Do you think the licensing of the '66 Batman will help push '66 Marvel also?

[enyawd72]

Batman 66 despised by a majority of Batman fans??? where did you get that stat from? Batman 66 is iconic and crosses to appeal to the non Batman fans some thing that Marvel toons from 66 will never do. Those Marvel cartoons really appeal to the Hardcore Marvel fans who loved the art from the time...the stiff animation is actually the only downfall to modern kids who live in the CGI age....

Batman 66's campiness IS what's charming about it. Most Batman fans know and accept that, If you are a hardcore batman fan you will be buying those dvd's when they come out......and Anthony is right, if Mego had made the Batman tv show figures we as kids would have loved them more....I had both Adam West and Burt Ward sign my Megos and for me those Megos mean more to me than the others......

I didn't mean or want this to turn into a Marvel vs. DC thread. I love the '66 Batman and the '77 Filmation cartoon is my favorite Batman ever. I'm just speaking from my own personal experience. Whenever I bring up the '66 show at my local comic shop it elicits nothing but groans and eyerolls from anyone under thirty. They all think it's a joke. It's a generational thing I guess, but unfortunately these days, it seems there's more of them than there is of us. That's where the majority comes in I think. The younger crowd just likes their Dark Knight. Me? I'm a Caped Crusader fan. That's why I bought this:

[kingdom warrior]

^^^^^I hear you man it's all good

[Figuremod73]

I would like to see a re-release of that Captain Action Batman.

Really, Batmania in the late sixties is what made super heroes popular again (sorta). They were all over the screen on saturday mornings. If it hadnt been for regulations on violence in cartoons in the early seventies we might have seen even more.

Filmation Batman MAY have been my introduction to Batman and Superheros. I would have only been 4 so its hard to remember.

[ctc]

>There are still a whole lotta Batman fans out there who despise the show and consider it a chapter best forgotten.

I'm curious as to how well a release would actually do; given how long it's been since the '66 Batman was THE Batman, and how far from that the more recent ones have been. The old Marvel toons fare a bit better content-wise here, but the animation and design are pretty low; which I could see being a hindrance for newer viewers.

Don C.

[PNGwynne]

I respect your opinion, but disdain for Batman '66 has absolutely not been my experience, either at my comics shop or in fan conversation. Most fans can compartmentalize it & enjoy it on its own merits. (Just as many can for Marvel's earlier efforts.)

And I know children today who enjoy & embrace it on Me-TV & the Hub.

Nolan may make interesting, entertaining Bat-films, but they will prob. be no more enduring than the first cycle of films. Batman '66 is culturally an entity unto itself.

And, let's not forget--without its influence, Batman particularly as a character & super-heroes generally might not have survived in pop culture for four more decades.

(Sweet CA set, btw! I covet the Aquaman one .)

[madmarva]

The limited animation of the 66 Marvel toons, to me, is the most likely reason why those shows haven't been released on DVD. Disney animation as a brand is one of quality, and those 66 Marvel toons were slapped together as cheaply as possible. Disney may not want their name associated with them. They were released on VHS, I believe. There is so much material out there now that is better in terms of animation that I think it might be a hard sell to those not nostalgic for the show. If Disney opts to put it out at a moderate price, I probably would buy it, but I'm a hard-core super-hero fan. I doubt it would have the traction that more modern and better produced Avengers product. I doubt that 66 Marvel license would be something Disney/Marvel would attempt to exploit like Fox/Warners will do with Batman 66 because the demand is not as great.

However, there have been Marvel Legends figures released based on early marvel work. The new Captain Action Marvel costumes are 1960s versions. Many of the Bowen statues and busts were based on the 1960s or classic versions of the characters. I would think Disney/Marvel would continue to release material based on the early versions of their characters periodically.

The Batman show was a national craze and has played in syndication for 40 years and has a popularity beyond comic fans. The 66 Marvel toons aren't even close to being the pop-culture touchtone that the Batman TV show was. There are people who have never read a comic book but can tell you about Adam West and Burt Ward. There are classic TV fans looking forward to the release of the show on DVD that aren't comic fans. Batman is a TV character to them. I do understand that some fans of Batman comics, particularly the bronze-age version, do resent the Batman TV show because of the camp aspects and how that image has remained a part of the image of comics ever since, but as others have mentioned, those opinions have subsided or at least softened as comic book characters, comics and graphic novels have gained greater mainstream notoriety, acceptance and respect since the mid 1980s.

[Bruce Banner]

I'm also surprised that the 60s Marvel cartoons and the 80s Spidey cartoons have yet to be released on region 1.
I expected those shows to get region 1 releases shortly after Disney acquired Marvel.
They'll most probably be released in due course.

Or if you don't want to wait and you have a multi-region player, just import the region 2 DVDs.

[boynightwing]

Though I love the 60's Spider-man, I don't much care for all the other ones. I wouldn't buy them on dvd.

Adam West though? He's pretty much why I read comics and why I love Batman. Pure West.

[Blue Meanie]

If you have a multi region player or a computer with a DVD player in it you can get all the 66 Marvel Cartoons LEGALLY through Ebay UK. They have been available for about 5 years. Quality is outstanding. If you are gonna wait for Disney to get off of their asses...you're gonna be waiting a long time for them to be released here legally. The company in the UK is Ckearvision. Here is the website:

http://www.clearvision.co.uk/Marvel

It shows you what's available on DVD. The problem is they won't sell directly to buyers here in the US. The "fix" for that problem would be to buy them through Ebay UK or go to HMV online store and buy it through them. Prices will be in GBP...but the conversion lately has been about 1 GBP is equal to about $1.59. I think the only cartoon that they couldn't secure is the Fantastic Four from 1966. The Hanna Barbera cartoons. They even have the '67 Spiderman series available. I think it's out of print here in the US. Hope that helps.

One last note...most DVD players have a "hack" to make the player a multi regional player. You can find that out on line using google search.

[ctc]

>I think the only cartoon that they couldn't secure is the Fantastic Four from 1966.

....which is weird, 'cos digitally remastered versions exist. Teletoon Retro was showing them a year or so back. (It was weird seeing Galactus about 8 feet tall....)

Don C.