Superman: TAS (1996-2000)
Dirs. Various | 54 episodes (split over 3 seasons), approx 22 mins each [1]
Conceived and produced by many of the same creative team that made Batman: TAS (1992–95) so good, Superman's animated series looked familiar but also different.
Metropolis is much brighter than Gotham, with a different kind of art deco influence, one more inspired by Streamline Moderne.
Giving each city its own visual identity is a positive change, but the less textured aesthetic of Metropolis looks unintentionally cheap and sparse by comparison.
Likewise, and the first indication that what you're watching might be a step down in quality, the opening credits, which are a montage of episode scenes in roughly chronological order, feel tawdry and lazy compared to the dramatic excellence of Batman's. Superman's are spoilery, too, for anyone who's not seen the series before. And subjectively speaking, Shirley Walker's accompanying theme music is also less memorable.
On first impressions, then, Superman: TAS seems to be the weaker sibling in the era's shared DC animated universe, but good writing can overcome those kinds of shortcomings. Happily, it does occasionally turn things around for the better, but it rarely reaches the heights of its predecessor (or indeed its animated successors, Justice League and Batman Beyond / Batman of the Future).
It begins with a standard origin story split over three episodes, later released as a single direct-to-video feature under the title Superman: The Last Son of Krypton, with all three parts joined together. It's similar to how the Kryptonian's journey from his home-world to Earth had been presented in other media, but there's at least one notable difference regarding a recurring villain.
Overall, however, Season One has just a handful of what I consider good episodes, and only two that I enjoyed enough to willingly watch again. But, of course, your own mileage may vary.
- It's easy when the shirt has no buttons. -
Season Two has more episodes, many with a better balance of storytelling and characterisation, introducing a number of recurring villains - the most memorable of which isn't a villain at all but a well-meaning, mixed-up individual who just wants acknowledgement and a place to belong.
The primary voice actors did some fine work, but I don't feel they were as iconic or as irreplaceable as they could've been; i.e., they could've been swapped with voice actors that were equally as accomplished and nothing indefinable would be lost, like it would (and was) when someone other than Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill played Batman and Joker, respectively.
Guest voice actors include Malcolm McDowell, Ron Perlman, Sarah Douglas, Michael Dorn, Melissa Joan Hart, Michael York, David Warner, Roddy McDowall, and Jennifer Lien.
The shared continuity between Superman TAS and Batman TAS (and therefore also The New Batman Adventures) allowed for crossovers to happen, of which there are about half a dozen. The one that I think most people will likely remember is from the second season, namely World's Finest Parts I, II, and III. It features Batman in his TNBA guise and tonally favours the Dark Knight's mood more than it does Superman's, but the two larger than life protagonists work fantastically well together onscreen, just as they did in the comics. (Incidentally, those three episodes also received a direct-to-video release, retitled The Batman / Superman Movie.)
There's an occasional nod to previous eras, including the Fleischer Studios series, which made me smile, but I can't understand why Lois Lane was given weird violet coloured eyes; of all the creative decisions that stood out as peculiar, those eyes look the most ridiculous to me.
NOTE: while my opinions can (and should) be easily ignored in favour of your own exploration and conclusions, one thing to take away as fact is that the Blu-ray packaging at time of writing (released Oct. 2021) claims the episodes are presented in 16:9 ratio, which is incorrect - thankfully, they're in their correct 4:3 ratio. Lifelong fans of both animation and Superman can rejoice together in that. (The Blu-ray cover is like the pic used above but with a red BG.)
[1] For whatever reason, IMDB lists Season Three as being the final one, with 13 episodes in total. But both Wikipedia and the DCAU Wiki report that Season Three has 10 episodes and is followed by a Season Four that has just 03 episodes. Either way, the total of both is 13 episodes, which, when added to what came before (in Seasons One + Two) equals the full 54.
- Lois, looking ever so slightly Picasso-esque. -
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