Fantastic Four (Disney+) 1994-1995

“Don’t need to fear they’re here. Just call the Four! 🎶 Fantastic Four!”

That’s from the lyrics of the opening theme to 1994’s Fantastic Four cartoon. It is upbeat, catchy, but really really corny. I would be lying if I said it did not evoke some heavy nostalgia in me for this was one of those childhood cartoons that I followed almost religiously. 

Debuting in 1994 as part of the "Marvel Action Hour" along side "IRON MAN", FANTASTIC FOUR boasted two seasons of wildly varying quality to the point where they were almost like two wholly different shows. Other than the voices, everything from the music to the art and animation changed drastically between seasons and thankfully for the better.

 Setting nostalgia aside and watching this as an adult, I found the first season of the 90s Fantastic Four animated series to be cheesy albeit charming in a cheap 80s toy commercial cartoon sort of way.  Weird poses, clunky character motion and a mediocre frame rate. The designs lacked detail, the colors used were flat, and obvious animation errors like off model art and compositing gaffes end up very distracting. 

On the bright side, the voice cast do an impeccable job. I particularly love Chuck McCann whose pitch perfect Brooklyn accent captures the spirit of the ever lovin blue eyed Thing, Ben Grimm. His is the default voice I hear in my head whenever I read the comics. 

As a comic fan myself, many of these stories in this first season were faithful recreations of the classic 60s fantastic four comic tales by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The coming of Galactus, the Skrull invasion, adventures in the Negative Zone, and more. 

However I did not like the shoehorning in of random almost cringe worthy comedy particularly in the form of the F4’s new landlady who was continually trying to evict them. 

Other such moments include both Johnny and Ben rapping, The great Galactus hungrily licking his lips like a child, and Stan Lee himself pausing the show to break the fourth wall. Sure, it’s a cartoon for kids, but sometimes it got a little too much. 

 Season 2 in 1995 saw a vast improvement in the overall quality. The most obvious change was in the animation. A higher level of detail, darker colors, actual shading, shadows and more consistent artwork complemented the smooth animation courtesy of a new Production studio. 

The writing also takes a darker turn, adapting stories from the 1980s Fantastic Four comic book run, particularly the works of John Byrne. The humour is toned down, replaced now by a more mature narrative style.  No matter what foes the F4 must face, sometimes their greatest conflicts come from within themselves. 

Reed's guilt over the ill fated experiment, Ben's ongoing quest for acceptance and coming to terms with his monstrous exterior, Sue's feelings of inadequacy being the only woman on the team, even Johnny's broken heart and repeated tragic romances, all of them are very real themes that people can relate to. Themes that a family faces. These were the episodes where the show was truly able to shine.

Stories expanded in scope and scale leading up to titanic struggles against Ego the Living Planet, Psycho Man, and a new sinister Doctor Doom. A palpable sense of peril is prevalent in the many conflicts where our heroes just barely scrape by a victory for a bittersweet ending. 

Threads of continuity allow our characters to grow with each episode that by the end of season 2, the F4 are fully fleshed out individuals who went through trials and tribulations together, a family that stayed together, and emerged stronger.

The entire show is currently on Disney Plus as of this writing so I would recommend to give it go, at least the second season. If you don’t have time to pour over more than half a century of comics, this cartoon is a great primer for anyone wanting to find out more about “Marvel’s First Family”.