Super Powers Collection - Superman

I noticed that the musical score is also fairly intricate, considering this was a cartoon primarily intended for children. The only one that is more sophisticated is the music that accompanies "Battle of the Planets," early Americanized anime. Superman's score always enhances, never detracts; and it's hard to imagine this cartoon without it. Even the theme is catchy and intense, in the mid-60s surf-rock vein.

This cartoon captures the spirit of what Supe had become by the time the 60's rolled around, with the Filmation animation beating anything by Hanna-Barbera up to that point...or even 10 years after. Enjoy!


I LOVE THIS   April 8, 2000
 8 out of 14 found this review helpful

THESE CARTOONS ARE AS GOOD AS AQUAMAN ,BATMAN AND SUPERBOY.IHAVE THEM ALL ON TAPE. IF PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO FIND THEM ON TV ,THATSEASY. THE BEST PART ABOUT THESE ARE THAT THEY FORMATTED WITH SOME GREAT SUPERFRIENDS AND FILMATION JUSTICE LEAGUE CARTOONS. END


Filmation's Splendid Superman Cartoons Return   May 14, 1999
 31 out of 32 found this review helpful

This tape contains seven Superman cartoons created by the now-defunct Filmation animation studio. The cartoons were part of the studio's debut into TV animation, The New Adventures Of Superman, first broadcast in September 1966 on CBS.

The cartoons do not, of course, have the lavish flowing animation of Max Fleischer's 1940s Superman cartoons (even today, with greater animation budgets for such cartoons as Warner Brothers' immortal Batman series, TV animation never quite reaches the level of Fleischer's work), but they nonetheless have very attractive graphics and good character designs - no surprise given that the show's associate producer was Anatole Kirsanoff, one of the key animators for Hanna-Barbera's Jonny Quest series.

Also present are the magnificent voice performances of Clayton "Bud" Collyer as Clark Kent/Superman, the original radio voice of The Man Of Steel. No voice artist can ever surpass him or his fellow radio voice, narrator Jackson Beck. For Lois Lane, Filmation alternated between original Lois Lane voice Joan Alexander and actress Julie Bennett; Bennett is present in the three cartoons in which Ms. Lane appears on this tape, and does the voice very well. Jack Grimes - aka Sparky on Speed Racer - is brilliant as Jimmy Olsen, while Cliff Owens shines as Lex Luthor.

Holding it all together are the superb scores of John Marion and Gordon Zahler. If it weren't for John Williams and his 1978 movie score, Marion and Zahler's 1966 TV work would rank as the finest music possible for Superman or any superhero. Using a large orchestra, Marion and Zahler give the cartoons a sweep and majesty not to be found in any Hanna-Barbera creation or any cartoon before Warners' 1990s Batmans.

The show's writing, primarily by DC Comics writers George Kashdan and Dennis Marks, varied in quality, but stories were generally good. At times the writing was downright brilliant, as in the controversial classic The Pernicious Parasite, featuring a villian with the ability to drain physical power from anyone - even Superman. How The Man Of Steel defeats the Parasite remains an ending sure to shock - indeed it is a wonder how this cartoon made it past Standards & Practices at CBS.

The Superman series by Filmation and the studio's other superhero series, Aquaman, remain classics deserving of greater contemporary exposure.