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Superman (1940s animated film series)

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File:Fleishersuperman.jpg
This image of Superman appeared at the beginning of each of the cartoons.

Between 1941 and 1943, Paramount Pictures released a series of animated Technicolor cartoons based upon the comic book character Superman. The first nine cartoons were produced by Fleischer Studios; in 1942, Fleischer Studios was dissolved and reorganized as Famous Studios, which produced the final eight shorts. These cartoons are seen as some of the finest, and certainly the most lavishly budgeted, animated cartoons produced during the The Golden Age of American animation.

History

File:Superman-fleischer.jpg
Superman saves the Daily Planet building in Superman, the first of the Technicolor cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios.

By mid-1941, The Fleischer brothers had recently finished their first animated feature film, Gulliver's Travels, and were deep into production on their second, Mister Bug Goes to Town. They were reluctant to commit themselves to another major project at the time, when they were approached by Paramount Pictures. Paramount was interested in cashing in on the phenomenal popularity of the new Superman comic books, by producing a series of theatrical cartoons based upon the character. The Fleischers hoped to discourage Paramount from committing to the series, so they informed the studio that the cost of producing such a series of cartoons would be about $100,000 per short -- an amazingly high figure, about four times the typical budget of a six-minute Fleischer Popeye the Sailor cartoon during the 1940s. To their surprise, Paramount agreed to the high cost, and the Fleischers were committed to producing a Superman series.

The first cartoon in the series, simply titled Superman, was released on September 26, 1941, and was nominated for the 1941 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. It lost to Lend a Paw, a Pluto cartoon from Walt Disney Productions and RKO.

The Fleischers produced nine cartoons in the Superman series before Paramount took over the Fleischer Studios facility and ousted Max and Dave Fleischer. The sleek look of the series continued, but there was a noticeable change in the storylines of the later shorts of the series. The first nine cartoons had more of a science fiction aspect to them, as they involved the Man of Steel fighting robots, giant dinosaurs, meteors from outer space, and other perils. The later eight cartoons in the series dealt more with World War II propaganda stories, such as in Eleventh Hour, which finds Superman going to China (then occupied by Japan) to commit acts of espionage in order to reduce the morale of the enemy.

The first nine cartoons used the classic opening line of the Superman radio series: "Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!" With the changeover to Famous Studios and the loss of the Fleischers, the opening line of the cartoon series was changed to "Faster than a bolt of lightning! More powerful than the pounding surf! Mightier than a roaring hurricane!" Nonetheless, the latter half of the Superman cartoon series still delivered exciting entertainment for viewers. Created especially for this series is the now-classic exclamation; "Up in the sky! Look! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Superman!"

Famous Studios cancelled the series after a total of seventeen shorts had been produced, replacing it with a series of shorts based on Little Lulu. The high cost of the series kept it from continuing in the face of budgetary restrictions that were imposed after removing the Fleischers from the studio. All seventeen cartoons eventually fell into the public domain, and have been widely distributed on VHS, laserdisc, and DVD.

The voice of Superman for the entire series was provided by Bud Collyer, who also performed the lead character's voice during the Superman radio series.

Decades later, the series strongly influenced the creation of the acclaimed animated television series Batman: The Animated Series, featuring Superman's main counterpart Batman, the 1990s Superman: The Animated Series, and the feature length film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

Cartoons in the series

As all of these cartoons are now in the public domain, free downloadable links from the Internet Archive have been provided where available. In addition, these films are widely available on VHS and DVD, usually in budget-line releases of varying quality.

Fleischer Studios

1941

  • Superman (a.k.a. The Mad Scientist)
  • The Mechanical Monsters

1942

  • Billion Dollar Limited
  • The Arctic Giant
  • The Bulleteers
  • The Magnetic Telescope
  • Electric Earthquake
  • Volcano
  • Terror On The Midway

Famous Studios

1942

  • The Japoteurs (no studio is credited on the original opening titles)
  • Showdown
  • Eleventh Hour
  • Destruction, Inc.

1943

  • The Mummy Strikes
  • Jungle Drums
  • The Underground World
  • Secret Agent

See also

External links

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