To this very day, Superman remains one of the most beloved superheroes in pop culture history. With countless comics, movies, TV shows, and merchandise spawned from the man of steel, this iconic symbol of peace and justice has brought hope into the lives of others in more ways than one. However, if we're to go back to the first time we saw the caped wonder fly on the big screen, it all started with his first motion picture adaptation from the Fleischer Studio in the early 1940s. Brought to life with gripping action & drama and realistic art direction, how does the original 1941 Oscar nominated animated film hold up?
The main storyline establishes Superman's origins of being brought to planet Earth, and then fast forwarding to his adulthood disguised as mild mannered news reporter Clark Kent. When he and co-worker Lois Lane of the Daily Planet discover that an evil scientist plans to destroy civilization with a powerful laser beam, it ends up being a job for Superman to save the day. While this premise sounds fairly straightforward, it all works well in comic book format, especially of yesteryear when most of them were about the big hero saving the day from complete destruction. By taking this short more dramatically than their usual comedic fodder, the Fleischer Studio successfully captured the right amount of tension and fear needed for the kind of heart racing suspense a superhero adventure like this would require. Aided in part by the stoic albeit cliched voice acting, the film feels a lot like a radio drama brought to life through dark visual storytelling. Admittedly, the villain's outcome is very predictable given where the series would eventually go, but as a stand alone tale, it's bold and daring enough.
Arguably the best aspect of the short would have to be the animation direction, going in a more pseudo realistic approach not often seen in other Fleischer shorts (or many animated cartoons in general). In utilizing live-reference modeling as opposed to traced rotoscoping, the characters look and move very believably without coming off as uncanny. Granted, there are some questionable motion tricks that feel too squishy and bloated for their own good, like the effects animation and prop animation. Perhaps the studio had not yet felt accustomed to handling fully realistic animation. It's interesting that the villain has a cartoony vulture sidekick, almost as if the animators needed to ease into the transition. Finally, Sammy Timberg's score is the cherry on top of the suspense cake, as all the buildup to Superman's reveal and needing to save the day is elevated through gripping action and tense music. It's also an added bonus that the main Superman theme played throughout feels like an abridged version of John Williams' famous theme for the future Christopher Reeve Superman films.
As a start to the man of steel truly flying on screen, the 1941 Superman cartoon is both an impressive pilot to an inevitable superhero series, and a groundbreaking historical landmark for comic book adaptations alike. Had this series not taken off, the legacy of superhero content in film and animation truly might not have been the same. Regardless if you've seen this film or not, I would definitely recommend it either to newcomers to Superman or genuine animation aficionados that are yet to give it a go. As a staple of public domain pride, this gem of a picture deserves lots of care and attention.
The main storyline establishes Superman's origins of being brought to planet Earth, and then fast forwarding to his adulthood disguised as mild mannered news reporter Clark Kent. When he and co-worker Lois Lane of the Daily Planet discover that an evil scientist plans to destroy civilization with a powerful laser beam, it ends up being a job for Superman to save the day. While this premise sounds fairly straightforward, it all works well in comic book format, especially of yesteryear when most of them were about the big hero saving the day from complete destruction. By taking this short more dramatically than their usual comedic fodder, the Fleischer Studio successfully captured the right amount of tension and fear needed for the kind of heart racing suspense a superhero adventure like this would require. Aided in part by the stoic albeit cliched voice acting, the film feels a lot like a radio drama brought to life through dark visual storytelling. Admittedly, the villain's outcome is very predictable given where the series would eventually go, but as a stand alone tale, it's bold and daring enough.
Arguably the best aspect of the short would have to be the animation direction, going in a more pseudo realistic approach not often seen in other Fleischer shorts (or many animated cartoons in general). In utilizing live-reference modeling as opposed to traced rotoscoping, the characters look and move very believably without coming off as uncanny. Granted, there are some questionable motion tricks that feel too squishy and bloated for their own good, like the effects animation and prop animation. Perhaps the studio had not yet felt accustomed to handling fully realistic animation. It's interesting that the villain has a cartoony vulture sidekick, almost as if the animators needed to ease into the transition. Finally, Sammy Timberg's score is the cherry on top of the suspense cake, as all the buildup to Superman's reveal and needing to save the day is elevated through gripping action and tense music. It's also an added bonus that the main Superman theme played throughout feels like an abridged version of John Williams' famous theme for the future Christopher Reeve Superman films.
As a start to the man of steel truly flying on screen, the 1941 Superman cartoon is both an impressive pilot to an inevitable superhero series, and a groundbreaking historical landmark for comic book adaptations alike. Had this series not taken off, the legacy of superhero content in film and animation truly might not have been the same. Regardless if you've seen this film or not, I would definitely recommend it either to newcomers to Superman or genuine animation aficionados that are yet to give it a go. As a staple of public domain pride, this gem of a picture deserves lots of care and attention.