Hulk Cartoons
| There have so far been 3 separate cartoon series of The Incredible Hulk, spanning 4 decades. Here's some information about them, including various stills from each of the three versions: |
1966
| This first Incredible Hulk cartoon series aired in the USA toward the end of 1966. It was a 13 episode series which featured stories adapted and artwork taken from The Incredible Hulk and Tales to Astonish comics of the 60's. I first saw these Hulk toons on Australian television way back in 1983, together with Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Sub Mariner episodes from the same series. I'd get up two hours before primary school just to watch them, as did most of my friends. |
The following 9 stills are from the intro to this cartoon:
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Here are further stills for your viewing pleasure, taken from various episodes of this first classic Hulk cartoon series:
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| The mighty Hulk, mid-leap! | The good doctor - with that uncanny ability to transform from the Hulk with his spectacles miraculously appearing from outta thin air! | The Hulk's loyal sidekick Rick Jones, looking very 60's. |
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Anyone know who provided the voice for the Leader? Whoever it was did a perfectly sinister job! |
"Thunderbolt" Ross and Major Talbot never much liked the green-tinted one: "Get that blaaaaaaasted Hulk!!" |
Major Glenn Talbot ponders the Hulk's capture.. |
1982
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Regarding animation, this second toon kicks the first one's green butt. Personally though, I don't like this cartoon as much as the 1966 version. Perhaps because the stories were only distantly related to the comic book. Also, The Hulk's green skin is way too bright in this version. Being made in the 80's, you would expect that when the Hulk transforms back to Banner, his clothes would not miraculously appear on him from out of nowhere. Not so, in fact it happened on many transformations throughout this 13 episode cartoon. The episode Enter She- Hulk was great to see back in the 80's as I had never seen her appear in any other cartoon, until the 1996 version of course. Two of the characters in this cartoon could have been better created I feel: Rick Jones looked like a hippy cowboy and Betty was, and looked like a science geek. But apart from a few minor dislikes, this series definetly gets my big tick of approval! |
The following 9 stills are from various episodes of this cartoon:
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The mighty Hulk prepares to demonstrate the power of those big green feet during the opening sequence of each episode. |
Taken from the opening sequence. |
"Don't
make me angry.."
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Bruce, Betty & Rick. |
She-Hulk and the Hulkster team up to take down the hordes of Hydra in the episode Enter: She Hulk. Bruce actually had control of the Hulk's mind in this episode for a brief period. |
The green cousin combination! |
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The evil Leader! He only appeared in one episode of this series - `Punks On Wheels'. |
General "Thunderbolt" Ross got to know failure pretty regularly in these episodes. But did he give up? |
Part of an eerie nightmare sequence in the mind of the tormented Dr. Banner! |
1996
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In my opinion this is the best Hulk cartoon series of the trio. The intro sequence is fantastic - it reminds me so much of the flashbacks and nightmares had by the Hulk/Banner in many of the comic stories through the years. In terms of sound and animation - this toon is very modern compared with the first two versions. It seems to have an almost `cinematic' feel about it. The appearance of the characters as a whole bare good resemblance to their comic versions. Great to have the legendary Lou Ferrigno involved as the voice of the big green one. Another thing that impressed me is the recap of the origin of the Hulk in Return of The Beast, the first two-part episode. Although the bomb trench is not simply a ditch in the ground, more a small building - the dramatic first transformation saw the grey Hulk emerge briefly - seconds before the green Hulk gained the upper hand. This was great to see, not only from my point of view as a grey Hulk fan, but also to see the origin stay true to comics in that the grey Hulk was first to appear, albeit for about 5 seconds here! During the 2nd season of the series the grey Hulk features regularly, and if you've been lucky to catch those episodes you'll understand why he gets my tick of appoval. The Leader is great! His voice, appearance and world-conquering attitude was cool to see. Great also was the inclusion of the Gargoyle, although I'm not sure if I like the idea of the Gargoyle serving under the Leader. The Gargoyle was a powerful foe in his only ever comic book adventure with the Hulk, the comic debut way back in 1962. Serving under the Leader just doesn't seem right, although it does make the Leader appear more dangerous! |
The following screen shots are taken from the pilot episode of the latest and possibly greatest Hulk cartoon series:
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The Hulk prepares to wreck havoc in Banner's secret lab! |
Rick stills sports a vest, just like in the 1982 cartoons. Good to see he's lost that whacky cowboy hat though. |
The super-genius Leader ponders the capture of the Hulk. |
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The Gargoyle is back! - Great to see the writers of this toon did a little Hulk history research! |
The Abomination looks great in a cartoon. A little slow for the Hulk's fist however on this occassion. |
The Leader attempts to drain the Hulk's energy and transfer it into himself... |
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...but the Hulk's loyalty to the endangered Betty and Rick proves to be too strong! |
| Below are the covers of three 1996 Hulk cartoon videocasettes available in Canada. A very big thank you goes out to Corey Robb for providing me with these original copies! |
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Buy Incredible Hulk on DVD and CD:
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