Birdman and the Galaxy Trio: The Complete Series
Warner Home Video DVD Release Date: July 17, 2007
Cast:
By Ken Shallcross
Hannah-Barbera ruled Saturday mornings in the late ‘60s. While many of
today’s generation may know Birdman from his current job as a cartoon-defending
lawyer, he was actually once a superhero. From 1967 to 1969, Birdman
& The Galaxy Trio enjoyed a 20-episode run. As Warner Brothers
begins to release their “classic” catalogue of old and obscure shows,
they give animation fans two famous Alex Toth series on the same day: Birdman
& The Galaxy Trio: The Complete Series and Space Ghost
& Dino Boy: The Complete Series. Unfortunately, between the lack
of extras and poor packaging, this is one reserved for the animation collectors
and die-hard Birdman fans.
THE SERIES
X the Eliminator, Mentok the Mindtaker, Reducto, Murro The Marauder, Vulturo
and other notorious villains are always up to no good. Fortunately for us, there
is Birdman (Keith Andes) and his trusty sidekicks: Avenger, a purple eagle…
and Birdboy (Dick Beals). Ray Randall was an ordinary human until sun god Ra
gave him powers. Now as Birdman, he has the ability to shoot solar rays from
his fists, project “solar shields” to defend himself against attacks,
and fly – thanks to newly sprouted wings. His sole weakness is the fact
that he must periodically recharge his super powers through exposure to the
sun’s rays. Soon after acquiring his super powers, he was recruited by
a top secret government agency and now works full-time fighting crime and protecting
the citizens of Central City. The series is very familiar Toth good guy vs.
bad guy comic book storytelling. The series is a classic, yes, but personally,
as with Space Ghost, it was more fun for me – being a
fan of Harvey Birdman Attourney At Law – to see the origins
of the winged man and several villains that he later finds himself in litigious
situations with. There were two Birdman vignettes featured
in an episode, sandwiching an installment of…
The Galaxy Trio follows a band of extraterrestrial superheroes,
who have been often referred to as Hannah-Barbera’s response to
The Fantastic Four. Vapor Man (Don Messick) has the ability to transform
part or all of his body into gaseous form, enabling him to fly, escape from
physical bonds, and squeeze through very small spaces; Meteor Man (Ted Cassidy)
is distinguished by his ability to increase or decrease the size of virtually
any part of his body; Gravity Girl (Virginia Eiler) has the ability to bend
the laws of gravity to her will, and can fly, lift very heavy objects with her
mind, or pin enemies to the ground by increasing their personal gravity. Together,
they patrol space in their Condor One cruiser, maintaining order and fighting
crime in the name of the Galactic Patrol law enforcement agency. Once again,
this middle skit ruins the series.
THE EPISODES
The show was created by Alex Toth and produced and directed by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera. There were 20 episodes total in the ‘Birdman-Galaxy
Trio-Birdman’ format. All episodes are in this set.
SOUND + VISION
Birdman & The Galaxy Trio episodes are presented in their
original (literally) 4:3 Full Frame aspect ratio. The episodes were not cleaned
up, so the 40-year-old cartoons show their age. Dirt, scratches and other imperfection
are littered throughout. The only soundtrack provided is an antique Dolby Digital
Mono and only subtitles are English. But again, 40 years old and not a hugely
famous series… when it comes to the DVD: it is what it is.
PACKAGING/ LAYOUT
What a blunder! Warner really messed up in this department. Birdman
& The Galaxy Trio: The Complete Series comes as two DVDs in an
ultra thin digipak, which is thinner than a normal Amaray case. Fine. But, the
discs are stacked on top of each other and are double-sided! Result: fingerprints
galore. At least this set has the episodes evenly split up, but it still could
have been compressed into three discs. Episodes are listed within the packaging
and there are no inserts. Overall, packaging is terrible and not well thought
out.
The actual disc menus are fine, nothing special, but nothing to further the
aggravation either. You can play all the episodes, select one individually,
or go to “Languages” which is ridiculous cause there is only one
choice.
Episodes run approximately 21 minutes apiece (which is very odd, because most
shows of the time ran 24 or 25 minutes) and have 4 chapter breaks. The whole
set runs approximately 420 minutes.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Unlike the Space Ghost & Dino Boy: The Complete Series
set, the single bonus feature on the Birdman & The Galaxy Trio:
The Complete Series set does not redeem the set. Assuming you don’t
count previews for other releases as special features, there is only one additional
inclusion on the set past the series episodes. Birdman: The Forgotten Hero clocks
in at a measly 10 minutes. It’s decent as far as featurettes go, but it’s
not going to enthrall you like Simplicity does on the other set.
A CLASSIC TOON FROM A LEGEND
Birdman is probably more familiar now as a lawyer, but once upon a time he was
a superhero. The Birdman & The Galaxy Trio: The Complete Series
chronicles every episode of his crime-fighting capers. Unfortunately, the accompanying
Galaxy Trio cartoons are pretty bad. The packaging for this
set is terrible, the bonus feature is weak, and the cartoons have not been digitally
remastered -aurally or visually- at all. That aside, Birdman
is classic greatness that should be observed by all. It’s selling for
$20 on Amazon. Bottom line: worth checking out, but probably a purchase reserved
for serious fans.
DVD Collection Show Score: A-
DVD Collection Sound + Vision Score: C-
DVD Collection Packaging Score: C-
DVD Collection Special Features: C
DVD Collection Overall Score: B-
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