''The New Fantastic Four'' (on-screen title: ''The Fantastic Four'') is an animated series produced by

DePatie–Freleng Enterprises DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (also known as Mirisch-Geoffrey-DePatie-Freleng Productions when involved with the Mirisch brothers and Geoffrey Productions; and DFE Films) was an American animation production company that was active from 1963 to 1 ...

and Marvel Comics Animation in 1978. It is the second animated series based on

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 (cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first s ...

'', following a 1967 series produced by

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

. The 1978 series replaced the character of the

Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of a si ...

with a robot named H.E.R.B.I.E. (Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics) because the 1978 television rights to use that character were tied up by a proposed television pilot movie in development by

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

that ended up never being produced. Ownership of the series passed to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide, which also includes

Marvel Productions New World Animation Ltd., formerly known as Marvel Productions, was the television and film studio subsidiary of the Marvel Entertainment Group, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It later became a subsidiary of New World Entertainmen ...

. The series is not available on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

Plot

After getting exposed to cosmic radiation,

Reed Richards Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member, and the leader, of the Fantastic Four. Richards has a mastery of mechanical, aerospace and ...

Susan Storm The Invisible Woman (Susan "Sue" Storm-Richards) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four and was the first female superhero created by Marvel during ...

, and

Ben Grimm Benjamin Jacob Grimm, also known as The Thing, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. The Thing was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and ...

, alongside their robot H.E.R.B.I.E., fight crime as the Fantastic Four.

Episode list

Cast

Ted Cassidy Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979) was an American actor noted for his tall stature at and deep voice. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as ''Star Trek'' and ''I Dream of ...

- Thing / Benjamin J. "Ben" Grimm,

Mole Man The Mole Man (Harvey Rupert Elder) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Mole Man is a recurring foe of the Fantastic Four and was the first villain they ever faced. His schemes usually consist o ...

Mike Road Mike Road (born Milton Brustin;The Boston Advertiser, June 29, 1958 March 18, 1918 – April 14, 2013) was an American voice actor and Warner Bros. television series contract player whose television career dates back to the 1950s and in f ...

- Mister Fantastic / Reed Richards *

Dick Tufeld Richard Norton Tufeld (December 11, 1926 – January 22, 2012) was an American actor, announcer, narrator and voice actor from the late 1940s until the early 21st century. He was a well-known presence on television as an announcer, but his ...

- Narrator * Ginny Tyler - Invisible Girl / Susan "Sue" Richards *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

- H.E.R.B.I.E.,

Impossible Man The Impossible Man is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #11 (February 1963), and was created by writer Stan Lee and writer/artist Jack Kirby. The Impossible ...

Additional voices

Joan Gerber Joan Gerber (July 29, 1935 – August 22, 2011) was an American voice actress who provided voices for a variety of cartoons. Her most challenging voice role was "all the children in a Japanese train wreck" for a '' Godzilla'' television episode ...

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor. He was best known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered vocal creations include Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ...

- J.J. Colossal * Gene Moss -

Trapster Trapster (Peter Petruski), also known as Paste-Pot Pete, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The character is one of the first supervillains who became active during the "Silver Ag ...

* Vic Perrin * Hal Smith * John Stephenson -

Doctor Doom Doctor Victor Von Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in ''The Fantastic Four'' #5 in July 1962. The monarch of the fict ...

Magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Constru ...

, Professor Gregson Gilbert, Presenter at Science Convention * Nancy Wible

''Marvel Mash-Up''

In July 2012, scenes from ''Fantastic Four'' were re-cut, edited, and re-dubbed into comical shorts as part of

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven yea ...

's comedic ''Marvel Mash-Up'' series of shorts for their "Marvel Universe on Disney XD" block of programming that included ''

Ultimate Spider-Man ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2011. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of the company's Ultimate ...

'' and '' The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes''.

Home media

The company Liberation Films was going to release this series on DVD in the UK in November 2008, but due to the company going into bankruptcy, that never happened. However the company Clear Vision in the UK which had acquired the rights to the Marvel shows, released the series on DVD in March, 2010. Morningstar Entertainment has released 2 episodes on Region 1 DVD in Canada, however both ''The Impossible Man'' and ''Meet Dr. Doom'' are reissues of Volumes 2 and 7 of the 1980s Prism Video Marvel Comics Video Library. Both DVDs were mastered from VHS copies of those old releases, and therefore contain the Spider-Man episodes that were added on as bonus episodes to the VHS releases. ''Meet Doctor Doom'' is only available in the ''Villains Gift Set'' by Morningstar.

References

External links

* *
Marvel Animation Age: ''Fantastic Four'' (1978)

The Dreamers: ''The New Fantastic Four'' (1978)
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Fantastic Four 1970s American animated television series 1978 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American children's animated superhero television series NBC original programming Television series by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises Fantastic Four television series Television shows based on Marvel Comics Animated television series based on Marvel Comics Television series by Saban Entertainment Television series by Disney–ABC Domestic Television