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| Retro: Classic Cartoons Discuss all your favorite cartoons from the early days of animation. From the Black & White theatrical years to the TV animation of the 80s, it all goes here! Talk about Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, Superfriends, Tom & Jerry, Popeye the Sailor, Scooby-Doo, The Pink Panther, The Smurfs, Yogi Bear, and any other shows you grew up with. |
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#1
10-24-2009, 07:31 PM
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Toon Zone Talkback - "Plastic Man: The Complete Collection" DVD
This is the talkback thread for Plastic Man: The Complete Collection. Not Quite “Complete,” but Chockfull of Fun
 I have just received my set this morning from Amazon and has skimmed through this. It is great to finally have these episodes on "somewhat" crystal clear quality. Some of the episodes are a little fuzzy looking -- but they are way better than my deteriorating VHS tapes of my 1994 CN recordings. My only qualm so far is that this "Complete Collection" is not quite complete. Baby Plas episodes notwithstanding, I was hoping that this set would include all of the "Consumer Tip" segments (which are still relevant lessons today), as well as the "only aired twice" Candlehead episode from the "Plastic Man Saturday Morning Sneak Peek" special. In case you don't know what I am talking about, notorious TZ poster DarkLantern offers his best reconstruction of this episode from his memory (which is way better than mine) here: http://hallofjustice1.proboards.com/...d=12554#155732 Xum 
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#2
11-03-2009, 09:18 AM
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I never watched Plastic Man when it was airing the first time around, or on the CN re-runs, but I have to say I liked this DVD set quite a bit. It does capture the anarchic spirit of the original Jack Cole comics, and even the underrated recent Kyle Baker run of the comics. Admittedly, it recycles sitcom tropes that went out of favor in the 1970's, but, you know, it was the 1970's when it was made and they hadn't quite gone out of favor yet. There's also a few episodes that really made me laugh because they seemed to recognize that they could go even further than something like Super Friends did. In a lot of ways, I think the DNA of Plastic Man was the direct ancestor of shows like The Tick about 10 years later.
Plastic Man is the kind of superhero who was made for comics and animation because of the inherent freedom from constraints that both media provide, so it was a shame that he had to get a show in the 70's, which was not exactly the era for awe-inspiring stuff on a technical level. Ruby-Spears does the best that they can on the presumably microscopic budget that they had, but I don't think they were able to fully capitalize on the potential anarchy Plastic Man gives them the same way that the pilot episode included as a bonus on this set does. I'm also baffled why the pilot never got picked up -- it's fast, fun, funny, and exceptionally well done. Perhaps it was the usual thinking that "Superheroes Have To Be Serious" that was prevalent at the time, but that doesn't explain how Teen Titans got greenlit. I'm also disappointed that they didn't spend more time talking about the show in the historical featurette, but I guess that's what we're here for  .
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Edward Liu | Disney Forum moderator | Toon Zone News Interviews Editor "Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting, but never hit soft." -- Theodore Roosevelt
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#3
11-03-2009, 07:04 PM
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I recall Cartoon Network airing "Plastic Man" in its earliest years, amongst other '60's-'80's Hanna-Barbera/Ruby-Spears action shows. For some reason, they stopped doing so as the 1990's closed out, and it hasn't aired on either CN or Boomerang ever since from what I recall. One of the few shows on the H-B/R-S library which have yet to make the jump to Boomerang. I wonder if the guys programming Boom are taking notice of this, there's plenty of stuff in the vaults that they can cycle in-and-out for their current pittance of a "Boomeraction" block, rather than run '60's (do they air the '80's eps as well?) Jonny Quest to the damn ground. Like "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest" for once. 52 episodes, hasn't been aired on Boom YET. C'mon now!
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#5
11-04-2009, 02:46 PM
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They do not.
Xum
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#6
11-08-2009, 06:43 AM
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I wonder if the lack of a pilot episode and the 'consumer tips' is a byproduct of the series being from Ruby-Spears rather than Hanna-Barbera? Even though WB own the Ruby-Spears archive, up until now they've done very little with it on DVD, even considering the many series they put out in the 70s and 80s.
Having said that, when we had Plastic Man over here in the 1980s, I don't think we had the consumer tips at all, so these may have been removed for syndication and simply never put back into WB's masters. Oddly, I don't recall the opening narration either, so some syndicated versions look like they may have gone out with a simple instrumental (until Plas speaks at the end). Hopefully WB can put out a second set containing the single season's worth of Plastic Family/Baby Plas episodes, and perhaps also dig up the missing consumer tips and especially the rare pilot. An actual on-disc interview with the incomparable Michael Bell wouldn't go amiss, too!
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1967 Fantastic Four - 1978 New Fantastic Four - 1981 Solo Spider-Man - 1982 Incredible Hulk
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#7
11-08-2009, 12:52 PM
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I assume not on this set as well are the wraparound live-action segments made for the show when it went into syndication. Said segments featured an actor dressed as Plastic Man introducing episodes of the show from IIRC Plas' headquarters/plane...
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#8
11-08-2009, 04:03 PM
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I would have liked as a bonus, one full episode of the Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show with Plas, Mighty Man and YuKk, Fangface and Fangpuss, and Rickety Rocket.
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#9
11-08-2009, 04:42 PM
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So the Baby Plas and Family are not all included in this set?
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hmmmm
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#11
11-09-2009, 07:28 PM
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Quote:
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#12
11-10-2009, 02:02 PM
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Quote:
To find out more, including video clips of Mark Taylor as "Plaz" on both the syndicated show as well as extra local TV broadcasts (including an appearance at the Democratic National Convention), visit here: http://plazcomedy.com/index.html BONUS: Click the "Educational Content" link for an example of a Consumer Tip segment. Xum
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#13
11-11-2009, 04:06 PM
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Quote:
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#14
11-11-2009, 04:21 PM
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Sweet Memories!!
What a trip back in time that was. I did click on to the website. There was some RARE footage I didn't see, such as the Fangface and Fangpuss intro (only, they showed the beginning and ending portions of it) and the tail end of the original Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show intro (with Michael Rye's version; I believe that was the ABC version). Nice to see the Plastic Man Consumer Tips again.
I loved this series (I used to watch this weekdays and weekends on WNEW/FOX 5 in NY). I did record one episode of it from the syndicated airing, but I was foolish to throw it away. OH, RATS! I remember the opening and closing titles for this version. The ending title (IIRC) had alternate music and different credits at one point. Anyone else remember? Next time, WB; please include the opening titles of the original Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show and Consumer Tips as bonus material (perhaps when you release The Plastic Man/Baby Plas Super Comedy Show complete series).
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