Super President

Did You Know?

• Super President was produced by DePatie–Freleng, the same animation company behind the Pink Panther cartoons.
• The show's secret base is a hidden cave beneath the 'Presidential Mansion,' a somewhat modified White House.

Plot

The President of the United States, James Norcross, a former astronaut voiced by Paul Frees, acquires superpowers after a cosmic storm hits him during a space mission. These abilities grant him enhanced strength and the power to alter his molecular structure, letting him transform into materials like granite, steel, ozone, water, or even electricity. A secret panel in the Oval Office leads to his hidden base, a cave beneath the slightly redesigned White House.

He travels using the Omnicar, a vehicle that works as a car, aircraft, and submarine, or via jets in his belt. Oddly, only his plump, pipe-smoking advisor Jerry Sales knows that the leader of the free world is also a red-and-white-costumed superhero. The show produced thirty episodes, each containing two segments, plus an episode of Spy Shadow. That segment featured secret agent Richard Vance, voiced by Ted Cassidy, who learned in Tibet to command his own shadow, also voiced by Ted Cassidy, to act independently.

As an Interspy operative, he fought villains like S.P.I.D.E.R., which stands for Society for Plunder, International Disorder, Espionage and Racketeering. Spy Shadow could slip through small spaces, hide in another person’s shadow, and was invulnerable due to his insubstantial nature, though his fists stayed solid. His only weakness was total darkness, since no shadow exists without light. The series aired Saturday mornings on NBC from September 16, 1967, to December 28, 1968, produced by DePatie–Freleng.

It faced harsh criticism for its bad taste and low quality, leading to cancellation after thirty episodes, midway through its second season.

Production

According to Art Leonardi, who prepared presentations for DePatie–Freleng Enterprises having worked for founders David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng since their time at Warner Bros. Cartoons, stated the series came about during a "bull session" at DePatie–Freleng involving other Warner Bros. alums John Dunn and Michael Maltese who threw out the idea of tapping into the popularity of Presidents of the United States and mixing it with superhero elements with the name Super President thrown out during the session which ended up sticking. Robert McKimson directed part of Super President as McKimson had worked under DePatie and Freland on Daffy Duck cartoons the two had made while at Warner Bros. Cartoons.

Broadcast

The series premiered on NBC on September 16, 1967 and ran until September 14, 1968. In the wake of rising concerns about television violence following the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. as well as perceived tastelessness of portraying the U.S. President as a nigh invincible superhero just four years after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, NBC cancelled Super President along with other action-oriented cartoons like Birdman and the Galaxy Trio and Samson & Goliath as part of a switch from harder edged action adventure series to lighter and tamer humor focused cartoons resulting in a writedown of $750,000 by NBC. Super President has never been rebroadcast in the United States nor has it seen release on home video.

Reception

Super President came under fire from critics and TV watchdog groups, including Action for Children's Television, for its depiction of a national leader who was an invincible superhuman (especially since it debuted less than four years after John Kennedy's death). The National Association of Broadcasters said: "An all-time low in bad taste, with the President of the United States in a Superman role. NBC was responsible for this direct ideological approach to totalitarianism.

We fear that there may be other broadcasters who are irresponsible enough to keep it in circulation". In The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows, David Perlmutter says that the show is "perhaps the worst animated program in the late 1960s (its producers admitted it themselves)" and calls the superhero president "arguably the most implausible superhero narrative idea ever invented". David H. DePatie called Super President the worst project he had ever worked on and was thankful for its short run on NBC, but did take some small amusement from the irony of Richard Nixon being elected President during the portrayal of the heroic James Norcross on Super President.