Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Animated World of DC Comics: Three Wishes (1981)

The Wonder Twins learn a hard lesson about reading labels meant to avoid danger in this 1981 Super Friends tale, "Three Wishes". You'd think they'd have learned about dealing with evil genies after their adventure 2 years ago in "Rub Three Times For Disaster", but then again, Zan (Michael Bell) isn't exactly a Rhodes scholar, if you catch my drift.

Edit, 12/11/22: We've found a title card.


As you can tell, Jayna had her doubts from the go. She always did have the brains in the family, anyway. Oh, and adding a cape to her costume isn't so bad, even if it's temporary. If only the writers could've at least considered letting her go on a date with Robin.....!

Rating: B.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

I remember seeing this one back in the day!

I can't help but notice something:

The scene in which the genie introduces himself to the twins, seems very similar to the scene in which Jafar (from "Aladdin") discovers how powerful he is when he becomes a genie! Both juggle planets and such.

Personally I hated that Zan was frequently portrayed as a bit of an idiot. At the very least, the weak link. He would frequently make the mistakes that got the twins in trouble and Jana was frequently made out to look like the more sensible of the pair. I wish it had been a bit more balanced.

I'm expecting too much out of toons that are from another era!

hobbyfan said...

You have to remember that they wanted to present a more positive role model for the young ladies back then.

Also, as I've noted in the past, the twins' basic designs were modeled after singers Donny & Marie Osmond. On "Donny & Marie" in the 70's, Donny often ended up the butt of a joke himself, making Marie look like a genius. Ergo, you can see where Zan & Jayna's individual personalities come from, as well. Of course, I've also mentioned here and elsewhere how the writers missed the boat on a potential subplot where Jayna & Robin could've hooked up, and.....!