Silver Surfer (TV series)
Silver Surfer, also known as Silver Surfer: The Animated Series, is an American-Canadian animated television series based on the Marvel Comics superhero created by Jack Kirby. The series aired for one season on the Fox Kids Network in 1998.
Overview
Blending cel and computer animation, the series is rendered in the style of Silver Surfer co-creator Jack Kirby.While inspired by various Silver Surfer comic book stories, the series alters the original mythos in some key ways. The most notable change is the removal of the Fantastic Four from The Galactus Trilogy, the story that serves as the foundation for the first three episodes of the series. In this version, the Silver Surfer, who has had the memories of Norrin Radd partially restored to him by Thanos, protects Earth from the hunger of Galactus because it reminds him of Zenn-La.
Many other characters from Marvel's cosmic stable appear in the series, including The Watcher, Ego the Living Planet, Pip the Troll, Drax the Destroyer, and Adam Warlock. Most of the characters featured in the series differ from their printed-page incarnations. For instance, Adam Warlock is an alien supersoldier designed to fight the Kree and, due to Fox broadcast standards, Thanos serves Lady Chaos rather than Death.
The series utilizes a serialized storytelling approach. As with many Silver Surfer comic book stories, episodes tackle a range of social and political issues, including imperialism, slavery, non-violence, and environmental degradation.
The series was cancelled after one season. Eight episodes were written for the second season before production was shut down. According to series creator Larry Brody, the cancellation was the result of a legal dispute between Marvel and Saban Entertainment.
Critical reception
Some viewers praise the series for its stylish and intricate mix of animation, as well as for evoking Jack Kirby's designs.Voice Cast
| Voice actor | Character |
| James Blendick | Galactus |
| Colin Fox | Uatu |
| Gary Krawford | Thanos |
| Camilla Scott | Shalla-Bal |
| Voice actor | Character |
| Denis Akiyama | Watcher Prime |
| Lawrence Bayne | Zedaro |
| Oliver Becker | Adam Warlock, Magus |
| Bernard Behrens | Nietr |
| Rick Bennent | Votrick |
| Robert Bockstael | Pip the Troll |
| Christopher Britton | Zarek |
| Valerie Buhagiar | Shellaine |
| Lally Cadeau | Lady Chaos |
| David Calderisi | Kiar |
| Michael Copeman | MacLag |
| Alyson Court | Amber |
| Jennifer Dale | Nebula |
| Len Doncheff | Raze |
| Shirley Douglas | The Universal Sourge |
| Don Francks | Kalek |
| Elizabeth Hanna | Kili the Troll |
| David Hemblen | Supreme Intelligence, Husseri |
| Howard Jerome | Geatar |
| Lorne Kennedy | Planetary Essence |
| Roy Lewis | Ego the Living Planet |
| Mary Long | Gamora |
| Tracey Moore | Tor-Kay |
| John Neville | Eternity |
| Nicole Oliver | Gamma Jen Beth |
| Karl Pruner | Beta Ray Bill |
| Tara Rosling | Frankie Raye/Nova |
| Elizabeth Sheperd | Infinity |
| Alison Sealy-Smith | Gamora |
| Cedric Smith | Mentor |
| Norm Spencer | Drax the Destroyer |
| John Stocker | Ivar |
| Marc Strange | Lord Glenn |
| Aron Tager | The Master of Zenn-La |
| Robert Tinkler | Borad |
Pip the Troll is the close companion of Silver Surfer, whom he follows on his quest to find Surfer's treasured homeworld Zenn-La.
In "The Planet of Dr. Moreaux", the Kree enslaved the Silver Surfer and had him work alongside Pip the Troll's kind until they revolted and escaped. In "The Forever War", Adam Warlock is seen fighting the Kree in a space anomaly when the Supreme Intelligence sends the Silver Surfer to get him. If there was a Season Two, an episode called "Rebirth" would have the Silver Surfer trying to stop the Kree-Skrull War.
Beta Ray Bill debuts in the episode "Innervisions", voiced by Karl Pruner. This version of the character along with the rest of his species shared a group dream using a special "dream weaver" from Zenn-La. When the Surfer came to alert them that Thanos was approaching, he convinced Beta Ray Bill to end the group dream and save the planet using all of the dream weaver's power to trick Thanos into believing he had succeeded in destroying the planet.
In this version, Nova's a mutant with the power to find anything she seeks. She is given her herald powers by Galactus when he chooses her as his herald in place of the Silver Surfer. She also mentions that her name is Frankie Raye.
Gamora is featured in the episode "Radical Justice".
Nebula appears in the two-part episode "Learning Curve" voiced by Jennifer Dale. Nebula, like many before her, wants to gain knowledge from the Universal Library . Because the motive of her search for knowledge is greed, she devolves into a creature known as a viral.
Mentor also appears in the episode "Learning Curve". He is Thanos' brother, rather than Starfox, due to a typographical error in the script. Drax also appears in the episode "Learning Curve". He is an android and a companion of Mentor.
Episodes
Home release
In the U.K. the complete series on two discs were to be released by Liberation Entertainment on July 28, 2008; however, because of the closure of the U.K. division of Liberation Entertainment, the release was cancelled. The rights were then acquired by Clear Vision LTD who released the set on May 11, 2009.As with most of the Marvel Films Animation and New World Animation libraries, the rights to this show is currently owned by Disney Enterprises, through BVS Entertainment and Jetix who acquired the Fox Kids Worldwide franchise and the kids’ entertainment programming properties of Saban Entertainment and Fox Children’s Productions in 2001 and also, Marvel Animation, which Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment in 2009. However, there are no plans to release the series on Region 1 DVD in its entirety.
In September 2019, it was announced that the complete series would be available to stream on the Disney+ service.