SuperTed - the title says everything! Essentially the cartoon is about a teddy-bear that gets discarded from the factory production line. He is found by an alien called Spotty and sprinkled with Magic Dust which brings him to life. However the story doesn’t end here! The alien then takes SuperTed to visit Mother Nature, who lives in a cloud in space?!? She gives him a magic potion and from then on whenever he utters the magic word - he transforms into SuperTed.
Superted and Spotty spend most of their time hanging out in their tree house, but when evil needs fighting, it normally comes in the form of the Cowboy Texas Pete and his side-kicks Skeleton ( a slightly effeminate skeleton) and Bulk ( a dim-witted, bulky stooge). If anyone knows SuperTed’s magic word, it was never revealed on tv! SuperTed aired in 1982 in the UK and was voiced by Derek Griffiths, whilst Spotty was voiced by Jon Pertwee of Doctor Who fame.
Mike Lyons originally wrote approximately a hundred SuperTed books prior to being approached by Welsh television to produce SuperTed as an animation with Robin Lyons. Beyond the first few seasons of high quality UK episodes, Hanna-Barbera picked up the show, which became the first UK cartoon to be aired on the Disney CHannel in the US. Hanna Barbera made a number of other seasons of the show, called the Further Adventures of SuperTed.
Ordinary Ted!
Strangely enough Superted and Spotty both now live in a world of humans, but no-one really seems too concerned to see a teddy-bear and an alien walking around. SuperTed doesn't really have an alter-ego, he doesn't have a name and doesn't hide the fact that he is SuperTed, I suppose he would just feel stupid walking about in a cape all day, so most of the time he looks like a normal teddy-bear.
SuperTed must be pretty rich as not only does he own his own Jungle Tree House, but he also has a space station, I'm not sure if Spotty is bank-rolling all of this as i'm not really sure where Ted would have got the money?
Superted
However, when duty calls, thanks to the powers given to him by mother Nature, SuperTed whispers the magic word and transforms in to SuperTed. This actually looks quite a painful process as it seems to involve unzipping his own skin?!? Have a look at the intro and see what you think! SuperTed has superman like powers, he is strong and can fly (due to rockets in his boots). In one episode Bulk hears the secret word (and gains SuperTed type powers) but being Bulk he then subsequently forgets the word!
The Bad Guys
The leader of the gang is Texas Pete, he is basically a greedy cowboy, that will stoop to undertaking any dirty tricks to make him richer or more powerful.
The other two members of his gang, Bulk and Skeleton (I'll let you work out which is which) are portrayed more as stupid than evil, and just seem to follow Texas Pete out of habit/fear. Bulk is shown as a bit of a dimwit, whereas Skeleton is not necessarily stupid, but definitely cowardly.
Spotty
Spotty is the alien from the Planet Spot. It is Spotty that sprinkles SuperTed with magic dust and then takes him to Mother Nature. Throughout the series Spotty's sister Blotchis also introduced. Spotty has a rocket pack that allows him to keep up with SuperTed, when they go into Space etc.
SuperTed: The Lyrics
This is a story about an ordinary Teddy bear.
When he was made they found something wrong with him,
and threw him away like a piece of rubbish, into an old dark storeroom.
Then from outer-space a spotty man bought him back to life with his cosmic dust.
He took him to a magic cloud where Mother Nature gave him special powers.
That bear became SuperTed!
SuperTed: Resources
None at present - try again soon!
The Intro to the 'Further Adventures of SuperTed':
