Superheroes in animation
Encyclopedia
Superhero
es have been portrayed in animation
since the early 1940s. Up until the late 90s animated cartoons have been the most common venue, right after comics, to depic superheroistic adventures. Contrary to movie features and television series they did not require expensive sets and special effects; cartoon shows featuring superheroes became a staple of children's entertainment with a few shows reaching adult audiences.
In late 1941, Superman
became the first superhero to be depicted in animation
, The Superman
series of groundbreaking theatrical cartoons was produced by Fleischer
/Famous Studios
from 1941 to 1943 and featured the famous "It's a bird, it's a plane" introduction. One of the most successful imitations/parodies was Terrytoons
' Mighty Mouse
series, which became the flagship property of the studio.
With the rise of television
in the 1960s, superheroes have found success in animated television series geared towards children, including Filmation
's Superman-Batman
Adventure Hour and Grantray-Lawrence Animation
's Spider-Man
, featuring the "does whatever a spider can" theme song.
In the 1970s, Japanese anime
strove to emulate American superhero cartoons with their own creations. The most successful was Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman (Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) which became a television classic that created a template that many other anime series followed.
In the 1970s and 1980s American superhero animated series were constrained by the broadcasting restrictions that activist groups like Action for Children's Television
lobbied for. The most popular series in this period, Super Friends
, an adaptation of DC's Justice League of America, was designed to be as nonviolent and inoffensive as possible. The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show
and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends were similarly tame. Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman aired in North America
as the Battle of the Planets
but it was so severely edited for violence that plots were incoherent although it still won many fans for its distinctive take on the genre.
In the 1980s, the Saturday morning cartoon
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
brought together Spider-Man
, Iceman, and Firestar
. The following decade, Batman: The Animated Series
and X-Men, aimed at somewhat older audiences, found critical success in mainstream publications. Ken Tucker
of Entertainment Weekly
said of the former, "The animation is first-rate, moving Batman across gray cotton clouds and against a backdrop of teetering Art Deco
-style skyscrapers. ... In contrast to both the '60s show or [director][ Tim] Burton
's movies, the new Batman features plots that actually make sense and an occasional bit of clever dialogue that never curdles into camp".
Frank Lovece
of Entertainment Weekly said of the latter, "[T]he art is miles above the pasteboard cutouts of the 1960s and '70s superhero 'toons, and the characters are more believably flawed. The dialogue still comes straight from drive-in movies, though...." Series that followed included Superman: The Animated Series
(1996) and Cartoon Network
's adaptation of DC's Justice League (2001) and Teen Titans
. The animation style of Batman: the Animated Series was replicated in the sequels The New Batman Adventures
and Batman Beyond
and the spinoffs, Static Shock
and Superman: The Animated Series
and other shows.
In 1994, Phantom 2040
made its debut, loosely based on Lee Falk
's legendary superhero The Phantom
, and adapted into the screen by Aeon Flux-creator Peter Chung
. The series followed the descendant of the Phantom of the original comic books in the year of 2040. Despite critical acclaim, the series was cancelled after two season, but remains a cult favorite. Similarly, Walt Disney Pictures
produced the highly acclaimed television series Gargoyles
, created by Greg Weisman
. This production presented the adventures of a clan of heroic night creatures in stories that owed as much to William Shakespeare
and medieval history as they did to traditional superhero fiction.
HBO's Spawn, originally aired from 1997 through 1999, was one of the few animated superhero series to be amied exclusively at an adult audience, as the show featured a considerable amount of gore and sexuality between superman and wonderwoman.
In 1998, Cartoon Network began airing The Powerpuff Girls
, a superhero parody designed to appeal to both children and adults. The show spoofed both specific superheroes (like Wonder Woman, Sailor Moon and Spawn, amongst many others) as well as general conventions of the genre (like how violence is often presented as the best/only solution to problems in superhero stories, for example). In the 2000s, the Nickelodeon
series, Danny Phantom
, earned its own appreciative following with its intelligent humor and appealing character story arc
narrative structure.
Taking advantage of a format that affords a level of content freedom for an older and more sophisticated audience than American television demographics would accommodate, original animated video release series featuring the superhero characters of Marvel Comics and DC Comics respectively began with considerable success in the 2000s .
s, animated superhero series have often featured comedic anthropomorphic animal superheroes. These series combine two timeless niches in children’s television: superheroes and funny animals. The first such series was the Superman-inspired Mighty Mouse
, which was the flagship series of the Terrytoons
company in the 1940s. Underdog, ThunderCats
, Darkwing Duck
, Biker Mice from Mars
, "Street Sharks
" and Earthworm Jim
(based on the video game series of the exact name
) are popular examples from later decades, while Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
combined martial arts clichés and conventions with the more sci fi, fantastical, and outrageous elements of superhero stories. The most recent popular example of such such series is Krypto the Superdog
, which featured Superman's dog
as well as Streaky the Supercat and Ace
The Bathound, all more cartoony versions of original characters from the DC Universe
.
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es have been portrayed in animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
since the early 1940s. Up until the late 90s animated cartoons have been the most common venue, right after comics, to depic superheroistic adventures. Contrary to movie features and television series they did not require expensive sets and special effects; cartoon shows featuring superheroes became a staple of children's entertainment with a few shows reaching adult audiences.
History
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
became the first superhero to be depicted in animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
, The Superman
Superman (1940s cartoons)
The Fleischer & Famous Superman cartoons are a series of seventeen animated Technicolor short films released by Paramount Pictures and based upon the comic book character Superman....
series of groundbreaking theatrical cartoons was produced by Fleischer
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...
/Famous Studios
Famous Studios
Famous Studios was the animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount acquired the aforementioned studio and ousted its founders, Max and Dave Fleischer, in 1941...
from 1941 to 1943 and featured the famous "It's a bird, it's a plane" introduction. One of the most successful imitations/parodies was Terrytoons
Terrytoons
Terrytoons was an animation studio founded by Paul Terry. The studio, located in suburban New Rochelle, New York, operated from 1929 to 1968. Its most popular characters included Mighty Mouse, Gandy Goose, Sourpuss, Dinky Duck, Deputy Dawg, Luno and Heckle and Jeckle; these cartoons and all of its...
' Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse is an animated superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox.-History:The character was created by story man Izzy Klein as a super-powered housefly named Superfly. Studio head Paul Terry changed the character into a cartoon mouse instead...
series, which became the flagship property of the studio.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
in the 1960s, superheroes have found success in animated television series geared towards children, including Filmation
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
's Superman-Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
Adventure Hour and Grantray-Lawrence Animation
Grantray-Lawrence Animation
Grantray-Lawrence Animation was an animated cartoon studio active from 1954 to 1967 and founded by Grant Simmons, Ray Patterson , and Robert Lawrence....
's Spider-Man
Spider-Man (1967 TV series)
Spider-Man is an animated television series that ran from September 9, 1967 to June 14, 1970. It was jointly produced in Canada and the United States and was the first animated adaptation of the Spider-Man comic book series, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko...
, featuring the "does whatever a spider can" theme song.
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
strove to emulate American superhero cartoons with their own creations. The most successful was Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman (Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) which became a television classic that created a template that many other anime series followed.
In the 1970s and 1980s American superhero animated series were constrained by the broadcasting restrictions that activist groups like Action for Children's Television
Action for Children's Television
Action for Children's Television was founded by Peggy Charren and Judy Chalfen in Newton, Massachusetts in 1968 as a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the quality of television programming offered to children...
lobbied for. The most popular series in this period, Super Friends
Super Friends
Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup...
, an adaptation of DC's Justice League of America, was designed to be as nonviolent and inoffensive as possible. The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show
Plastic Man
Plastic Man is a fictional comic-book superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Cole, he first appeared in Police Comics #1 ....
and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends were similarly tame. Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman aired in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
as the Battle of the Planets
Battle of the Planets
Battle of the Planets is an American animated television adaptation of the Japanese anime series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman . Of the 105 original Gatchaman episodes, 85 were used in the Battle of the Planets adaptation, produced by Sandy Frank Entertainment...
but it was so severely edited for violence that plots were incoherent although it still won many fans for its distinctive take on the genre.
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is an animated series produced by Marvel Productions starring established Marvel Comics characters Spider-Man and Iceman and an original character, Firestar...
brought together Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, Iceman, and Firestar
Firestar
Firestar is a fictional mutant superhero in the . Debuting in 1981 on the NBC animated television series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, she has the ability to generate and manipulate microwave radiation, which allows her to generate intense heat and flames, and to fly...
. The following decade, Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series is an American animated series based on the DC Comics character Batman. The series featured an ensemble cast of many voice-actors including Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Arleen Sorkin, and Loren Lester. The series won four Emmy Awards and was nominated...
and X-Men, aimed at somewhat older audiences, found critical success in mainstream publications. Ken Tucker
Ken Tucker
Ken Tucker was an English footballer who played as a left winger....
of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
said of the former, "The animation is first-rate, moving Batman across gray cotton clouds and against a backdrop of teetering Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
-style skyscrapers. ... In contrast to both the '60s show or [director]
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
's movies, the new Batman features plots that actually make sense and an occasional bit of clever dialogue that never curdles into camp".
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece is an American journalist, author, comedy performer and comic book writer. He was additionally one of the first professional Web journalists, becoming an editor of a Silicon Alley start-up in 1996....
of Entertainment Weekly said of the latter, "[T]he art is miles above the pasteboard cutouts of the 1960s and '70s superhero 'toons, and the characters are more believably flawed. The dialogue still comes straight from drive-in movies, though...." Series that followed included Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series starring DC Comics' flagship character, Superman. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB from September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner Bros...
(1996) and Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
's adaptation of DC's Justice League (2001) and Teen Titans
Teen Titans (TV series)
Teen Titans is an American animated television series based on the DC Comics characters of the same name. The show was created by Glen Murakami, developed by David Slack, and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003, and the final episode "Things Change"...
. The animation style of Batman: the Animated Series was replicated in the sequels The New Batman Adventures
The New Batman Adventures
The New Batman Adventures is the successor to Batman: The Animated Series produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Although bearing different character designs and animation styles, both shows take place in the same continuity, with TNBA set two years after BTAS. The series aired on The WB from...
and Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond is an American animated television series created by Warner Bros. Animation in collaboration with DC Comics as a continuation of the Batman legacy...
and the spinoffs, Static Shock
Static Shock
Static Shock is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered in September 2000 on the Kids' WB! block and ran for four seasons, with a total of 52 half-hour episodes....
and Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series starring DC Comics' flagship character, Superman. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB from September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner Bros...
and other shows.
In 1994, Phantom 2040
Phantom 2040
Phantom 2040 is an American animated science fiction television series loosely based on the comic strip hero The Phantom, created by Lee Falk. The central character of the series is said to be the 24th Phantom...
made its debut, loosely based on Lee Falk
Lee Falk
Lee Falk, born Leon Harrison Gross , was an American writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the popular comic strip superheroes The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, who at the height of their popularity attracted over a hundred million readers every day...
's legendary superhero The Phantom
The Phantom
The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many media, including television, film and video games, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the fictional African country Bengalla.The Phantom is...
, and adapted into the screen by Aeon Flux-creator Peter Chung
Peter Chung
Peter Kunshik Chung Peter Kunshik Chung Peter Kunshik Chung (born April 19, 1961 in Seoul, South Korea, as 정건식 (Chung Geun-sik, or alternative spelling Jeong Geun-Sik) is a Korean American animator...
. The series followed the descendant of the Phantom of the original comic books in the year of 2040. Despite critical acclaim, the series was cancelled after two season, but remains a cult favorite. Similarly, Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
produced the highly acclaimed television series Gargoyles
Gargoyles (TV series)
Gargoyles is an American animated series created by Greg Weisman. It was produced by Greg Weisman and Frank Paur and aired from October 24, 1994 to February 15, 1997. Gargoyles is known for its dark tone, complex story arcs and melodrama...
, created by Greg Weisman
Greg Weisman
Greg Weisman is an American comic book and animation writer and producer, best known as the creator of Gargoyles and as the Supervising Producer of The Spectacular Spider-Man. Weisman is currently a producer on the Young Justice animated series...
. This production presented the adventures of a clan of heroic night creatures in stories that owed as much to William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and medieval history as they did to traditional superhero fiction.
HBO's Spawn, originally aired from 1997 through 1999, was one of the few animated superhero series to be amied exclusively at an adult audience, as the show featured a considerable amount of gore and sexuality between superman and wonderwoman.
In 1998, Cartoon Network began airing The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera for Cartoon Network...
, a superhero parody designed to appeal to both children and adults. The show spoofed both specific superheroes (like Wonder Woman, Sailor Moon and Spawn, amongst many others) as well as general conventions of the genre (like how violence is often presented as the best/only solution to problems in superhero stories, for example). In the 2000s, the Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
series, Danny Phantom
Danny Phantom
Danny Phantom is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon, produced by Billionfold Studios. The show was about a teenage half-ghost boy, who frequently saves his town and the world from ghost attacks, while attempting to keep his ghost half a secret...
, earned its own appreciative following with its intelligent humor and appealing character story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
narrative structure.
Taking advantage of a format that affords a level of content freedom for an older and more sophisticated audience than American television demographics would accommodate, original animated video release series featuring the superhero characters of Marvel Comics and DC Comics respectively began with considerable success in the 2000s .
Animal superheroes
In addition to the human superheroes found in comic bookComic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s, animated superhero series have often featured comedic anthropomorphic animal superheroes. These series combine two timeless niches in children’s television: superheroes and funny animals. The first such series was the Superman-inspired Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse is an animated superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox.-History:The character was created by story man Izzy Klein as a super-powered housefly named Superfly. Studio head Paul Terry changed the character into a cartoon mouse instead...
, which was the flagship series of the Terrytoons
Terrytoons
Terrytoons was an animation studio founded by Paul Terry. The studio, located in suburban New Rochelle, New York, operated from 1929 to 1968. Its most popular characters included Mighty Mouse, Gandy Goose, Sourpuss, Dinky Duck, Deputy Dawg, Luno and Heckle and Jeckle; these cartoons and all of its...
company in the 1940s. Underdog, ThunderCats
ThunderCats
ThunderCats is an American animated television series that was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions debuting in 1984, based on the characters created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf. The series follows the adventures of a group of cat-like humanoid aliens...
, Darkwing Duck
Darkwing Duck
DarkWing Duck is an American animated television series produced by The Walt Disney Company that ran from 1991–1992 on both the syndicated programming block The Disney Afternoon and Saturday mornings on ABC. It featured the eponymous anthropomorphic duck superhero whose alter ego is mild-mannered...
, Biker Mice from Mars
Biker Mice from Mars
Biker Mice from Mars is a science fiction animated series created by Rick Ungar that began airing in 1993 in the United States and lasted for three seasons before it was cancelled...
, "Street Sharks
Street Sharks
Street Sharks is an American animated television series about crime-fighting half-man/half-sharks. It was produced by DIC Entertainment and aired from 1994 to 1995, originally as a part of the Amazin' Adventures lineup. Later, in 1996, the Street Sharks teamed up with the Dino Vengers and the...
" and Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim (TV series)
Earthworm Jim is an American animated television series which appeared on Kids' WB! for two seasons from September 9, 1995 through December 13, 1996. It is based on the video game series of the same name...
(based on the video game series of the exact name
Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim is a run and gun platform video game starring an earthworm named Jim in a robotic suit who battles evil. Created by Doug TenNapel and designed by David Perry, the game was developed by Shiny Entertainment and Playmates Interactive Entertainment, released by Sega for the Mega...
) are popular examples from later decades, while Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
combined martial arts clichés and conventions with the more sci fi, fantastical, and outrageous elements of superhero stories. The most recent popular example of such such series is Krypto the Superdog
Krypto the Superdog
Krypto the Superdog is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the DC Comics character Krypto. The show premiered on Cartoon Network on March 25, 2005 and aired on Kids' WB! in September 2006...
, which featured Superman's dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
as well as Streaky the Supercat and Ace
Ace the Bat-Hound
The comic book character Ace the Bat-Hound was the canine crime-fighting partner of Batman and Robin in DC Comics of the 1950s and 1960s. Ace debuted in Batman #92...
The Bathound, all more cartoony versions of original characters from the DC Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
.