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Revive the Hanna Barbera Superheroes


In the late 60's through early 70's, the Hanna-Barbera TV studios made, in my opinion, a lot of really fun superhero cartoon shows.

I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to try to revive or update these characters. They could either get a new animated series, animated video feature, or possibly even a live action treatment.

Here's the few I can think of. If anybody else can think of any Hanna-Barbera Superheroes that I've missed, please feel free to add.

(I think we'll just stick with the actual costumed Superheroes or characters with super powers, not the adventure characters like Jonny Quest)

Space Ghost: If they could develop a really good Back Story, I think Space Ghost could be a decent Live Action character. Try not to make it too dark, however. I remember seeing one comic book treatment where he had a wife and kids, they were all murdered, and he was framed and supposedly executed for a crime. That's why he's Space "Ghost" because he was presumed dead but didn't actually die. That could work, but if you make him too tragic, he might lose some appeal. Plus, people might think they were ripping off Batman.

Frankenstein Jr: Possible, but not sure on this one. We've already had "The Iron Giant", and this might be too similar. Keep this one Animated, however, if it's going to be revived.

The Impossibles: Trio of Rock & Roll heroes made up of Multiman, Fluid Man and Coil Man. I always thought these guys were fun. I think if you keep it as a comedy, it could work. Live Action? Not sure. I'm also not sure if it would be a good idea to modernize them, or keep them in the 60's era.

Birdman: Unfortunately, this one may have been permanently skewered by "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law", and there has also been the Michael Keaton film. I think if they made this into a Live Action film before this happened, he could have had a chance. Now... ?

Galaxy Trio: Made up of Mist Man, Gravity Girl and Meteor Man. Possible. Needs a LOT more character development, however.

Mighty Mightor: Caveman Superhero. He was pretty original for his time. Could really work as a Live Action film.

Shazzan: OK, technically not a Super Hero because he's a Genie, but he does have powers. Would also be really controversial because of all the Middle Eastern and Arabian Stereotypes. However, if you stressed that this all takes place on a Parallel World that resembles Arabia and that it doesn't really take place on any Earth nation, it could work.

Blue Falcon & Dynomutt: Frankly, when the Live action Scooby-Doo movies came out, I was really hoping that somebody would remember these characters and bring them back to life too. I think Patrick Warburton would have made a perfect Blue Falcon. The plot would have been that Warburton's Blue Falcon was "Old School" and the agency that gave him his equipment wanted to replace him with a new Robotic Superhero. They were still working out the kinks, so they formed the robot into a dog at first and then would form him into a man once everything was perfected. Blue Falcon was supposed to train the new superhero, but he really resented it. I don't know, just an idea.

Those are the few I can remember. Anything else?

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Frankenstein Jr: Possible, but not sure on this one. We've already had "The Iron Giant", and this might be too similar. Keep this one Animated, however, if it's going to be revived.

The Impossibles: Trio of Rock & Roll heroes made up of Multiman, Fluid Man and Coil Man. I always thought these guys were fun. I think if you keep it as a comedy, it could work. Live Action? Not sure. I'm also not sure if it would be a good idea to modernize them, or keep them in the 60's era.

Wow, I used to watch those on the Banana Splits show!





All for a box of chocolates...

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Space Ghost: If they could develop a really good Back Story, I think Space Ghost could be a decent Live Action character. Try not to make it too dark, however. I remember seeing one comic book treatment where he had a wife and kids, they were all murdered, and he was framed and supposedly executed for a crime. That's why he's Space "Ghost" because he was presumed dead but didn't actually die. That could work, but if you make him too tragic, he might lose some appeal. Plus, people might think they were ripping off Batman.
Ignoring the rather overrated "SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST" or the spinoff series "THE BRAK SHOW" I have only seen maybe four episodes of the original cartoon. I think this could work, and because he's also a space traveler, it could lead to so many different stories and characters. Zorak of course would need to be the first villain.

Birdman: Unfortunately, this one may have been permanently skewered by "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law", and there has also been the Michael Keaton film. I think if they made this into a Live Action film before this happened, he could have had a chance. Now... ?
"HARVEY BIRDMAN, ATTORNEY AT LAW" was hilarious, especially the first Season. But if they ever actually rebooted "BIRDMAN" into a straight forward action adventure film, I'd see it.

I wouldn't say the character may be permanently skewered because of a short-lived parody series. It's more of a minor cult hit, and probably not widely known enough.

People used to say the same thing about Blofeld in the Bond movies because of Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers spoofs. Granted "SPECTRE" wasn't that great, but still it was good to see Blofeld back.


http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/

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Several Hanna-Barbera characters have been and are being revived by DC Comics.

http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Space_Ghost_Vol_1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanna-Barbera#New_projects:_2016.E2.80.93present

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