Lou Scheimer
The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure was a 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 Comics superheroes.
Each hour consisted of new segments from the existing series, The New Adventures of Superman and The Adventures of Superboy, as well as outings for Aquaman and his sidekick Aqualad.
Format
From the point of view of Superman fans, it is generally regarded as the second season of the New Adventures.
Fans of Aquaman see it as the premiere season of the Adventures of Aquaman.
Superman
See The New Adventures of Superman (1967 to 1968)
Superboy
See The Adventures of Superboy (1967 to 1968)
Aquaman
See The Adventures of Aquaman ~ Season 1 (1967 to 1968)
- See also: DC Superheroes: The Filmation Adventures (1967 to 1968)
Continuation
In 1968, after the series was finished, the show's three main components were again divided amongst other shows.
- The Aquaman segments were repackaged without the Superman and Superboy segments, and ran from September 14, 1968 to June, 1970.
- The New Superman/Superboy segments were moved to The Batman/Superman Hour which ran from September 14, 1968 to 1970.
Influence
The show continued to evolve a narrative format that had been started with the original Superman radio show. Specifically, it featured a narrator who served to both compress and dramatize the storytelling. Whereas the first season of The New Adventures of Superman had featured longtime radio narrator, Jackson Beck, Superman/Aquaman was the first to feature actor Ted Knight, who had made his Filmation debut as Perry White late in the previous season of The New Adventures. He would become the main voice used in the narration of DC cartoons for over a decade. He remained the unofficial "voice of DC" even during the first year the cartoons were produced by Hanna-Barbera under the SuperFriends banner.
DVD release
Aquaman episodes can currently be seen as part of Cartoon Network's Boomerang. In 1985, Warner Home Video released eight selected Aquaman episodes of the series on VHS in the "Super Powers" video collection, along with Batman, Superboy and Superman. These videos were re-released in 1996 and are out of print. On October 23, 2007, Warner Home Video released The Adventures of Aquaman: The Complete Collection on DVD in Region 1; the 2-disc set features all 36 Aquaman segments from the series, as well as special features.
Warner Video also released DC Super Heroes: The Filmation Adventures on August 12, 2008. The double DVD set features 18 cartoons starring Hawkman, Green Lantern, The Flash, The Atom, the Teen Titans, and the Justice League of America. The collection was released in Region 2 on October 13, 2008.
External links
- The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure at the Internet Movie Database
- The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure at TV.com
- Big Cartoon Database ~ Superman/Aquaman Hour
- TV Party - Saturday Mornings 1967
- TV.com -The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure
- Animated Superheroes - Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure theme song.