Superman: The Complete Animated Series - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Superman: The Complete Animated Series



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Most any metal head will know exactly what you mean when you talk about the “Big 4”, and I’m happy to say that with this release we finally have the “Big 4” of the original Bruce Timm DCAU out on Blu-ray. We had The Justice League out for years, then FINALLY we got Batman: The Animated Series, and even Batman Beyond hit Blu-ray. At that point there was one lone show of the 1990s mega DC animated shows yet, and that was Superman: The Animated Series. Most of us had some minor hopes that Warner would put out the series after the relative success of the two Batman releases a few years back, but at the same time there was some worry due to the fact that Superman: The Animated Series was the least well handled by Warner years ago. Those piece meal DVD releases were the best we got before they pretty much dropped the project, and then we got an announcement for this gem.

Luckily the series is given some pretty decent treatment by Warner. The video and audio look as good as you would expect when comparing to Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond, but the extras are a bit slim, the packaging is pedestrian, and they kind of went lazy with the video commentaries (instead of just splicing in the audio track with the HD episodes that they go with, whoever authored the discs took the SD video and audio cores from the DVD sets and just put them on the disc. Meaning that if you play the episode with commentary, it will play in SD with lossy Dolby Digital audio). Which is by no means a deal breaker, but a mild disappointment.

Superman: The Animated Series was a great series back in the 1990s, and still holds up today. It’s not as dark and brooding as Batman: The Animated Series, or as well crafted as The Justice League series. Instead it’s a more light hearted show plays to Superman’s strengths, but feels a bit cheesier than I remember it from back in the day. That being said though, there are some fantastic story arcs in the 3 seasons, and the final arc with Darkseid was really cool for the era. Not to mention that the show introduces us to one of the most iconic versions of Lobo the bounty hunter that we’ve ever seen. Some of the changes to iconic characters is a bit different than the era that I grew up with, but most of them work for the changes to the animated world. At the time it was considered one of the better Bruce Timm era shows out there, but got cut short by Warner Brothers when the ratings started dropping, and truncated the 3rd season to 13 episodes.

Luckily the show still holds up well today, and gives as much entertainment as you could hope for. In my opinion it’s the weakest of the 4 major DCAU shows from that time period, but it’s still a GOOD show nonetheless. It’s exactly how a good old boy Superman acted back then, and the voice acting a huge boon with the likes of Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor, Michael Ironsides as Darkseid, Robert Patrick, the list goes on and on. I’m HUGELY thankful that Warner decided to release this, as it was the one series that I was worried about making it to Blu-ray after we got the rest of the big 4. Now if we could only get Static Shock on Blu-ray along with The Batman and I could die a happy man!




Rating:

Rated TV-PG




Video:

The show isn’t going to be super duper razer sharp, but it looks very very nice for the era it came from. Especially when you consider the fact that the DVDs never looked very good. I had to pull out my old DVDs from storage to compare against, but luckily they look a heap ton better (super technical terms right there). The show does have some inherent flaws, but otherwise the image is crisp, clean, and very detailed considering the source animation. Said source animations flaws do include some mild banding, line art can be a bit rough at times, there’s some softness to far away shots, and there’s a few speckles and debris on the picture. Nothing wild, just enough to pull it down to a 4/5 rating.








Audio:

The show was a simple 2.0 stereo track being that it WAS a cheaply animated show in the 1990s, so no shock that it gets a 2.0 DTS-HD MA track on the Blu-ray. As such, it won’t have all the benefits and pizazz of a 5.1 mix, but that was to be expected. However, the 2.0 track that we do have is very clean and precise, with good dialog and a nice big of midbass slam in the action bits. It does everything quite nicely and checks off all the boxes for a 2.0 stereo mix, but naturally doesn’t get to have any surround or major subwoofer action.







Extras:

• Superman: Timeless Icon (New Featurette) – An all-new bonus feature, produced specifically for the remastered Blu-ray release of Superman: The Animated Series, reveals the complicated journey of the show and those who created the new mythology for The Man of Steel, as told by producers Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, director Dan Riba, writer Bob Goodman, casting/dialogue director Andrea Romano, and Tim Daly & Clancy Brown, the heralded voices of Superman and Lex Luthor, respectively.
• A Little Piece of Trivia (Featurette) – So you think you know your Superman trivia? Wait until you hear about the series’ connection to Telly Savalas! A brain teaser to entertain every Superman: The Animated Series fan!
• Superman: Learning to Fly (Featurette) – Get into the minds of the creative team behind Superman: The Animated Series as they detail the birth of this animated version of Superman and his incredible worlds. Featured speakers include producers Paul Dini, Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett, art director/producer Glen Murakami and directors Dan Riba and James Tucker.
• Building the Mythology: Superman's Supporting Cast (Featurette) – The characters around Superman get the spotlight in this in-depth look at everyone from Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White to Maggie Sawyer, Lana Lang, and Ma & Pa Kent. Producers Paul Dini, Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett, art director/producer Glen Murakami and directors Dan Riba and James Tucker give viewers the inside scoop.
• Menaces of Metropolis: Behind the Villains of Superman (Featurette) – Your hero is only as good as the villains around him, and Superman: The Animated Series has a rogues’ gallery of top-grade baddies, including traditional opponents Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Bizarro, Metallo, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Toyman and Parasite, as well as new villains created for the series – like Live Wire and Luminus. Producers Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett and Paul Dini, directors James Tucker and Dan Riba and casting/dialogue director Andrea Romano give us a tour of the villains.
• The Despot Darkseid: A Villain Worthy of Superman (Featurette) – Darkseid takes center stage in this examination of one of The Man of Steel’s most vicious adversaries, plus other Fourth World characters that appear in Superman: The Animated Series. The featurette includes producers Paul Dini, Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett, art director/producer Glen Murakami, writers Rich Fogel and Stan Berkowitz, director James Tucker and Charles Hatfield (Department of English, Cal State Northridge).
• Audio Commentaries
-- Stolen Memories – producers Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Alan Burnett, director Curt Geda and art director/producer Glen Murakami.
-- The Last Son of Krypton - Part 1 – producers Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Alan Burnett, director Dan Riba and art director/producer Glen Murakami.
-- The Main Man - Part 2 – producers Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, director Dan Riba and art director/producer Glen Murakami.
• Video Commentary
-- Mxyzpixilated – producer Bruce Timm, producer/writer Paul Dini, director Dan Riba and moderator Jason Hillhouse.

Final Score: ​

Well, with this we wrap up the last of the “Big 4” on Blu-ray from the DCAU golden era. I’d love to see some of the better spinoffs from the late 90s to early 2000s come too, but I’ll still be happy to have these nonetheless. The Blu-ray set is better than expected considering that I was nervous about the whole show being on 6 discs, and the fact that we didn’t get a cool box of swag like Batman shows (Warner has always treated the Superman shows as sub Batman tier). Still a blast to watch, and a great set to pick up if you can.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tim Daly, Joseph Bologna, Dana Delany, David Kaufman, Clancy Brown, Lauren Tom, Corey Burton
Created by: Joe Shuster, Jerry Sigel, Bob Kane
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0, French, Spanish DD 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: TV-PG
Runtime: 1138 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 26th, 2021

Recommendation: Check It Out

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