Superted (1982-1989)



SuperTed is a Welsh animated television series about a teddy bear with magical super powers. It first aired on 1 November 1982. It was produced by Siriol Animation for Welsh television channel S4C where it was aired in the Welsh language, and later aired dubbed in English throughout the whole of the United Kingdom on BBC1, and dubbed into Irish for RTE. The series won numerous awards, including the 1987 BAFTA for best animation.

SuperTed is the creation of Mike Young Producer, Dave Edwards Director, and Robin Lyons Writer/Producer.

Young created SuperTed in stories he told his stepson, before writing over 100 SuperTed books. S4C then approached him about a SuperTed animated series. Superted was also turned into a stage show. Melvyn Hayes reprised his role but other parts were taken by other actors.

Every episode starts with the tale of how SuperTed came to life: He was a teddy bear found to be defective in the toy factory where he was made, and "threw him away like a piece of rubbish! Into an old dark storeroom." A Spotty man found him there and brought him to life with his "cosmic dust". He was later taken to Mother Nature and given magical powers that enabled him to fight evil. This evil invariably takes the form of Texas Pete (an evil cowboy, the antagonist of the series) and his gang; Bulk (an overweight, bumbling fool) and Skeleton (an undead, outrageously camp, cowardly skeleton with pink slippers). Texas Pete's plots are generally aimed at advancing his own wealth, ruling the world and the power or the destruction of SuperTed, his nemesis.

SuperTed's powers are activated by his "secret magic word", which (as the name suggests) remains a secret. SuperTed whispers it every time he or someone else is in peril and he transforms into a Superman-like red suit with rockets built in to the boots. These allow him to fly. In one episode, Bulk overhears the secret magic word and also whispers it, briefly acquiring identical powers to SuperTed. However, he subsequently forgets the word.

The episodes take place all over the world (but quite often in Wales) and even in space (SuperTed is the owner of his own space station). He also has a tree house in an unspecified wood.

In 1984, SuperTed became the first British cartoon series to be aired on The Disney Channel in the United States. Walt Disney Home Video subsequently released all 36 episodes on six videocassettes.

In 1989, SuperTed was revived in America by Hanna Barbera (who also made Fantastic Max, another Mike Young creation), this time named The Further Adventures of SuperTed. Only Victor Spinetti and Melvyn Hayes returned from the original cast to voice Texas Pete and Skeleton, but the UK Version of the series did feature Derek Griffiths as SuperTed (in the original 1982 version of the SuperTed series) and Jon Pertwee as Spottyman (in the original 1982 SuperTed series) whilst the original US broadcasts featured Danny Cooksey as SuperTed and Pat Fraley as Spottyman. The new series takes on a more epic format, often splitting its episodes into two parts. Texas Pete, Bulk, and Skeleton are joined also by new villains, and the theme song was replaced with a more dramatic overture. This SuperTed series did not last beyond one season. When the original season of SuperTed had phased out, Fantastic Max took over from it and the rhyming garbage man Dumping Jack Trash was the replacement character for Texas Pete.

Episodes:

Series 1 (1982) 1. SuperTed and Mother Nature 2. SuperTed and The Gorilla 3. SuperTed and The City Of The Dead 4. SuperTed and the Elephants Graveyard 5. SuperTed and The Giant Kites 6. SuperTed and The Goldmine 7. SuperTed and The Great Horrendo 8. SuperTed and The Gun Smugglers 9. SuperTed and The Inca Treasure 10. SuperTed And The Lumberjacks 11. SuperTed and Nuts In Space 12. SuperTed and the Pearlfishers 13. SuperTed and The Pothole Rescue 14. SuperTed and The Stolen Rocket 15. SuperTed and The Train Robbers 16. Trouble In Space - Part 1 17. Trouble In Space - Part 2 18. SuperTed at Creepy Castle 19. SuperTed at the Funfair 20. SuperTed At The Toy Shop 21. SuperTed In China Town 22. SuperTed In The Arctic 23. SuperTed Kicks Up The Dust 24. SuperTed on Planet Spot 25. Bulk's Story 26. SuperTed Meets Father Christmas 27. SuperTed And The Crystal Ball 28. SuperTed and The Magic Word - Part 1 29. SuperTed and The Magic Word - Part 2 30. SuperTed and The Whales 31. SuperTed Goes To Texas 32. SuperTed In Spotty And The Indians 33. SuperTed and The Rattle Snake 34. SuperTed Goes Round The Bend 35. SuperTed's Dream 36. Tex's Magic Spell The Further Adventures of SuperTed Series 1 (1989) 1. Phantom of the Grand Ol' Opry 2. Dot's Entertainment 3. Knox, Knox, Who's There? 4. The Mysticetae Mystery 5. Texas is Mine 6. Sheepless Nights 7. We Got Nutninkhamun 8. Leave it to Space Beavers 9. Bubbles, Bubbles Everywhere 10. Farewell, My Lovely Spots 11. Ben-Fur 12. Spotty Earns His Stripes 13. Ruse of the Raja