Saturday Night Showcase: Fleischer Studios’ Superman

Fleischer Studios was one of the biggest animation studios of its time. Sadly they didn’t make the transition out of film, closing their doors in 1942 thanks to new owners Paramount Pictures. I feel that was a mistake, as they produced some of the best animation of its day and tonight’s entry, Superman, even influenced Bruce Timm, who would use it in the original Fox version of Superman’s comrade in Batman: The Animated Series.

Tonight we take a look at Max Fleischer’s first flight into the Man of Steel from Krypton.

While Fleischer Studios worked on many other projects (including Popeye and Betty Boop, as well as a full-animated version of Gulliver’s Travels), their Superman is my favorite of the animated versions of Superman. Why? The artwork and animation are incredible. (Fleischer created the rotoscoping process where actors are filmed and copied over year before.) Superman isn’t overpowered but still stronger than most people. He didn’t have superbreath or Heat Vision (he is shown using X-Ray Vision in one short) or any of that. Just flight and superhuman strength/endurance.

The first eight, according to Wikipedia, were produced at Fleischer while the remainder were produced by Paramount’s “Famous Studios” and was the last work by Fleischer’s team. The quality seen in just this first cartoon was seen through out, as Superman would battle gangsters, fight in World War 2 against both Japanese and German forces, and take on giant robots that would appear in the underrated Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow, one of my favorite movies.

There are only three cast members, just as the comics at the time; Clark, Lois, and Perry. Jimmy Olsen would be added thanks to the radio dramas which also officially introduced Kryptonite (since what would have been the first had been shot down by DC). However, Fleischer did introduce the power of flight, since they decided leaping from building to building looked silly when animated. They also were responsible for “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound” most people think came from the original TV show, Adventures of Superman. Nope, started here. The radio drama is credited with the “look, up in the sky” bit.

Bud Collyer was Superman, a role he made famous in the radio serials (there hasn’t been a better animated Superman) and continued in Filmation’s animated series (their very first, to be exact). Joan Alexander was Lois in both this cartoon and the radio serials. Both are great performances.

Want to see more? That’s easy. The cartoons have since fallen into public domain and are easy to find all over the internet and on many DVD’s, both released by Warner (who owns the original elements and probably has the best quality printing) and other companies. I highly recommend seeing this for any Superman or animation fan.