Spider-Man (1981 TV series)

Spider-Man is a 1981–82 American animated TV series based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is the second Spider-Man cartoon, following the 1967 series.
The series featured Peter Parker having to balance his alter ego crimefighting with his responsibilities as a university student, a part-time photographer for the Daily Bugle and caring for his elderly Aunt May Parker.
While Spider-Man fights his usual enemies, six episodes have him contending with Doctor Doom.
Note: Neil Ross would reprise his role as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin for the 1994 Spider-Man cartoon series.
Walter S. Burr was the voice director for the series.
The series was created to launch Marvel Productions, successor of DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, who had previously produced the 1978 New Fantastic Four and 1979 Spider-Woman animated series (where Spider-Man made two appearances) and was syndicated by ARP Films Inc.
The character design for Peter Parker (as well as other supporting characters including Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson) was quite faithful to the comic books of the period and hearkened back to the illustrations by John Romita Sr. of the young hero in Spider-Man's newspaper strip adventures from the 1970s. Due to network constraints and demands from parents, characters such as Spider-Man were not allowed to make a fist to strike an opponent, but the show's creators managed to conceal these issues with a focus on action and relatively fluid animation.
Much like the Spider-Man newspaper strip of the late 1970s, Peter Parker's character design did away with the 1960s crew cut for a more modern hairstyle during this time, which the character continued to be portrayed with through the 1980s and early 1990s. Likewise, Parker abandoned the conservative suit and tie of the 1960s comics and previous animated series in favor of dark blue straight-legged linen pants.
Peter's mask was connected to his costume at the back of the neck, like a hood which he would pull over his head when he changed into Spider-Man.
As was the case with Amazing Friends, the series was later re-aired in the late 1980s as part of the 90-minute Marvel Action Universe, a syndicated series that was used as a platform for old and new Marvel-produced animated fare (the newer programming featured RoboCop: The Animated Series, Dino-Riders and on occasion, X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, which was intended to serve as a pilot for a potential X-Men animated series). The show was last rerun in the US in 1998 as part of the UPN Kids Action Zone block alongside several other Marvel shows.
Episodes of the series were included in Prism Entertainment's Marvel Comics Video Library VHS series in the 1980s.
In Canada, Morningstar Entertainment released the episode "The Vulture Has Landed" on DVD in the set entitled Spider-Man Vs. The Vulture. The set also contains "The Vulture's Prey" and "The Dark Terrors", both from the 1967 Spider-Man TV series. Morningstar also released "Canon of Doom" (on the Fantastic Four VS. Doctor Doom set, included in the Villains Showdown Gift Set that also includes "Spider-Man Vs. The Vulture"), although the episode is the Bonus episode on the disc. "Arsenic And Aunt May" was also released in the Heroes box set. All the Morningstar DVDs were mastered from VHS/Betamax copies that were released by Prism Video in 1985 as part of their Marvel Video Library series.
In April 2008, Liberation Entertainment secured the home media rights to select Marvel shows from Jetix Europe in select European territories, including Spider-Man.
In 2009, Clear Vision took over home media rights, and released the series on DVD on four volumes in the United Kingdom, released on June 7, July 5, August 2, and September 6 of 2010 respectively, with a triple pack releasing in 2011, and a complete series release following on March 11, 2013. The company also released the show's four DVD volumes in Germany. To avoid confusion with other Spider-Man DVD titles, Clear Vision released the show on DVD under the name Spider-Man 5000.
The series was available for streaming on Netflix from 2011 to 2013. The series became available on the Disney+ streaming service at its U.S. launch on November 12, 2019.