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Cartoons: The Adventures of Superboy
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Episode Review
Filmography
Gallery
History of The Adventures of Superboy
Quick Facts
Voice Cast
History of The Adventures of
Superboy: "The Adventures of Superboy" never had its own
series. It was merely a supporting cartoon feature in a variety
of TV cartoon series produced by Filmation Studios, from
1966-1969. This was the first time Superboy was brought into
animation.
Superboy made his cartoon debut in the series "The New Adventures of Superman" on September 10, 1966. His segment was sandwiched between two cartoons of "The New Adventures of Superman" for the entire season. Filmation's DC superheroes cartoons were done a lot like old time radio shows. Between the narrator and the characters, you knew everything that was going on because they told you. The animation is really more of a visual aid. You can listen to the show without looking at and still be able to follow the story. In this first season of the Superman cartoon series, there were 18 cartoons made of "The Adventures of Superboy".
Amazingly, the Superboy cartoons were just as good, if not better, than the Superman cartoons. I'm surprised that I enjoy the Superboy cartoons so much. I think the advantage of Superboy over Superman is that he has his "super dog" Krypto. This cute, heroic animal provides some sort of intentional comic relief. Since these are light-hearted cartoons to begin with, a character like Krypto works and is most welcome. The Superman cartoons did NOT have a lot of purposely comical moments, or even a character you could think of as "the funny one". Cartoons need to be funny. I think that's the primary ingredient to any good cartoon.
The second Superman season was called "The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure" and ran from 1967-1968. 8 new "The Adventures of Superboy" cartoons were created for this series. The previous season proved so popular that the show was expanded from 30-minutes to 60-minutes. Of all the seasons of Filmation's Superman era, this was the most fruitful. We weren't shown just Superman and Superboy cartoons, we were also given an Aquaman cartoon each episode, and another cartoon of any one of a series of rotating superhero characters including: The Atom, The Flash (with Kid Flash), The Green Lantern, Hawkman, and The Teen Titans (Speedy, Kid Flash, Wondergirl, and Aqualad).
The third and final season of this phase of Filmation's Superman was called "The Batman/Superman Hour" and ran from 1968-1969. 8 new "The Adventures of Superboy" cartoons were created for this series. The Superman cartoons were changed a bit. There were 8 new two-part cartoons (16 cartoons in all) created for "The New Adventures of Superman". The Batman cartoons were handled a bit odd. Batman (with sidekicks Robin and Batgirl) had half of the hour-long program. In each episode one two-part cartoon (each part 6.5 minutes long) was shown, and one short 6-minute cartoon was also shown. This was the first time Batman was put in animation.
The TV series "The New Adventures of Superman" returned for one last time on CBS for the 1969-1970 season, with the same Superman/Superboy/Superman formula, but all of the episodes were just reruns. In all, 34 cartoons of "The Adventures of Superboy" were made. Filmation could have very easily packaged a TV series around "The Adventures of Superboy" but they didn't? Why? Maybe they didn't feel such a series would be successful. Business-wise, "The Adventures of Superboy" as a series would have been a smart move. They could have shown two already-made Superboy cartoons in a half-hour program, with one new cartoon of some superhero character in between. It would have been interesting to see what Filmation came up with.
Quick Facts:
Filmography:
Cartoons 1-16: "The New Adventures of Superman" (1966-1967)
Cartoons 19-26: "The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure" (1967-1968)
Cartoons 27-34: "The Batman/Superman Hour" (1968-1969)
Studio: Filmation
Voice Cast:
Bob Hastings as Young Clark Kent/Superboy
Janet Waldo as Lana Lang
Jackson Beck as Narrator
Various Voices by: Julie Bennett, Gilbert Mack, Cliff Owens.
Superboy made his cartoon debut in the series "The New Adventures of Superman" on September 10, 1966. His segment was sandwiched between two cartoons of "The New Adventures of Superman" for the entire season. Filmation's DC superheroes cartoons were done a lot like old time radio shows. Between the narrator and the characters, you knew everything that was going on because they told you. The animation is really more of a visual aid. You can listen to the show without looking at and still be able to follow the story. In this first season of the Superman cartoon series, there were 18 cartoons made of "The Adventures of Superboy".
Amazingly, the Superboy cartoons were just as good, if not better, than the Superman cartoons. I'm surprised that I enjoy the Superboy cartoons so much. I think the advantage of Superboy over Superman is that he has his "super dog" Krypto. This cute, heroic animal provides some sort of intentional comic relief. Since these are light-hearted cartoons to begin with, a character like Krypto works and is most welcome. The Superman cartoons did NOT have a lot of purposely comical moments, or even a character you could think of as "the funny one". Cartoons need to be funny. I think that's the primary ingredient to any good cartoon.
The second Superman season was called "The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure" and ran from 1967-1968. 8 new "The Adventures of Superboy" cartoons were created for this series. The previous season proved so popular that the show was expanded from 30-minutes to 60-minutes. Of all the seasons of Filmation's Superman era, this was the most fruitful. We weren't shown just Superman and Superboy cartoons, we were also given an Aquaman cartoon each episode, and another cartoon of any one of a series of rotating superhero characters including: The Atom, The Flash (with Kid Flash), The Green Lantern, Hawkman, and The Teen Titans (Speedy, Kid Flash, Wondergirl, and Aqualad).
The third and final season of this phase of Filmation's Superman was called "The Batman/Superman Hour" and ran from 1968-1969. 8 new "The Adventures of Superboy" cartoons were created for this series. The Superman cartoons were changed a bit. There were 8 new two-part cartoons (16 cartoons in all) created for "The New Adventures of Superman". The Batman cartoons were handled a bit odd. Batman (with sidekicks Robin and Batgirl) had half of the hour-long program. In each episode one two-part cartoon (each part 6.5 minutes long) was shown, and one short 6-minute cartoon was also shown. This was the first time Batman was put in animation.
The TV series "The New Adventures of Superman" returned for one last time on CBS for the 1969-1970 season, with the same Superman/Superboy/Superman formula, but all of the episodes were just reruns. In all, 34 cartoons of "The Adventures of Superboy" were made. Filmation could have very easily packaged a TV series around "The Adventures of Superboy" but they didn't? Why? Maybe they didn't feel such a series would be successful. Business-wise, "The Adventures of Superboy" as a series would have been a smart move. They could have shown two already-made Superboy cartoons in a half-hour program, with one new cartoon of some superhero character in between. It would have been interesting to see what Filmation came up with.
Quick Facts:
Filmography:
Cartoons 1-16: "The New Adventures of Superman" (1966-1967)
Cartoons 19-26: "The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure" (1967-1968)
Cartoons 27-34: "The Batman/Superman Hour" (1968-1969)
Studio: Filmation
- The Spy From Outer Space (Part 1) (September 10,
1966)
- The Spy From Outer Space (Part 2) (September 17,
1966)
- Krypto's Calamitous Capers (September 24, 1966)
- The Man Who Knew Superboy's Secret (October 1,
1966)
- The Deep Sea Dragon (October 8, 1966)
- Super Clown of Smallville (October 15, 1966)
- The Visitor From The Earth's Core (October 22,
1966)
- The Beast That Went Bezerk (October 29, 1966)
- Superboy's Strangest Foe (November 5, 1966)
- The Capricious Crony (November 12, 1966)
- Krypto, Super Seeing-Eye Dog (November 19, 1966)
- The Black Knight (November 26, 1966)
- Operation Counter Invasion (December 3, 1966)
- The Jinxed Circus (December 10, 1966)
- Hurricane Fighters (December 17, 1966)
- Superboy's Super-Dilemma (December 24, 1966)
- A Devil of a Time (December 31, 1966)
- The Revolt of Robotville (January 7, 1967)
- The Beast With Two Faces
- The Gorilla Gang
- The Chameleon Creature
- The Great Space Race
- Finger of Doom
- Krypto, K-9 Detective
- The Neanderthal Caveman Caper
- The Terrible Trio
- Forget me not, Superdog
- Superboy Meets Mighty Lad
- King Superboy
- Double Trouble, Double Doom
- The Trap of the Super Spacemen
- The Space Refugees
- The Monster Molecule
- The Great Kryptonite Caper
Voice Cast:
Bob Hastings as Young Clark Kent/Superboy
Janet Waldo as Lana Lang
Jackson Beck as Narrator
Various Voices by: Julie Bennett, Gilbert Mack, Cliff Owens.