Super President

***Super President*** is an American animated cartoon that aired Saturday mornings on NBC from September 16, 1967 to December 28, 1968. The series was produced by the DePatie-Freleng animation company.

## Plot

The American President **James Norcross** (voiced by Paul Frees) is given superpowers as the result of a cosmic storm. The President now has increased strength and the Metamorpho-like ability to change his molecular composition at will to any form required (like granite, steel, ozone, water and even electricity). A hidden panel in the Oval Office allows him access to his secret base, a hidden cave beneath the "Presidential Mansion" (a somewhat modified White House). **Super President** travels either by using a futuristic automobile/aircraft/submarine called the **Omnicar**, or by using jets built into his belt.

Despite the fact that the character's name is "Super President," for some reason only Norcross' chubby, pipe-smoking advisor **Jerry Sales** knows that the leader of the Free World is also a red and white-costumed superhero in his off-hours.

A total of thirty episodes of *Super President* were produced. Two episodes appeared in each show. Each episode also included an episode of *Spy Shadow* starring secret agent **Richard Vance** (voiced by Ted Cassidy) who had learned in Tibet how to command his shadow (also voiced by Ted Cassidy) to act independently of himself, an ability he put to good use as an **Interspy** operative battling a variety of villains, including the evil forces of **S.P.I.D.E.R.** ("Society for Plunder, International Disorder, Espionage and Racketeering"). Spy Shadow had the power to slip through small openings, hide himself in another person's shadow, and was invulnerable to harm thanks to his insubstantial nature, but his fists remained decidedly solid. Spy Shadow's only weakness is the inability to appear in total darkness for "there can be no shadow without light".

## Episodes

1. The Great Vegetable Disintegrator
2. The Billion Dollar Bomber
3. The Electronic Spy
4. Day of the Locusts
5. The Case of the Destroyer Satellite
6. King of the Sea
7. The U.F.O. Mystery
8. No Time Passes
9. Man of Steel
10. The Earth Robber
11. Monster of the Atoll
12. Return of the Vikings
13. The Cosmic Gladiators
14. The Condor's Eye
15. The President and the Pirate
16. Interplanetary Menace
17. Red Ray Raider
18. The Treachery of Jerry Sales
19. Rangled Terrors
20. Dound and Doom
21. Spears from Space
22. Toys of Death
23. Birds of Terror
24. The Menace of the Moles
25. The Chameleon
26. The Gravity Destroyer
27. Ice Invader
28. Electronic Giant
29. Time Crimes
30. A Million Years of Menace

## Voices

* Daws Butler as Various Voices
* Ted Cassidy as Richard Vance, Spy Shadow
* June Foray as Various Voices
* Paul Frees as Super President/James Norcross, Narrator
* Shepard Menken as Various Voices
* Don Messick as Various Voices
* Lorri Scott as Various Voices
* Mark Skor as Various Voices

## Credits

* DePatie-Freleng Presents
* "Super President"
* Direction: Oscar Dufau, Robert McKimson, Earl Klein, Edwin Rehberg, George Singer
* Story: Tony Benedict, Edgar Furth, Don Christensen, Jack Miller, Alan Dinehart, Lee Mishkin, John W. Dunn, David Scott, Ken Sobol
* Layout: Peter Alvarado, Jack Miller, Corny Cole, Tony Rivera, Cullen Houghtaling, Jacques Rupp, Herb Johnson, Nick Panesis, Ken Landau, Don Sheppard, Gene Miller, Peter Van Elk
* Character Design: Arthur Leonardi
* Animation: Warren Batchelder, Lee Halpern, Jim Davis, Ed Love, Ed Demattia, Manny Perez, John Freeman, Tom Ray, John Gibbs, Morey Redan, John Walker
* Backgrounds: Tony Rizzo, Dick Thomas, Richard Randall
* Supervising Film Editor: Lee Gunther
* Film Editors: Chuck McCann, Todd McKay
* Voices: Ted Cassidy, Shepard Menken, June Foray, Don Messick, Paul Frees, Lorri Scott, Mark Skor
* Music: Doug Goodwin
* Production Manager: Basil Cox
* Coordinator: Harry Love
* Asst. Production Mgr.: Armand Shaw
* This Picture Made Under the Jurisdiction of I.A.T.S.E.-IA, Affiliated with A.F.L.-C.I.O.
* © MCMLXVII Mirisch-Rich-DePatie-Freleng Productions · All rights reserved
* Special Camera Effects: John Burton, Jr.
* Produced by David H. DePatie & Friz Freleng
* DFE Films · Released by United Artists

## Reaction

*Super President* came under fire from critics and TV watchdog groups, including Action for Children's Television, for its depiction of a national leader who was an invincible superhuman. The show was canceled midway through its second season on NBC.

## Further reading

Kevin Scott Collier. *The Animated Administration of James Norcross, a.k.a. Super President*. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017. ISBN 1982056495