Thanks,
DOG LIPS (it sounds weird to type that and it isn't an insult).
I finished the FF:WGH series and my opinion of it hasn't changed. It still is a good, enjoyable series. It is hardly the best superhero cartoon ever made, but it is better than a slew of Marvel animation. I would even say it was better than the 90's Fantastic Four show. That show was put on a pedestal by fans, but only for it's second season. And even that wasted some episodes on a "clip episode" and whatnot. This show had better lines and more of a sense of whimsy. It did have some serious moments and moments with a bit of heart and even danger. But it wasn't trying to be JLU, and quite frankly it debuted on CARTOON NETWORK the same year that JLU was wrapping up, and I think expectations were very high. Or, fandom was still reeling from the first film being underwhelming.
I think a lot of people get so wrapped up in some of the intense, hectic, epic battles and space sagas of the Four that they forget that the series wasn't supposed to be all bleak and depressing. The Four were supposed to be quirky and sometimes have lighter-hearted adventures. They're not the X-Men or Spider-Man or Batman who are feared or hated or are trying to scare people. They're celebrities as well as heroes, and while some of their character pathos is still there, it doesn't overwhelm the episodes. I remember the 90's series' Season Season as being a bit more dour. This isn't dour, and while the first half dozen or so episodes are hardly the show's best, they aren't nearly as horrible as the Season 1 90's stuff, which was sheer garbage (as was the Season 1 of Iron Man from the 90's, just slightly less bad).
Granted, CN did this show no favors. Out of the first 5-6 episodes they chose to air one of the worst as the pilot and lose any sense of continuity. While as a whole there is no "storyarc" like in JLU, TMNT or SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, there is a sense of the episodes building on each other and on some episodes clearly taking place after others. "TRIAL BY FIRE" can work as Episode #3 or #4, but not as the pilot. They also aired the episodes by no sense of a schedule and left many others in the editor's studio, to only air on Canadian YTV. And it is a shame because many of those were good episodes.
Or, the fact that Dr. Doom wasn't perfect turned people off. I admit his design makes me believe he bought his armor from the VAMPIRE HUNTER D collection, but he's better, or no worse, than plenty of other cartoons' depictions of Doom and FAR better than the version from the film this series was launched from. And while Doom does show up entirely too often (within 26 episodes, he headlines at least 8 episodes, an average of one every 3-4), he does follow basic plotlines for the character, just without getting specific about his former friendship with Reed (which, I should note, was mostly overlooked by the end of the 60's into the 70's until Marv Wolfman wrote the Four and reintroduced it). Dr. Doom hates Reed and the Four and is always looking for more power, whether from trying to steal the Cosmic Control Rod from Annihilus to Iron Man's armor designs. He even throws the Baxtor Building into space or mingles with time, which are also from the comics. Probably the only problem is that while he fills the role of "arch nemesis" in the series, very rarely do the Four seem overly challenged by him. Once his plot is unraveled he often can be defeated or incited to flee very quickly. And while that was par for the course during the 60's-70's, it seems less so now for many readers. I mean, once upon a time, Spider-Man incited Dr. Doom to flee from a stalemated battle. Nowadays that would appear lackluster. The show's creators claimed to try to "take" from various eras of the Four but the Jack/Kirby era is always foremost, and that does include a somewhat-more-static Doom.
But, considering that the Dr. Doom from the 1981 solo Spider-Man cartoon is still considered the best depiction, this isn't so bad. Doom's voice is fine and he still is humorless, petty, and very dangerous. It is always a game of trying to one-up Reed Richards and prove himself the superior intellect, and isn't that the heart of it?
While Dr. Doom isn't depicted perfectly, the other villains are handled much better. Mole Man is played as well as you would expect, and unlike Doom CAN be played for laughs. This show's version of Puppet Master is the best I've seen; creepy without going into the "serial killer" vibe the comics have. Super-Skrull was developed over two episodes and arguably provided the best fight sequence in the show. Impossible Man was impossibly annoying and thus accurate, like the Four's version of Mr. Mxy (and served in doses). Ronan the Accuser doesn't have any of the fleshed dynamics of ANNIHILATION, but he lacked that for many years before that anyway and his arc is developed in the show. And Namor is as arrogant and aggressive as one could imagine. This show's version of Wizard and the Frightful Four is a lot better than the 90's was. I can forgive the main villain not being handled perfectly if everyone else is fine, and they are. Even Diablo was perfectly fine.
Plus, we also have appearances from Terminus, Grandmaster, Frog-Man, Texas Twister, Squirrel-Girl, and of course cameos from Avengers heroes like Ant-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, and She-Hulk (as well as a veiled cameo by Peter Parker).
The reason to watch the show for me was the Four themselves, though. The writers nailed the amusing interaction and personalities of the Four. I never imagined Mr. Fantastic could be as fun as he is in this series, without being "dumbed down" like in the films, but he is. Johnny can be over the top and annoying, but that is usually his schtick and his VA plays him with ample skill. Thing sounds and acts like the pug he is (even if the spraypainted "4" on his chest is very stupid), and Invisible Woman often is a mix of doting mother figure and "I am woman, hear me ROAR (or smash with my forcefield)". While the focus is on comedy, the true characters do shine through. Mr. Fantastic bares guilt and responsibility for the cosmic accident that birthed the Four. The Thing desires to be human but also is all heart and selfless action. Johnny is an arrogant fop but when push comes to shove he will defend his sister and be a hero. Sue often is the heart of the team, trying to balance Reed's over-analysis, Johnny's immature antics, and Thing's grumpiness or aggression.
The series is dubbed by Ocean Group, a Canadian voice acting troupe responsible for countless anime and domestic shows throughout the 80's and 90's. They worked on X-MEN EVOLUTION, among other shows.
The series finale, "SCAVENGER HUNT" is a perfect mix of what makes the show work; sure, there is comedy, but the threat is also colossally huge and the Four must pull together as a family to succeed and save the world.
There is an overabundance of CGI and sometimes it does clash, but most times the show looks and animates very well. The aircraft looks great, as does the Baxtor Building and whatnot. It doesn't look like a lot of other Marvel shows, but in this case that is a positive.
Many still complain about the action sequences, but having heard some of the commentary, I wonder if CN did the same thing that Kid's WB and Fox used to do with Marvel shows; censor them more. Kyle & Yost said that they "pushed things" in the brawl at the end of "CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS" (one of the show's best episodes) and I must say, JLU "pushed things" a lot more often. Much as BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES was allowed limits on violence that SPIDER-MAN and X-MEN couldn't even LOOK AT during the 90's. Marvel may be big in comics, but on TV they still are small fish. TEEN TITANS had Slade violently pummel (and even once nearly strip naked) TEENAGERS yet the FF:WGH crew often had to keep many direct blows off screen, and this show aired within the same Toonami timeslot as TEEN TITAN or JLU, which were allowed a LOT fewer limits on violence. Still, the action scenes are fine and do their job. Nothing like the smack-downs in SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN that are currently setting the standard, but this show didn't have a big honcho like SONY pulling for it (or 3 huge grossing pictures behind it). It could be that Kyle & Yost are "too used" to TV and thus don't naturally push things, but I will say that CN allowed JLU and TEEN TITANS to be MUCH more violent, and considering those are all connected by WB, sometimes I smell a rat.
Still, the fights do their job, and considering how many shows were almost punch-less in the past, it is fine enough. The focus of the show isn't on action alone, however. Although the final showdown with Terminus is rather impressive (even if ripped a bit from THE INCREDIBLES, but Incredibles, uh, "heavily homaged" the Four in the first place, so all is fair).
The extras on the box set have commentary tracks in the LANGUAGE section for "MY NEIGHBOR WAS A SKRULL", "CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS" & "SCAVENGER HUNT". It also has three featurettes about the Four and the cartoon. The Moonscope one is "meh" but the others feature a lot of discussion about the comics from Stan "The Man" Lee himself, and his passion for his first major Marvel franchise is still apparent (it was the only one he and Kirby stayed on for over 8 years, after all). The Moonscope one notes that the animation studio is French and they did gear the show to play in the U.S. was well as overseas, where it is also popular. They wanted to make Sue's hair pink, but fortunately Kyle & Yost held the line. That also may explain why Thing is a soccer fan, since NO natural born American over the age of 12 likes soccer, especially not Thing.
But such is life.
In an interview on Toonzone, Chris Yost claims one of his favorite superhero cartoons as a kid was SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS, and this show attempts to capture that sort of whimsy, that sort of angst-free heroism where having powers made life complicated, but it also wasn't as bleak and horrible as some more modern shows (post X-Men) made it seem. The Four goof off with their powers and use them in the most mundane parts of their lives, like normal people likely would.
I'm going to go out on a limb here, but this show may actually be the best all-around Fantastic Four cartoon I have yet seen. It even made HERBIE work, and I used to HATE HERBIE. Even the worst episodes are far better than many episodes of, say, THE BATMAN or LEGION OF SUPERHEROES, and if you are a Marvel fan, pick it up cheap at Target for $30 (or the price of three movie tickets, basically) and have an open mind about it. And don't expect it to be JLU; it is trying for more comedy than that show did, and most often succeeds. It's out for a good superhero time, and it sucked me in.
