Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Don't call them heroes: Magilla Gorilla in Super Blooper Heroes (1966)

Inasmuch as Hanna-Barbera jumped in full bore into the superhero genre in 1966 with Space Ghost & Dino Boy & Frankenstein Jr. & The Impossibles on CBS and, to a lesser extent, the juvenile Space Kiddettes on NBC, Magilla Gorilla got in on the action over on ABC in this offering, "Super Blooper Heroes", in which Magilla (Allan Melvin) & Mr. Peebles (who sounds like Don Messick taking over for Howard Morris) decide to emulate TV hero Captain Super-Magnificent (Messick), with predictable results.

Edit, 10/17/22: We've located a title card:


I may be wrong, but the costume design is similar to that of Frankenstein, Jr., so H-B was poking fun at itself in a way. Plus, that upside-down triangular shield has been a comics staple for years, dating all the way back to Superman.

Rating: C.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

Actually the costume looks an awful lot like the one Fred wore as "Superstone".

hobbyfan said...

Thanks for reminding me to try to find that particular Flintstone episode. A generic design used for Fred, Magilla, and, one might assume, Frankenstein, Jr. (save for the F in the shield). An interesting trend.