“Captain America” was part of the Canadian-American produced animated television show “The Marvel Super Heroes” that originally ran from September to December of 1966. Cap’s cartoons aired on Mondays as a 30-minute program with three segments of seven minutes each, and told the adventures of Steve Rogers during World War II and also during "modern" times after he was awaken from his decades-long slumber under the ice.
Captain America Title Card
Grantray-Lawrence Animation was the studio that produced the 39 segments in 13 episodes. Using images taken from the actual comic books via Xerography, the artists later gave the cels a limited animation treatment, such as movement of lips, eyes, and extremities.
“Captain America” featured not only the star-spangled hero, but also his sidekick Bucky, and later on, several members of the Mighty Avengers. The super-villain line-up included among others Baron Zemo, the Adaptoid, the Melter, and of course, Red Skull.
Captain America and Bucky celebrate their first victory as a team
This low-budget production is oftentimes subject to criticism, and even made fun of, especially when compared to today’s animation and modern storytelling style. Despite this, none of the shows ever since have been able to capture the essence of the comic books on which they were based in such a pure manner.
Of the five "Marvel Super Heroes" shows, my favorite is definitely "Captain America," not only because it was the most charged with emotion, drama, and action, but also because it frequently featured the Avengers, and had the catchiest theme song ever!
Captain America, the Sentinel of Liberty
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