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"Superman", the Max and Dave Fleischer animated version, just might be the closest thing there is to seeing the world's greatest superhero at his birth. These cartoons were the very first Superman on screen, made when the comic books were only four years old. You'll be very impressed- I know I was- with the animation art, including faithful character sketches and amazing deco-noir Manhattan settings. This DVD includes all 17 of the Fleischer/Famous episodes, made from 1941-43, complete with the nifty- and catchy- WWII military march-style theme music that, for those of a certain age, will definitely conjure up vintage wartime newsreels. Did you know there was also an alternate intro? I didn't, and it's a great bit of Super-trivia ("Faster than a bolt of lightning!"). You'll also get a kick out of the things Superman fights off: a giant Siberian dinosaur that thaws out of his iceberg ("Arctic Giant"), Egyptian mummies that come to life ("The Mummy Strikes"), and a sabotaged train full of gold bars ("Billion Dollar Limited"). But no matter what obstacles await, Superman always rescues Lois Lane, drags in the villains and returns to his mild-mannered city desk- just like the '50s TV show we all remember. The dialogue is very sparse, but we see the genesis of feisty, witty Lois whenever she speaks.
These cartoons are, wisely, presented uncut and unadorned, with no extras- though the edition I saw included a crude "Private Snafu" take. (That was Warner Bros.' wartime cartoon series, in bare-bones black and white.) The second half of the series, with the "Famous Studios" credit (the Fleischers sold the business in '42), is a bit formulaic but, thankfully, the animation quality didn't suffer and there are even glints of sassy New York humor, probably courtesy of "Betty Boop" alum Izzy Sparber.
So if your Super-memories are a bit hazy, like mine, and want to see how it all began on screen, check out this set and you, too, will not only be humming the theme music, but saying "Look- up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's..." ah, you know the rest!
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Nostalgia buffs, "Superfans,"students of quality animation, and lovers of classic comics will enjoy these 17 cartoons produced between 1941 and 1943 by Paramount Studios. In these little gems, the Man of Steel battles an assortment of monsters, mobsters, mad scientists, and malefactors bent on wreaking havoc in Metropolis and sabotaging America's war effort. Despite the rather formulaic plots, what makes this collection worth having is the outstanding attention to detail in the animation and backgrounds, especially in the first nine 'toons produced by Max Fleischer and directed by his brother Dave. The skyscrapers have a distinctive Art Deco look that gives Superman's world a real personality, a real sense of time and place. Lois Lane shows plenty of spunk long before anyone ever heard the phrase "women's liberation." She bluntly calls Clark Kent a fool, packs her portable typewriter (a 1940s laptop) almost anywhere, wields a machine gun to foil train robbers, and flies off solo, Amelia Earhart-style, to interview a mad scientist.
As noted by other reviewers, the quality of the animation and storytelling drop off noticeably in the remaining eight shorts, produced after the Fleischers left Paramount. Overall, however, the series maintains a fairly high standard throughout, probably because associates of the Fleischers also worked on the later entries in the series. Even the lesser quality animation of the later 'toons, to my eyes, looks better than much of the drivel produced for the Saturday morning shows. Modern day viewers may be uncomfortable with the portrayals of Germans and Japanese, but, after all, these cartoons were produced during World War II, when Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were our mortal enemies. I daresay that if someone were to produce a cartoon adventure of Superman vs. Al-Quaeda today, Osama bin Laden and his ilk wouldn't be portrayed very favorably. All things considered, the Last Son of Krypton has seldom looked better than he does in these cartoons.
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Growing up in the '80s these Superman cartoons were my absolute favorite. They were readily available on VHS from numerous companies as they were in the public domain, and as such the quality of the prints was often very poor. I wanted to watch every Superman cartoon, but they were not al available.
This DVD set has EVERY Superman cartoon made in the 1940s. Today they hold up just as well, beautiful animation, great plot lines, and some are just plain racist, but they still have all the charm and effect from when I was a kid.
Because several, if not all of the cartoons on this DVD are in the public domain, you will find that there are other companies that also release Superman cartoons on DVD, however this is the one DVD to get. These cartoons have been restored, and are well worth the money.
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BOY! These cartoons are GREAT STUFF! I read about them as a child when I saw a 1942 ad for the cartoons and it whetted my appetite for them.
For the most part, they tend to tell the same story evey time with few exceptions, but the visual quality is WONDERFUL and even though the tales are somewhat predictable, they are imaginative and fun to watch.
My favorites are "Terror on the Midway," where Supe comes to the rescue when a wild gorilla wreaks havoc at a circus (check out the "elephant dance" early on in this film). "Underground World" is quite fascinating, as Supe and Lois get lost in an underground kingdom ruled by hawk-men (check out the ending)! "Showdown" has Supe face off against a crime-committing Superman pretender.
Some of these cartoons are not for the politically correct crowd. "Japoteurs" has Supe stop a Japanese crook from sabotaging a US warplane (remember, this was wartime). "Jungle Drums" has Lois burning at the stake while Africans with bones in their noses dance around her. You have to leave your brains at the door and remember the times to enjoy these.
But either case, get some popcorn, bring the kids (and skip the politically incorrect stuff for them), and you'll have a ball from ages 8 to 80.
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Of all the collections of Superman Fleischer cartoons available, THIS IS THE ONE TO GET! Audio and picture quality of these classic cartoons that is leaps and bounds ahead of the others.
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