ROCKS 3A: Superman The Animated Series opening episodes

WELCOME EVERYBODY TO THE FIRST DISCUSSION IN THE THIRD STRAND OF THE NEW CLUB "R.O.C.K.S." - REWATCHING OLD CLASSIC KIDS SHOWS!
A big thanks to everyone that are joining us through all of this. It’s going to be an enjoyable ride!

This set of ROCKS discussions will focus on Superman: The Animated Series, and specifically this week, we're discussing the opening episodes:

- The Last Son of Krypton parts 1-3

This show has been picked for us by Wilycub.

Just a friendly reminder to everyone that, whilst fans are obviously welcome to passionately discuss and give their views on these episodes, please remember to keep things on a friendly footing and respect your fellow posters.
Also, please do not post where or how to find the full episode online. And do not post asking others to PM it to you. You are however allowed to watch the show in whatever manner you want.

I remember watching Superman: The Animated Series. I thought it was one of the best versions of the Man of Steel. :)

I guess I'll go first with my views. :)

Superman has always been my favorite comic book character since childhood, so I tend to be a tad over-critical and nitpicky when it comes to him. I have seen many of the Superman cartoons, starting from the Fleischer ones to the Ruby Spears ones and even some of the animated TV movies.

Coming to "Superman: The Animated Series" (S:TAS), for those folks who are unfamiliar with the "Batman: The Animated Series" might find the art style of S:TAS a bit jarring at first. I myself was a bit taken aback by the angular and "boxy" designs of the characters as I hadn't seen B:TAS. But the style quickly grew on me and now I have come to love and appreciate Bruce Timm's bold take.

I enjoy the bright colors and the style is great for depicting fight scenes as it endows them with a previously unprecedented dynamism. One can actually feel ever punch thrown! :) The simplistic approach to the art also prevents any visual distractions as the audience are more engrossed in the proceedings than focusing on the details of the drawings.

The story is written very well and progresses effortlessly from Krypton to Smallville to Metropolis, highlighting the important aspects of each of Superman's homes. The writers did put nice little spins and additions of their own to the origin story to make it more plausible and give it depth. One example being Brainiac (why do super-intelligent artificial intelligence always turn evil? ;)). Also Superman's ship not being destroyed when it arrives on Earth is an important plot point which will be explored further in future episodes.

The voice acting and characters are simply brilliant and probably the best thing about the series!!

Superman: The writers have given him limited powers and strength. When trying to accomplish very difficult tasks, he does struggle and has to really exert himself, unlike the old comics where he could hold up a million ton tanker on his pinky! Also he does suffer some sort of impact when powerful weapons and explosives are used. This makes him more believable and also eliminates the need for writers to have Kryptonite or insanely powerful aliens in every episode in order to create conflict.

Clark Kent: He is no longer the comedic, cumbersome Chaplin-esque fool who only pretends to be a journalist. This Clark actually is a good journalist and displays his intelligence as well. He uses his resources more instead of just relying on super hearing. He looks and behaves like any normal human being and easily blends into Metropolis rather than sticking out like a sore thumb.

Lois Lane: A woman with gumption! She takes her career dead seriously, and will jump into any dangerous situation headlong just so that she is the first to get the story. It may sound stupid but she does it so well that to the viewer it seems more brave than foolhardy. Also it is necessary for her to be like that as this gives Superman a reason to rescue her, the basis of their relationship. She did remind me a lot of Margot Kidder's take on the character, except that she isn't overly swooned by Superman like Margot was. And I love her banter with Clark!

Jimmy Olsen: He has been updated very well to fit the attitude of teenagers of the present times. In the old versions he was a one-dimensional city bumpkin.

Lex Luthor: Last but not least, my favorite character in the whole series!!! This is how Luthor should be done. A businessman to the core, weighing everything in profit and loss. He is incredibly intelligent as well. But it really is the brilliant voice of Clancy Brown (Mark and Liam you probably know him better as Captain Hadley from "The Shawshank Redemption") that elevates this character to another level completely.

Great pilot and very well paced over three episodes. Paul Dini and Alan Burnett did an amazing job.
Having the first episode set entirely on Krypton with the destruction of Krypton etc really helped show Superman's parents, planet and Brainiac.
While the animation and design is of course the same as Batman The Animated Series, it also reminds me of the early Fleischer ones. In fact the scene with the armoured battle suit reminded me a little of one of the early Fleischer Superman episodes 'The Mechanical Monsters'.
The voice casting is very good. I really liked Jason Marsden as young Clark Kent and Clancy Brown is great as Lex Luthor. Yes ,Wilycub I am familiar with him as Hadley but I am more familiar with him as The Kurgan from Highlander. :D
It was cool they made mention of Batman in the pilot...which as we know would lead the movie with Superman and Batman.
I guess you will definitely be wanting this Wilycub.
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I'm not that big on Superman, so I went into this with no real expectations either up or down. I have to say I was pleased with what I saw.

First of all, this pilot was very well paced.

The opening episode being set on Krypton gave us the opportunity to properly appreciate the backstory. Brainiac was a curious character in the extreme. Presumably we learn more about him as the series progressed. Why did this super-intelligent computer decide to withhold the data about Krypton's end? How long had it known? Could it have saved the population if it had told them earlier?

Also I was wracking my brains at some of the voice cast - interestingly, Jor-El's wife's father was voiced by Tony Jay, who also played Lex's crony Nigel in Lois & Clark, the live-action version of the story made around the same time (Dean Cain, Teri Hatcher etc). That one incidentally is the version I'm probably most familiar with. I've seen the first film with Christopher Reeve, and that's it.

When part II started out in Smallville, I assumed that the whole of that episode would be set there as the first had been all on Krypton, and that we wouldn't go to Metropolis until part III. Nope! The Smallville segment was short but it included everything it needed to. We moved to Metropolis about halfway through part II, and the familiar characters appeared, yes, they were brought up to date in a way that worked. Lois is a modern woman who knows what she wants and doesn't need anyone's help to get it - except when she goes a little too far and needs rescuing! Perry and Jimmy too seem to be well handled in the modernisation process.

Clark himself, yes, he learns he's different, and it frightens him. Of course it would. He's only too aware of how people are picked on for being different, and even though his differences are physically to his advantage, he knows he'll be thought of as weird. Hence the alter ego. It was good to see that this version of Superman isn't completely invincible. That is the problem that the character intrinsically has, there's the feeling that he's so invulnerable that there's no real drama.

As for Lex Luthor . . . if Panthro was white! I think they were going for a Yul Brynner look here. I mentioned the Lois & Clark series earlier, and John Shea's performance as Lex was the high point of that show, and a really complex character. This version doesn't have quite the same ambiguity to his nature, but then it's a kids' cartoon and he's the baddie, so I guess he wouldn't. He's still a pretty good villain though. Actually I've just thought of who else he reminds me of. The Hood in the new version of Thunderbirds - the new animated series that premiered last year (I'm a die-hard fan of the original but it's all right if you can get past the iffy CGI). The Hood in this version is very much a ruthless calculating businessman, much the same as Lex.

On the whole, yes, I'm willing to see where this show goes. Wilycub, do message me with your picks of high points.

I'm very happy to hear that you guys enjoyed the pilot! :) I hope you like the upcoming episodes as well.

"Mark M, post: 118072, member: 5058" said:

I guess you will definitely be wanting this Wilycub.

Those are beautiful!! :thumbsup

"LiamABC, post: 118075, member: 25438" said:

On the whole, yes, I'm willing to see where this show goes. Wilycub, do message me with your picks of high points.

I'll send them to you ASAP. So we are doing three episodes a week, correct? And for how many weeks will we be discussing S: TAS? I just want to know so that I can pick and organize the episodes accordingly. I don't want to put a Season 3 episode in one week and a Season 1 episode in the following week. ;)

Three episodes a week is the norm. Two weeks of individual high points, and if there's a feature length adventure we can cover that too. Look at how we did Transformers and Defenders Of The Earth.

Also, I forgot to say about the animation before. It's very distinctive, the way Filmation's was in the 1970s and 1980s. I'm sure you can tell any show made by these people a mile off. And - is it just me or does Lois Lane's skirt look like it's just short enough for the viewer to imagine they saw something they shouldn't if she's bent over?

"LiamABC, post: 118095, member: 25438" said:

Three episodes a week is the norm. Two weeks of individual high points, and if there's a feature length adventure we can cover that too. Look at how we did Transformers and Defenders Of The Earth.

Also, I forgot to say about the animation before. It's very distinctive, the way Filmation's was in the 1970s and 1980s. I'm sure you can tell any show made by these people a mile off. And - is it just me or does Lois Lane's skirt look like it's just short enough for the viewer to imagine they saw something they shouldn't if she's bent over?

Thanks! So I'll pick the six best episodes (3 per week) and send them to you. Unfortunately there's no feature length movie.

Regarding Lois' skirt.... ahem.... :geek I can only guess that they did it that way to make it easy to animate and not have to do the long flowing skirt.

By the way, did Bibbo Bibbowski (Lois' not so bright informant) remind anyone of Popeye the Sailor? :)

Fair enough. If there's a multi-part finale we can do that. In the meantime, high points and/or episodes that are particularly important to the series story arc/themes, that sort of thing. And yes, three a week.

Like Popeye? Facially, yes, body-wise he was more like his arch-nemesis Bluto!

"Wilycub, post: 118099, member: 25043" said:

Thanks! So I'll pick the six best episodes (3 per week) and send them to you. Unfortunately there's no feature length movie.

Regarding Lois' skirt.... ahem.... :geek I can only guess that they did it that way to make it easy to animate and not have to do the long flowing skirt.

By the way, did Bibbo Bibbowski (Lois' not so bright informant) remind anyone of Popeye the Sailor? :)

"LiamABC, post: 118101, member: 25438" said:

Fair enough. If there's a multi-part finale we can do that. In the meantime, high points and/or episodes that are particularly important to the series story arc/themes, that sort of thing. And yes, three a week.

Like Popeye? Facially, yes, body-wise he was more like his arch-nemesis Bluto!

The is two feature length movie! Batman Superman World's Finest and Brainiac Attacks. :D Although World's Finest might not count as the movie was made up of episodes from the series.

"LiamABC, post: 118101, member: 25438" said:

Like Popeye? Facially, yes, body-wise he was more like his arch-nemesis Bluto!

Hahaha! Yes, the body is definitely Bluto's, but it was the facial shape, the squint in his eye, the fact that he is a sailor, that kind of reminded me of Popeye. :)

"Mark M, post: 118105, member: 5058" said:

The is two feature length movie! Batman Superman World's Finest and Brainiac Attacks. :D Although World's Finest might not count as the movie was made up of episodes from the series.

I have picked "World's Finest" 3 parter as the finale of our discussion. It has Superman, Batman, Luthor and Joker! :biggrin

"Wilycub, post: 118110, member: 25043" said:

I have picked "World's Finest" 3 parter as the finale of our discussion. It has Superman, Batman, Luthor and Joker! :biggrin

Excellent. :D