''The Batman/Superman Hour'' is a

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

that was broadcast on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from 1968 to 1969. Premiering on September 14, 1968, this 60-minute program featured new adventures of the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

superheroes Batman, Robin and Batgirl alongside shorts from ''

The New Adventures of Superman ''The New Adventures of Superman'' is a half-hour series of six-minute animated Superman adventures produced by Filmation that were broadcast Saturday mornings on CBS from September 10, 1966, to September 5, 1970. The 68 segments appeared as part ...

'' and '' The Adventures of Superboy''.

Series overview

This series marked the animation debut of Batman, his supporting cast and some of their classic enemies like Joker, Penguin, Riddler,

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she is ...

Mr. Freeze Mr. Freeze is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Dave Wood, Sheldon Moldoff and Bob Kane, and first appeared in ''Batman'' #121 in February 1959 as the ice-based criminal Mr. Ze ...

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley ...

Mad Hatter The Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is very often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Ca ...

, and some villains exclusive to the series. The success of ''

The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure ''The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure'' is a Saturday morning Filmation animated series that aired on CBS from 1967 to 1968. Premiering on September 9, 1967, this 60-minute program included a series of six-minute adventures featuring various DC ...

'' in 1967 had prompted Filmation to produce a

Metamorpho Metamorpho (real name Rex Mason, also called The Element Man) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created in 1965 by writer Bob Haney and artist Ramona Fradon. Metamorpho is a founding member of the O ...

pilot and begin development on other similar series. These plans were cancelled when CBS secured the animation rights to Batman in the wake of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's recent success with the '' Batman''

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

television series. Going into production close to the start of the 1968 TV season, what would become ''The Batman/Superman Hour'' required Filmation to pull as many additional animators from other projects as they could spare to ramp up production. This series was the first time

Olan Soule Olan Evart Soule (February 28, 1909 – February 1, 1994) was an American actor, who had professional credits in nearly 7,000 radio shows and commercials, appearances in 200 television series and television films, and in over 60 films. Soul ...

and

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice No ...

performed as the voices of Batman and Robin. When ''The New Adventures of Batman'' was produced in 1977, Adam West and Burt Ward reprised the roles they had originally played in the live action TV series. Soule and Kasem would return several times to reprise their roles in 1972's ''The New Scooby-Doo Movies'', 1973's ''Super Friends'', 1977's ''The All-New Super Friends Hour'', 1978's ''Challenge of the Super Friends'', 1979's ''The World's Greatest Super Friends'', and starting in 1980 Soule voiced the character in the 7 minute shorter episodes that were produced through 1983. These 1980–1983 episodes aired under the generic ''Super Friends'' title. Kasem would go on to voice Robin with Adam West as Batman in 1984's ''Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show'' and 1985's ''The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians''. In 1969, the series was repackaged into 30-minute episodes without the Superman segments and renamed ''The Adventures of Batman, Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder''. Batman would next appear in ''The New Adventures of Batman'' in 1977. In 1985, Warner Home Video released five selected episodes of the series on VHS as part of the "Super Powers" video collection. These videos were re-released in 1996 and are out of print. In 1996, episodes were included in ''The Superman/Batman Adventures'' on the USA Network. They later aired on the Cartoon Network and Boomerang (TV network), Boomerang.

Episodes

The Superman portion of the program consisted of new 6-minute shorts from Filmation's ''

'' and '' The Adventures of Superboy''. The Batman half of ''The Batman/Superman Hour'' consisted of new shorts. One story was presented in two 6 minute segments and one story in a single 6 minute segment. Thirty-four stories were produced.

Cast

as Batman, Alfred Pennyworth *

as Robin (character), Robin, Chief O'Hara, Mayor of Gotham City, Additional Voices * Jane Webb as Batgirl,

* Ted Knight as Narrator (Batman and Superboy segments), James Gordon (character), James Gordon, Penguin (character), Penguin, Riddler,

, Tweedledum and Tweedledee (comics), Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Simon the Pieman, Dollman, Judge * Bud Collyer as Superman * Bob Hastings as Superboy (Kal-El), Superboy / Young Clark Kent * Jackson Beck as Lex Luthor, Narrator (Superman segments) * Jack Grimes (actor), Jack Grimes as Jimmy Olsen * Joan Alexander and Julie Bennett as Lois Lane

Production credits

* Directed by Hal Sutherland * Associate Directors: Rudy Larriva, Amby Paliwoda, Don Towsley, Lou Zukor * Art Director: Don R. Christensen, Don Christensen * Storyboard: Sherman Labby, Oscar Dufau, Mike O'Connor, Jan Green, Gary Lund * Layout: Dan Noonan, Ray Vinella, Herb Hazelton, C.L. Hartman, Jacques Rupp, Ray Jacobs, Kay Wright, Louise Sandoval, Takashi Masunaga, Mike Ploog, Bill Lignante, Marilee Heyer, Alberto DeMello, Dick Preisen, Frank Gonzales, Mel Keefer, Sylvia Mattinson, Kay Wright * Background Director: Erv Kaplan * Background Artists: Paul Xander, Bill Geach, Martin Forte, Jack Healey, Ted Littlefield, Art Lozzi, Jim Jones, Maurice Harvey, Venetia Epler, Bill McArdle, Lorraine Marue, Ann Guenther, Barbara Smith * Animation: Bill Hajee, Ralph Somerville, Len Rogers, Murray McClellan, Len Redman, James Brummett, Bob Carr, Russ Von Neida, Bob Bransford, Joan Orbison, Bill Pratt, Marshall Lamore, Robert Bentley (animator), Robert Bentley, Jack Foster, Norm McCabe, George Grandpre, Judy Drake, Bill Reed, Chic Otterstrom, Les Kaluza, Xenia, Bill Hutten, Otto Feuer, Ken Southworth, Jack Ozark, Reuben Timmins, Ed Friedman, Butch Davis, Virgil Raddatz, Bob Trochim, Virgil Ross, Tom McDonald, Dave Tendlar, Bob Matz, Paul Krukowski, Dick Hall * Camera Supervision: Roger Brown * Camera: Ray Lee, Ron LaPeer, Gary Milton, Sergio Antonio Alcazar, Roger Sims * Editorial: Joseph Simon * Negative Cutting: June Gilham * Sound Effects: Enfeld Mahana Corp. * Prints by Technicolor * Production Coordinator: Rock Benedict * Checking Supervisor: Marion Turk * Ink and Paint Supervision: Martha Buckley * Voices: Bud Collyer (Clark Kent/Superman); Bob Hastings (Superboy (Kal-El), Superboy); Ted Knight (Narrator/all Batman villains); Joan Alexander (Lois Lane);

(Dick Grayson/ Robin); Jackson Beck (Lex Luthor);

(Bruce Wayne/ Batman); Jack Grimes (actor), Jack Grimes (Jimmy Olsen, James "Jimmy" Olsen); Jane Webb (Barbara Gordon/Batgirl; all villainesses); Cliff Owens * Background Music: John Gart * Executive Producer: Allen Ducovny * Produced by Norm Prescott, Lou Scheimer

References

External links

Batman Superman Hour
at Big Cartoon DataBase *
Batman: Yesterday, Today and Beyond - The Batman Homepage - ''The Adventures of Batman''

The Big Cartoon Database - ''Batman Cartoon Info''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batman Superman Hour 1968 American television series debuts 1969 American television series endings 1960s American animated television series American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated science fiction television series American children's animated superhero television series Animated Superman television series CBS original programming English-language television shows Animated television shows based on DC Comics Batman television series by Filmation Superman television series by Filmation Television shows directed by Hal Sutherland

Series overview

Episodes

Cast

Production credits

See also

References

External links