| Superman: The Animated Series | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Superhero Action/Adventure Science fiction |
| Format | Animated series |
| Created by | Characters: Jerry Siegel Joe Shuster |
| Developed by | Alan Burnett Paul Dini Bruce Timm |
| Voices of | Tim Daly Dana Delany Clancy Brown |
| Theme music composer | Shirley Walker |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 54 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 21 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | The WB (Kids' WB)[1] |
| Original run | September 6, 1996 – February 12, 2000 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Batman: The Animated Series |
| Followed by | The New Batman/Superman Adventures |
Superman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series starring DC Comics' flagship character, Superman.[2] The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB from September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner Bros. applied the same "more modern, more serious" animated treatment to DC Comics's flagship character in the same way they had successfully produced Batman: The Animated Series. As with the first season of Batman: The Animated Series, the main opening "title" sequence of Superman had no actual title. Slightly to moderately edited reruns were aired on Toon Disney and Disney XD.
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Premiering ten years after the 1986 reboot of the Superman comic book character, the animated series paid tribute to both the classic Superman of old and the newer "modern" Superman. For instance, the depiction of Krypton reflects the older idealized version in the Silver Age of Comic Books while the scope of Superman's powers reflect the more restrained contemporary concept as developed by John Byrne in that the superhero has to struggle to perform spectacular feats, while Clark Kent is shown to be openly, if quietly, self-confident.
One change to Superman's origin is that the evil computer Brainiac is not only from Krypton, but is portrayed as responsible for preventing the knowledge of Krypton's imminent destruction from reaching its people so as to save himself rather than be committed in the presumably futile task of saving the population of the planet. In addition, the ship that carries the infant Kal-El to Earth is designed to have a pilot, and the autopilot use instead was programmed to land smoothly upon reaching its destination. This means that the ship is in perfect working condition during Superman's adulthood and is used as his mode of long range transportation in space. In addition, access to Kryptonian technology and artifacts is initially severely restricted such as the ship containing a phantom zone projector and Braniac's technology, although Superman later finds a devastated colony in Krypton's solar system with partially salvagable technology in addition to Kara Zor-El in her functioning cryostasis capsule. The reboot Lex Luthor features prominently in the series as well, voiced by actor Clancy Brown. Superman was voiced by Tim Daly.
While the series features adaptations of much of Superman's rogues gallery, the series' writers supplemented the supply of enemies by paying tribute to Jack Kirby's Fourth World creations which also introduced the villain Darkseid to the series as Superman's archenemy. Darkseid had been portrayed as a villain in Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians in the 1980s, but in this series, he was closer to the enormously powerful, evil cosmic emperor originally envisioned by Kirby. In addition supporting character, Dan "Terrible" Turpin, was also present.
On August 18, 1998, Warner Brothers released The Batman/Superman Movie on VHS/DVD. This movie was formed from the Superman three-part episode "World's Finest," and featured Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprising their voice roles as Batman and the Joker respectively from Batman: The Animated Series.
Midway through the series' run, it was combined with The New Batman Adventures to become The New Batman/Superman Adventures. Superman itself was re-named The New Superman Adventures, as acknowledged by the WB. The characters of Superman and Batman were then spun off into a new animated series, Justice League, which also featured other popular DC Comics characters, including Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl and The Flash.
In January 2009, Superman: The Animated Series ranked #36 on IGN's 'Top 100 Animated Series' list.
Much like Batman: The Animated Series and other Warner Brothers cartoons adapted from popular DC Comic books, Superman: The Animated Series was released on DVD January 25, 2005, though it did not receive the same disc transfer as Batman did (the second disc of each volume was given the Side A/B treatment). The DVDs present the series' episodes in their airing order along with special features. Volume Two was released on December 6, 2005 and Volume Three was released on June 20, 2006. On November 24, 2009, Warner Home Video released Superman the Complete Animated Series, a 7-disc boxed set that includes all 54 episodes of the series as well as extensive bonus features.[5][5][6][7]
A Direct-To-DVD feature, Superman: Brainiac Attacks was released on June 20, 2006, although it is not considered to be part of DCAU continuity. Another DVD feature, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (also not in the DCAU's continuity) was also released on September 29, 2009. Tim Daly reprises his role as The Man of Steel in both films.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superman The Animated Series: Volume 1 | 18 | January 25, 2005 |
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| Superman The Animated Series: Volume 2 | 18 | December 6, 2005 |
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| Superman The Animated Series: Volume 3 | 18 | June 20, 2006 |
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| Superman: The Complete Animated Series | 54 | November 24, 2009 |
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"Apokolips...Now! Part II" was later altered from its original airing on 7 February 1998. Originally the Dan Turpin funeral at the episode's end was a true homage to late New Gods creator Jack Kirby and featured several of his comic creations as attendees to the funeral including Nick Fury, Fantastic Four, Big Barda, Scott Free, Orion and others, alongside Kirby's friends and fans Mark Evanier, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Alex Ross, his father Norman Ross and Stan Lee. These characters and persons were later removed and the scene pacing was re-edited for subsequent airings and its DVD release on Superman: The Animated Series Volume 3 Disc 3. The original sketches for this scene can be found at Michael Eury's book The Krypton Companion published by TwoMorrow's Publishing (ISBN 1-893905-61-6). Neither DC nor Warner ever commented on the decision to alter this particular scene, but copyright issues regarding the use of the likenesses of Marvel Comics characters might justify the deletion.
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