Krypto the Superdog is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on Superman's canine companion Krypto, which premiered on Cartoon Network on March 25, 2005 (exactly 50 years after his comic debut), and aired on The CW's Saturday morning block Kids' WB from September 23, 2006, until September 15, 2007. 39 episodes were produced. A comic book series (based on the TV show) was published by DC Comics under the Johnny DC imprint, which lasted 6 issues, from 2006 to 2007. The show was developed by producers Alan Burnett and Paul Dini, who had produced the successful Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series. Instead of continuing in that style, Krypto was produced in a manner reminiscent of the Hanna-Barbera shows of the 1960s to the 1980s, from the sound effects down to the animation style (veteran Hanna-Barbera designer Iwao Takamoto served as a creative consultant).

Plot

As the planet Krypton is about to be destroyed, Superman's father Jor-El makes a spaceship and puts a puppy named Krypto into it for a test flight. Aboard the ship, Krypto was playing with his ball when he accidentally destroyed several wires, causing the ship to release a sleeping gas to put him into a deep sleep while it heads to Earth. When he arrived in Earth's solar system he woke up and found himself fully grown. The rocket's computer system gave him a collar and an ID with an intergalactic communicator. Upon landing on Earth, Krypto possesses superpowers similar to those of Superman, since all Kryptonian life-forms (including Superman himself) gain superpowers from exposure to a yellow sun. Later, he is adopted by Kevin Whitney, a 9-year-old boy, with whom Superman arranges for him to stay, as Superman himself is often too busy saving the world to take care of him. Krypto poses as an ordinary dog while living with Kevin's family, but adopts the secret identity of Krypto the Superdog for his superheroic deeds; Kevin is aware of Krypto's dual identity, but the rest of his family does not, excluding his spoiled cousin Bailey, who found out accidentally. Kevin lives next door to Andrea, a girl who takes care of Krypto's best friend, Streaky. In the series, the various animals, including Krypto, all are capable of speaking to each other, but not to humans, except for Kevin and later Andrea, who are able to communicate with Krypto and the other animals with intergalactic communicators. The viewers can understand them, though, especially when Krypto and Streaky talk to the camera. With his allies Streaky the Supercat, Ace the Bat-Hound, and Stretch-O-Mutt, Krypto fights the plots of Lex Luthor's pet iguana Ignatius, Joker's pet hyenas Bud and Lou, Penguin's trained birds called the Bad News Birds, and Catwoman's cat Isis. When working either alone or with a group of alien dog superheroes known as the Dog Star Patrol, Krypto faces off against the evil Mechanikat and his agents Snooky Wookums and Delilah.

Characters

Main

The Dog Star Patrol are a superpowered group of aliens canines who each possess a unique superpower, and fight crime across the galaxy. Members of the Dog Star Patrol include:

Supporting

Antagonists

Other antagonists

Voice cast

Additional voices

Episodes

All episodes were directed by Scott Jeralds.

Series overview

Season 1 (2005)

Season 2 (2006)

Ending and broadcast reruns

On December 15, 2006, the series ended. Reruns were shown on Kids' WB as part of the then-new CW network's E/I requirement, but stopped airing due to Kids' WB opting to use Cookie Jar Entertainment's shows Will & Dewitt and Magi-Nation. Krypto was aired on Boomerang from February 5, 2007, for a duration of 7 years until January 3, 2014. The two-part holiday special, "Iguanukkah", aired on Cartoon Network, December 21, 2008 (as well as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), as part of the all-day holiday specials marathon. It was shown on Boomerang. Overseas, the show currently airs on Boomerang in Australia and on France 3 (as part of Ludo) in France. The show began airing on Boomerang Latin America in 2014. In the UK & Ireland, the series, upon starting, aired on the CBBC Channel before later moving to Cartoonito. However, as of November 2017, it appears to be no longer broadcast on that channel. Since September 2018, it started airing reruns on Tooncast in Latin America.

Home media

Warner Home Video released two DVD volumes in 2006 - each featured a few episodes from the first season; no further releases took place until September 2022 when the complete series was released on DVD. The series was recently added alongside other DC animated shows onto HBO Max, but currently only in Latin America.