Spider-Man TV (1967) (Introduction)

Spider-Man first appeared on TV in 1967. The first season was produced by Grantray-Lawrence Animation, and premiered on September 9, 1967 on ABC. The second and third seasons were produced by Krantz Films. They also aired on ABC, but the third season was also syndicated.

The second and the third seasons were done by a different animation team from the first seaons. The team was lead by the great Ralph Bakshi - who was responsible for some of the biggest cartoon screen movies in the seventies and the eighties. These later episodes begin with a harbor telling the episodes name, whereas the first seasons start right into the action, and flash the episode name a couple of minutes later. For that reason, the latter two seasons are known as the 'Harbor Episodes'.

Primary cast members included:

      Peter Parker/Spider Man   - Paul Soles
      Betty Brant               - Peg Dixon
      J. Jonah Jameson          - Paul Kligman
      Announcer/Narrator        - Bernard "Bunny" Cowan
      Various Bit Parts         - Paul Soles, Bernard Cowan, Peg Dixon, Paul Kligman
      Dialogue Director         - Bernard Cowan
      Audio Engineer            - Murray Shields
      Executive Producer        - Ray Patterson (Season 1)
      Executive Producer        - Grant Simmons (Season 1)
      Executive Producer        - Robert Lawrence (Season 1)
      Executive Producer        - Ralph Bakshi (Seasons 2 & 3)

Theme Song Credits:

Words - Paul Francis Webster Music - Bob Harris, Stu Phillips, and D. Kapross Publisher - Buddah Music, Inc.

The theme tune is provided for your retro-listening pleasure:

• Series Theme (MP3, 110 Kb)

For reference, here are the lyrics:

  Spider-man, Spider-man
  Does whatever a spider can
  Spins a web, any size
  Catches thieves, just like flies
  Look out! Here comes the Spider-man!

  Is he strong? Listen, Bud!
  He's got radioactive blood.
  Can he swing from a thread?
  Take a look overhead.
  Hey there, there goes the Spider-man!

  In the chill of night,
  At the scene of the crime
  Like a streak of light
  He arrives just in time

  Spider-man, Spider-man
  Friendly neighborhood Spider-man
  Wealth and fame, he's ignored
  Action is his reward

  To him, life is a great big bang-up
  Wherever there's a hang-up
  You'll find the Spider-man!

The sound tracks were recorded at Eastern Sound on Yorkville Ave. in Toronto Ontario. Bernard Cowan contracted from Krantz Films to hire all of the talent on a straight buy-out and produce and direct all of the shows.

The voices were recorded on a mono Ampex recorder, the voice tracks were then edited for time and transfered onto track 1 of an Ampex 4 track recorder. The music was dubbed on track 2, Sfx on track 3 and a mono mix on track 4.

The Voice, Music and Effects tracks were also transferred to a 3 track 35mm MagnaTech recorder. A backup was made and the originals shipped off to the US.

The original theme song was recorded in NYC and spliced into each episode after the audio tracks were finished and shipped. The use of the 3 track tape meant that Krantz could dub in foreign languages using the original Music & SFX (M & E) tracks.

The background music was all from standard music libraries of that period. There was no original background music other than when the theme was used. The Ray Ellis cues/scores were used for season #1, and KPM music library from England was used for seasons #2 and #3. Other sources were also used.