The Impossibles (TV series)
The Impossibles was a series of American animated cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1966 broadcast by CBS. The series of shorts appeared as part of Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles.
Setup
Posing as a trio of young rock 'n roll musicians, The Impossibles were actually crime fighters, with super powers, dedicated to battling evil super-villains of all shapes and sizes. When performing for their adoring fans, the lads would play their mod, futuristic-looking guitars atop an equally futuristic bandstand that could convert into a car, or a jet, a speedboat, or even a submarine. Their standard catch cry when called into action was "Rally ho!"Their humorous dialogue was typically peppered with puns. As with many Hanna-Barbera characters, the Impossibles were topical and inspired by the times, in this case resembling the rock 'n roll groups of the mid-Sixties.
Characters
The Impossibles
Each member of The Impossibles had a specific and visual superpower:- Coil-Man - Short, barrel-chested and sporting a mod haircut, blond "Coily" could transform his arms and legs into impossibly stretchable or coiled springs, allowing him to bounce to avoid attacks, deliver long-range punches, or drill through walls. Coil-Man usually drove the Impossi-jet, and his guitar contained a small TV receiver through which "Big D" could contact the group and deliver orders. Because of his presumably metal coils, Coily could be held in place by a super magnet, but could also conduct heat or electricity with his coils. He hid in a closet disguised as a wire coat hanger, further implying that he was at least partially made of metal. Coil-Man's costume was purple and blue and included a purple mask and a cowl crested by a triangular fin.
- Fluid-Man - Dark-haired Fluid-Man, aka "Fluey", could morph parts of his body into a liquid form, allowing him to, for example, sneak up on an enemy though a water faucet. He could also vaporize himself into a cloud or storm, but could be soaked up and trapped by a sponge, or frozen solid inside a block of ice. Fluid-Man's costume resembled a lime green wetsuit complete with diver's mask and swimfins. Fluey's speaking style indicated that he was the beatnik of the group.
- Multi-Man - Multi could create infinite duplicates of himself that were often destroyed, leaving only the original behind. His duplicates rarely, if ever, functioned independently, and were often used as camouflage, a bluff, for extra strength or transportation. When duplicating himself, he could push tons of rocks out of the way or crack a block of solid concrete. The character had shaggy orange hair that covered his eyes and he usually holds a shield for apparently decorative reasons. Multi showed the ability to repel bullets with his bare hand. Multi-Man's angular, red and black costume resembled an stylized 'M', and included a short, triangular red cape. Favorite saying: "You got them all except the original." Multi bore a resemblance to the identical members of the singing group "The Way Outs" from The Flintstones.
Villains
The Impossibles faced many bizarre villains. All villains were defeated in a timely manner and justice was always served.The following villains have appeared more than once:
- Spinner - Has spider-based powers, specifically web spinning. He first appeared when he stole a million dollar tiara. Spinner later returned when he stole a poodle by the name of "Little Miss Muffet".
- Paper Doll Man - Made of paper, he has the ability to slip underneath locked doors or fold himself into paper airplanes for a quick getaway. In his first appearance, Paper Doll Man stole most of the top secret plans from the Pentagon and had to return there to get Plan X. In his second appearance, Paper Doll Man was robbing hotels. This time, he was defeated when he accidentally flew into a linotype machine that was printing newspapers.
- Professor Stretch - Super-stretchy with elasticity powers. He appeared twice. The first time was when he sabotaged a tank by using powder from a shaker that turns anything into rubber and in the end we see him used as a basketball. The second time was when he created a monster made of rubber cooking chowder.
- Beamatron - Shoots laser beams from his fingers, although lasers had short battery lives.
- Bubbler - Kidnaps the young Shah of Shishkabob by sealing him in an unbreakable bubble. The Bubbler has an undersea hideout at the bottom of the ocean.
- * Octavius - A giant attack octopus who guards Bubbler's undersea hideout. Multi-Man ties Octavius' tentacles into knots.
- Burrower - A villain who burrows under banks to pilfer the money inside.
- * Muddy - Burrower's henchman.
- ** Curly - Burrower's pet worm.
- Timeatron - A villain who uses a time cabinet to bring villains from the past to help him. These villains include Captain Kidd, Jesse James, and Goliath. Timeatron goes to bring back Alexander the Great, but ends up trapped in his time when Multi-Man destroys the time cabinet with an ax.
- Smogula - Floats around in a rain cloud and wields a weather-controlling ray-gun.
- Speck - Has a potion that lets him shrink and grow at will.
- Mother Gruesome - A female witch-themed criminal who uses a machine that can bring villainous storybook characters to life like a giant and a dragon. She was eventually trapped in the same book as the giant and the book was donated to a prison library.
- * Cromwell - Mother Gruesome's pet crow.
- Fero - Caricature of Nero, he is a fiddler who can send people and objects to anywhere he wishes with a high-tech violin. After his violin was swapped by the Impossibles, Fero was transported to Neptune where astrologers found him playing the fiddle there.
- Dauber - An artist who brings to life anything that he paints.
- Televisitron - A villain who uses a remote control to send his foes into various channels of the television to do them in. The Impossibles steal Televistatron's remote and transport him into a prison show.
- Aquator - An aquatic villain who steals a formula for changing the size of organisms in an attempt to create an army of giant-sized micro-organisms.
- Dragster - A speedy car thief with who steals a diamond-encrusted car.
- Puzzler - A supervillain who can change shape as a living puzzle. He is the only villain given an origin as he mentions to have fallen into a jigsaw-making machine which gave him his abilities.
- Surfer - A villain who surfs and uses a remote-control ukulele.
- Sculptor - A villain who carries a gun that fires quick-dry cement either turning people into statues or making instant rocks and walls.
- Spraysol - A villain who sports a helmet that sprays liquid or gas.
- Diamond Dazzler - A villain who steals a diamond that contains a genie.
- Twister - A villain who dresses like a top with a propeller beanie who steals by spinning like a twister.
- Cronella Critch - A witch who robbed a charity-for-orphans party. She was turned into a cat due to a spell reversal by Multi-Man.
- Tapper - A villain who can travel through telephone wires with his weapon, the Deciminator, which he uses to send Coil Man to Ackbar the Martian in his flying saucer and Multi Man to Captain Cutlass on his smuggling ship the Sea Serpent.
- Angler - A villain who wears a torpedo-shaped fish suit that steals with a fishing rod.
- Ringmaster - A ringmaster-themed villain who has circus performers as his henchmen.
- Mr. Instant - A villain who carries a gun that can create anything in an instant.
- Dr. Futuro - A villain who travels from the 40th century to the 1960s to steal a gold brick to finance his crimes. He accidentally runs into an age-reversing machine and is turned into a baby.
- Clutcher - A villain who created remote-controlled gloves for clutching anything at a distance.
- Mr. Ice - A villain who plans to conquer the city by freezing it.
- * Freezer Freezer - Mr. Ice's henchman.
- Batter - A baseball player-themed villain who bases his crimes on baseball.
- Archer - A villain who dressed like Robin Hood. He later decided to become a musician upon his arrest where the Impossibles even joined him in a performance in prison.
- Inflator - A villain who attacks places with giant balloons that he creates using a special ray-gun. He has served his time and is now a balloon vendor selling his balloons to children.
- Billy the Kidder - A futuristic western outlaw that rides a robotic horse who wanted to rob the Mint. After serving his time, he becomes a rodeo star where he is uncomfortable riding actual horses.
The Impossibles episodes were written by Michael Maltese, who is known mostly for his work with director Chuck Jones.
Episodes
Comic books
A single issue of a Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles comic was released by Gold Key as a tie-in to the TV series, and the contents were reprinted in The Impossibles Annual in 1968. "The Impossibles" comic story was titled "The Impossibles vs. The Mirror-Man". A new text-based story, specially written for the annual was "The Impossibles Cure a Doctor", with the villainous Herr Doktor Adolf von Tischklautz. Big D is mistakenly called "Big B" in this story.In 2016, the Impossibles appeared as part of the cast of the Future Quest comic book, where the origin of their powers is explored; having been exposed to a special radiation, as part of an experiment by F.E.A.R., they gained their powers and became agents for Big D who's a woman named Deva Sumadi. They are also joined by a fourth member, a girl called Esme Santos who has control over magnetic fields, who nicknamed herself Cobalt Blue. Together, they fight against an alien being called Omnikron, who absorbs everything and everyone in its path.
Adaptations
For the 1979 series The Super Globetrotters, the Impossibles' super powers were reassigned, entirely intact, to three members of the Globetrotters team. Coil Man was redesigned and renamed Spaghetti Man. Fluid Man was renamed Liquid Man. Multi Man was unchanged.The Super Globetrotter costumes of Fluid Man/Liquid Man and of Multi Man remained the same as their Impossible counterparts, except the color palettes were changed to match the Globetrotters' uniforms. The transformation sequences and many of the signature "moves" from the 1966 series were re-drawn, frame by frame, to feature the superhero incarnations of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team instead of the guitar-toting Impossibles.