Ricky Church chats with Tim Daly about Superman: The Animated Series…
Superman: The Animated Series recently passed two big milestones as it celebrated its 25th anniversary and was finally released on Blu-ray this week. Led by the minds behind Batman: The Animated Series, Superman is a near-definitive take on the Man of Steel and his vast mythology with its approach to telling serious stories and advancing character development. As the second series in the DC Animated Universe, it also laid a lot of groundwork for what would come later with guest roles for other superheroes along with what was the first team-up between Superman and Batman in modern animation.
To celebrate the Blu-ray release of Superman: The Animated Series as well as its 25th anniversary, we chatted with actor Tim Daly, who voiced Clark Kent/Superman throughout the series as well as several animated films and radio specials. We spoke about Daly’s time playing Superman, the character’s enduring pop culture relevance and why Superman remains such a beloved piece in his history. Check out the interview below…
Ricky Church: To start off with an easy one, you got to play Superman. What is it like for you to say “I’m Superman” over the years?
Well, it’s fun. I hope that I’m a well enough adjusted person to know that I’m not actually Superman so when I say “I’m Superman” I don’t actually believe that I’m Superman! I was the voice of Superman. I played Superman. I’m not delusional about it, but it’s an honour. It’s kind of crazy that this character has endured for so long, for decades and decades. I should mention that I did produce and direct and acted in one of these four original Superman radio plays that Warner Bros. allowed me to produce as a light entertainment during the beginning of the pandemic. So I did get to reprise my role for just a moment. I don’t think anybody heard it or saw it, but it was really fun.
That’s cool! Now Superman: The Animated Series was Superman’s first animated series for a modern audience. It was his first solo series since the 1970s or 80s I think. Did you feel the weight of that fact going into the show that this was going to introduce Superman to a whole new generation?
You know, I have admitted in many interviews and I will admit to you in my shame that I didn’t understand it at the time. I thought that I was sort of doing a Saturday morning cartoon show for kids. I didn’t realize how important Superman was to generations of people, children, adults, men and women and it wasn’t until later that it occurred to me how important this character was to people and how important it had been for so many decades. So I was a little slow on the uptake, but I get it now!
Just talking about the longevity of the series and how you’ve come to realize how important that character is, Superman: The Animated Series is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Looking back, what sticks out to you the most of your time on the show? What does it or Superman himself mean to you?
Well, I think that the thing that I appreciate about Superman even more now than when I was first voicing the show was that he’s just good. He doesn’t have a grudge. He’s not vengeful, he’s not settling any scores. He’s just trying to help the human race be better and live in a more peaceful way. Even though he has definitely some childhood trauma, he lost his parents and his planet, he is not embittered the way Batman can seem to be, you know, he’s not dark. It’s interesting because I think we went through a period in entertainment that we’re just trying to come out of where everything is dark and dystopian and edgy and brutal. There’ve been some shows that have kind of broken through like Ted Lasso where I think audiences are ready for something that is more, you know, an actual hero, not a dark hero, but a positive light in the universe as opposed to someone who’s dark with superpowers or has been abused or has a grudge. I really appreciate that about Superman.
Yeah. And as you said, Superman is a character who has been around in pop culture for a long time. He’s over 80 years old now and still remains pretty popular in TV, film, comics, video games. Why do you think he is still such a cultural icon after so many decades?
You know, I bet the smart anthropologists can write about that. I think that Superman taps into something that human beings, all human beings, long for. All of us have dreamt of flying and all of us has dreamt of having superpowers. Superman just, you know, there he is, he fits that bill perfectly. He’s this force for good. He’s not really of us, but he’s with us. It’s interesting how the human psyche embraces that sort of character and Superman abides it perfectly.
With The Animated Series, one of the things that really sticks out for me is just the cast because there’s you, there’s Dana Delany and Clancy Brown and then you had guest stars like Malcolm McDowell, Ron Perlman, Michael Ironside, even Ed Asner! Is it ever surreal to think what a stacked cast Superman: The Animated Series was?
I mean, it’s just awesome! It’s really great. A lot of these people are friends and people I’ve worked with not just on The Animated Series. I think it’s great. I think it’s wonderful that all these people want to be involved. And I have to say a lot of that I think is Andrea Romano, who I’m sorry is retired, but she was just a superb director and Bruce Timm and all the people that created the material. I think that actor’s actors are attracted to good material and so it was kind of a no-brainer when asked to do this show because it was really great.
For sure. One of my favourite string of episodes from this show is the Batman/Superman crossover. For kids in the 90s like myself, that was a huge moment. I kind of liken it to The Avengers of “Oh, Batman and Superman are meeting for the first time! These two shows are crossing over, awesome!” What were your thoughts when you heard that crossover was happening and you’d be playing with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill?
I thought it was great! I had known Kevin because we actually auditioned at the same time for Wings. We spent some time together nervously in waiting rooms hoping to defeat each other and get the part. I obviously was victorious in that particular instance, but he seemed like a really great guy and he was gracious enough to come and do an episode of this web series that I did with my son Sam, who also incidentally voiced Superman in the film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, and when I had this web series that we very cleverly called The Daly Show spelt D-A-L-Y obviously, Kevin came in and did a part and we had so much fun. It was really fun. He’s so good. And he’s such an iconic part of that, an iconic Batman.
Yeah, for sure. Like you said earlier, you reprised Superman for your radio serial and you’ve also come back to him a few other times with animated movies like Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Justice League: Doom. What is it about Superman that makes you want to replay him and how with each version, whether it’s film, animated series or radio, you keep your performance fresh?
Oh gosh. I think it’s fresh by definition because I haven’t done it for a long time. It’s not like I’ve been doing it so much that I feel stale, but I think it’s interesting what happens as we get older and we have more perspective on the world. It’s funny because sometimes I feel like there are roles that I would love to play now that I’ve hung around the planet for the few extra decades that I didn’t understand when I was younger. I think that I understand Superman and I understand what he represents. I’ve come to believe that even though it’s a cartoon there’s something about it that’s important not just for American or English speaking audiences, but sort of for humanity. Like I said earlier, there’s an anthropological urge to have that character be part of our human ethos.
Thank you very much to Tim Daly for speaking with us!
Superman: The Complete Animated Series is now available to own on Blu-ray and digital. Read our review here.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
