All-New Super Friends Hour: River of Doom (1977)

 

 This is the final segment of the eighth episode of The All-New Super Friends Hour, unlike most other Super Friends formats, this one had hour long episodes that were made up of various shorter cartoons. The first segment would be an adventure staring two members (or three in some cases as Batman and Robin would often team with another Super Friend) of the Super Friends. The second would be a morality play staring the Wonder Twins. The third would be a typical half hour Super Friends adventure. The fourth and last segment would feature one of the main Super Friends teaming up with a special DC Comics guest star.

In this cartoon Wonder Woman teams up with Rima the Jungle Girl to help save some scientists that were kidnapped by natives in a jungle rain forest. 

This is a really fun cartoon. The highlight of this segment is the incredible artwork. The background art of the jungle is simply lovely to look at and gives this cartoon a great sense of atmosphere. The design work on Rima's animal friends is also fantastic. Rima is a fun character, and it is too bad she has not been used more in cartoons. Her swinging through the vines helps give the action scenes a unique and fun feel to them. The action scenes are all very well done and a lot of fun. The message about two cultures misunderstanding each other and that they should take more of an effort to learn about each other's cultures and intentions is one that still remains important today. Its delivery also feels less didactic than the lessons in some of the other Super Friends cartoons of this time. 

If I had one problem with this cartoon, it is that it is hard to believe that the natives, who have no powers or special Batman like training, can truly give Wonder Woman and Rima any real trouble. 

This is a delightful cartoon and some fast-paced superhero fun.