Spider-Man (1994)

Spider-Man, also known as Spider-Man: The Animated Series (Spider-Man TAS for short), is an American superhero animated television series based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name. The show ran on the Fox Kids Network from November 19, 1994, to January 31, 1998, and ran reruns on the Jetix block on Toon Disney and on Disney XD, with a total of five seasons and sixty-five episodes. The producer/story editor was John Semper Jr. and the production company was Marvel Films Animation.

## Cast and characters

### Main voice cast

* Christopher Daniel Barnes – Peter Parker / Spider-Man
* Ed Asner – J. Jonah Jameson
* Jennifer Hale – Felicia Hardy / Black Cat
* Sara Ballantine (credited as Saratoga Ballantine) – Mary Jane Watson
* Roscoe Lee Browne – Wilson Fisk / Kingpin
* Linda Gary / Julie Bennett – Aunt May Parker
* Gary Imhoff – Harry Osborn / Green Goblin
* Rodney Saulsberry – Joseph "Robbie" Robertson
* Mark Hamill – Hobgoblin
* Hank Azaria – Eddie Brock / Venom

## Production

While Marvel's *X-Men* animated series was being produced by Saban, *Spider-Man* was produced by the newly formed Marvel Films Animation; it was the only series that in-house studio produced, but was animated by TMS-Kyokuchi Corporation, with their subsidiary, Seoul Movie helping their parent company with the show's animation (uncredited). Koko Enterprises Ltd. and Anima Sam Won did additional animation for this series (though they were also uncredited). For many years, the series was the second longest-running Marvel show created, after *X-Men*, as well as the longest-running series based on Spider-Man (until *Ultimate Spider-Man* surpassed its record in 2015). In some episodes, realistic guns were depicted, but only in flashbacks, such as the showing of guns being fired during a flashback about the Punisher's origins where his wife was killed in the crossfire during a crime. In November 2014 podcasts, Semper clarified that the show was not censored more than any other show at the time and that every time this has been brought up to him, he feels it has been blown out of proportion; Semper said that Marvel had no creative control on the TV series because Marvel at the time was in a tough time and close to bankruptcy. In addition, Semper stated that Stan Lee had influence on the show in the first thirteen episodes. The series is currently owned and distributed by The Walt Disney Company (Marvel's parent company), which acquired all Fox Kids-related properties from News Corporation and Saban International in 2001.

### Writing staff

Producer John Semper was the primary credited writer on the show, receiving some sort of writing credit (usually a story, co-story or co-writing credit) on 60 of the 65 produced episodes. He wrote 8 episodes solo; many of his story credits were actually adaptations of previously published comic book stories.

Mark Hoffmeier was a frequent contributor, receiving credits on 16 episodes, while Stan Berkowitz was credited on 9.

Many of the other series writers had previously worked on *Batman: The Animated Series*, including Brynne Stephens, Marv Wolfman, Gerry Conway, Marty Isenberg and Robert N. Skir, Len Wein, and Sean Catherine Derek.

### Animation

To reproduce New York City's appearance, background illustrators undertook a large amount of visual research by using photo archives from above New York, particularly rooftops. Maps were consulted for references and buildings were faithfully reproduced.

It has been reported that the animation cels depicting Manhattan's Pan Am Building (recently renamed the MetLife Building) were scrapped after being complete because the California-based art staff learned the Midtown landmark had been given a new sign more than a year earlier.

The animation staff were directed to populate the city with cars and crowds on the street level. Semper believed that was one of the limitations of earlier Spider-Man animated projects.

Originally, Marvel Films planned to make the backgrounds completely CGI while Spider-Man 'web-swings' around New York, yet due to budget constraints were forced to use traditional cel based animation while occasionally using CGI backgrounds by Video Game Developer Kronos Digital Entertainment. As well, reuse of animation became more common as the series progressed, which also included reuse of animation involving a character speaking (these scenes were sometimes slowed down in order to better match the actor's voice to the animation).

### Music

Marvel outsourced the show's music to distributors Saban Entertainment, who were also responsible for the music in the concurrent *X-Men* cartoon airing on Fox Kids. The theme for the series was performed by Joe Perry of the hard rock band Aerosmith, although the song was written by Shuki Levy. Levy, Kussa Mahchi and Udi Harpaz are credited as composers of the orchestral background score.

## Merchandising

Three comic book series based on the TV series were produced:

* *Spider-Man Adventures* (December 1994 to February 1996): the first 13 issues each adapted one episode from the first season, and the last two issues were original stories. *Spider-Man Adventures* #1–4 was later reprinted in *Kellogg's Froot Loops Mini-Comics* #1–4.
* *Adventures of Spider-Man* (April 1996 to March 1997): featuring new stories based on the series. *Adventures of Spider-Man* was later reprinted in *Spectacular Spider-Man (UK Magazine)* #11–21 from August 1996 to May 1997.
* *Marvel Adventures* (April 1997 to September 1998): anthology featuring various animated versions of Marvel characters—Spider-Man only appeared sporadically.

A number of video games based on the series were also produced:

* *Spider-Man Cartoon Maker* for the PC
* *Spider-Man Animated Series* for the Super NES and Genesis

Electronic versions of classic Spider-Man comics were released by Marvel that included narration by Christopher Daniel Barnes and featured animation and theme music from this series. Spider-Man novels inspired by selected episodes were also released. A wide variety of themed merchandise (lunch boxes, cereals, clothing, etc.) was produced. McDonald's produced a themed line of Happy Meal toys for the show. However, this paled in comparison to the extensive official toy line that ran over eight series, and included a staggering amount of play sets and vehicles and actually lasted longer than the television series itself.

### Release availability

Despite the fact that the show ended in 1998, the success of the live-action *Spider-Man* films have sparked more interest in new fans, allowing the series to air in reruns due to its new owners: The Walt Disney Company.

The show became available for streaming in its entirety on the Disney+ service on November 12, 2019.

## Spiritual successor

On November 1, 2014 at the Comikaze Expo, where the show's 20th anniversary was celebrated, John Semper Jr. revealed that much of the cast and crew of *Spider-Man*, himself included, had agreed to reunite for a new crowdfunded series entitled "War of the Rocket Men". In addition, in late 2014, Semper Jr started a website (cartoonspiderman.com) that features behind-the-scenes content, podcasts about the show, a link to the Facebook page that Semper regularly posts on and more. On April 16, 2016, Semper's YouTube account posted a video in which he revealed that he had written a short story following up on the series, detailing Peter finding Mary Jane, referring to the story as "an autobiographical fan-fiction" in which he reminisced on what it was like writing the last episodes of the series, as well as detailing how Peter and Mary Jane would have been reunited, adding one could think of it as "the lost episode of Spider-Man: The Animated Series". Semper explained that he would be releasing this as a perk on a crowd-funding campaign for War of the Rocket Men. The video also featured the returning voices of Christopher Daniel Barnes and Sara Ballantine as Spider-Man/Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson respectively in an audio promo prologue entitled "Peter Finds Mary Jane".Template:Citation needed

1. ↑ Cawley, John. Marvel Films Animation 1993-1997. *Home of John Cawley*. John Cawley.
2. ↑ The Making of Spider-Man The Animated Series - Podcasts. cartoonspiderman.com.
3. ↑ Spider-Man Adventures. The Big Comic Book Database.
4. ↑ Kellogg's Froot Loops (Spider-Man Adventures Reprints). spiderfan.org.
5. ↑ The Adventures of Spider-Man. spiderfan.org.
6. ↑ Spectacular Spider-Man (UK Magazine): #1–25. spiderfan.org.
7. ↑ Marvel Adventures (Spidey's Appearances). spiderfan.org.
8. ↑ https://collider.com/disney-plus-x-men-spider-man-cartoons/>
9. ↑ 'Spider-Man: The Animated Series' Cast Reunites and Reveals New Project. The Hollywood Reporter.
10. ↑ Spider-Man the Animated Series.
11. ↑ [1]
12. ↑ [2]