Super Friends (1980)
First episode title: Big Foot / The Ice Demon / The Make-Up Monster
How familiar with the show am I?: I was aware of the show, and of course aware of DC Comics in general, but I had never watched any of it.
Is this the first episode?: There seems to be some disagreement about whether each new incarnation of Super Friends is its own new show (e.g. according to Wikipedia), or merely a new season of the same original Super Friends series from 1973 (e.g. according to IMDb). I am going with the former interpretation and covering each show separately.
Super Friends is a franchise of cartoons based on DC's superhero characters such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. This particular TV series is the fifth incarnation of the show (although see above), and switches to a three-shorts format after all the previous shows had used full half-hour episodes.
The first of this episode's shorts is "Big Foot". It starts with Wonder Woman in what appears to be an invisible plane (I'm surely giving away how little I know about DC here) dropping off Apache Chief at his destination. Wonder Woman happens not to have any lines in this episode, but it seems to be common for the characters to get small cameos in each other's stories, and any set of three shorts isn't going to cover all the characters in this show. The plane is depicted in the typical cartoon "invisible" way of being just a white outline.
Apache Chief parachutes down to where some of his fellow Native American tribesmen are waiting to start a ceremony. Unfortunately, the characters here are portrayed quite stereotypically, speaking in stilted tones. Even if they had difficulty with English (and I'm not sure why they would), they're speaking amongst themselves here, so you'd expect them to talk naturally, as they would in their native language. Walking Eagle suffers from this in particular.
The elderly Medicine Man (is it just his title, or a superhero name derived from a title?) declares that all of the assembled warriors will have to face a test of their skill, and Walking Eagle is up first.
Medicine Man uses some kind of lightning power to scare off a hare, and Walking Eagle transforms into an eagle (Duh!), tasked with chasing after it. But, very quickly, he's snatched from the sky by the episode's titular Big Foot. Walking Eagle gives in, thinking that this is part of Medicine Man's test, but Medicine Man recognises the creature for what it is.
Apache Chief: That hairy beast is no match for Apache Chief!
Apache Chief's power is to turn gigantic when he says the magic phrase "inuk chuk". That's apparently the official spelling - in this instance, at least, it sounds more like "in ache chuk" to my ear. At this size, he's able to simply pick up Big Foot, but as he taunts it, more Big Foots (Big Feet?) appear. The way they all come out of separate caves makes it look like they live there - had the tribe never noticed their ceremonial grounds were right next to Big Foot territory before?
The Big Foots sling ropes around the giant Apache Chief and his fellows - Walking Eagle seems to have turned back to human form off-screen - and drag them all back to one of their caves. Apache Chief tries to reach the communicator in his pocket to contact the Super Friends, but he's too big to activate it. Apparently, his power works on his clothes but not his communicator. A Big Foot grabs the communicator and tosses it to the floor...
...Which is apparently enough to activate it, because the Super Friends receive an emergency alert, as we find out in a scene set at their Hall of Justice. I should add at this point, for anyone more familiar with versions of this franchise where the heroes are called the Justice League, this cartoon seems to use the terms "Justice League" and "Super Friends" interchangeably, with the latter being more common.
Superman, Aquaman, Batman, and Robin are all hanging out in the base when Superman has a look at the emergency alert and sees that it's from Apache Chief - Batman and Robin volunteer to go and check it out. There was something immediately familiar to me about Robin's voice, and it turns out he's voiced by Casey Kasem, best known as Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, but I think I'm specifically recognising aspects of his Cliffjumper voice from Transformers.
The pair show up at Apache Chief's ceremonial grounds in a "Bat-buggy" only to find them abandoned.
Robin: No sign of anyone!
Batman: Not so fast, Robin. It's not what isn't there that's important - it's what is there. Someone's covered up some tracks.
Batman... isn't that something that isn't there? Are you okay?
Batman deduces that whoever was here headed off to the caves, but just then, some of the Big Foots leap out at them! One of them manages to grab Robin and starts to run off, but Batman hurls a Bat-cable - basically just a rope with the Batman emblem on the end of it, used like a lasso or grapple - and manages to stop that one in its tracks. Another one tries to grab Batman, but it's not Batman - it's a "Bat Goop Dummy Trap", in Batman's words, and that particular Big Foot gets stuck to it.
But then another Big Foot with a red circle on its forehead, who seems to be the leader, uses a device in its hand to paralyse Batman and Robin! It can do it remotely, so it seems like just paralysing them to begin with might have been a better plan than jumping out at them, but never mind.
The Big Foots carry Batman and Robin back to their base, where they're also keeping Apache Chief and his tribe. All of them are put into a big machine, and a Big Foot pulls a lever that begins apparently zapping the heroes with electricity - there are a lot of squiggly white lines, anyway. Batman struggles to get to the communicator in his pocket, but, just like when Apache Chief tried that, a Big Foot grabs it (and doesn't make the same mistake as last time!).
Apache Chief is somehow able to tell that the machine is draining their thoughts. To be fair, that's probably quite a distinctive sensation. The Big Foots, meanwhile, are busy using another machine to analyse the communicator. Batman takes the opportunity to use the "micro emergency transmitter" in his tooth(!) to communicate with the Batcave computer. You should've made it able to communicate with the Super Friends, Batman! He instructs the computer to take control of the Bat-buggy, which speeds into the cave and destroys the machine's controls, freeing the heroes.
Now that they're free to attack the Big Foots, Robin throws a "Bat-tarp" (seriously) around the Big Foot leader, and Batman uses some "mini Bat-hooks" to secure it.
Batman: These mini Bat-hooks should keep you snug as a hairy bug in a rug!
Meanwhile, Walking Eagle and Apache Chief use their respective powers to take down the other Big Foots. Once they're all secure, Batman takes out his "Bat-language translator" (how many gadgets does this guy have?) so that they can understand the Big Foots, and Batman can finally ask them what they want.
Big Foot leader: We are Novarians from the planet Nova. Our spaceship crashed on a mission to observe your Earth many decades ago. We only seek a way to repair our ship and return to our home.
As Batman points out, this all would have been over a lot sooner if the Novarians had thought to try and find a way to communicate peacefully in the first place. But, all's well that ends well, with the Novarians going unpunished. We fast forward to Superman using his powers to repair the Novarian ship at the Hall of Justice, and the aliens thank the Super Friends for all their help, promising to spread the news of their kindness.
I wonder if they ever found out Superman was an alien in the process?
The next short is "The Ice Demon". Two teenagers, Kate and Kevin, are on a snowmobile on a mountain somewhere - Kevin is driving recklessly, and Kate is getting worried.
But more from them in a moment. Next, we meet two more of the Super Friends - the Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna, and their pet blue monkey Gleek. They're skiing, somewhere on the same snowy mountain, and in their case, it's brother Zan who wants everyone to slow down, because sister Jayna has challenged Gleek to a race. Why is everyone in such a rush?
Anyway, Gleek allows himself to get distracted - he hits a rock, goes rolling down the hill, and crashes into a tree, with bits of ski comically sticking out of his mouth. And he's only just recovered from that when Kate and Kevin show up again, and their snowmobile accidentally knocks the Wonder Twins and Gleek down a ledge! The snowmobile then hits a tree and Kate and Kevin fall down the same way. Their subsequent dialogue, as Kevin apologises, shows that the Wonder Twins are known by the general public - there wasn't really any sign in the first short of how well-known the Super Friends are, in this universe.
Kate wonders how they are going to get out of the crevasse they've ended up in, and so the Wonder Twins demonstrate their powers for the first time this episode. It's clear that Jayna's power is to turn into any animal, but as for Zan, from this episode alone I was only able to glean that he can turn into various things made of ice - I had to look them up to discover that he can turn into any form of water, and the only reason he's ice in this episode is because of the wintry setting.
As you can see above, for this first transformation, Jayna and Zan become a condor and an ice gondola respectively. Also, as the above demonstrates, Jayna's transformations look decent, but Zan's look like the goofiest things imaginable, with his face sticking out like that.
Jayna lifts Zan and Gleek, Kate, and Kevin get onboard, so that Jayna can fly them out, but the crevice starts... closing up, completely independently of any other events for some reason. With no way out, they land again and Jayna and Zan deactivate their powers. It's clear that this whole routine was just for the benefit of viewers like me who wouldn't actually know what the Wonder Twins can do.
We leave those five trapped there for a moment to see what's happening back at the ski lodge, which is where the Wonder Twins had been headed before their accident. Clark Kent and Lois Lane are there, investigating a story about an ice monster in the mountains.
Lois: I'm telling you, this story's nonsense, Clark. Who ever heard of an ice monster?
Clark: That's easy - an ice monster's mother!
They ask a random old man, who similarly ridicules them. You can imagine they've been getting responses like this all day, so you can see why Lois is frustrated.
But there's no time to worry about that now, because we're straight back to the Wonder Twins and their new friends, who are wandering around the crevasse looking for some way out. They don't find one - instead, they find a giant frozen monster! It instantly steps right out of the ice, so I'm not sure if it was Kevin's cry of "Look!" that woke it up or not.
The Wonder Twins activate their powers. Jayna uses hers to turn into a woodpecker - couldn't you have picked something bigger, Jayna? - and Zan becomes a "pneumatic ice drill", which Gleek picks up. The Ice Demon picks up Kevin and Kate, as Jayna starts pecking its head and Gleek drills its foot.
Zan: Attaboy, Gleek! We'll turn this creep into a crushed ice monster!
Their attacks are unsuccessful - the Demon almost steps on Zan and Gleek, causing Gleek to slip on the ice as he tries to get away, and then the monster emits rays from its eyes that freeze Jayna's wings, causing her to fall to the ground. (Ice type is super effective against Flying.) The Wonder Twins deactivate their powers, having failed to achieve anything with them once again, and the Demon picks up both of them (and Gleek too). It puts all five of them into a kind of ice honeycomb, and seals them in using more eye beams. Its intention? Not stated, but the phrase "saving them for later" comes to mind.
Back at the ski lodge, Lois is still complaining about not having found anything for the story, while Clark sneakily uses what can only be some kind of Super-vision to look into the mountains, where he sees that the Wonder Twins are trapped. He makes a lame excuse to Lois about needing to change his socks because they're starting to freeze, then hides around a corner and turns into Superman. What, you didn't know?
He flies away, and straight through the ice into the mountain. Of course, Superman can go where no-one else can escape from! He bursts into the room where everyone is being kept - according to him, with seconds to spare - and smashes all the ice.
Immediately, the Ice Demon notices him and effortlessly picks up Superman, throwing him across the room:
Wow, I wouldn't have thought there were many beings that can do that to Superman! He retaliates with a blast of heat vision, but he misses and hits the ice, causing what they all refer to as an "avalanche". The ordinary humans are scared, so it's time for the Wonder Twins to help them - Jayna becomes a reindeer and Zan becomes an "ice shield", and Jayna holds Zan up above Kate, Kevin, and Gleek using her head. My kneejerk reaction was that a reindeer might not be the best thing for holding a big shield above people, but I suppose every animal with near-human hands wouldn't be big enough to do it quite like that. I give this one a pass.
Superman then slams the Ice Demon back into the Ice Demon-shaped hole in the wall it came out of, and seals it back up in ice. Is that what the last person who encountered it did too?
Everyone gets safely back to the ski lodge, Kevin having learned his lesson about driving dangerously. Interesting way of delivering that particular moral. Lois shows up to interview the Wonder Twins about their ordeal with the ice monster, commenting that the story had actually happened and Clark was nowhere to be seen, as Superman gives a big cheesy wink towards the camera:
I feel like he's flirting with me.
The final short is "The Make-Up Monster". We open with a young woman running around in a swamp, and getting captured by some kind of swamp monster. Batman and Robin show up and declare that they're too late to save the girl, but the Flash arrives:
Flash: With my super-speed I may still have time to save her!
He actually needlessly stops to say that, but yes, he does reach the swamp monster, only to be caught by it too. Batman and Robin both throw Bat-cables around the monster, but it yanks on one of them and is able to grab Batman! And just as it looks like it's going to finish him off...
A director yells "CUT!" in annoyance. Yes, we were just seeing the making of a movie about the Super Friends, not a real adventure! I'll refrain from saying anything about any current DC movies. The director, Mr Snyder, who's standing with the real Batman and Robin, clarifies that he doesn't have any problem with the acting or with the help the Super Friends have provided on this "government film" (we're not offered any more context so I don't know how propaganda-y it is). His complaint is with how fake the monster costume looks. I didn't see any problem with it, but then again, back in the Big Foot short I honestly thought there was a possibility those guys would turn out to be guys in costumes!
Some stagehand is sent with the monster mask to the make-up guy's trailer, telling him he has to redo it - apparently he's been asked to do this multiple times already, as he's pretty annoyed at this point.
He decides to try out an "untested hormone solution", which sounds like exactly the sort of thing you say right before becoming some kind of monster. He applies it to the monster mask, which instantly changes in appearance. The fact that hormones work on it kind of implies it was already living in some way, but maybe we should just forget about that for our sanity.
The artist puts on the mask, and immediately his whole body starts turning into the swamp monster. He realises that he's created a make-up that can turn him into absolutely anything he makes himself up as, which is a bold claim considering he has a sample size of one. Anyway, this is as good a time as any to turn evil, so he lets off a little evil laugh and bursts out of his trailer:
He arrives on set and the director loves the new make-up, and asks the make-up man to hand him the mask. He responds by smashing up a camera, and the assembled heroes (also including the real Flash now) realise that they have a real monster on their hands. The Flash, just like his actor counterpart, declares that he needs to act fast before actually speeding towards the monster, but the monster is able to throw him to the ground. I guess the Flash's reflexes aren't as fast as his running.
The Make-Up Monster loudly declares that he is going to destroy the entire studio, and Batman and Robin make use of their Bat-cables to swing across the set. Robin is able to catch a studio light that the monster has thrown at some bystanders, and Batman lands on the raised walkway the monster is currently standing on. Unfortunately, the monster has a weapon Batman hasn't anticipated... what looks like a wooden club, which he uses to smash the part of the walkway Batman is on and leave him dangling there.
The Flash speeds up to him and brings him safely down to the ground:
The monster grabs a rope to swing down too, but Batman has found a studio wind machine, and uses it to blow him away - when he hits the ground, the Flash uses his speed to construct a wooden cage around the monster. The director starts to congratulate the Super Friends for saving his movie, but the monster applies makeup to turn himself back into the make-up man, revealing his identity to everyone. He still talks in the crazy monster voice even in this form now, though - I guess he's just like that for now. He uses more make-up to turn into a pterodactyl-like monster, and in this form he easily bursts out of the cage, grabs the leading lady in his talons, and flies off to the "battlefield set".
The set looks like something from a war film - there's nothing to clarify whether it's meant to be part of the same movie, or something else entirely - and the Super Friends walk across it cautiously, looking for the monster. Unbeknownst to them, he's reached the set's special effects controls, and he starts setting all of them off around them, with bullets and explosions and searchlights everywhere. You would think all the effects were just fake, but they all react as if it's all dangerous and dive into a trench. Still, Batman only narrowly avoids being run over by a very real tank.
The Flash points out that their only real way to win is to reverse the formula, and Batman reckons he should have everything they'd need for that in the Batmobile, so they head outside, apparently unimpeded. Batman mixes up some kind of formula and loads it into a gun. When they get back into the studio, they've lost track of the monster:
Robin: Holy horror films! That Make-Up Monster could be around here anywhere!
[A pterodactyl carrying a woman flies out from behind a curtain]
Robin: There he is!
Batman almost shoots the monster but then realises that, if he shoots him while he's in the air, he'll drop the girl. So all they can do is chase after him.
Outside, the monster lands in front of a water tower and declares he'll now turn into the "most powerful monster of them all", which turns out to be a giant ape:
The Super Friends arrive, but before they can shoot the monster, he picks up the girl again and starts climbing the tower - ohh, right, I get it. They still can't turn the monster back until the girl is safe, but the Flash runs up to grab the girl just as the ape drops her, and he brings her back down safely. Then the monster turns the tap on the water silo, flooding the ground, but Batman is still able to climb the tower, and gets up close to the huge ape, finally shooting him with the chemical and turning him back to normal.
To wrap it all up, the director thanks the Super Friends and offers them a part in his next film, but they politely turn him down.
Flash: Being Super Friends is hard enough without having to be superstars!
A nice cosy "everybody laughs" ending!