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Jacob-the-Fox-Critic — Superman: The Animated Series (1996-2000) Review

Published: 2020-11-08 00:10:10 +0000 UTC; Views: 7735; Favourites: 26; Downloads: 0
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Description Lets continue the DC Animated Universe with the next series starring the one and only Man of Steel.

The story follows Kal-El, who as an infant, was sent to Earth by his parents as his homeworld of Krypton was about to be completely destroyed. He is raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville, Kansas, and over the years begins to discover his true heritage, and extraordinary powers caused by Earth's sun. Many years later, he becomes a reporter at the Daily Planet in Metropolis where he meets the feisty Lois Lane, young cub reporter Jimmy Olson, and hot-headed Perry White. In the meantime, he fights crime and helps people across the city as the Man of Steel, Superman. Over the course of the series he fights many super-villains including the cunning Lex Luthor, his assistant Mercy Graves, the supercomputer Brianiac, the ruthless and fearsome Darkseid, Kryptonian criminals Jax-Ur and Mala, the troublemaking Mr. Mxyzptlk, the maniacal android Metallo, his polar opposite Bizarro, the electrifying Livewire, the flaming Volcana, the playtime obsessed Toyman, the hideous Parasite, the brutal Kalibak, the infatuated Maxima, the sadistic Granny Goodness and her Female Furies, and more. He also occasionally teams up with scientist Emil Hamilton, high school crush Lana Lang, long lost cousin Kara/Supergirl, inspectors Dan Turpin and Maggie Sawyer, and even other superheroes such as Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Doctor Fate, Steel, and even the motormouthed Lobo.

Pros:
1. Clark/Superman is a very great protagonist.
2. Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Emil, Dan, Maggie, Martha, Jonathan, and Kara/Supergirl are all amazing supporting characters.
3. Lex, Mercy, Brainiac, Darkseid, Jax-Ur, Mala, Mxyzptlk, Metallo, Bizarro, Livewire, Volcana, Toyman, Parasite, Kalibak, Maxima, and Granny Goodness are all great villains.
4. Awesome guest appearances from Batman, Robin, Alfred, Joker, Harley Quinn, Bane, Ra's al Ghul, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Sinestro, Flash, Weather Wizard, Doctor Fate, Lobo, and Steel.
5. The show has a great blend of action, adventure, comedy, drama, and suspense.
6. Awesome action scenes.
7. While it does have a more light-hearted than Batman: TAS, it still has some very well handled intense and dark moments.
8. Stellar writing that's very respectful to the source material, and leads to the absolute best episodes of the series.
9. Once again, the music by Shirley Walker and co. is amazingly done.
10. Very well handled comedy.
11. Stellar voice acting, especially Tim Daly as Superman, Dana Delany as Lois, and Clancy Brown as Lex.
12. The animation is spectacular for a mid 90s cartoon with amazing character designs and well done backgrounds.

Cons:
1. There are a few lackluster episodes.

Overall:
This is right on par with Batman: TAS as one of the best superhero shows, one of the best cartoons ever made, and in my opinion, the definitive version of Superman. This is a total must watch!

Rating:
9.5/10 (Amazing to Perfect)

Production Notes and Trivia:
1. Originally producer Bruce Timm wanted the show to have a more classic 1940s Fleischer Studios Superman-cartoon feel. Another original character design sheet showed the characters in a stylised 1950s style (not unlike that of the live-action Adventures of Superman TV series), suggesting that the producers also considered setting the series during that period, or possibly ending up like Batman: The Animated Series (set during modern times, but with an Art Deco feel) or as the producers said Gotham was Art Deco with Gothic elements, Metropolis was "Ocean Liner Deco". 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 being an instrumental piece played over various scenes from the series. Koko Enterprise Co., LTD., TMS-Kyokuchi Corporation, Dong Yang Animation Co., LTD and Group TAC contributed some of the animation for this series.
2. During the series, Bruce Timm and his crew began using TMS-Kyokuchi Corporation as an outsourced pre-production unit as well as an animation unit, and TMS storyboarded and directed episodes themselves.
3. One noticeable aspect of the series carried over from Byrne's work was Superman's powers were significantly downplayed compared to his comic book counterpart. Where as 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 story permitted. His durability was also considerably less that while bullets bounced off him, heavier ordnance like high caliber bullets, cannons and missiles caused him pain or discomfort (but it's 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.
4. In addition, 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.
5. Season two was originally scheduled to run 26 episodes, but it was extended to 28 episodes in order to accommodate a two-part story introducing Supergirl.
6. While the series adapts many villains from Superman's rogues gallery in the comics, the archenemies and primary antagonists that he faces throughout the show and the DCAU continuity as a whole are Lex Luthor, Brainiac and Darkseid.
7. In the series, the writers decided to alter Brainiac's origin by making him an artificial intelligence supercomputer from Krypton, instead of 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 colouration, 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 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.
8. To pay tribute to Jack Kirby's Fourth World creations, the show introduced the New God Darkseid to Superman's roster of villains. The character had previously appeared in Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians in the 1980s, but Superman: The Animated Series portrays him as the dark and powerful cosmic dictator as originally envisioned by Kirby in the comics. Michael Ironside's voice was initially lowered for Darkseid's first two appearances in the series, though this modulation was dropped in favour of Ironside's natural voice for subsequent episodes.
9. TMS also did the digital black hole effects in the episode "Absolute Power," although Koko and Dong Yang did the background and character animation.
10. 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 the superhero has to struggle to perform spectacular feats. However, Clark Kent is shown to be openly, if quietly, self-confident. This is similar to the depiction of Batman's alter-ego, Bruce Wayne, in Batman: The Animated Series.
11. Midway through the series' run, it was combined with The New Batman Adventures to become The New Batman/Superman Adventures.
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Comments: 2

KawaiiWonder [2020-11-17 22:30:35 +0000 UTC]

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Draconicat [2020-11-10 20:22:39 +0000 UTC]

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