Superman: The Animated Series

Overview

Premiering ten years after the 1986 reboot of the Superman comic-book character, the series paid tribute to both the classic Superman of old and the newer modern Superman. The depiction of Krypton reflects the older idealized version from the Silver Age of Comic Books, while the scope of Superman's powers reflects the more restrained contemporary concept developed by John Byrne, in which the superhero has to struggle to perform spectacular feats.

Clark Kent is shown to be open and quietly self-confident without jeopardizing his secrets, similar to the depiction of Bruce Wayne in Batman: The Animated Series. Midway through the series' run, it was combined with The New Batman Adventures 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 Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl, and spawned a sequel series entitled Justice League Unlimited.

Several episodes involve Superman encountering other DC superheroes, with Batman appearing most often, along with allies and antagonists from The New Batman Adventures. Other episodes feature The Flash, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Aquaman, and Doctor Fate.

Development and production

After the initial end of Batman, Steven Spielberg approached Bruce Timm about his admiration for the previous show and his curiosity about an adventure cartoon. Spielberg asked Timm and his crew to come up with concepts; one of these ideas eventually became Freakazoid!, though Timm had aimed for a straightforward hero show rather than overt comedy. Warner Bros., anticipating a feature film of Superman, wanted a television series to accompany it, leading Jean MacCurdy to approach Timm about doing a Superman series, which he agreed to.

Timm initially struggled with finding the visual style, considering a retro feel similar to the Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons. An original character design sheet showed the characters in a stylized 1940s/1950s style, but Timm decided he could not compete against the perfection of the past, though he utilized influence from classic deco, which he described as bright, futuristic, optimistic, ocean liner art deco. As with the first season of Batman, the opening theme sequence lacked an on-screen title and had no lyrics, being an instrumental piece.

DC asked Timm to give Superman a mullet, but he refused. Animation was contributed by Koko Enterprise Co., LTD., Kyokuchi Tokyo Movie, Dong Yang Animation Co., LTD and Group TAC, done in traditional cels. Season two was originally scheduled for 26 episodes but was extended to 28 to accommodate a two-part story introducing Supergirl. The primary antagonists throughout the show and the DCAU continuity are Lex Luthor, Brainiac and Darkseid; Luthor's design was based on actor Telly Savalas.

Home media

The first three episodes of Superman: The Animated Series were collected on a DVD called Superman: The Last Son Of Krypton, which came out on February 3, 2004. Those DVDs arranged the episodes in their broadcast order and included bonus features. On October 26, 2021, Warner Bros. put out a Blu-ray version with the same episodes and bonus material. The episode “Apokolips...Now!” was changed after its original February 7, 1998 broadcast.

That first version included a funeral scene paying tribute to Jack Kirby, with appearances by his comic creations like Nick Fury and the Fantastic Four, plus friends and fans such as Mark Evanier, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Alex Ross, Norman Ross, and Stan Lee. Later airings and the DVD release removed those characters and re-edited the scene. Neither DC nor Warner explained the change, though speculation points to copyright issues with Marvel characters. When the series hit HBO Max and Blu-ray in 2021, the original cut was restored.

Music

Shirley Walker was in charge of the series' music, as with Batman: The Animated Series. She wrote the series theme, composed themes for various characters, and scored six episodes herself. Only four other composers worked on the series: Kristopher Carter, Harvey R. Cohen, Michael McCuistion, and Lolita Ritmanis. Almost every episode had a completely original score; very few reused music from previous shows, and only one episode was entirely scored with tracked material.