A few weeks ago saw the DVD release of
DC Super Heroes: The Filmation Adventures, a 2-disc set which consisted of the "guest hero" shorts shown during the
Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure program in 1967. Since the release, fans have written in anger - to us, to other web sites, to online message boards, and apparently to the studio as well - about how the release "is screwed up".
What's wrong with it? At the bottom of this story we have a series of screen captures we made from both discs in this release, and below that the package art itself. Each screen shot is labeled on the lower inside corner with a red number, 1 through 8. The screen shots labeled 4 and 5 are taken from the menus on the second disc in this set, and they correctly show Hawkman, as portrayed in the cartoons on this show (and in DC Comics of the era, too). Shot 6 is from the opening credits of the Hawkman shorts, and shots 7 and 8 are taken from the opening credits of the Justice League of America shorts. The Hawkman and JLA shorts are also found on Disc 2, and they - like the package art at the very bottom - show off what a proper Hawkman should look like, as Filmation drew him at the time.
Shots 1 through 3, however, are from the menus on the first disc, which doesn't contain any cartoons with Hawkman in it. Nevertheless, the folks at Warner apparently decided that they wanted him to appear in a few of the menus. And at first glance it may seem that Hawkman is present, but fans know better. A closer look proves that there's actually no Hawkman; the menus instead include Hanna Barbera's "Birdman" character, whose cartoons also first aired in 1967! Those adventures came to DVD in July, 2007 in Warner's release of
Birdman and the Galaxy Trio - The Complete Series. He's had nothing to do with DC Comics, or Filmation, and fans are upset because he shouldn't have been on those menu screens.
Reactions from fans have been ongoing since the
DC Super Heroes: The Filmation Adventures DVD set has been released, with comments ranging from "oops" to "very disappointing!" to "Could you find out who was stupid enough to make this mistake and get this DVD recalled?" to "worth a firing!" We've naturally been in touch with Warner about this, and a spokesperson from the studio has sent us the following statement:
Warner Home Video would like to address a mistake made on the menus of the DC Superheroes: The Filmation Adventures DVD sets. While each disc's menu should feature an image of the DC Comics character Hawkman, it instead has an image of the character Birdman. We apologize for the mistake and hope consumers will still see the value in the incredible cartoons featured on the actual DVDs.
Editorializing a bit here, I must say that I tend to agree. As a huge fan of DC Comics myself (yes, my collection of DC comic books is quite large, although it's not current), I agree that it was a dumb mistake. But I don't think it's worth a recall or a firing, frankly. The cartoons themselves are more important than Birdman's picture on three static screens on the menus of one of the two discs.
And, while Warner has not said yet whether they ever intend to "correct" the matter by having different menus with Hawkman on future pressings of this release, I would bet that more than a few folks out there are hoping that they do...not so much as to have it correct, but because then the "Birdman menu" version of the release would then become a collectible! In the meantime, I'm enjoying the nostalgia trip with these fun cartoons...and you should, too. 'Nuff said.
