the Impossibles

The Impossibles, l to r: Fluid Man, Coil Man, Multi Man)

The Impossibles was a series of animated cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1966 and aired on American television by CBS. The series of shorts appeared as part of Frankenstein, Jr. and The Impossibles.

Overview

Characters

The Impossibles were a trio of Rock and Roll musicians who, when called upon to do so by their commander, "Big D," became superheroes. Like the Monkees, the group’s appearance (in their musician form) was based on 1960’s pop star stereotypes, which included long-ish hair, brightly colored (and matching) outfits, high-heeled boots, and, unlike the Monkees, no percussion or bass instruments.

As with many Hanna-Barbera characters, the Impossibles were styled after an existing famous trio - the Three Stooges. However, due to the primary emphasis of the plot and settings on the Impossibles' singing career, many fans tended to miss the visual similarities between the two groups.

Each member of the group had specific superhuman powers:

Coil Man (a.k.a. Coily), the group's leader, could transform his limbs into impossibly stretchable coils, allowing him to bounce to avoid attacks, deliver long-ranged punches and drill through walls. Coil Man usually drove the Impossimobile, and his guitar contained a receiver through which "Big D" could contact the group. Coil Man was voiced by Hal Smith. The character was patterned after Stooge Curly Howard.

Fluid Man (a.k.a. Fluey) could morph parts of his body into a liquid form. Fluid Man was voiced by Paul Frees. The character was patterned after Stooge Larry Fine, with the stand-up hair being the obivous tip-off.

Multi Man (a.k.a. Multi) could create infinite duplicates of himself. His duplicates rarely if ever functioned independently, and were usually used for extra strength or transportation (he could fly by continuously creating replicas above himself). A physical trait that he shared with many of his contemporaries in cartoons and comics was a mop of hair that entirely covered his eyes. Multi Man was voiced by Don Messick. The character was patterned after Stooge leader Moe Howard.

As musicians, the Impossibles played their futuristic-looking guitars atop an equally futuristic bandstand that could convert into a car which, in turn, could transform into either a van, a submarine or boat.

Villains

The Impossibles faced many bizarre villains, similar to those Batman and Superman had to face:

• Tele-visitron, who used a remote control to send his foes into various channels of the television to do them in.
• The Bubbler, who attacked with almost unbreakable bubbles.
• The Digger, who burrowed under banks and pilfered the money inside.
• Fero, the Fiendish Fiddler, who, despite his attire making him look like a caricature of Nero, could send people and objects to anywhere he wished with a hi-tech violin.
• The Puzzler, who had the ability to change shape due to being a living puzzle.
• The Perilous Paper Man, who had the ability to change into any form of paper.
• The Insidious Inflator, who attacked places with giant balloons that he brought to life by using a special ray-gun.

All villains were defeated in a timely manner and justice was always served. Some villains even went straight upon their capture:

• The Artful Archer, who was dressed like Robin Hood, decided to take up being a musician.
• Cronella, a witch, who was robbing a charity-for-orphans party, was turned into a cat due to a spell reversal by Multi-Man.

An ad for the Saturday morning cartoon lineup in comic books of the time referred to the Bubbler, "Bratfink" and '"The Sponge".

Adaptations

For the 1979 series The Super Globetrotters, the Impossibles' super powers were re-assigned, entirely intact, to three members of the Globetrotters team. Coil Man was redesigned and renamed Spaghetti Man. Fluid Man was renamed Liquid Man. Multi Man was unchanged.

The Super Globetrotter costumes of Fluid Man/Liquid Man and of Multi Man remained the same as their Impossible counterparts (including the unexplained "F" on Liquid Man's wetsuit), except the color palettes were changed to match the Globetrotters' uniforms. The transformation sequences and many of the signature "moves" from the 1966 series were re-drawn, frame by frame, to feature the superhero incarnations of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team instead of the guitar-toting Impossibles.

Trivia

Fluid Man had a non-speaking cameo appearance on the Adult Swim show Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law. He appeared in the episode "SPF" as one of the many characters in the episode who were victims of cybersquatting.

Donate to Wikimedia