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January 1, 2019: Watch Some of Filmation's Superboy Cartoons Now

While much of Superman's (and Superboy's) animated exploits are available on Blu-Ray or DVD, one cartoon remains unreleased... Filmation's Superboy cartoons.

"The New Adventures of Superman" premiered on CBS-TV on September 10, 1966. The first season of the show featured two "Superman" adventures, split into two six-minute segments.

In between the two Superman cartoons, each first season episode included a six-minute segment of "The Adventures of Superboy". "Superboy" starred voice actor Bob Hastings as young Clark Kent and Superboy (Hastings later portrayed Commissioner Gordon on "Batman: The Animated Series") and featured Superboy's Dog of Steel, Krypto the Superdog. During this first season, there were 18 "Superboy" cartoons. None of these have been released in any official DVD package (though eight episodes were released a decade or so ago on VHS as part of Warner Home Video's "Super Powers Collection").

In September 1967, Filmation lengthened the show to an hour, added Aquaman to the mix, and retitled it "The Superman - Aquaman Hour of Adventure".

There were 16 new six-minute "Superman" cartoons, two of which aired per hour. There were also eight new six-minute "Superboy" cartoons, which again partnered the Boy of Steel with his canine companion Krypto.

The complete season (minus the Superboy segments) was released to DVD in "The New Adventures of Superman - Seasons 2 and 3" in June 2014.

In September 1968, the show was retooled once more and retitled a final time to "The Batman - Superman Hour". Following the two-part format, "Superman" returned with eight new 12-minute adventures, split into two six-minute parts one and two, respectively.

Superboy and Krypto also returned with eight six-minute segments.

The complete season (minus the Superboy segments) was released to DVD in "The New Adventures of Superman - Seasons 2 and 3" in June 2014.

While the first 18 Superboy episodes remain unreleased, the 1967 and 1968 episodes are now available as part of the DC Universe digital streaming service.

They're not easy to find though. They're attached to the "New Adventures of Superman" cartoons (Season 2 and 3).

Source: 13thdimension