The Fleischer ''Superman'' cartoons are a series of seventeen animated short films released in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

and based upon the

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

character

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

, making them his first animated appearance. They were originally produced by

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

, which completed the initial short and eight further cartoons in 1941 and 1942. Production was resumed in May 1942 by Famous Studios, a successor company to Fleischer, which produced eight more cartoons in 1942 and 1943. ''Superman'' was the final animated series initiated by Fleischer Studios, before Famous Studios officially took over production.Barrier, Michael (1999). ''Hollywood Cartoons''. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 303-305. . Although all entries are in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

, ancillary rights, such as merchandising contract rights, as well as the original 35mm master elements, are owned today by

Warner Bros. Entertainment Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

, which has also owned Superman's publisher,

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, since 1967.

History

Development and initial entries

Only the first nine cartoons were produced by

; nonetheless, all 17 episodes are collectively known as "the Fleischer Superman cartoons". 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 quality (and certainly, the most lavishly budgeted) animated cartoons produced during

The Golden Age of American animation The golden age of American animation was a period in the history of U.S. animation that began with the popularization of sound cartoons in 1928 and gradually ended in the late 1960s, where theatrical animated shorts began losing popularity to the ...

. In 1994, the first entry in the series was voted #33 on a list of

The 50 Greatest Cartoons ''The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals'' is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck. Criteria It consists of articles about 50 highly regarded animated short films made in North America and other notable ca ...

of all time by members of the animation field. By mid-1941, brothers Max and

Dave Fleischer Dave Fleischer (; July 14, 1894 – June 25, 1979) was an American film director and producer, best known as a co-owner of Fleischer Studios with his older brother Max Fleischer. He was a native of New York City. Biography Fleischer was the y ...

were running their own animation studio in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, and had recently finished their first

animated feature These lists of animated feature films compiles animated feature films from around the world and is organized alphabetically under the year of release (the year the completed film was first released to the public). Theatrical releases as well as ...

film, ''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

''. The Fleischers were also well into production on their second, ''

Mr. Bug Goes to Town ''Mr. Bug Goes to Town'' (also known as ''Hoppity Goes to Town'' and ''Bugville'') is a 1941 American animated Technicolor feature film produced by Fleischer Studios, previewed by Paramount Pictures on December 5, 1941, and released in California ...

''. Not wanting to risk becoming overworked (which could compromise the quality of each project), the Fleischers were strongly (but quietly) opposed to the idea of committing themselves to another major project when they were approached by their studio's distributor and majority owner since May 1941,

. Paramount was interested in financially exploiting the phenomenal popularity of the then-new ''

'' comic books, by producing a series of theatrical cartoons based upon the character. The Fleischers, looking for a way to reject the project without ''appearing'' uncooperative, agreed to do the series—but only at an (intentionally inflated) per-episode-budget number so exorbitantly high that Paramount would have to reject ''them'', instead. They told Paramount that producing such a conceptually and technically complex series of cartoons would cost about $100,000 per short (or $ per short as of ); this was about four times the typical budget of a six-minute episode of the Fleischers' popular ''

Popeye the Sailor Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Maltin, Leonard (1980, rev. 1987). ''Of Mice and Magic''. New York: Plume. pp. 120–122. To the Fleischers' shock, instead of withdrawing its request, Paramount entered into negotiations with them, and got the per-episode budget lowered to $50,000.Barrier, Michael (1999). ''Hollywood Cartoons''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 304. Now the Fleischers were committed to a project they never wanted to do—with more financial and marketing support than they had ever received for the projects they had done thus far. The first cartoon in the series, simply titled ''

'' (a.k.a. ''The Mad Scientist''), 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 ''Lend a Paw'' is an animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures and released to theaters on October 3, 1941. ''Lend a Paw'' was directed by Clyde Geronimi and features original music ...

'', a

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

cartoon from

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

and

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

. The voice of Superman for the series was initially provided by

Bud Collyer Bud Collyer (born Clayton Johnson Heermance Jr., June 18, 1908 – September 8, 1969) was an American radio actor and announcer and game show host who became one of the nation's first major television game show stars. He is best remembered for ...

, who also performed the lead character's voice during ''The Adventures of Superman'' radio series.

Joan Alexander Joan Alexander (born Louise Abrass; April 16, 1915 – May 21, 2009)
''

Lois Lane Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning journalist for ...

, a role she also portrayed on radio alongside Collyer. Music for the series was composed by

Sammy Timberg Samuel Timberg (May 21, 1903 – August 26, 1992) was an American musician and composer for the stage, film studios, and television. Biography Timberg was born in New York City to a Jewish family originating in Austria, youngest son of Israel and ...

, the Fleischers' long-time musical collaborator. Rotoscoping, the process of tracing animation drawings from live-action footage, was used minimally to lend realism to the character's bodily movements. Many of Superman's actions, however, could not be rotoscoped (such as flying, lifting very large objects, etc.). In these cases, the Fleischers' lead animators—many of whom lacked training in figure drawing—animated "roughly" and depended upon their assistants (usually inexperienced animators but established draftsmen) to keep Superman "on model" during his action sequences. The Fleischer cartoons were also responsible for giving Superman perhaps his most singular superpower: flight. When the Fleischers started work on the series, in the comic books, Superman could only ''leap'' from place to place (hence the classic phrase, "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound"). After seeing the leaping fully animated, however, the Fleischers deemed it "silly looking", and asked permission from Action Comics (later DC Comics) to have him fly instead; the publisher agreed, and Superman was formally given the power of flight thereafter. Previously, he was only shown flying on the cover of ''Triumph'' #772, in "The Adventure of Superman" radio show and in the comics due to an artist and editorial error in ''Superman'' #10.

Transition from Fleischer to Famous

By the end of 1941, the brothers were no longer able to cooperate with each other, and the studio's co-owner Dave Fleischer had left Florida for California, where he would eventually become the new head of

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

studio. After the Fleischers were removed from the company, Paramount renamed the organization Famous Studios, placing Seymour Kneitel (Max Fleischer's son-in-law),

Isadore Sparber Isadore Sparber (March 7, 1906 - August 29, 1958) was an American storyboard artist A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions. Work A storyboard ar ...

, Sam Buchwald, and Dan Gordon in charge of production. The sleek look of the series continued, but there was a noticeable change in the storylines of the later shorts of the series after Famous replaced Fleischer as producer. 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. Japoteurs1

The later eight cartoons in the series, which were all Famous Studios productions, dealt more with

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

stories, such as in ''Eleventh Hour'', which finds Superman going to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

to commit acts of sabotage in order to reduce the morale of the enemy; meanwhile, an angered

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

had a cameo role at the end of ''Jungle Drums'' after Superman foiled another

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

plot. The first seven cartoons originated the classic opening line which was later adopted by the ''Superman'' radio series and in the live-action television series a decade later: "Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!" (the radio series also eventually used the cartoon series' theme music). For the final two Fleischer-produced cartoons and the first of the eight Famous Studios-produced cartoons, the opening was changed to "Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to soar higher than any plane!". For the remaining Famous Studios-produced cartoons, the opening line was changed again to "Faster than a streak of lightning! More powerful than the pounding surf! Mightier than a roaring hurricane!" For international prints of Superman cartoons starting with "Showdown" the opening line is "Faster than a streak of lightning! More powerful than the pounding surf! Mightier than a roaring hurricane!" This series also featured a slight variation of the now-classic exclamation (also from the

radio series A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...

): "Up in the sky, look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!".

Later history

Famous Studios ended the series after a total of seventeen shorts had been produced, replacing it with a series of shorts based upon Marge's ''

Little Lulu ''Little Lulu'' is a comic strip created in 1935 by American author Marge (cartoonist), Marjorie Henderson Buell. The character, Lulu Moppet, debuted in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' on February 23, 1935, in a single panel, appearing as a flower ...

''. 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. The first cartoon had a budget of $50,000 (equivalent to $ in ), and the other sixteen each had a budget of $30,000 (equivalent to $ in ) for each of the eight other Fleischer cartoons and $485,414.68 for each of the eight Famous Studios cartoons, bringing the total cost of the series to $530,000 (equivalent to $ in ). In addition, Paramount cited waning interest in the ''Superman'' shorts among theater exhibitors as another justification for the series' cancellation.Maltin, Leonard (1980, rev. 1987), p. 312. The rights to all seventeen cartoons eventually reverted to National Comics, who licensed TV syndication rights to Flamingo Films (distributors of the TV series '' Adventures of Superman''). All eventually fell into the

, due to National's failure to renew their copyrights; thus, they have been widely distributed on VHS,

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...

, and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

. Nonetheless,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, via DC Comics, now owns the original film elements to the cartoons.

Related works

A 1944 Famous Studios ''

Popeye the Sailor Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.She-Sick Sailors'' parodied the Superman cartoons a year after production of the cartoons had ceased. In this cartoon, Popeye's enemy

Bluto Bluto, at times known as Brutus, is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (later renamed ''Popeye''). Blut ...

, who was voiced by the announcer for the Superman radio series, Jackson Beck, dresses up as Superman to fool

Olive Oyl Olive Oyl is a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar in 1919 for his comic strip ''Thimble Theatre''. The strip was later renamed ''Popeye'' after the sailor character that became the most popular member of the cast; however, Olive Oyl was a ...

, and he challenges Popeye to feats of super-strength that "only Superman" can do. The musical score for '' She-Sick Sailors'' includes echoes of Sammy Timberg's Fleischer/Famous ''Superman'' score. The previous year, ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' did a parody starring

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

called '' Super-Rabbit''. In a rare move for a competing studio,

Leon Schlesinger Productions Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was ...

, producers of ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' and ''

'' (which were distributed by WB), featured Timberg's Superman theme in '' Snafuperman'', a 1944

Private Snafu Private Snafu is the title character of a series of black-and-white American instructional adult animated shorts, ironic and humorous in tone, that were produced between 1943 and 1945 during World War II. The films were designed to instruct servi ...

cartoon Schlesinger produced for the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. Paramount's involvement in the ''Superman'' franchise did not end with the sale of the cartoons. In 1995, after being sold to

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

, Paramount's television syndication unit absorbed

Viacom Enterprises Viacom Productions (formerly Viacom Enterprises) was a television production arm of Viacom International. The division was active from 1974 until 2004, when the company was folded into Paramount Network Television 10 years following Viacom's acq ...

, and as a result, Paramount now held the TV rights to the

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and fourth ''Superman'' films, along with the ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'' film (which up to that point had been held by Viacom). Full rights to ''Superman III'' and ''Supergirl'' are now with WB, but Paramount still has some partial rights to ''Superman IV'' (as part of the

Cannon Films The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested ...

library), and TV distribution is now held (on Paramount's behalf) by

Trifecta Entertainment & Media Trifecta Entertainment & Media is an American entertainment company founded in 2006. The company's founders previously held jobs as executives at MGM Television. Trifecta is primarily a distribution company and also handles advertising sales in exc ...

Influence and legacy

In 1985, DC Comics named Fleischer Studios as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication ''

Fifty Who Made DC Great ''Fifty Who Made DC Great'' is a one shot published by DC Comics to commemorate the company's 50th anniversary in 1985. It was published in comic book format but contained text articles with photographs and background caricatures. Publication h ...

'' for its work on the Superman cartoons. The series strongly influenced the creation of the acclaimed

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

'' Batman: The Animated Series'', as well as the similar-looking '' Superman: The Animated Series''. Comic book artist

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which he collaborated wi ...

has also listed the shorts among the inspiration for his take on Superman's look. This animated version of Superman was planned to be made as a cameo in the deleted scene "Acme's Funeral" from the 1988 film ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...

''

The robot robbery scene from ''The Mechanical Monsters'' short has been echoed by several later works. In 1980, Japanese animated film writer and director

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

created an identical robbery with a similarly functioning robot in the last episode of the TV series ''

Lupin the Third Part II ''Lupin the 3rd Part II'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by TMS Entertainment. Part of the ''Lupin III'' franchise, it is the second anime television adaptation of the ''Lupin III'' manga series created by Monkey Punch. Altho ...

'', a robot design he used again in his feature film '' Castle in the Sky''. The elements of the scene were borrowed again in 1994 for "The Tick vs. Brainchild" (Season 1, Episode 9 of ''

The Tick ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''), with the robbery committed by Skippy, a cyborg dog. The 2004 feature-length movie ''

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'', often shortened to ''Sky Captain'', is a 2004 science fiction action- adventure film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut, and produced by Jon Avnet, Sadie Frost, Jude Law an ...

'' (which Paramount released in several territories, WB also distributed in a few countries) kept the setting in the 1940s, but scaled up the scene from a single robot robbing a jewelry exhibition to an army of gigantic robots stealing city infrastructure. The movie gave a nod to its source following the robbery with the newspaper headline, "Mechanical Monsters Unearth Generators". ''The Mechanical Monsters'' itself was featured as part of '' Fantastic Animation Festival''. A 1988 music video for the song "Spy In The House of Love" by Chrysalis Records recording artists

Was (Not Was) Was (Not Was) is an American pop rock group founded in 1979 in Detroit, Michigan, by David Weiss and Don Fagenson, who adopted the stage names David Was and Don Was. Their song catalog features an eclectic mix of pop and rock styles, often fea ...

borrowed footage extensively from Famous' ''

Secret Agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

'' short.

Availability

The Paramount ''Superman'' cartoons are widely available on VHS,

and

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

. The first "official" home video releases of the series were by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

in 1987 and 1988, in a series of VHS and

packages called ''TV's Best Adventures of Superman''. Four volumes were released, where each volume contained 2 selected episodes of the classic 1950s TV series '' Adventures of Superman'' (one black & white episode and one color episode), plus a selected Max Fleischer ''Superman'' short (marking the first "official" release of such as Warner holds the original film elements). Among the best reviewed of these various releases was a 1991 VHS set produced by Bosko Video, the somewhat incorrectly titled ''The Complete Superman Collection: Golden Anniversary Edition - The Paramount Cartoon Classics of Max & Dave Fleischer'' released as two VHS volumes which featured high-quality transfers from 35mm prints. The Bosko Video set was later issued on DVD by

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

as ''The Complete Superman Collection: Diamond Anniversary Edition'' in 2000. The Bosko Video release was not associated with

or their parent company Warner Bros. Another DVD was ''Superman: The Ultimate Max Fleischer Cartoon Collection'' from VCI Entertainment released on May 30, 2006, a month prior to the release of the film ''

Superman Returns ''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the sixth and fina ...

''. DVD features included: all 17 animated shorts digitally restored in Dolby Digital 2.0 audio; a bonus cartoon: '' Snafuperman'' (a 1944 Warner Bros. wartime parody of the Fleischer cartoons, featuring

and produced for the

); "Behind the Cape" synopses and fun facts with each cartoon; a DVD fold-out booklet with notes on the series; bios of the voice actors, producer Max Fleischer, and Superman; a bonus trailer for the 1948 ''

'' serial with

Kirk Alyn Kirk Alyn (born John Feggo Jr.; October 8, 1910 – March 14, 1999) was an American actor, best known for being the first actor to play the DC Comics character Superman in live-action for the 1948 movie serial ''Superman'' and its 1950 sequel '' A ...

; and a recorded audio phone interview with

Joan Alexander Joan Alexander (born Louise Abrass; April 16, 1915 – May 21, 2009)
''

or their parent company

A more "official" release from restored and remastered, superior original vault elements was released on DVD on November 28, 2006, as part of

's Superman film re-releases. The first nine cartoons were released as part of the four-disc special edition '' Superman: The Movie'' set, and the eight remaining cartoons were included on the two-disc special edition ''

Superman II ''Superman II'' is a 1980 superhero film directed by Richard Lester and written by Mario Puzo and David and Leslie Newman from a story by Puzo based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the second installment in the ''Superman'' film se ...

'' set. The entire collected Fleischer / Famous cartoons were included in the box sets '' The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection'' and '' Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition'', where both sets also included a 13-minute short documentary on the history of these cartoons, entitled ''First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series''. This documentary (which was included on the ''

'' two-disc special edition DVD) features interviews with surviving members, relatives and biographers of the animation and production team, also contemporary animators such as

Bruce Timm Bruce Walter Timm (born February 5, 1961) is an American artist, animator, writer, and producer. He has contributed to building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995) and the subseque ...

('' Batman: The Animated Series''),

Paul Dini Paul McClaran Dini (; born August 7, 1957) is an American screenwriter and comic creator. He has been a producer and writer for several Warner Bros. Animation/DC Comics animated series, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–19 ...

and Dan Riba ('' Superman: The Animated Series'') who detail the influence these cartoons have had on their own works. Upon this release though, there was controversy by some consumers over why Warner's chose to release these animated shorts amongst the ''Superman'' films DVD releases instead of packaging them as their own complete individual DVD release. In 2004, a two-disc set was released by Platinum disc corporation with digitally enhanced audio 5.1. In December 2004, Toonami Digital Arsenal made the shorts available for free download in mp4 format on it
website
They posted one episode per day with the final episode, "Secret Agent", going live on New Year's Day 2005. Another came on July 1, 2008, when Warner Bros. released the shorts on iTunes, via their DC Comics sections. Fourteen of the shorts are available for $1.99 for every two, while the other three are all in one video for the same price. On April 7, 2009, yet another release was made, this time a collection of all the cartoons released by Warner Home Video as the first authorized collection from the original masters, titled ''Max Fleischer's Superman: 1941-1942'' with a suggested price at $26.99; the set included one new special feature in the form of "''The Man, The Myth, Superman''" featurette, along with an old special feature seen in the ''Superman II'' 2006 DVD release entitled "''First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series''". The 8-disc

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

boxset ''The Superman Motion Picture Anthology'', released in June 2011, includes all the Max Fleischer cartoons in SD as bonuses on the discs for the two versions of ''

''. The nine Fleischer Studios cartoons plus the 13-minutes feature ''First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series'' are on the ''Superman II - Original 1980/81 Theatrical Release'' disc and the eight Famous Studios cartoons are on the ''Superman II - The 2006 Richard Donner Cut'' disc. A Blu-ray set containing all the cartoons, called ''Max Fleischer's Superman: Collector's Edition'' was released on October 30, 2012 by the Gaiam studio. According to Blu-Ray.com and Amazon reviews, it was upscaled from standard definition to HD, and the set's video quality and audio quality were criticized. The shorts were available for the first time in true HD on WarnerMedia's

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...

streaming service. After the service went down in early 2021, they were no longer available. They have yet to reappear on WarnerMedia's flagship streaming service

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

List of films

As all of these cartoons are now in the

, free downloadable links from the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

have been provided.

Fleischer Studios

Famous Studios

Arrowverse

In the ''

Crisis on Infinite Earths "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to March ...

'' tie-in comic, the world of those cartoons take place on the Earth-F before being destroyed by the Anti-Monitor. In the pilot episode of '' Superman & Lois'', Superman dons a costume reminiscent of his suit in the

Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became ...

cartoon during an origin montage, where he saves a young boy from being hit by a falling car, referencing the cover of '' Action Comics#1''.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1940s animated films Animated short film series Superman animated shorts

Rotoscoped films Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced ...

Animated action films Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

Fleischer Studios series and characters Famous Studios series and characters Film series introduced in 1941 1943 disestablishments 1940s American films