Aquaman (1967–1969) User Reviews

A tremendous series

[kevin_robbins · 8/10 · 19 January 2023]

Aquaman (1967-1969) is a series that I recently watched on HBOMAX. The storyline follows Aquaman and Aqua Lad as they do their best to keep keep the underwater civilization of Atlantis safe. We also get to enjoy independent adventures of members of the Justice League of America as they do their best to keep the dry land safe too.

This series was created by Hal Sutherland (Flash Gordon) and contains the voices of Ted Knight (Caddyshack), Marvin Miller (Dead Reckoning), Jerry Dexter (Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends), Gerald Mohr (The Angry Red Planet) and Pat Harrington Jr. (One Day at a Time).

The animation for this series is so fun and I adored the universe and creatures created to fight Aquaman and the JLA. The narration for this series is tremendous and the voices for the characters were perfectly selected. Black Manta was awesome. The sound effects for various actions in this were dated but fun. Aqua Lad calling Aquaman "Big Daddy" was awkward and their pet names overall made me feel a bit uncomfortable. The JLA episodes were awesome and definitely made me smile.

Overall, this is a tremendous series and is absolutely a must see. I would score this an 8/10 and strongly recommend it.

Cool Animated Show! Hey! At Least Aquaman Had a Show of Some Kind

[voicemaster71 · 8/10 · 22 October 2007]

I never saw this animated show of Aquaman until I was a senior in high school. We'd finally gotten a VCR and I rented the Super Powers cartoon set of Aquaman. Though the animation can't hold a candle to today's standards, I truly appreciate the work that Filmation did. The only gripe I had was Aquaman sporting black boots instead of the green fins on the back of his legs. I truly felt the show had its strength in terms of story lines. Aquaman is truly in his element and you did not mess with him. While I love the SuperFriends with a passion, their use of Aquaman was inexcusable, keeping him out of the water way too much. But I will say this, the SuperFriends had the upper hand in terms of voice over. I liked Norman Alden, the first of the 2 Aquaman voice overs better than I did Marvin Miller on this show. For some odd reason, people keep thinking Ted Knight did his voice. While Ted is definitely associated with the Aquaman show, he was the narrator, supportive players and villains while Marvin Miller was Aquaman.

In this show, Aquaman had a sidekick named Aqualad, who together were like an underwater version of Batman and Robin, with Aqualad using stupid catchphrases like "Holy Haddocks!" and "Sufferin Sailfish!", plus they had an Aqua Cave. SOund familiar? And like the SuperFriends afterwards, they had to have a cutesy character around, hence Tusky the Walrus and 2 Seahorses, Storm and Imp. Mera is in the cartoon, but she's not Aquaman's wife. The only villains I recognize are Black Manta and the Fisherman, but I'm not familiar with the Brain and Queen Vassa.

Tomorrow, I will pick up the series on DVD. Too bad it doesn't have the DC Super Hero segments. I love Aquaman along with Batman and Superman, thanks largely to the SuperFriends.

The beginning of D.C. cartoons

[afonsobritofalves · 8/10 · 12 September 2018]

One of the first and one of D.C.'s best series. Full of action and many other things that just happened in the 60's. Only the animation is so good.

Great fun above and below the waves!

[johntracytb5 · 10/10 · 19 January 2008]

The summer of 1967 was one of the most exciting times of my youth, once CBS started to run their advertisements for the "Superman/Aquaman Hour Of Adventure." I'd been an avid fan of Aquaman and Aqualad stories since their days in Adventure Comics, and, being that Aqualad was my favorite hero, I also followed his adventures with his land-bound friends, The Teen Titans. Imagine my surprise to find that there would be an animated series based on my favorite heroes, something I could enjoy every Saturday, instead of waiting for the comics to hit the stands.

The voice actors in the "Aquaman" series were amazing, most notably the manic performances of Ted Knight as the narrator, as well as playing nearly every villain featured. I can only imagine the contortions he went into while delivering lines for the Sea Sorcerer or Captain Barracuda. (I'd have paid to see that)! Marvin Miller, previously the voice of TV's "The Millionaire," made for a wonderfully regal yet benign Aquaman, and Jerry Dexter's voicing of Aqualad quite nicely matched the innocent zeal of Aquaman's faithful friend and sidekick. (Every time I see the "Jumpin' Jellyfish" ride at Disney's California Adventure, I hear Jerry's voice in my head saying that line). Diana Maddox had more work at playing the winsome Wonder Girl in the "Teen Titans" cartoons than as Mera, here featured as the Aqua-Duo's gal pal, rather than the wife she was to Aquaman by that time in print stories. Also of note is Pat Harrington Jr's giddy delivery of Speedy in the three "Teen Titans" cartoons, ever the smart-aleck, quick-witted Boy Bowman, coupled with his performance as the youthful Ray Palmer, aka The Atom. (Hopefully those fun outings with the Justice League Of America members and the Titans will appear on DVD in similar fashion following the "Aquaman" DVD). Additionally, the lush soundtrack for this series matched the sumptuous seascape backgrounds, making these undersea romps just as memorable as the inviting image of the ever-glowing Atlantean dome featured at the close of each show.

Unlike the far more sinister and serious Aquaman later featured in Warner Bros. Animation's series "Superman" and "Justice League," these outings with the Aqua-Duo (or "Marine Marvels," take your pick) are a joy: light on violence (though Aqualad gets banged up early and often) and long on aquatic splendor, always ending in mirth and a hearty "Let's head for home, Tadpole" ...or "Squirt," "Sardine," "Shrimp" or "Minnow." (You'd think Aquaman could have had the decency to give the kid a real name, wouldn't you)? It didn't matter that the Sea King had to have a power shift (his hard water abilities) swiped from his wife, or that Tusky gets to save the day almost as often as our heroes. Our Marine Marvels knew how to show off their wondrous undersea world to its best advantage and, to this day, the series remains Filmation's most beautiful effort.

It's sad that it took forty years for WB Animation to clean up those bleeding reds from the old film stock and issue these fabulous cartoons as they originally appeared. I could almost forgive them for the travesty of the Cartoon Express edited versions of the 1990s. (I said "almost")! It is, as Aqualad says, "great fun" to see our intrepid aquatic heroes riding the waves to adventure in glorious comic book colors once again. Filmation owned my Saturday mornings in the late 1960s and I love reliving that era through these marvelous episodes.

Standard old fashioned action cartoon

[buddhadan-1 · 4/10 · 12 September 2006]

I'll admit that Aquaman was never my favorite superhero and in fact I felt that he, along with those like the Sub Mariner, were sort of silly because they had a limited venue and their powers were really only focused on this limited area.

Yes, I understand that the world is over 70 percent water, but that being said, most people (and thus most adventure) do not live on or under the water, thus limiting these heroes.

This series was, in my opinion, very average for the time and even less impressive these days. The animation style was fairly average, the stories very simplistic, and the sound effects very campy.

While I didn't think that it was that impressive, I do give it credit for helping to push many other cartoons forward and for being entertaining to young children, even if it was only for a short period of time.

Despite Too Simple Plots - Cool Cartoon

[StuOz · 18 June 2020]

Famed Filmation cartoon series of the 1960s.

These days some young people take comic book heroes just so seriously and sometimes they struggle with the old stuff. I am a middle aged guy who sometimes likes to return to more harmless days of my youth by watching Batman (1966), Shazam! (1974) and Aquaman (1967).

Just watched Aquaman (1967) on DVD. Granted on first viewing I did struggle with the too simple plots, but then gave it a second go and totally warmed to the bright remastered colours, the voice artist work and the great music cues! Also, I love live-action Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964), so it is nice to have another 60s underwater series - even if it is a cartoon.

In a nutshell, old boys like me will love going down memory lane but young fans of today's CGI epics might might find it a bit too old school for them.

Has not aged well.

[NickCosio · 4/10 · 27 February 2024]

Compared to just about every DC animated show that has come since, Aquaman (1967) falls short in just about every regard. This show was from the classic era of saturday morning cartoons where you would just enjoy your time with your favorite characters. I think this format still has a place in the modern age of cartoons, but the writing needs to be there. What they had here was as barebones as you could get, with no depth, no characterization, and no plot. Unfortunately this show has just been outclassed by the nearly 60 years of DC animation that has come after it, and that means there isn't really a place for Aquaman (1967) anymore. I will say it was cool seeing classic versions of the "Super Friends" as a DC fan, and sometimes the show was so bad it was funny. Pass on Aquaman (1967).