Superman: The Animated Series

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Image:Stas.jpg

Superman: The Animated Series is the unofficial title given to Warner Bros.' American animated television series of the late 1990s. The official title of the series was simply Superman, and (as the title suggests) it starred the fictional character of Superman. Warner Bros. applied the same "more modern, more serious" animated treatment to DC Comics' flagship character in the same way they had successfully produced Batman: The Animated Series. The result was a cartoon praised by comic book and animation fans, and seen by some as one of the best adaptations of Superman ever.

Airing more than ten years after the 1985 "reboot" of the Superman comic book character, the animated series paid tribute to both the classic Superman of old and the newer "modern" Superman. Elements of Superman from all eras of his history were included in the series, especially in a potrayal of the planet Krypton, the planet that Superman was born on, that fans praised as a "modernization" of Superman's origin that contrasted John Byrne's total remake, and some fans felt was superior to the "newer" comic book version. Most notable was that the evil computer Brainiac, was not only now from Krypton, but was portrayed as responsible for preventing the knowledge of Krypton's imminent destruction from reaching its people. In a lesser innovation, the ship that carried the infant Kal-El to Earth was designed to land smoothly upon reaching its destination. As a result, the ship is still in perfect working condition during Superman's adulthood and is used as his mode of long range transportation in space.

The "new" Lex Luthor featured prominently in the series as well, menacingly voiced by actor Clancy Brown. Superman himself was voiced by Tim Daly.

While the series featured fresh re-creations of much of Superman's rogues gallery, the series' writers supplemented the limited supply of enemies by paying tribute to Jack Kirby's Fourth World creations which also introduced the villain Darkseid to the series as one of Superman's greatest enemies. Darkseid had actually been portrayed as a villain in the final two seasons of the Super Friends series of the 1980s, but in the new Superman series he truly became an enormously powerful, evil cosmic emperor. The tribute event extends to the supporting character, Dan "Terrible" Turpin, who is visually modelled on Jack Kirby himself.

On August 18, 1998, Warner Brothers released The Batman/Superman Movie on DVD and video. This movie was formed of three episodes from season 2 of Superman: The Animated Series, "World's Finest" parts 1, 2 and 3. Mark Hamill again provided the voice for The Joker.

Midway through the series' run, it was combined with new, "revamped" episodes of Batman: The Animated Series to become The New Batman/Superman Adventures. The characters of Superman and Batman were then spun off into a new animated series, Justice League, which also featured other popular DC characters, such as Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and The Flash.

Contents

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Episode list

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Season 1 (Sept 1996 - Feb 1997)

  1. The Last Son Of Krypton - part 1 of 3
  • Jor-El determines that the planet Krypton has only a few hours left before the planet is completely destroyed. He consults with Brainiac, the Supercomputer created by Krypton to monitor all potential threats to the planet. Brainiac determines that the planet is not in danger and relays his findings to the high council on Krypton. Jor-El is fanatical about his beliefs, and proposes that a single occupant in a ship would only be necessary - the entire planet would be placed in stasis in the Phantom Zone and later reanimated on Earth. Jor-El discovers that Brainiac is corrupt and knows about the impending disaster, and is downloading his memory banks into a satellite. Now almost completely hopeless, Jor-El and his wife Lana send their infant child to Earth, the last survivor of the planet Krypton.
  1. The Last Son Of Krypton - part 2 of 3
  • John and Martha Kent are driving through the countryside near their farm in Smallville, Kansas, when they spot a shooting star that lands in a field nearby. Instead of a meteor, they find a ship instead, with an infant child inside. They decide to keep the baby and name it Clark. Flash forward to when Clark is a teenager, and like all teenagers is going through a hefty set of changes in his life. His best friend Lana Lang is the only one he can talk to, but she cannot comprehend what is happening to him. After school he hears an accident many miles away and rushes there at super-speed. There he rescues a family from a fiery crash, coming away completely unharmed. Later he talks to his parents about his newfound abilities, which include flight, super-strength, heat vision, telescopic vision, x-ray vision, super-speed, and invulnerability. John and Martha reveal Clark's hidden past and the ship that carried him to Earth. Inside he finds a memory unit from Krypton keyed to his DNA. He sees a vision which is a message from his parents - about where he comes from and what his role in life should be. After angrily storming out he takes flight for the first time. Flash forward again nearly a decade and Clark Kent is an up-and-coming journalist at the Daily Planet in the Bustling city of Metropolis. There he is partnered with Lois Lane to discover a connection between Intergang, a band of high-tech thieves, and Lex Luthor, a rich and powerful industrialist.
  1. The Last Son Of Krypton - part 3 of 3
  2. Fun and Games
  3. A Little Piece Of Home
  4. Feeding Time
  5. The Way Of All Flesh
  6. Stolen Memories
  7. The Main Man - part 1 of 2
  8. The Main Man - part 2 of 2
  9. My Girl
  10. Tools Of The Trade
  11. Two's A Crowd
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Season 2 (Sept 1997 - May 1998)

  1. the promethon
  2. blasts from the past part 1 of 2
  3. blasts from the past part 2 of 2
  4. livewire
  5. speed demons
  6. Identity Crisis
  7. Target
  8. Mxyzpixilated
  9. Action Figures
  10. Double Dose
  11. Solar Power
  12. Brave New Metropolis
  13. Monkey Fun
  14. Ghost In The Machine
  15. Father's Day
  16. World's Finest - part 1 of 3
  17. World's Finest - part 2 of 3
  18. World's Finest - part 3 of 3
  19. The Hand Of Fate
  20. Bizarro's World
  21. Prototype
  22. The Late Mr. Kent
  23. Heavy Metal
  24. Warrior Queen
  25. Apokolips...Now! - 1 of 2
  26. Apokolips...Now! - 2 of 2
  27. Little Girl Lost - 1 of 2
  28. Little Girl Lost - 2 of 2
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Season 3 (Sept 1998 - May 1999)

  1. Where There's Smoke
  2. Knight Time
  3. New Kids In Town
  4. Obsession
  5. Little Big Head Man
  6. Absolute Power
  7. In Brightest Day
  8. Superman's Pal
  9. A Fish Story
  10. Unity
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Season 4 (Sept 1999 - Feb 2000)

  1. The Demon Reborn
  2. Legacy - part 1 of 2
  3. Legacy - part 2 of 2
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Cast

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Notable regular guests

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Superman: The Animated Series on DVD

Much like Batman: The Animated Series and other Warner Brothers cartoons adapted from popular DC Comic books, Superman: TAS was relesed on DVD January 25, 2005, though it did not recive the same Disc Transfer as Batman did (Volume One's second disc was given the Side A/B treatment, as did Volume two's second disc). The DVDs present the series' episodes in their airing order along with special features. Volume Two was released on December 6, 2005. Final volume, Volume Three is set for release on June 20th, 2006.

The following is a list of Superman: The Animated Series episodes released onto videos, DVDs and DVD Box Sets. The episodes of Superman, the Animated Series: Volume Three are not confirmed yet, but are likely to be the remaining episodes of the series, according to the pattern.

Superman: The Last Son of Krypton VHS/DVD

Episodes:

  • The Last Son of Krypton, Part I
  • The Last Son of Krypton, Part II
  • The Last Son of Krypton, Part III


Superman: A Little Piece of Home VHS/DVD

Episodes:

  • A Little Piece of Home
  • Speed Demons
  • The Late Mr. Kent
  • Where There's Smoke


The Batman/Superman Movie VHS/DVD

Episodes:

  • World's Finest, Part I
  • World's Finest, Part II
  • World's Finest, Part III


Superman, the Animated Series: Volume One 2-Disc DVD Set 

    1st Disc Episodes:
       * The Last Son of Krypton, Part I
       * The Last Son of Krypton, Part II
       * The Last Son of Krypton, Part III
       * Fun and Games
       * A Little Piece of Home
       * Feeding Time

    2nd Disc - Side A Episodes:
       * The Way of All Flesh
       * Stolen Memories
       * The Main Man, Part I
       * The Main Man, Part II
       * My Girl
       * Tools of the Trade

    2nd Disc - Side B Episodes:
       * Two's A Crowd
       * The Prometheon
       * Blast from the Past, Part I
       * Blast from the Past, Part II
       * Livewire
       * Speed Demons


Superman, the Animated Series: Volume Two 2-Disc Set 

    1st Disc Episodes:
       * Identity Crisis
       * Target
       * Action Figures
       * Mxyzpixilated
       * Double Dose
       * Solar Power

    2nd Disc - Side A Episodes:
       * Monkey Fun
       * Brave New Metropolis
       * Ghost in the Machine
       * World's Finest, Part I
       * World's Finest, Part II
       * World's Finest, Part III

    2nd Disc - Side B Episodes:
       * Father's Day
       * The Hand of Fate
       * Bizarro's World
       * Prototype
       * The Late Mr. Kent
       * Heavy Metal


Superman, the Animated Series: Volume Three 2-Disc Set (?) 

    1st Disc Episodes:
       * Warrior Queen
       * Apokolips...Now!, Part I
       * Apokolips...Now!, Part II
       * Little Girl Lost, Part I
       * Little Girl Lost, Part II
       * Where There's Smoke

    2nd Disc - Side A Episodes:
       * Knight Time
       * New Kids in Town
       * Obsession
       * Little Big Head Man
       * Absolute Power
       * In Brightest Day

    2nd Disc - Side B Episodes:
       * Superman's Pal
       * A Fish Story
       * Unity
       * The Demon Reborn
       * Legacy, Part I
       * Legacy, Part II

Remember: The description of VOLUME THREE is not a confirmed product description, so there is no gurantee that those are it's contents or DVD designs.

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Trivia

  • Some of the character designs are clearly patterned on real actors. The more obvious likenesses are Shirley Jones ("The Patridge Family") to Martha Kent and Telly Savalas ("Kojak") to Lex Luthor. The character, Dan "Terrible" Turpin was visually modeled after the character's creator, Jack Kirby. His first appearance in the episode "Tools of the Trade" also marks the first series appearance of "The Fourth World" characters and concepts that were Jack Kirby's major modern DC Comics creations.
  • Due to Lex Luthor's pronounced lips and tanned skin, several fans mistakingly thought he was African American. This is due to the Telly Savalas inspiration for his look - the reason for which is that producer Bruce Timm thought of Clancy Brown's take on Luthor as a "cultured thug", the same way he saw Savalas' Blofeld in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Timm's favorite Bond film). Sometimes, the animated Luthor is portrayed as being distinctly darker than the people around him, and sometimes (like the shot in "A Little Piece of Home" where Luthor literally puts his face right into Superman's) his skin color is exactly the same as everybody else.
  • Series producer 'Bruce Timm' personally story-boarded Superman's climatic, final fight with Darkseid in the series finale, "Legacy", to ensure it would be done right and have as much impact as possible.
  • The Prometheon episode depicts a giant rock creature that came from outer space who made his first appearance in Green Lantern comics as a servant of Gaia.
  • Real-life married couple Mike Farrell and Shelley Fabares voice Jonathan and Martha Kent.
  • Lex Luthor's henchwoman, Mercy Graves, is a character created for the show. She was eventually added as a member of the cast in the comics.

Image:Superman TTA.jpg

  • A game was produced for the Nintendo 64 based upon the series which is considered one of the worst games ever. A later game produced for the Playstation 2 and Gamecube, is considered far superior.
  • The series was originally meant to have an opening montage similar to the one Batman had in his previous animated series, showcasing what Superman could do in an awe inspiring manner, but the animators were unable to finish it by the deadline, so a montage featuring clips of Superman in action alongside his supporting cast from the episodes was utilized instead. Part of the abandoned montage, which featured Superman flying in the night sky of Metropolis, made it into the opening.
  • Four years prior to this series, an animated Superman similar to the one featured here made a cameo appearance in the direct-to-video movie Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation.
  • Clancy Brown, who provided the voice of Lex Luthor, originally auditioned for the lead role of Superman/Clark Kent.
  • The episode, Monkey Fun, was actually a modernized remake of an episode from the 1960's animated Superman series. It was based on the 1930's film King Kong
  • In the DC comics Maggie Sawyer is a lesbian and has a longterm relationship with another woman, a subject that Lex Luther once tried to blackmail her for. While it is never stated in the animated series, their is an episode where a wounded Sawyer is visted by a woman in the hospital.
  • In the episode "Heavy Metal", "Cousin Spunky" from the Batman animated series episode "Baby Doll" can be seen in the background along with the other men right after Steel's niece stops the car after running out of gas as well as when the crowd begins to gather around Metallo after he has been defeated. "Cousin Spunky" is also seen in JL series.
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External links

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