Press Release Warner Archive Press Release: Shazam (1974-1977) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

NEW 2019 1080p MASTERS FROM ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVES!
SHAZAM!: THE COMPLETE LIVE ACTION SERIES (1974-1977)
Run Time 635:00
Subtitles English SDH
Sound Quality DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio 1.33:1, 4 X 3 FULL FRAME
Product Color COLOR
Disc Configuration 3 BD50, 1 BD25
By uttering a single magic word, young Billy Batson transforms himself into the world’s mightiest mortal: Captain Marvel. That word is created from the first letters of the names of the six elders who train Billy with their special gifts – Solomon, wisdom; Hercules, strength; Atlas, stamina; Zeus, power; Achilles, courage; and Mercury, speed – SHAZAM! Now, the entire series has been meticulously remastered in High Definition from original elements, bringing a whole new viewing experience in this 4-disc set featuring every exciting episode of this classic television show...

Continue reading...

 

[Robert Crawford]

Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.

 

[JoeDoakes]

I wish they'd release the cartoon too.

 

[Blimpoy06]

I'm happy to see the new HD masters released on disc at all. I was afraid these would be for streaming only. A real present to the fans who collect physical media.

 

[ScottRE]

Oh man, I am so happy I held off on the DVDs...

Notice John Davey is not represented on the cover art. Man, he was unpopular....

 

[DaveHof3]

Now if they would only do Isis as well.

 

[Brian Himes]

WOW! This is a surprise. I will definitely be getting this.

 

[Bryan^H]

Well, I have two copies on DVD (variant, and regular cover) time for a triple dip upgrade!

 

[Bryan^H]

Now if they would only do Isis as well.

I'm not even sure who has the rights to that (and the other Filmation Live action shows) after BCI went out. It would be great if WB acquired the rights and released them on BD as well.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I'm glad they're using Da Ordster's artwork again.

Jerry Ordway did one of the best Captain Marvel runs ever in the '90s with The Power of Shazam,

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Oh man, I am so happy I held off on the DVDs...

They weren't bad. In fact, they were much better than the 1980 off-airs I had to contend with for awhile. But, I totally understand, having something on multiple formats, etc.[/QUOTE]

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I'm not even sure who has the rights to that (and the other Filmation Live action shows) after BCI went out.

DreamWorks Animation owns the bulk of the Filmation library (the stuff that didn't revert back to the studios that Filmation licenced the characters from).

DreamWorks came to own it through their acquisition of Classic Media, who, under their previous subsidiary name of Entertainment Rights, were the ones who finally acquired the series from Hallmark and licenced the stuff out to BCI for DVD about a decade ago.

Before the DreamWorks acquisition, Classic did, at least, syndicate some of this stuff and put it on streaming platforms. I have to wonder if this latest acquisition is probably not good for Filmation. Since this is a larger studio, they might not see it as worth their time to do much with the properties, outside of the big names like He-Man.

It would be great if WB acquired the rights and released them on BD as well.

As has been said, very unlikely to happen. The bigger problem, though is whether there are even any film elements in the archive to use. WB got all the film back when they acquired Shazam! The film for the other live-action shows, however, was reportedly destroyed by Hallmark after they made their PAL-format digital masters for overseas broadcast. Whether this actually happened is anyone's guess, but there is the very real possibility that the only film for Isis (or the other live-action shows) may be in the hands of collectors by way of old broadcast/syndication prints.

 

[DeWilson]

I'm not even sure who has the rights to that (and the other Filmation Live action shows) after BCI went out. It would be great if WB acquired the rights and released them on BD as well.

The problem is the FILMATION Library film masters for 99% of their shows don't exist! It's a long story - but the short version is the rights holder in the 1990's transferred everything to PAL STANDARD Broadcast master tape and trashed the film elements - everything - footage and finished episodes.

Except for shows that went back to rights holders of licenced characters (Warners, Paramount,MGM-UA and Maybe Mattel) who got all the film elements everything else was trashed. In addition the audio archive was trashed as well - all those great music scores used and reused over the years - gone.

So the only masters on ISIS are conversions from 25+ year old PAL Standard masters - missing "moral tags" as well.

Supposedly film elements for some shows did turn up eventually.

...and it's Dreamworks Animation who now own the Filmation owned properties. Live action and Animated, except for most of the licensed properties.

 

[deepscan]

I'm not even sure who has the rights to that (and the other Filmation Live action shows) after BCI went out. It would be great if WB acquired the rights and released them on BD as well.

Universal has the rights to Isis via the Classic Media/DreamWorks Animation library.

 

[deepscan]

The problem is the FILMATION Library film masters for 99% of their shows don't exist! It's a long story - but the short version is the rights holder in the 1990's transferred everything to PAL STANDARD Broadcast master tape and trashed the film elements - everything - footage and finished episodes.

Except for shows that went back to rights holders of licenced characters (Warners, Paramount,MGM-UA and Maybe Mattel) who got all the film elements everything else was trashed. In addition the audio archive was trashed as well - all those great music scores used and reused over the years - gone.

So the only masters on ISIS are conversions from 25+ year old PAL Standard masters - missing "moral tags" as well.

Supposedly film elements for some shows did turn up eventually.

...and it's Dreamworks Animation who now own the Filmation owned properties. Live action and Animated, except for most of the licensed properties.

Not that I'm turning this thread into a Filmation one, but this is one of the saddest stories ever told on lack of preservation of much of our family entertainment history.

To correct you, PAL masters were done in HD prior to Hallmark dispensing of their Filmation film elements. This is why, for all intent and purposes, so much of the library has been lost.

I have covered JOURNEY BACK TO OZ so many times over the Internet, and even that film is the most underrated and mostly underappreciated animated sequel ever (yes, this is the 80th anniversary of the classic MGM film WIZARD OF OZ). Under today's digital technology, it is conceivably possible to slow down the speed of the PAL masters and a proper conversion to NTSC, thereby restoring the Filmation library back to its original speed (we are, of course, talking about the in-house material, such as ARCHIE and FAT ALBERT). Having said that, even if Universal were to prepare a new restored video HD master of JOURNEY it would not be released due to the sad fate of Bill Cosby. However, all the other in-house materials Universal could do.

Back to the subject at hand, SHAZAM!. The content of that show (and I did see every episode in its original CBS run, by the way) is "piddly winks" by the standards of children's television, compared of course, to the most recent movie. Still a curio, and a prime example of what should have been done to the Filmation library in the first place.

P.S. It is ironic, however, that another Filmation show, TARZAN: Lord Of The Jungle, also now belongs to WB, as that show is owned by the Edgar Rice Burroughs company, and WB has a relationship with Burroughs, partially via its Turner Entertainment subsidary (keeper of the classic MGM library--MGM released much of TARZAN's films during its Golden Age of Hollywood.).

 

[Sam Favate]

Is there a release date for this title?

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Not that I'm turning this thread into a Filmation one, but this is one of the saddest stories ever told on lack of preservation of much of our family entertainment history.

To correct you, PAL masters were done in HD prior to Hallmark dispensing of their Filmation film elements. This is why, for all intent and purposes, so much of the library has been lost.

I'm pretty sure you're mistaken about them being in HD. The digital conversion done at Hallmark was done in the early-to-mid '90s, so this would have been before HD. They would all be in standard-definition PAL.

Under today's digital technology, it is conceivably possible to slow down the speed of the PAL masters and a proper conversion to NTSC, thereby restoring the Filmation library back to its original speed (we are, of course, talking about the in-house material, such as ARCHIE and FAT ALBERT).

I'm pretty sure at least some of Fat Albert must've still existed on the original films (or at least, in NTSC) because I think the Time-Life DVDs are not only uncut, but also play at the correct speed. It's the UrbanWorks (and later) ones that are, I think, from whatever materials Entertainment Rights/Classic Media supplied. It might be that since Fat Albert was more heavily syndicated than the other shows here in the US, that maybe NTSC sets of tapes still existed in the Filmation library by the time Hallmark got their hands on them.

 

[MatthewA]

There's also the possibility that the Internet was wrong. It's shocking, I know.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The release date for "Shazam! (Complete Series) is October 8th.

 

[MaryGH]

Incredible news - and an incredible follow-up to 2018's "Adventures of Captain Marvel" (1941) Blu-Ray release!