Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Superman Related Best Superman Animation

In an attempt to be fair to all those voice actors playing Superman / Clark Kent and Lois Lane, et al., in my recent and future poll(s) I'd like to compile a list of movies and tv shows to draw from (worth noting) in regards to voice talent, animation, and over-all film.

I've looked over IMDb, but there are so many from 'Justice League' to 'Robot Chicken', I have no idea which are worth of note, and which (cough, cough, 'Superman: The Musical') should just RIP.

I know some of you are more knowledgeable in this genre than I, so please give me your input. Also, if you list a voice actor by name, can you also include which film/tv show he/she starred (or your favorite to mention). Plus, I'd love to know which animated movies to hit and which to miss.

(I'll also include the Bud Collyer radio serials when I do the voice talent poll. If there are any other Superman radio serials, you think I should include, please let me know.)

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Bud Collyer also did Superman's voice in the 1941 Fleischer cartoons and in the 1966 "The New Adventures of Superman", if you want to include his other works. And if we're talking quality of animation, I think the Fleischer series must be included.

Superman Homepage says Michael Fitzmaurice did Superman's voice in the final season of the radio show.

IMDB lists Danny Dark as Superman's voice actor in the Super Friends series'. I seem to recall it as having been popular - at least, I think it was the show re-running in the mid-to-late 80s when I was growing up.

I'd consider the Animated Series (1996) with Tim Daly and Justice League (IMDB lists George Newbern) as significant enough to mention.

When it comes to all the movies, I have no clue what/who significant enough to count.

Thanks, Tzigone. You just listed everything I found since posting my request. All I can say is: Lex is evil, which is stating the obvious, and it's a bit anti-government (but I think it's secret govn't like B39).

I haven't seen any of the Tim Daly / Dana Delany 'Superman' show which came out around the final season of LnC.

Me, too. I've only seen "All-Star Superman" and none of the others.

Omigosh. OMIGOSH. You're just about to give me a heart attack, Virginia. This is just about the best thread ever!

Of course, as an animation student, I *may* be biased.

I don't really know what I can add... I haven't really seen too many of the animated movies (most are on my to-watch list on Netflix and I've got too many other things to watch). I honestly love both Tim Daly and George Newbern in their voice acting portrayals of Superman. Supposedly (I heard) that Adam Baldwin voiced him in Superman/Doomsday, but I have no idea how that went over. I love the animation in the old Fleischer cartoons, but the stories weren't so great (although on par with the era-- not as serious as today's). Being a 90's kid, I of course mostly rely on S:TAS and JL/JLU cartoons for my cartoon Superman knowledge. (And to be fair I also loved Batman:TAS). I haven't really seen much late 2000's stuff, though I wish I had and that's why I'm doing so much catching up now.

Ooh. I'm too tired to keep going at this right now but there's loads of stuff here for me to talk about.

BTW, Virginia, I also happen to be rewatching a lot of the JL cartoons right now with my bro and friends. What a coinkydink.

I've only seen a few eps of it, but I'd say the action animation there is really, really good. The faces, not so much (of course, that could be me just not liking their Superman look). From the ones I recall, there really wasn't much story. At least a couple I remember as (and my memory back be faulty) basically a long action sequence book-ended by dialog.

I always took the Fleischer cartoons for what they were, game-changing animations for their time. Faces weren't really a huge priority back then so I'm not really surprised that there wasn't a lot of dynamism to them. The focus was on the novelty of hand-drawn movement (something that is both going the way-side and easier to do with computers these days) to action would definitely have been preferred. Not to mention, we're talking shorts so the storyline was ALWAYS compressed down. The Timm DCAU (i.e. the animated series voiced by Tim Daly and Dana Delany) were almost twice as long, allowing for a little more depth.

I tend to have a soft spot in my heart for the Fleischer/Famous shorts despite they changes in animation. It has a certain style (the Art Deco look) that is still tied to the Superman stories in many places today.

(Can you tell I have a motion designer/animator for a brother?)

Okay, as far as memory serves and looking on some of my DVDs: Superman/Doomsday was Adam Baldwin and Ann Heche, All Star Superman was James Denton and Cristina Hendricks, and the newest one, Superman Unbound was Matt Bomer and Stana Katic.

Too me, Stana's performance was closer to Lois than the others. Part of that was the writing, but Stana did give Lois the right attitude. Very similar to Dana Delaney's 'take' on Lois.

Of course Dana had the advantage of playing Lois over a much longer period of time as she did the whole series back then. Still she did nail Lois.

Don't really care who voiced Superman/Clark, but then you already know that.

There have been several Superman/Batman and Justice League videos which didn't have Lois figure in very much. The best one (which did have Lois play a large role) was the one that was done by the original animated series cast. That was Superman/Batman World's Finest.

In that one Lois' falls for Bruce Wayne and discovers he's Batman. Very good movie.

Tank (who says that the animated series still had the best overall 'look' to the animation style)

I really like the 1996 animated series and the Justice League series from the same people. The portrayal in the Superman/Batman: Apocalypse movie is also pretty good - CK voice by Tim Daly (as in the animated series), with Summer Glau (River Tam in Firefly) as Supergirl. Lois doesn't appear in that one though.

You need to remember the Fleischer cartoons started coming out only about 4 years after Disney's 'Snow White' (Disney's first feature film), so they were pretty early on in era of the animation. I thought many of the story-lines were very compelling, even if a bit fantastical. I like the play-by-play between Lois and Clark / Superman, and often homage it in my stories, especially when Clark or Superman tells Lois "Stay" and she smiles or promises she will, and then doesn't. Also the big ol' hunk of plane from Green-Eyed Monster was an homage to the big super plane from Fleischer's Japoteurs (which I have to admit was one of the more - stereotypical of the era - racist of the films).

I think the voice actors that absolutely must be included are Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander of the Fleischer cartoons and the radio show, Tim Daly and Dana Delany of "Superman: The Animated Series," and George Newbern of "Justice League." I'd say those are probably the most popular animated versions of the characters. Danny Dark from "Superfriends" and Beau Weaver and Ginny McSwain from the short-lived 1988 animated Superman series are also probably pretty notable.

You should also probably include all of the voice actors from the animated DC Comics films. Adam Baldwin and Anne Heche were in "Superman: Doomsday," Kyle MacLachlan and Kyra Sedgwick were in "Justice League: The New Frontier," Mark Harmon was in "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths," James Denton and Christina Hendricks were in "All-Star Superman," Pauley Perrette was in "Superman vs. The Elite," and Matt Bomer and Stana Katic were in "Superman: Unbound."

Wow! That's quite a helpful list. Thank you.

You're welcome. Also, I didn't mention this before, but Tim Daly, George Newbern, and Dana Delany have also appeared in several different DC Comics animated movies that I didn't bother listing since I already listed them for their voice work in "Superman: The Animated Series" and "Justice League."

Thank you all for your input. The poll is now up and you can cast your vote: Voice Only Actor Poll