Marvel Mash Up Should Provide Laughs For All Ages

The new Marvel Universe TV block on Disney XD debuts on April 1st.  The headliners are obviously "Ultimate Spider-Man" and "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" season 2, but there are other shows which are intriguing.  One of which, "Marvel Mash Up," delighted fans with a preview at WonderCon. The show is a series of interstitials that takes footage from classic animated series like "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" and re-edits them to make them new—and hilarious.  Kind of a professional YouTube mashup, if you will. Said Vice President, Animation Development & Production Cort Lane: "We have all this great classic footage [that's] often very kitschy when you look at it today, [so] we did a pilot to just test it because we had no idea if kids would get it or if they would think it's funny. And they actually thought it was hilarious at all ages." Lane says the producers used classics such as the "Incredible Hulk" series from 1982 and the "Fantastic Four" series from 1978.  The idea was to just have fun and try to make viewers laugh. "Because this is clearly classic footage and we're just having lots of fun with it, it allows us to push the comedy envelope further than we normally would," Lane explains. "We all loved those classic cartoons, but this is a way to celebrate them and still have fun and use the footage in the way that's cool for kids today. You look at some of this old animation and go, well, that's a little bit odd looking. Why is Spider-Man on Doctor's Doom's shoulders? Why does he seem to be hugging Green Goblin? And that's where you could just come up with ideas and have fun with it." The best part about it is that audiences have thought the same things for years. How many times have you gone back and watched an old cartoon and thought, "What the heck is that?"  Now to throw a bit of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" behind it would be pretty hilarious. Check out the debut of "Marvel Mash Up" April 1st.  And here is a preview to get you excited.