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Ratings for Animated Superman Are 'Up, Up, and Away'

© F. Colin Kingston

Superman, one of the most popular icons of American culture, is back on television. The animated series is produced by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, and Bruce Timm, the same creative team behind the Emmy Award-winning BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES.

Burnett and Dini wrote the 90-minute pilot episode SUPERMAN: THE LOST SON OF KRYPTON which premiered in prime time on the WB network in September of 1996. It traced Superman from his early life on the planet Krypton to his childhood in Smallville with Ma and Pa Kent, to his first days on the Daily Planet with Lois Lane, Perry White and Jimmy Olsen.

Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster and first premiered in National Comics in 1938. Since then the "man of steel" has been adapted countless times into comic book, radio, motion picture and television form. Like any creative artists, the producers of the animated series were looking to bring some of their own ideas to an already established legend.

"I thought there was an element that every other version of Superman missed," said Dini. "They all picked up on the commitment that Clark has to being a superhero, but nobody really touched on the wonder and job he must have felt the first time he did it and how strange it was that he had these powers. First he is frightened of them, and then he realizes that they are wonderful."

The pilot episode, which is also available for purchase on Warner Brothers home video, features many of the characters that fans of Superman are familiar with, including Superman's parents Jor El and Lara. The Kryptonian sequences even include less familiar characters like Superman¹s grandfather. Noted Burnett, "He is a genuine character in the comics from decades ago. We have the names of all the in-laws. We even have them in the Krypton in the pilot."

The actors voicing the characters in SUPERMAN are some of the most familiar names in Hollywood. Tim Daly (WINGS) is Superman/Clark Kent; Dana Delaney (NYPD BLUE) is Lois Lane; David Kaufman (DOWN TO EARTH) is Jimmy Olsen, George Dzundza (THE ENEMY WITHIN) is Perry White; Shelley Fabraes (COACH) is Martha Kent; Mike Farell (M*A*S*H) plays Jonathan Kent.

Villains featured in this animated Superman include: Clancy Brown (HIGHLANDER) as Lex Luthor; Gilbert Gottfried (PROBLEM CHILD) as Mr. Mxyptik; Bruce Weitz (HILL STREET BLUES) as Bruno Maheim; Malcolm McDowell (STAR TREK VII) as Corben/Metallo; and Michael Ironside (TOTAL RECALL) as Darkside.