Little Girl Lost: Part 1
Episode #37 - Little Girl Lost: Part 1
Original Airdate - May 2nd, 1998.
While Superman is exploring the remains of his home world of
Krypton, he finds a teenage girl who is the last survivor of Argos,
a sister planet of Krypton. He brings her to Earth where she gains
superpowers like Superman's. Wanting to prove herself, she
single-handedly takes on Granny Goodness and the rejuvenated
Intergang.
Media by Bird Boy
Pans by Borg4of3
Review by Barry Allen |
Credits:
Written by Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, Paul Dini, Alan Burnett
Directed by Curt Geda
Music by Lolita Ritmanis
Animation by Koko/Dong Yang
Voices:
Tim Daly as Superman/Clark Kent
Dana Delany as Lois Lane
Nicholle Tom as Kara/Supergirl
David Kaufman as Jimmy Olsen
Mike Farrell as Jonathan Kent
Shelley Fabares as Martha Kent
Carolyn Seymour as Kala In-Ze
Edward Asner as Granny Goodness
Diane Michelle as Lashina
Al Roker as Weatherman
Julia Kato as Amy
Scott Menville as Trouble
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Review
Plot: ****
Animation: *****
Overall, (not an average): *****
As Supergirl has always been one of my favorite heroines, I had been
waiting anxiously since the first season to Superman to see her appear
on the show, very interested in seeing how they would handle her
character and how they would translate it into the animated universe.
I was not disappointed.
WHAT WORKED: The beginning of LITTLE GIRL LOST was brilliantly
arranged. Not only did Superman's narration help us understand where he
was going and what he was doing there, but it was done in a way that
showed us he was not talking to himself, but into a journal in his ship.
This was a miniscule detail to be sure, but still satisfying. The little
narration also helped to break up the otherwise dead silence (lack of
dialogue, in any case,) through the first several minutes of the
episode, as he was in space and then landing, and searching, the planet
Argo. The quietness, however, IS nice for a change. So many episodes of
this series would have been much better if they had ever shut up for as
long as Superman shut up in this episode, keeping nicely within my
theories that "Less is more," and "If you don't have anything of use to
say, just shut up."
The planet Argo itself is a homage in two ways. Not only was Argo a city
on Krypton in the comic continuity, but the physical appearance of Argo
was that of the appearance of Krypton from the Christopher Reeve
Superman movies. The same icy surface with the crevaces cut deep into
the surface. Very sublte, but not altogether overlooked, homage that
true fans of the character should have picked up on right away and
smirked at.
Kala In-Ze is the image that explains to Superman the story of Argo and
how it came to be a frozen tundra and how its inhabitants died, and she
tells the story beautifully—Carolyn Seymour (whoever she is,) was great.
The origin itself is also very satisfying to me, personally. In the
comics, I despise the notion that Supergirl once came from Krypton
(Superman should be the absolute last survivor of the planet,) and I'm
also iffy about the whole Earth Angel Supergirl that Peter David had
been writing, but I found Kara coming from Krypton's sister planet to be
altogether believable in all aspect as far as the mythos of Superman go.
It would stand to reason that the people of Argo would similarly
flourish under the yellow sun of Earth as Kryptonians do. There were
certainly no complaints from this Supergirl fan on that matter. Of
course she'd be super-strong and able to fly when she got to Earth.
And flying is what Kara seemed to do best. The first scene of her on
Earth, flying with the birds and all over the Kent farm was nothing
short of beautifully choreographed. S:TAS has not made flying look as
appealing since LAST SON OF KRYPTON II, and this episode surpasses even
that. The "camera work" was incredible for the series; it was great
seeing the "camera" follow her all around in the air, twisting and
turning along with her movements. That scene, more than any other scene
ever, makes me want to fly.
Clark and Kara had instant chemistry: Clark clearly the protective older
brother figure and Kara obviously the free-spirited kid sister. They
didn't have to use very carefully-written dialogue to show their roles
in their relationship—Tim Daly and Nicholle Tom, (Clark and Kara
respectively, and possibly two of the most talented voice over actors,)
relay their relationship in the tone of voice they use with one another.
Clark with his clear instructions and Kara with her sheepish, if not
mischievious, responses. It was all very believably written and
well-acted. Kudos to the writers and the voice actors.
Maybe something that only I noticed: Kara tells Jimmy that her name is
"Karen." Karen is the name of Power Girl; in the pre-Crisis universe,
Power Girl was more or less the Supergirl of Earth 2. I don't know if it
was intended to be a tip of the hat to Power Girl, or if I might have
just misheard Jimmy when he pronounced "Kara," but I was still
entertained by it.
In fact, I was pretty entertained by Jimmy in his episode in general. It
was good to see his character develope a little bit more, past the copy
boy who's always taking pictures and always having bad luck and doing
really stupid things. I liked seeing him have a better idea than Lois,
and even be dismissed by her ("Have a game on me!" she replies to his
proposed plan of visiting all the arcades.) In this series, Lois is
always hit or miss; she's immensely talented and invaluable to the plot
and the structure of the show, or she's an idiotic damsel in distress.
This episode showed Lois could be downright unlikeable to her colleagues
when she's too sure of herself and her self-perceived infallability in
the field of journalism. It was just nice to see Lois proven wrong by a
copy boy photographer. Even Lois needs a few blows to her ego, no matter
how vital she is to the Superman mythos.
And hey, Al Roker was the weatherman in this episode. What more can you
ask for? :-)
WHAT DIDN'T WORK: In the comics, Intergang started off as a real
gang, a real shady organization, and a real fun group to deal with. Even
in the animated series, this is how Intergang was founded and was
operated.
But now we have these useless kids in league with Granny Goodness, with
Apokolips pulling all the strings? Bleh. Who needs that? Hardly as
entertaining as when Mannheim was in charge, even though I understand
why he wasn't.
I thought that it was almost too convenient that Jimmy and Kara were so
close in age; I have to wonder if Jimmy would have gotten this spotlight
episode if Supergirl had not appeared. After all, he played something of
the role of sidekick for the better part of their time together. If
Supergirl had been as old as she was when she died in the pre-Crisis
universe, or even as old as she is in comics now, would Jimmy still have
gotten this precious little time to showcase the fact that his
personality is actually three-dimensional? I just wish they had given
the spotlight to one teenaged character at a time so I could be more
sure of their certainty in one of, or both of, the characters and their
ability to exist separately. (S:TAS would later prove me wrong and show
that they did have a little more faith in Supergirl, but not too much
more faith in Jimmy Olsen.)
Finally, being a Supergirl purist and fan of Gary Frank, I wish
Supergirl hadn't been quite so young and under-dressed. I missed her old
blue suit with red skirt very much... she could have maintained quite a
bit more dignity if she wasn't wearing such a short shirt and skirt, not
to mention how much more dignified she could have LOOKED. Gary Frank,
(although the book was not the greatest under Peter David,) drew an
absolutely beautiful, almost regal-looking Supergirl that I wish had
been adapted for the cartoon.
GREAT QUOTES
LOIS: Somehow, I don't smell Pulitzer here. Or soap for that matter.
GRANNY: Oooo! You naughty little MONKEY! Granny will spank you GOOD!
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