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71-601: Superman: The Animated Series is an American animated superhero television series based on the DC Comics character Superman . It was produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation and originally aired on Kids' WB from September 6, 1996, to February 12, 2000. It was the second series in the DC Animated Universe after Batman: The Animated Series , and like its predecessor, it has been acclaimed for its writing, voice acting, maturity, and modernization of

142-484: A "Superman" who would be a composite of stock shots of George Reeves and a stunt double to be filmed from behind. Larson rejected the idea. Another spin-off idea was a pilot Whitney Ellsworth produced in 1961: The Adventures of Superboy . Johnny Rockwell starred as a young Clark Kent in Smallville. As Superboy, he wore a suit similar in design to George Reeves' suit. Although thirteen scripts had been written, only

213-518: A child-friendly show, shifted its target group to ages 12 and up, resulting in a darker and more mature storyline. Animated film theatrical series include all early animated series: Animated Weekly (1913), The Newlyweds (1913 — 1915), Travelaughs (1913, 1915 — 1918, 1921 — 1923), Doc Yak (1913 — 1915), Colonel Heeza Liar (1913 — 1917, 1922 — 1924), Kapten Grogg  [ sv ] (1916 — 1922), Les Aventures des Pieds Nickelés (1917 — 1918),

284-408: A crazed superhero, although Timm had aimed for a straightforward hero show rather than overt comedy). At any rate, Warner Bros was anticipating a feature film of Superman and thus wanted to make a television series to go alongside it, which led Jean MacCurdy to approach Timm about the idea of doing a series on Superman, which he agreed to. Initially, Timm struggled with finding the visual style, to

355-598: A local station of a television network broadcasts an animated series as a part of its own programming, the time-slot will vary by region. All early animated television series, the first being Crusader Rabbit (1950 — 1959), are comic cartoon series. However, later series include sports ( Speed Racer , Captain Tsubasa , Slam Dunk ), action ( Hajime no Ippo , G.I. Joe ), science fiction ( Mobile Suit Gundam , Tenchi Muyo ), drama ( Neon Genesis Evangelion ), adventure ( Dragon Ball ), martial arts ( Baki

426-705: A new animated series, Justice League . This series also featured other popular DC Comics characters, including Wonder Woman , The Flash , Green Lantern , Martian Manhunter , and Hawkgirl . It spawned a sequel series entitled Justice League Unlimited . Several episodes involve Superman encountering other superheroes in the DC universe. Batman appears the most often, along with several of his allies and antagonists from The New Batman Adventures , including The Joker , Robin , Alfred Pennyworth , Harley Quinn , Bane , Commissioner Gordon , and Ra's al Ghul , among others. In addition, other episodes feature The Flash (alongside

497-460: A set time period in "segments", including several such shorts. When advertising is taken into account, the cartoon itself may be only 15 — 20 minutes of the half hour, although Netflix and many other streaming companies do not show commercials. There are also series with a very short episodes lasting approximately five minutes; they have recently become more common in Japanese animation . If

568-518: A two-part story introducing Supergirl . While the series adapts many villains from Superman's rogues gallery in the comics, the primary antagonists that he faces throughout the show and the DCAU continuity as a whole are Lex Luthor , Brainiac and Darkseid . Luthor's design was based on actor Telly Savalas . In the series, the writers decided to alter Brainiac's origin by making him an artificial intelligence supercomputer from Krypton, instead of

639-530: Is an American superhero television series based on comic book characters and concepts that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created in 1938. The show was the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California on RKO - Pathé stages and the RKO Forty Acres back lot. Cereal manufacturer Kellogg's sponsored the show. The first and last airdates of the show, which

710-628: Is not mentioned until the credits . The announcement "Our guest star tonight was George Reeves, star of the Superman series" was removed from the episode after its first network broadcast. The episode was colorized and re-broadcast as part of an hour-long Lucy special on the CBS network on May 17, 2015. In 1954, at the request of the US Treasury Department , the production company made a special short film directed by Thomas Carr . It

781-610: Is often due only to the recoil, such weapons are still rather inefficient, only slowing him down). He's also recurrently shown being sensitive to electricity, high-voltage electric currents being able to cause him a great deal of pain (for this reason, Livewire is one of his most formidable enemies in this animated series), and in one episode lasers proved capable of blinding him temporarily. Despite this greatly reduced durability, he's very rarely shown injured or bleeding. His lung capacity seems also quite limited since he needs special equipment to go underwater or in outer space. In addition,

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852-496: Is used as Superman's " leitmotif ", was often used whenever he was depicted flying or in action. While considered simple by today's standards, the "flying" effects on Adventures of Superman were advanced for the time. Throughout the series, Superman's "flying" involved three phases: take-off, flight, and landing. Cables and wires were used for Superman's take-offs early in filming. For season one episodes, stuntmen took Reeves' place whenever cables and wires were used for take offs. At

923-738: The Tom and Jerry cartoon short films released in movie theatres from 1940 to 1967, and many others. Direct-to-video animated series include most Japanese original video animations (OVAs). The first OVA series (and also the first overall OVA) was Dallos (1983 — 1985). Almost all hentai (pornographic) anime series are released as OVAs. Animated web series are designed and produced for streaming services . Examples include Happy Tree Friends (1999 — 2023) and Eddsworld (2003 — present). They can also be released on YouTube , such as Asdfmovie , which debuted in 2008. Adventures of Superman (TV series) Adventures of Superman

994-586: The Echo Park section of Los Angeles were often used in episodes such as "The Face and the Voice" during the second season. Another Los Angeles stock footage landmark was the Griffith Observatory , which had several appearances in the series, such as Jor-El's home/laboratory. Aside from a few clips of New York City used in "Superman on Earth", most of the stock clips used to depict Metropolis are of

1065-644: The Nintendo 64 console in 1999, was the first video game to be produced based upon the series, however it is considered to be one of the worst Superman video games and worst games ever . A second video game, Superman: Shadow of Apokolips was released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube consoles. It was produced by a different company, and was described as "a respectable but average superhero game." Animated television series Animated television series are presented daily or on certain days of

1136-645: The Weather Wizard ), Green Lantern ( Kyle Rayner ) (with Sinestro and the Green Lantern Corps ), Aquaman , and Doctor Fate (along with his wife Inza and Karkull ). In the time between the initial end of Batman , Steven Spielberg approached Bruce Timm about his admiration for his previous show while being curious about an adventure cartoon. Spielberg asked Timm and his crew to come up with concepts for him to look at (one of these ideas eventually sprung into Freakazoid! , which involved

1207-409: The film noir –like early episodes, Superman is seen as a semi-mysterious presence who is unknown to many crooks, but eventually they know who he is. The first season's episodes usually featured action-packed, dark, gritty, and often violent story lines in which Superman fought gangsters and crime lords. Many characters died in these episodes, with some deaths being shown onscreen. In the color seasons,

1278-457: The "perfection" of the past, although he would utilize influence from classic deco, which he described as "bright, futuristic, optimistic, ocean liner art deco...much more in line with Superman's character." As with the first season of Batman , the opening theme sequence of Superman lacked an on-screen title. Also like Batman , the opening theme for Superman lacked any lyrics, instead of being an instrumental piece played over various scenes from

1349-494: The "unofficial" season one finale. Phyllis Coates, like George Reeves, was a popular lead in B features of the period. For the TV series, Reeves asked that Coates receive equal star billing as Lois Lane, an enterprising reporter who tries to outdo Clark Kent at getting major news stories. Jack Larson's Jimmy Olsen is a Daily Planet intern, often investigating wrongdoings. The villains often catch him, and Superman has to rescue him. In

1420-478: The 1990s, more mature content than those of traditional cartoon series began to appear more widely, extending beyond a primary audience of children. These cartoon series included The Simpsons , South Park , Family Guy , Futurama , The Ren & Stimpy Show , Rocko's Modern Life , Beavis and Butt-Head , King of the Hill , and Duckman . Canadian computer-animated series ReBoot , which began as

1491-851: The 32-story Los Angeles City Hall were used as the Planet building, and the sidewalk entrance to the Planet was a studio-bound "exterior". Many exteriors in the first season were shot at the RKO Pictures backlot, called "Forty Acres" . Hillsides in Culver City, city streets of downtown Los Angeles, and residential areas of the San Fernando Valley were sometimes used as exteriors. In later seasons, filming occurred on sound stages , with exterior shots, such as cars driving along roadways, shot as second-unit material, often with doubles. Establishing shots of Queen of Angels Hospital in

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1562-617: The American way! And now, another exciting episode in the Adventures of Superman ! From the second season onward, the final sentence ("and now, another exciting episode in the Adventures of Superman !") was dropped. In later syndication, when Kellogg's was no longer the sponsor, the episode openings were re-edited to remove the opening line relating to them. The score for the series was taken from stock music libraries, often adaptations of music from B-movies. For example, one cue used in

1633-459: The Grappler ), and other genres. The first animated sitcom was The Flintstones (1960 — 1966), produced by Hanna-Barbera . It was followed by other sitcoms of this studio: Top Cat (1961 — 1962), Jonny Quest (1964 — 1965), The Jetsons (1962 — 1963, 1985, 1987) and Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (1972 — 1974), an adult-oriented animated series in

1704-505: The Los Angeles area. The show's title card imitated the three-dimensional lettering of the comic book covers. There have been disputes about the article "the", since it was spoken by narrators in voice-overs. Some references title the show " The Adventures of Superman"; other books, as well as TV Guide listings, simply label the show " Superman ". The onscreen title of the show is Adventures of Superman . Bill Kennedy , framed by

1775-453: The camera, and onto padding. The springboard had enough force, along with subtle camera manipulation, to make it look as though he was actually taking off. The typical technique had footage of Reeves stretched out on a spatula-like device formed to his torso and leg, operated on a counterweight like a boom microphone, allowing him to bank as if in flight. In some later episodes, such as "The Atomic Secret", Reeves simulated flying, opting to lie on

1846-682: The color episodes, the simpler and cheaper technique of a neutral cyclorama backing was used, usually sky-blue or black for night shots. Techniques for landings involved Reeves jumping off a ladder or holding an off-camera horizontal bar and swinging down into frame. Recurring characters include Phillips Tead as Professor Pepperwinkle, Sterling Holloway as Professor Oscar Quinn, Danny Sue Nolan , Aline Towne , and Almira Sessions as Miss Bacharach, and Everett Glass as Professor Lucerne. Tris Coffin ; Herb Vigran ; John Eldredge , best known as Harry Archer on Meet Corliss Archer (1954); Philip Van Zandt ; and Ben Welden made multiple appearances over

1917-507: The course of the show, always as different villains. Actors who landed Superman guest appearances early in their careers include: Other veteran film and television actors making appearances on the show included Dona Drake , George E. Stone , James Craven , Dan Seymour , Victor Sen Yung , Maudie Prickett , John Doucette , Norma Varden , Roy Barcroft , Elizabeth Patterson , and George Chandler . Director Tommy Carr 's brother Steve appeared as an unbilled extra in nearly every one of

1988-444: The credits. The theme has been ascribed to studio music arranger Leon Klatzkin , although it was certainly adapted from the earlier Superman March written by Sammy Timberg for the 1940's Superman cartoons. Except for the title theme, musical cues ranged in tone and were different for each season, except for the third season, where some cues from the previous season would be reused in several episodes. The opening credits theme, which

2059-445: The device without the molded form to support his legs, which are seen to hang from the waist in those episodes. In the two monochrome seasons, Reeves was occasionally filmed in front of aerial footage on a back-projection screen or against a neutral background, which would provide a matte which would be optically combined with a swish-pan or aerial shot. This footage was matted onto various backgrounds by which he would appear to fly. For

2130-408: The digital black hole effects in the episode "Absolute Power," although Koko and Dong Yang did the background and character animation. Like the previous shows, the animation on the series was done in traditional cels . The latter series Batman Beyond used cel animation in the first 26 episodes, it was then switched to digital ink and paint in the second half of season 2. One noticeable aspect of

2201-433: The end of season one, cables and wires stopped being used, and were later dropped altogether by the end of season two. As well, special effects head Daniel "Danny" Hays left the series. By this time, a springboard was brought in for take off scenes, designed by the series' other SFX supervisor, Thol "Si" Simonson. Reeves would run into frame and hit the out-of-frame springboard, which would boost him out of frame, sometimes over

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2272-502: The episode "Peril by Sea" also appears in Plan 9 from Outer Space . Another cue, used in the second season episodes "The Machine that Could Plot Crimes", "Jungle Devil", The Clown Who Cried", and "The Golden Vulture", came from the seventh variation of Miklos Rozsa 's "Theme, Variations & Finale", Op. 13, from 1933. There was original music written for the series, such as the March used in

2343-482: 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 , the 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

2414-428: The first 26 shows and frequently in more substantial character roles. He was also the show's dialogue director and was the man pointing "up in the sky" in the introductions of the black-and-white shows. Producers planned to continue Adventures of Superman in 1959 with two more years' worth of episodes, to begin airing in the 1960 season. The death of actor John Hamilton threw the plan into disarray. Actor Pierre Watkin

2485-535: The first 3 episodes of the series was released on February 3, 2004. Much like Batman: The Animated Series and other Warner Bros. 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

2556-441: The first season, with Noel Neill , who had previously played Lois in the film serials Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), taking over starting with the second season. In the series, Superman battles crooks, gangsters, and other villains in the city of Metropolis while masquerading "off duty" as Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent. In most of the series' episodes, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, Clark's colleagues in

2627-464: The last episodes, "The Perils of Superman", which was one of three episodes George Reeves directed, there was high stakes as the characters found themselves in perilous situations. ABC-TV aired episodes in its "Fun At Five" series during the 1957-58 season. Reeves appeared as Superman in " Lucy and Superman ", an episode of I Love Lucy that aired on January 14, 1957. In the episode, Reeves appears as himself playing TV's Superman, though George Reeves

2698-551: The majority of shows in the DC Animated Universe , Superman: The Animated Series received a comic adaptation taking place in the same universe , that ran from 1996 to 2002, with 68 issues, an annual and a special issue featuring Lobo. Paul Dini wrote the first issue of the series, followed by Scott McCloud , Mark Millar and Evan Dorkin . Among the artists that contributed to the series are Ty Templeton , Rick Burchett , Mike Manley , Aluir Amancio, Min S.Ku and Neil Vokes. A DVD titled Superman: The Last Son Of Krypton , compiling

2769-494: The office, find themselves in dangerous situations that only Superman's timely intervention can resolve. The opening theme is known as The Superman March . In 1987, select episodes of the show were released on VHS . In 2006, the series became available in its entirety on DVD to coincide with the DVD release of Superman Returns , the first Superman feature film in almost two decades. The feature Hollywoodland (2006) dramatized

2840-415: The official Blu-ray set later that same year. As with Batman: The Animated Series , Shirley Walker was in charge of the series' music. Walker wrote the series theme and composed themes for various characters, as well as scoring six episodes herself – "Father's Day," "The Hand of Fate," "Obsession," "Absolute Power" and the two-parter "Legacy." Unlike the previous series, only four other composers worked on

2911-542: The pilot was filmed. Both Noel Neill and Jack Larson had minor roles in the 2006 film Superman Returns . Neill played the multimillionaire wife of Lex Luthor, played by Kevin Spacey , who dies at the beginning of the film, leaving her entire inheritance to Luthor, while Larson played a bartender. A CGI version of Reeves as Superman appears in the 2023 DC Extended Universe film The Flash . The film also retroactively establishes that Jay Garrick / The Flash exists in

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2982-463: The planet Colu like the comics, to give him a more personal rivalry with Superman. While the producers of the show found Brainiac's character and abilities interesting in the comics, they disliked his original design so they drastically altered his appearance; his green artificial skin was replaced with an icy-blue coloration, and the rest of his outfit became a mix of purple and grey rather than pink and black. Corey Burton 's vocal performance as Brainiac

3053-491: The point where he thought of trying to aim for a retro feel similar to the Fleischer Studios Superman -cartoon (as his prior Batman series had touches of inspiration from said studio). An original character design sheet showed the characters in a stylized 1940s/1950s style (not unlike that of the live-action Adventures of Superman TV series); however, Timm decided that he could not compete against

3124-436: 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 it has been speculated that copyright issues regarding

3195-641: The second season finale. Adventures of Superman began filming at the RKO-Pathé studios , later Desilu Studios , in Culver City, California , in August–September 1951. It was a low-budget program by the standards of its time, as episodes cost roughly $ 15,000 apiece. From 1953 to 1954, the show was filmed at California Studios and in 1955 it was filmed at Charlie Chaplin Studios . From 1956 to 1957, it

3266-540: The series carried over from Byrne's work was Superman's powers were significantly downplayed compared to his comic book counterpart. Whereas in the comic he could lift millions or billions of tons effortlessly, this version struggled lifting trucks, construction equipment, roadways, etc. The writers admit that he was made as strong as the story permitted. His durability was also considerably less than while bullets bounced off him, heavier ordnance like high caliber bullets, cannons, and missiles caused him pain or discomfort (but it

3337-415: 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 ("Superman's Pal," credited to Carter, McCuistion, Ritmanis, and Walker) was entirely "scored" with tracked material. On January 28, 2014, La-La Land Records released a 4-disc compilation of music from

3408-559: The series, collecting 20 complete episode scores, including those of the "World's Finest" three-parter, the "Apokolips... Now!" two-parter, the "Little Girl Lost" two-parter and "In Brightest Day...". It is a limited edition release of 3000 units and can be purchased through the label's website. If sales of this release improve significantly, La-La Land Records will produce a second volume. Disc One (Total Time 78:59) Disc Two (Total Time 78:59) Disc Three (Total Time 78:36) Disc Four (Total Time 79:00) Superman 64 , released for

3479-428: The series. The character design for the title character was inspired not by one of the comics but instead The Mighty Hercules (1963) with the design of the title character. DC asked Timm to give Superman a mullet haircut , but he refused. Koko Enterprise Co., LTD. , Kyokuchi Tokyo Movie , Dong Yang Animation Co., LTD and Group TAC contributed some of the animation for this series. Kyokuichi Tokyo Movie also did

3550-448: The ship that carries the infant Kal-El to Earth is designed to have a pilot, and the autopilot used instead was programmed to land smoothly upon reaching its destination. This was done so that the ship is in perfect working condition during Superman's adulthood and could be used as his mode of long-range transportation in space. Season two was originally scheduled to run 26 episodes, but it was extended to 28 episodes in order to accommodate

3621-596: The show introduced the New God Darkseid as Superman's archenemy. In contrast to the character's less than faithful adaptations in Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians in the 1980s, Superman: The Animated Series portrays Darkseid as the evil and omnipotent cosmic dictator originally envisioned by Kirby in the comics. Michael Ironside 's vocal performance

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3692-459: The show's production and the death of George Reeves. In November 1951, California exhibitor and B-movie producer Robert L. Lippert released a 58-minute black-and-white film starring George Reeves and Phyllis Coates called Superman and the Mole Men , with a script by Robert Maxwell and direction by Lee Sholem . The film served as a pilot for Adventures of Superman and prompted

3763-422: The show's theme music, voiced its opening narration, which was expanded from of the 1940s radio show and the 1940s Superman cartoons . The opening narration of the show set the stage for each program: Kellogg, 'The Greatest Name In Cereals', presents the Adventures of Superman ! Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a mighty locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound! ("Look! Up in

3834-431: The sky!" "It's a bird!" "It's a plane!" "It's Superman!") Yes, it's Superman ... strange visitor from another planet, who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men! Superman ... who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent , mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and

3905-477: The start of production of the first season in August/September of the same year. However, the series discontinued production and remained unaired until September 1952, when cereal manufacturer Kellogg's agreed to sponsor the show, which they had previously done with the Superman radio series . The success of the series came as a complete surprise to the cast. Jack Larson recalled that, at the time, he

3976-1046: The style of All in the Family . The Alvin Show from Ross Bagdasarian Sr. and Beany and Cecil from Bob Clampett are also sitcoms. The 1980s and 1990s were a renaissance of the animated children and adult television series. Various broadcast networks and media companies began creating television channels and formats designed specifically for airing cartoon and anime series. Companies that already had these types of formats in place began to revamp their existing models during this time. Most of this animations were American-based or Japanese anime. Listed below are examples of television networks and channels that include animated programs. American British Japanese Canadian Australian Examples of animation-focused networks and channels are listed below; but some of them aired live-action programs occasionally. American South Korean Canadian Japanese During

4047-544: The superhero has to struggle to perform spectacular feats. However, Clark Kent is shown to be open, if quietly, self-confident, without jeopardizing his secrets. This is similar to the depiction of Batman 's alter-ego, 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

4118-574: The title character's comic-book mythos. 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 . The scope of Superman's powers reflects the more restrained contemporary concept as developed by John Byrne , in that

4189-421: The use of the likenesses of Marvel Comics characters and the long-time rivalry between the two companies might have motivated the deletion. On March 17, 2021, Superman: The Animated Series was made available in high-definition on the streaming service HBO Max . They used the original broadcast version of this episode, reinstating the original mourners at Dan Turpin's funeral. The original version also made it to

4260-428: The villains were often caricatured , and violence was toned down. The only gunfire that occurred was aimed at Superman, and he was less likely to engage in fisticuffs with the villains. On occasions when he did use physical force, he would take them out in a single blow or by banging them together. More often than not, the villains were likely to knock themselves out while fleeing from Superman. At this point, Jimmy, who

4331-430: The week during a prescribed time slot , including for example saturday-morning cartoons , prime time cartoons , late night anime , and weekday cartoons ; series broadcast only on weekends. The duration of an episode also varies. Traditionally, they are produced as complete half-hour or nearly half-hour programs; however, many are presented as animated shorts of 10 — 11 minutes, which can be combined for filling

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4402-485: Was created to promote school savings-stamp plans to children, and was shown in grade schools during the 1950s. It is the only episode of the series that has entered the public domain . It features Clark Kent/Superman, Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane as well as Tristram Coffin as a government spokesman and Billy Nelson as a criminal. The film was released on the Season Two DVD box set of The Adventures of Superman as

4473-462: Was done in a cold, low-affect style similar to HAL 9000 in the Space Odyssey films and the 'Control Voice' heard during the opening narration of The Outer Limits . before being cast as Brainiac, Burton also read for the parts of Superman and Lex Luthor. Clancy Brown also read for Superman but he was chosen as Lex Luthor instead. To pay tribute to Jack Kirby's Fourth World creations,

4544-490: Was filmed at Ziv Studios . The establishing shot of The Daily Planet in the first season was the E. Clem Wilson Building in Los Angeles , California , on Wilshire Boulevard , which was famous for decades as the headquarters of Mutual of Omaha . The Carnation Milk Company Building, located a few blocks east on Wilshire, served as The Daily Planet ' s front door. From the second season onward, stock shots of

4615-540: Was hired to replace Hamilton as "Perry White's brother". Watkin had played Perry White himself in the two Columbia serials and had guested on the series before. The sudden death of the show's star George Reeves in June 1959 was not the end of the series either, in the producers' eyes. When Jack Larson returned from Europe after the death of Reeves, producers suggested the series could continue as "Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen", with more focus on Larson's character, playing opposite

4686-485: Was in New York City , and his newfound fame caught him off guard. The initial feature film, Superman and the Mole Men , was subsequently edited into a two-part storyline called "The Unknown People" and was to be broadcast mid-season, but it went unaired until the two-parter was added to the syndication package of some stations in 1954. It was the only multi-part storyline of the series, and is sometimes broadcast as

4757-402: Was initially lowered for Darkseid's first two appearances in the series, though this modulation was later dropped in favor of Ironside's natural voice. The character is notable for being the only villain the DCAU's version of Superman is willing to kill, and Darkseid's actions in the series finale in addition to their rivalry become a recurring staple throughout subsequent spin-off shows. As with

4828-537: Was produced for first-run syndication rather than for a network, are disputed, but they are generally accepted as September 19, 1952, and April 28, 1958. The show's first two seasons (episodes 1–52, 26 titles per season) were filmed in black-and-white; seasons three through six (episodes 53–104, 13 titles per season) were filmed in color . George Reeves played Superman, with Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen , John Hamilton as Perry White , and Robert Shayne as Inspector Henderson . Phyllis Coates played Lois Lane in

4899-469: Was released in 2006, although it is not considered to be part of DCAU continuity, despite featuring the same character designs as Superman: The Animated Series , as well as both Tim Daly and Dana Delany reprising their voice roles as Superman and Lois Lane, respectively. " Apokolips...Now! Part II " was later altered from its original airing on February 7, 1998. Originally the Dan Turpin funeral at

4970-497: 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. On October 26, 2021, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released Superman: The Complete Animated Series on Blu-ray, also including all 54 episodes and bonus materials. A direct-to-DVD feature, Superman: Brainiac Attacks

5041-416: Was very popular with viewers, was being played as the show's comic foil to Superman. Most plots had Jimmy and Lois being captured, only for Superman to rescue them at the last minute. Scripts for the sixth and final season reestablished some of the show's seriousness, often utilizing science fiction elements such as a Kryptonite -powered robot, atomic explosions , and impregnable metal cubes . In one of

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