Max Fleischer\'s Superman (1941-1942) (DVD)

17 Animated Shorts

It could be argued that during the golden age of animation, Max Fleischer ran neck and neck with Walt Disney or at least a pretty close second. Along with his brother, Dave, Max Fleischer ran his studio under the auspices of Paramount in a similar relationship to the one between Pixar and Disney today. While Fleischer may not have created the marketing juggernaut that is Mickey Mouse, Fleischer did create lasting characters such as Koko the Clown and the iconic Betty Boop. Fleischer´s flapper girl was a far more overtly sexual character than Mickey´s paramour, Minnie Mouse. She was also indicative of the adult themes in Fleischer´s cartoons as compared to the kiddie-oriented Disney shorts. Fleischer Studios also produced the \"Popeye\" cartoons which rivaled the House of Mouse´s popularity. If that weren´t enough for you, Fleischer also invented the rotoscoping technique which allows artists to animate over live-action footage.

Following the rousing success of \"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,\" Fleischer was finally able to convince Paramount to bankroll his own full-length animated feature based on Jonathan Swift´s Gulliver´s Travels. Fleischer would try again with his next feature, \"Mr. Bug Goes to Town,\" which had the unfortunate timing of being released two days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

In 1941, in-between those projects, Paramount acquired the rights to Superman who had only recently debuted in 1938 in the pages of DC´s (then-National) Action Comics. A radio program was greeted voraciously by the public and Paramount was eager to capitalize with a series of animated shorts. Fleischer was reluctant to tackle the property and asked Paramount for the outrageous budget of $100,000 per short thinking they´d turn him down flat. Much to his surprise, the studio came back with a budget of $50,000 and we were off and running.

Fleischer´s Superman cartoons set the standard high for the competition and influenced generations to come. The backgrounds were all lush and detailed, the look of which played a great deal in the design of \"Batman: The Animated Series.\" The use of depths, lighting, and shadows were something that hadn´t been done at the time with animation. The characters themselves may look simplistic compared to today´s animation, but their designs are matched faithfully with the art of Superman´s co-creator Joe Shuster. The animators also used rotoscoping to give the characters´ movements an added level of realism. The score was composed by long-time Fleischer collaborator Sammy Timberg and you can easily tell how the theme song played a hand in John Williams´ score for Richard Donner´s \"Superman\" film.

On the Superman radio program, the Man of Steel was voiced by actor Bud Collyer while Joan Alexander portrayed intrepid reporter, Lois Lane. Fleischer Studios wisely brought them in to reprise those roles. Collyer is simply fantastic giving Clark Kent a care-free falsetto tone which turns into a deep, booming baritone when he becomes the Last Son of Krypton. \"This looks like a job…FOR SUPERMAN!\"

Super-Fact: The renowned catchphrase, \"Look, up in the sky! It´s a bird! It´s a plane! It´s Superman!\" was actually originated with the radio program, not the comics. Another Super-Fact, \"Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!\" was originated in the Fleischer shorts who used it in the opening to succinctly sum up Superman´s powers. Final Super-Fact, Superman didn´t originally have the ability to fly; he could only leap great bounds. The animators at Fleischer asked DC if they could make Superman fly because he looked a bit silly jumping around Metropolis.

Following the financial failure of Fleischer´s forays into animated films, the studio owed a great deal of debt to Paramount. Coupled with a bad falling out between Max and Dave (who directed many of the shorts), Paramount forced Max Fleischer out and overhauled Fleischer Studios into Famous Studios.

This latest release of the Fleischer shorts by Warner Brothers contains all 17 cartoons spread over two discs. The first disc contains the original nine shorts done under Fleischer Studios while the second disc contains the final seven done after the transformation into Famous. Under Fleischer, the formula for the Superman shorts was fairly simple. It usually involved Lois following her itchy nose to a scoop that lands her into some serious trouble. The villain of the piece was a crazed inventor or scientist with an ominous invention that threatened the world. Clark Kent would sneak into a phone booth or closet, change into Superman in order to save Lois and foil the bad guy´s plans. The latest edition of the Daily Planet would whisk across the screen with the Superman´s victory making the latest headline. Lois would lament not being able to thank the Man of Steel as Clark gives a sly wink to the camera. The second disc features the shorts that fell under the Famous Studios umbrella. These were produced in the midst of World War II and put the focus less on science villains and more on Superman stopping Axis spies.

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