All the world’s waiting for you / And the power you possess / In your satin tights / Fighting for your rights / And the old Red, White and Blue.

Wonder Woman is surely one of the most iconic pieces of television ever produced. For many the image of Lynda Carter fighting evil-doers in her star-spangled costume helps define the 1970s. Rarely has a tv show captured such a diverse fanbase, and retained it even decades after its initial broadcast. The love for Carter’s Wonder Woman barely seems to have waned over the years, with successive generations becoming fans of tv’s Amazing Amazon through re-runs and box sets.

It may surprise some to learn, therefore, that the Wonder Woman that we watch today is not entirely the same as the one fans first witnessed back on November 7th 1975, when Carter first twirled into her infamous satin tights.

For years, rumours of an alternative version of the pilot episode circulated on fan forums, and although there was some disagreement over what precisely the differences were (with some fans suggesting radical changes like alternative takes and camera angles), there was one thing that almost everyone agreed upon: the opening titles were not the same as the ones we enjoy today.



If the rumours were to be believed, when the original 1975 pilot blossomed into a full television series, part of the show’s iconic animated title sequence was replaced and the theme tune rerecorded. Fans put the blame for the animated replacements on tv network, ABC, who allegedly found the pilot’s titles too violent. The new tv version was then retro-fitted to the pilot episode when the show was sold into syndication, and remained intact even when the episodes were remastered and released onto modern digital platforms.

This meant that outside of the lucky handful who had seen the original broadcast in 1975, few fans had witnessed Wonder Woman’s first adventure in its original state. And so began the hunt to find the lost Wonder Woman – the version of the opening titles broadcast in 1975, then (apparently) never seen again.

In the absence of any evidence, the rumours and speculation continued to fly on the internet. One fan even went as far as to upload a fake video, reproducing the alleged missing cartoon footage. But eventually, in 2014, firm evidence arrived on YouTube thanks to an apparently genuine video with Dutch subtitles. This copy appeared to have been taken from a print that was sold into Dutch tv/video markets in the 1980s as a stand-alone movie, rather than as part of a Wonder Woman series package. (The stand-alone movie was also sold to UK tv networks at around the same time, but this version retained the reworked titles of the full series.)

So, at last, fans had their proof – there was a lost title sequence, and now they had confirmation of what it looked like.

The changes were apparent right from the opening. The syndicated version had a hard cut from the pre-titles montage of old newsreel footage, into an explosive burst of cartoon stars revealing the show’s title: “Wonder Woman”. By contrast, the lost version used film footage of explosions, with the title emerging over the top, reading “The New Original Wonder Woman”. (The New Original prefix being necessary, allegedly, to differentiate the pilot from a previous produced effort starring Cathy Lee Crosby.)

Speculation about the violent aspects of the titles being removed proved correct. As the cartoon sequence progressed, the syndicated version saw Wonder Woman leap from a tall building, land on the sidewalk, and twirl her magic lasso. But the lost version replaced the lasso with some bullets ‘n’ bracelets action against a pair of gun toting goons, ending with the Amazing Amazon KO’ing both men.

As well as changes to the visuals, many fans insist that the vocals on the iconic Wonder Woman theme tune are different on the Dutch version. Warner Bros. apparently not being happy with the audio qualify of the original, insisted it be re-recorded.

(The original Dutch video, uploaded by CaptainFabulous84 to YouTube.)



Wonder Woman super-fan, Andy Mangels, did some research, and managed to procure a decent quality copy of the original titles by checking television and movie museums such as the Paley Center for Media. Such archive material is unlikely to be a forgery, so, thanks to Andy, fans now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the original 1975 pilot transmission was definitely different to the version we’re all familiar with today.



(Above, a video released by Andy Mangels showing four different versions of the titles. The “German” version is actually the Dutch version mislabelled.)

Sadly, if you want to see and hear the original titles today in decent quality, you’re out of luck. While the show itself has been restored and reissued on digital formats, Warner Bros. seems content to let the lost title sequence remain lost. Fans must make do with a couple of low-resolution internet videos, it seems.

Perhaps if enough fans petition for the original titles to be released as a Blu-Ray extra, or even restored onto the start of the pilot itself, they may change their mind. We can but hope.

