Bruce Timm, who is widely recognized for contributing to the modern DC animated franchise, took on quite an unorthodox approach in co-developing Superman: The Animated Series. The DCAU series ran for four seasons and 54 episodes from 1996 to 2000, receiving critical acclaim for its stunning animation, writing, and mature themes.
Given that he has already delivered a successful Batman: The Animated Series project, working on another superhero project but also making it different yet successful was a real challenge. Timm eventually managed to pull it off by thinking it differently.
Bruce Timm Discussed Working on Superman: The Animated Series
In an old interview with TwoMorrows, the renowned producer reflected on the making of the popular DCAU series, Superman: The Animated Series.
Before his work in the show, he worked as a head producer in Batman TAS, whose success spawned further animated series, feature films, and video games.
He faced a significant challenge in making Superman: The Animated Series different visually from their previous acclaimed project, Batman: The Animated Series. They were uncertain about how to effectively portray the Clark Kent-led series in a visually distinct manner.
He shared,
“We knew exactly what we wanted to do with Batman-you know, the Film Noir/Art Deco kind of look on it. When the time came to do Superman, we really didn’t know what to do that would make it visually different from Batman but at the same time just as cool.”
He wanted his show not to be compared with Fleischer Studios’ Superman cartoons, which was why he took on a different approach.
He continued,
“We didn’t wanna go back and make it look just like the Fleischer cartoons; I didn’t want anybody to put our show up against Fleischer’s and say, ‘Well look, they’re doing the Fleischers, just not as well.’ One of the things we wanted to do with Superman was to kind of ‘Marvelize’ Superman a little bit.”
After deciding to keep the series different from the 1940s, he started implementing modern elements in the series, which completely changed its vibe.
Bruce Timm Used Jack Kirby’s Elements in Superman: The Animated Series
Jack Kirby is one of the most influential comic artists who has been involved in co-creating several iconic superheroes including Ant-Man, the Avengers, the Black Panther, and the X-Men among others.
He used several interesting elements as Bruce Timm mentioned how “the zig-zaggy lines, the fantastic machinery” sets Kirby’s work apart from others. He added that he used Kirby’s elements in his Clark Kent-led show.
He continued,
“That’s why the police don’t just carry handguns, but these Kirby-like weapons. All of the science-fictional elements in this series-whether it’s a tank or something from outer space-has a kind of Kirby feel to it, or at least we try to.”
Even in the origin story of the pilot, he revealed that the inspiration for the Brainiac satellite floating around Krypton was something he got from Kirby comics.
“Even in the pilot, the origin story, there’s this Brainiac satellite floating around Krypton and we tried for the longest time to come up with a design for it, and we didn’t come up with anything I really liked. I found this Kirby gizmo in one of the Kirby comics and I turned it upside-down and said, ‘Hey! That’s our satellite.'”
He further mentioned that one would be able to find Kirby-ish elements throughout the series, even if it meant taking an idea for villains.
Given that Batman villains were quite interesting, he decided to put himself in Kirby’s shoes while working on the show’s antagonists by putting “Kirby-type costumes and Kirby touches on them to make them more interesting.”
It can be said that Kirby has quite an impact on his show indirectly, with the co-developer, not shying away from admiring the comic artist’s work.
Whereas, Superman: The Animated Series is currently streaming on Max.
