The Batman/Superman Hour

"The Batman/Superman Hour" was a Filmation animated series that was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1969. Premiering on September 14 1968, this 60-minute program featured new adventures of the DC Comics superheroes Batman, Robin and Batgirl alongside shorts from "The New Adventures of Superman" and "The Adventures of Superboy".

eries overview

This series marked the first Saturday Morning vehicle of Batman, his supporting cast and some of their classic enemies. At the time the show was ordered by CBS, the live-action "Batman" TV show was at its ratings peak on ABC. Due to a licensing oversight on the part of the live-action show's producers, Filmation was able to secure the cartoon rights to Batman and produce the series for CBS.

"The Batman/Superman Hour" went into production close to the start of the 1968 TV season, requiring Filmation to pull as many additional animators from other projects as they could spare to ramp up production. Fact|date=January 2008 According to Norm Prescott, six episodes of another series already sold to CBS — starring another DC Comics character, Metamorpho, the Element Man — had been completed and were ready to air, but the entire series had been shelved when CBS chose to rush "The Batman/Superman Hour" on its schedule. Fact|date=January 2008

This series was the first time Olan Soule and Casey Kasem 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 "The New Scooby-Doo Movies", "Super Friends", "The All-New Super Friends Hour", "Challenge of the SuperFriends" and "The World's Greatest Super Friends". Kasem would go on to voice Robin with Adam West as Batman in "".

In 1969, the series was repackaged into 30-minute episodes without the Superman segments and renamed "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 rereleased 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 Boomerang Network.

Episodes

The Batman half of "The Batman/Superman Hour" consisted of one story presented in two 6 1/2 minute segments and one story in a single 6 1/2 minute segment.

Thirty-four stories were produced:

Cast

* Olan Soule - Batman (Bruce Wayne)/Alfred Pennyworth
* Casey Kasem - Robin (Dick Grayson)
* Jane Webb - Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)/Catwoman
* Ted Knight - Narrator/Commissioner Gordon/The Joker/The Penguin/Mr. Freeze/The Riddler/Scarecrow
* Bud Collyer - Superman
* Jackson Beck - Lex Luthor
* Jack Grimes - Jimmy Olsen
* Joan Alexander - Lois Lane

Production credits

* A Duconvy Productions Inc. Presentation
* Directed by Hal Sutherland
* Associate Directors: Rudy Larriva, Amby Paliwoda, Don Towsley, Lou Zukor
* Art Director: Don Christensen
* Storyboard: Sherman Labby, Oscar Dufau, Mike O'Conner, Jan Green, Gary Lund
* Layout: Dan Noonan, Ray Vinella, Herb Hazelton, C.L. Hartman, Jacques Rupp, Ray Jacobs, Kay Wright, Louise Sandoval, Takashi, 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 Kander, Bill Geach, Martin Forte, Jack Healey, Ted Littlefield, Art Lozzi, Jim Jones, Maurice Harvey, Venetia Epier, Patricia Frye, Rene Garcia, Bill McArdle, Lorraine Morgan, Ann Guenther, Barbara Smith
* Animation: Bill Hajee, Ralph Somervville, Len Rogers, Murray McCellan, Len Redman, Jim Brummett, Bob Carr, Russ Von Neida, Bob Bransford, Joan Orbison, Bill Prett, Marshall Lamore, Bob Bentley, Jack Foster, Norm McCabe, Geo Grandpre, Judy Drake, Bill Reed, Chic Otterstrom, Les Kaluza, Xenia, Bill Hutten, Otto Feuer, Ken Southworth, Jack Ozark, Reuber 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, 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); Ted Knight (Narrator/all Batman villains); Joan Alexander (Lois Lane); Casey Kasem (Dick Grayson/Robin); Jackson Beck (Lex Luthor); Olan Soule (Bruce Wayne/Batman); Jack Grimes (James "Jimmy" Olsen); Jane Webb (Barbara Gordon/Batgirl; all vilainesses); Cliff Owens
* Background Music: John Marion
* "'All Characters Appearing In "The Batman-Superman Hour" Are © Copyright Characters Appearing In DC Superman-DC Comics. Copyright 1968 By National Periodical Publications.
* The Character Batman Was Created By"' Bob Kane
* Executive Producer: Allen Duconvy
* Produced by Norm Prescott, Lou Scheimer
* "'Produced at Filmation Associates in Hollywood in association with the Duconvy Prod., Inc.:Batman © Copyright - Duconvy Productions, Inc. 1968"'

ee also

*"The New Adventures of Batman"
*"Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour"

External links

*imdb title|id=0062544|title=The Batman/Superman Hour
* [http://www.batmanytb.com/animated/taob/ Batman: Yesterday, Today and Beyond - The Batman Homepage - "The Adventures of Batman"]
* [http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Filmation_Associates/A-G/The_Batman__047_Superman_Hour/Batman/ The Big Cartoon Database - "Batman Cartoon Info"]