LATEST UPDATE: 12/9/08

It seems to be official
!!  Two people at the TOONZONE.NET forums have reported receiving their copies of the complete series from AMAZON.CO.UK.  Liberation seems to have printed these before they closed their UK branch.  If you want the series, I wouldn't take any chances so order it right away.  This could be a limited print run and, as you've seen with this release, anything can prevent it from have more printed.  (For everyone in North America, keep in mind that this is a region 2 release, so you will need a region free DVD player that plays PAL to view the discs.)



A long story short, start keeping up with the posts at TOONZONE.NET. I have no contacts now that Liberation is out of the picture.  Any news will happen at the forums of TOONZONE.NET before you can see them here.

Amazon.co.uk is now listing SPIDER-MAN & HIS AMAZING FRIENDS: THE COMPLETE BOX SET as "in stock".  No other website is listing it so we are unsure if it is an error or not.  Hopefully by the middle of this week we will have some answers as someone will have received it by then.  If you want the answer as soon as possible then check out the thread at TOONZONE.NET; someone will post the answer there before I can post it here.



11/3/08
Amazon.co.uk has now listed Revelation Films as the studio releasing the already-released Marvel titles, including Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends season 1.  A reliable source has contacted Revelation Films and they have stated that they now have the rights to release the Marvel Cartoons in the UK.  No other information is available.  An official announcement should be coming soon.
  


10/29/08
Reaction to the cancellation of the UK DVDs has been nothing short of extraordinary as I'm getting bombarded by e-mails.  The DVDs have definitely been cancelled, and there is NO new news to report. But everyone needs to keep in mind that Liberation Entertainment still exists.  They shut down their UK branch but the company is still in business and they still have the rights to the Marvel cartoons for multi-territories (the UK, Germany, etc.).  They are simply located in the US now...but they can still release the cartoons in those territories.  I really think this is only a cutback for the company in these hard economic times. It is VERY POSSIBLE that the US branch will absorb the work and start releasing the cartoons in the UK again.  I  have communicated with someone from the Liberation's US branch. He said they are having meetings this week to decide what to do now that the UK branch has closed. He didn't know anything. The "higher-ups" will be making those decisions and they'll let us know something as soon as possible. Anything could happen from here...but this is too valuable of a property to "sit" again. The rights situation is cleared up for those territories. If by chance, Liberation decides to sell or release the rights, SOMEONE is going to grab them quickly.  Keep your fingers crossed.  I'll update the site as soon as I know anything.
 

10/27/08
After getting numerous reports from people that their orders for the complete series release and the 2nd/3rd season release have been cancelled, the following has hit the internet:  

Liberation Ent. closes U.K. division
 
If you did not purchase the Season 1 release, then you better not take a chance and RUN, don't walk to see if any copies are left on the shelf.  I'll have any further news on the site as soon as it is available.


9/29/08
SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS - COMPLETE SEASON 1 DVD REVIEW
And here we are. It seemed like it would never happen.  This site is now 10 years old.  So old that DVDs weren't even an expectation when it was created.  All I and many others wanted were good quality copies of each episode, uncut.  The great news is you get what everybody has wanted for so long!
  

The release is broken out as follows:
  
Disc 1

"Triumph of the Green Goblin" (23:52)
"The Crime of all Centuries" (23:52)
"The Fantastic Mr. Frump" (23:51)
"Sunfire" (23:55)
"Swarm" (23:50)
"7 Little Superheroes" (23:51)
"Videoman" (23:54)
  
Disc 2
"The Prison Plot" (24:04)
"Spidey goes Hollywood" (23:55)
"The Vengeance of Loki" (23:51)
"Knights & Demons" (23:55)
"Pawns of the Kingpin" (23:55)
"Quest of the Red Skull" (23:52)

 
As you can see, there is little variance in the runtimes.  I haven't actually watched every single episode again to make sure nothing is missing because I watched a screener copy of the episodes that Liberation sent to me a few months ago. I didn't feel the need (or desire!) to watch them all again.  They were unedited then.  Odds are they are unedited now.  Of course, stranger things have happened.  Let me know if you discover something missing.

Video 
Everything is relative, right?  The picture quality you get here is the best looking you'll have seen the show...depending on your point of view.  Quite a few episodes seem to have the contrast set too high.  Iceman often appears white (he's a light blue, if you didn't know) and his interior lines are washed out at times.  The transfers that have been airing on TOON DISNEY here in the US seem to be better done...but the DVD quality of these episodes makes them better overall.  I find it disappointing...but certainly not a deal breaker. And don't get me wrong, SOME episodes look great. I know Liberation had to make use of the copies that they were given.  That may have limited them severely here.  But try to avoid the Wolverine & the X-Men preview; it's so stunningly clear that it's hard not to be disappointed when you see the picture quality of this 27 year old cartoon.

Audio 
Sounds clear to me!  Stunningly clear at times.  I noticed a 5.1 option on the menu but haven't had a chance to play with it.  After years of watching old VHS copies of the show, this was pleasantly surprising.

Extras 
There is only a "restoration" video like the other Marvel/Liberation videos have had.  My understanding is that extras are coming for the complete series releases. 

Package 
This a pretty nice package for such an inexpensive release.  The DVD case slips into a cardboard sleeve.  There's a nice booklet with an episode guide.  I love that Liberation is getting the logos right on all of their Marvel releases.  Personally I think the artwork and the color scheme are misfires.  It's a nice tip of the hat to the show that they used the green background of the show's title card on the back of the box...but that's one dingy, unappealing green!  It just doesn't suit superheroes very well.  And I think it is little to ask that the artist draw Firestar's hair, mask and aura correctly.
 
Menus
Nice work.  I loved the web transitions and especially love the use of the background music on the sub-menu screens.  Fantastic job.

The Bad News 
Now...for you completists...there is ONE THING missing:  a green title card. This title card (right) was only shown in the original NBC airings.  Spidey's eye in the pic zoomed toward the camera to reveal the episode title card.  I supplied this to Liberation from the 16MMs I have.  Unfortunately, various factors such as time and cost prevented it from being included.  Apparently, it would have thrown off ALL of the subtitles which had already been completed. It IS something I would liked to have seen included.

Also, the show originally aired with a "cold open", meaning ACT ONE was shown, THEN the intro aired.  I don't think I even informed Liberation of the fact.  I feel that the large majority of people who watch TV shows on DVD skip the intro of a show, especially after the first few episodes.  I would have found it annoying to sit through or pick the remote up to skip the intro at that point into the episode.  Feel free to blame me if you'd like to have seen it that way.

If you're asking where the Stan Lee narrations are...there weren't any when this season originally aired.   Narrations were later added to the first season episodes when they were re-run in the second season.  The choice was made to keep the episodes original, and I feel like it was the right one.  Though, one day, I would like to see a release that makes it an option to have the Stan Lee narrations in the first season.

Summary 
Does anything I've written above matter?  When it all comes down to it, we've got the episodes uncut.  The episodes have aired somewhat recently in their complete form in the UK...but the US hasn't seen the large majority of these episodes uncut since their first airing...and I mean the first YEAR they aired.  (Even NBC edited the episodes in re-runs.)   So, despite my nit-picking, I'm thrilled Liberation was the company that got their hands on this show.  I think they've done a fine job and they've included me almost every step of the way.  We didn't always agree but I've respected and understood every decision they made.  Now it's your turn to do the work:  GO BUY TEN COPIES SO THAT THEY DECIDE TO MAKE A COLLECTOR'S SET THAT INCLUDES ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES!!!!
 
Excelsior!

   
 


9/4/08

       
COVER ART FOR THE COMPLETE SERIES 
                  
Available from Amazon.co.uk


COVER ART FOR SEASON 2 & 3!


7/21/08 COVER ART FOR SEASON ONE!


7/8/08
PLAY.COM
lists the following:

Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends - Seasons 2 & 3 for release on 10/27/2008

Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends - Complete boxed set also for release on 10/27/2008

Keep in mind that all dates are subject to change.


6/30/08
WILL THE EPISODES BE UNCUT?
Liberation asked me personally to check the episodes to see if they were uncut.  I sat down for quite a few hours and synced up my uncut copies to their copies and....everything matched.  All thirteen episodes of the first season are uncut.  The episodes you will be able to buy in a few short months will have all the footage that they had when they originally aired on NBC starting in 1981.  For all of you people in the US that plan to by the set, this is the first time you will be able to see most of these episodes uncut since the early 1980's.
 


6/17/08
Liberation Entertainment seems to be pushing back the release dates of all of the Marvel cartoons.  (Which is a GOOD thing.  Quality is better than quantity!)  

 

Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends - Season 1 now shows a release date of 9/29/2008 at PLAY.COM.  Stay tuned for further updates.
    

    


5/9/08

    
If anyone has ANY 16MM copies of the episodes please contact me ASAP at:
  
                                       

 


5/1/08

Do you live in the United States and wish to have these DVDs to watch?
    

It was pointed out to me by e-mail that this DVD release "can" be played in the US on a region-free DVD player ONLY IF it can play PAL DVD's.  The DVD regions specify which parts of the DVD viewing world can watch certain DVD's. Having a region-free player gets around that limitation. That said, here in the US, our broadcast standard for television and standard DVD is NTSC, while over in Europe, they're using the PAL format. Some DVD players (and perhaps a DVD capable computer) can convert PAL to NTSC, but just because a DVD player is region free, doesn't imply that it can do that.

  

Did you get all of that?  If you live in the US and you want to be able to watch these DVDs you can purchase a region free DVD player to view them BUT MAKE SURE that it will play PAL DVDs.

     


4/28/08
SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS - THE COMPLETE SEASON ONE
has a listing on Amazon.co.uk for August 25th, 2008.  Amazon has been known to list things before they are finalized.  Still this should be a pretty good idea of when the first season will be out.

Here's the entire list of Marvel cartoons that Amazon.co.uk shows so far:
    

 June 9, 2008 (Revised from May 26th)

       
The Incredible Hulk - Season One Part One 1996 series

     The Incredible Hulk - Complete 1966 series
     
 June 30, 2008
     Fantastic Four - Season One 1995 series
     Spider-Man - Season One 1967 series
     X-Men - Season One Part One 1992 series
     
 July 28, 2008
     Silver Surfer - Season 1998 series
     Spider-Woman - Volume One 1979 series
     The Incredible Hulk - Season One Part Two 1996 series
     
 August 25, 2008
     Fantastic Four - Season Two 1995 series
     Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends - Season One 1981 series
     The Incredible Hulk - Complete 1982 series
     X-Men - Season One Part Two 1992 series
     
 September 22, 2008
     Fantastic Four - Complete 1978 series
     Spider-Man - Season Two 1967 series
     Spider-Woman - Volume Two 1979 series
     The Incredible Hulk - Season Two 1996 series
     

    


4/24/08
Liberation Entertainment
has obtained the rights to the Marvel Cartoons in the UK.  Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends is one of the cartoons that they will be releasing on DVD.  The company has contacted the makers of this website and we have agreed to help them in any way possible.  No other news is available at the moment, but this site will be updated as soon as any further information is available.

PRESS RELEASE:
LIBERATION ENTERTAINMENT INKS DEAL WITH JETIX CONSUMER
PRODUCTS TO DISTRIBUTE CLASSIC MARVEL ANIMATION CATALOGUE ON DVD

Deal covers DVD distribution for classic animated series across multiple European territories


Liberation Entertainment Ltd has agreed a multi territory DVD deal with Jetix Consumer Products, the licensing division of leading kids entertainment company Jetix Europe, for classic Marvel Entertainment animated series. The deal gives Liberation Entertainment exclusive DVD distribution rights for popular Marvel character based animated series including Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer and Spider Woman. Territories covered by the deal are the UK and Ireland, Benelux, Germany as well as German-speaking Austria and Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Jay Boberg, Liberation Chairman commented: "This deal expands our relationship with Jetix and continues to build Liberation’s ongoing partnership with Marvel. Liberation has already acquired DVD distribution and television sales rights outside the US to Marvel’s new animated Wolverine and the X-Men TV series, and as a result of this deal we will be able to bring the “crown jewels” in Marvel’s animated TV series - including Spider-Man and The Hulk to new audiences, as well as long-time fans. Aggregating these new and classic Super Hero animations will give us leverage in the marketplace to maximize sales.”

Spencer Pollard, Managing Director of Liberation Entertainment commented, “This catalogue represents a huge opportunity for Liberation and I am delighted that we have secured the distribution rights from Jetix Consumer Products. The catalogue has enormous potential – many people grew up with the original Spider-Man series as well as the rest of the catalogue and we believe it is hugely collectable, which will interest both children and adults alike”

Tina Lorenzo, Director of International Home Entertainment at Jetix Consumer Products, said: “We’re delighted to have struck the deal with Liberation for the Marvel catalogue. Many of the series covered in the deal feature some of Jetix viewers’ most popular characters and we’re certain that with Liberation distributing them, they will prove incredibly popular with fans across the countries included in the deal.”

Liberation will announce the full release schedule for the catalogue in the near future.

 

*All characters are property of Marvel Comics and are used without permission.