The New Adventures of Superman

***The New Adventures of Superman*** is a TV series composed of six-minute animated Superman adventures. The TV show was produced by Filmation and the episodes were broadcast during Saturday mornings on CBS from September 10, 1966, to September 5, 1970. The 68 segments appeared as parts of three different programs during that time, mixed with similar shorts such as *The Adventures of Superboy* and the remaining DC Comics superheroes.

## History

These adventures were the first time that Superman (and his guise of Clark Kent), Lois Lane and Perry White had been seen in animated form since the Fleischer brothers had immortalized them in the Superman short films of the 1940s.

The first TV series produced by Filmation Associates, *The New Adventures of Superman* was extremely popular in its Saturday morning time slot and employed the services of several DC Comics writers including George Kashdan, Leo Dorfman and Bob Haney. Many of the character designs (later based upon the artwork of Superman artist Curt Swan in the show's third season) stayed true to their comic book counterparts; iconic shirt-rip shots and related transformations from Clark Kent into Superman were incorporated into almost every episode, and such lines as "Up, up, and away!" and "This is a job *for Superman!"* were also borrowed from both the comics and the original Superman radio series. In addition, this series marked the animation debuts of Jimmy Olsen and classic Superman villains such as Lex Luthor, Brainiac, the Toyman, the Prankster, Titano, and Mister Mxyzptlk, as well as the inclusion of new villains like the Warlock and the Sorcerer. Due to a limited production budget, stock animation was often re-used for certain shots of Superman flying (or switching identities from Clark Kent into the Man of Steel), while character movement was often kept at a minimum; this would later become a trademark of Filmation's animated productions.

Producer Lou Scheimer also recruited Clayton "Bud" Collyer and Joan Alexander, veterans of the Superman radio show and the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons, for the voices of Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane respectively. Jackson Beck, who had narrated, and provided the character voice of Perry White on, the radio show, reprised those same roles for the cartoon version, while Jack Grimes, who had played Jimmy Olsen in its later years, took that part here as well. For this series, Collyer returned to the same vocal technique he had perfected on the radio show to play the Man Of Steel. While in the identity of Clark Kent, Collyer would keep his voice lighter while projecting a sense of weakness. But whenever the mild-mannered reporter would change into his true identity of Superman, Collyer's voice would deepen dramatically into a heroic baritone. Alexander departed after the first season and was replaced by Julie Bennett in later seasons. The theme music for the show was composed by John Marion Gart. Mort Weisinger, editor of the *Superman* comics, acted as story consultant for the animated series, and made sure to include characters from his era, like Titano and Brainiac.

Despite its success, the series sparked the anger of Action for Children's Television, a grassroots organization formed in 1968 and dedicated to improving the quality of television programming offered to children, due to Superman throwing punches and other action-related violence which the group found objectionable. As a result, the series was soon cancelled, and future cartoons would not allow for such comic book violence.

Superman subsequently appeared in ABC's long-running animated series *Super Friends* (1973), produced by Hanna-Barbera, whose rights to DC Comics characters were gradually transferred from Filmation.

## Episodes

Main Article: *List of The New Adentures of Superman Episodes*

## Cast

* Bud Collyer as Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman (Superman segments)
* Bob Hastings as Young Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superboy (Superboy segments)
* Jackson Beck as Narrator (Superman segments), Perry White (Superman segments), Beany Martin (Superman segments)
* Ted Knight as Narrator (Superboy segments)
* Joan Alexander as Lois Lane (Superman segments, 1966-1967 & 1969-1970)
* Ray Owens as Warlock (Superman segments), Lex Luthor (Superman segments)
* Jack Grimes as Jimmy Olsen (Superman segments)
* Julie Bennett as Lois Lane (Superman segments, 1967-1969)
* Gilbert Mack as Mr. Mxyzptlk (Superman segments), Brainiac (Superman segments)
* Janet Waldo as Lana Lang (Superboy segments)