller, previously the voice of TV's "The Millionaire," made for a wonderfully regal yet benign Aquaman, and Jerry Dexter's voicing of Aqualad quite nicely matched the innocent zeal of Aquaman's faithful friend and sidekick. (Every time I see the "Jumpin' Jellyfish" ride at Disney's California Adventure, I hear Jerry's voice in my head saying that line). Diana Maddox had more work at playing the trouble-making Queen Vassa or the winsome Wonder Girl in the "Teen Titans" filler cartoons of this series than as Mera, here featured as the Aqua-Duo's gal pal, rather than the wife she was to Aquaman by that time in print stories. (Let's hope that the Teen Titans and Justice League member cartoons which are regrettably missing from this DVD release will soon appear on a companion release).
This series closely reflected the innocent, uncomplicated and gleeful sort of stories in which Aquaman and Aqualad appeared during their Adventure Comics run, facilitated by fan-favorite comic book writers such as Bob Haney, Oscar Bensol and Dennis Marks, with consultation by Mort Weisinger. It didn't seem to matter that Aquaman borrowed Mera's hard water magic from the comics for a power boost here, or that Tusky thwarted as many of the villains' attacks on Atlantis as the Aqua-Duo did, nor that Aqualad, everyone's favorite purple-eyed future mage, spends part of nearly every episode unconscious. ("Three Wishes To Trouble" almost foreshadows Aqualad's future role as the wizard Tempest, in its way). These characters are rendered with so much care and sense of fun that it was easy for an Aqua-fan to forgive such alterations. The artists at Filmation Studios made these undersea outings as inviting as that image of the ever-illuminated dome of Atlantis featured at the end of every show. Additionally, John Marion's lush soundtrack matched the sumptuous seascape backgrounds, making these undersea romps just that much more memorable.
Unlike the far more sinister and serious Aquaman later featured in Warner Bros. Animation's series "Superman" and "Justice League," these jaunts with the Aqua-Duo (or "Marine Marvels," take your pick) are a joy: light on violence (though Aqualad gets banged up early and often) and long on aquatic splendor, always ending in mirth and a hearty "Let's head for home, Tadpole" ...or "Sardine," "Squirt," "Shrimp" or "Minnow." (You'd think Aquaman could have had the decency to give the kid a real name, wouldn't you)? It's sad that it took forty years for WB Animation to clean up those bleeding reds from the old film stock and issue these fabulous cartoons as they originally appeared. If all you know of these episodes are the edited versions from USA Network or Boomerang, treat yourself to this set of the real deal. It is, as Aqualad says, "great fun" to see our intrepid aquatic heroes riding the waves to adventure in glorious comic book colors once again. Filmation owned my Saturday mornings in the late 1960s and I love reliving that era through this marvelous series.
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