History WesternAnimation / SupermanTheatricalCartoons

From the studio that brought you such classics as BettyBoop and PopeyeTheSailor, FleischerStudios played a major role in cementing [[{{Superman}} the Man of Steel]] as a pop culture icon by means of these lavishly animated, massive budget short subjects which served to bring Superman to the big screen, from TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation. These cartoons were a big deal back in the '40s -- the first short, "[[WesternAnimation/TheMadScientist The Mad Scientist]]", nearly won the 1942 AcademyAward (losing to a [[ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]] [[PlutoThePup Pluto short]], "Lend A Paw") and has placed No. 33 on The50GreatestCartoons list. These cartoons were among the first cartoons that were made for genuine action and drama, rather than crude comedy, which was part of what contributed to their success. Paramount in fact had such confidence in the shorts being a hit, they even had had '''trailers''' made for them -- that's right, trailers for ''short cartoons.'' Try to wrap your head around that.

** BadassDamsel: And yet she always manages to seem self-possessed and/or defiant until the last moment, when it really looks (to her) like this time she's not going to make it. (Superman has a tendency to arrive JustInTime.)

* {{Kaiju}}: What the "dinosaur" from ''The Arctic Giant'' would actually be today. It even looks a lot like {{Godzilla}}, making this OlderThanTheyThink.

** ''SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' producers openly admit the giant robots were based on the Mechanical Monsters.

* ShoutOut: The ''Batman: The Animated Series'' episode "Christmas with the Joker" makes a subtle one to the first short of this series by recreating the superlaser bombardment of Metropolis, right down to a bridge being blown apart, except in that case it's the Joker using a giant cannon on Gotham.

** There's another shout-out to the Fleischer Superman cartoons in ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': The robots in the episode "Deep Freeze" are basically a cross between the robots from The Mechanical Monsters and the robots from HayaoMiyazaki's CastleInTheSky.

* DeadpanSnarker: Clark usually has a smart answer for each of Lois' jabs.

From the studio that brought you such classics as BettyBoop and PopeyeTheSailor, FleischerStudios played a major role in cementing [[{{Superman}} the Man of Steel]] as a pop culture icon by means of these lavishly animated, massive budget short subjects which served to bring Superman to the big screen, from TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation. These cartoons were a HUGE deal back in the '40s -- the first short, "[[WesternAnimation/TheMadScientist The Mad Scientist]]", nearly won the 1942 AcademyAward (losing to a [[ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]] [[PlutoThePup Pluto short]], "Lend A Paw") and has placed No. 33 on The50GreatestCartoons list. These cartoons were among the first cartoons that were made for genuine action and drama, rather than crude comedy, which was part of what contributed to their success. Paramount in fact had such confidence in the shorts being a hit, they even had had '''trailers''' made for them -- that's right, trailers for ''short cartoons.'' Try to wrap your head around that.

The Fleischer Brothers had to make similar mental gymnastics themselves at the beginning when they were approached by Paramount to make this series. Already stretched from [[WesternAnimation/GulliversTravels their ill-fated]] [[MrBugGoesToTown feature film projects]], they were in no mood to take on this project, which presented considerable demands for a more realistic style. So, they tried to scare off the studio execs by saying they would need around $100,000 per short, an astronomical figure considering the typical WaltDisneyPictures short, the biggest averaged budgeted company in animation was around $25,000. To their shock, Paramount compromised at $50,000 per short and the Fleischers just could not turn down money like that, making the ''Superman'' cartoons the biggest budgeted (adjust for inflation) animation short series in Hollywood history. And boy, [[EyeCandy does it show in the art]].

The Fleischer Brothers had to make [[IncrediblyLamePun similar mental gymnastics]] themselves at the beginning when they were approached by Paramount to make this series. Already stretched from [[WesternAnimation/GulliversTravels their ill-fated]] [[MrBugGoesToTown feature film projects]], they were in no mood to take on this project, which presented considerable demands for a more realistic style. So, they tried to scare off the studio execs by saying they would need around $100,000 per short, an astronomical figure considering the typical WaltDisneyPictures short, the biggest averaged budgeted company in animation was around $25,000. To their shock, Paramount compromised at $50,000 per short and the Fleischers just could not turn down money like that, making the ''Superman'' cartoons the biggest budgeted (adjust for inflation) animation short series in Hollywood history. And boy, [[EyeCandy does it show in the art]].

The Fleischer Brothers had to make similar mental gymnastics themselves at the beginning when they were approached by Paramount to make this series. Already stretched from [[WesternAnimation/GulliversTravels their ill-fated]] [[MrBugGoesToTown feature film projects]], they were in no mood to take on this project, which presented considerable demands for a more realistic style. So, they tried to scare off the studio execs by saying they would need around $100,000 per short, an astronomical figure considering the typical WaltDisneyPictures short, the biggest averaged budgeted company in animation was around $25,000. To their shock, Paramount compromised at $50,000 per short and the Fleischers just could not turn down money like that, making the ''Superman'' cartoons the biggest budgeted (adjust for inflation) animation short series in Hollywood history. And boy, [[EyeCandy does it show in the art]].

From the studio that brought you such classics as BettyBoop and PopeyeTheSailor, FleischerStudios played a major role in cementing [[{{Superman}} the Man of Steel]] as a pop culture icon by means of these lavishly animated, massive budget short subjects which served to bring Superman to the big screen, from TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation. These cartoons were a HUGE deal back in the '40s -- the first short, "[[WesternAnimation/TheMadScientist The Mad Scientist]]", nearly won the 1942 AcademyAward (losing to a [[ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]] [[PlutoThePup Pluto short]], "Lend A Paw") and has placed No. 33 on The50GreatestCartoons list. These cartoons were among the first cartoons that were made for genuine action and drama, rather than crude comedy, which was part of what contributed to their success, and they became so popular, they even had '''trailers''' made for them -- that's right, trailers for ''short cartoons.'' Try to wrap your head around that.

* DuesExMachina: Superman himself. In nearly all of the shorts save "Eleventh Hour", he doesn't pop up until more than halfway through the cartoons, acting on the established threats.
* DigitalDestruction: Warner's DVD compilation has superb restorations of the cartoons, with no DVNR damage or digital interlacing or compression issues; however, it does include some jarring auditory changes, such as missing sound effects from the opening credits of "Electric Earthquake" and "The Magnetic Telescope", and a jump in the prologue of the first short.

On a side note, only the first nine shorts were made by FleischerStudios, with the other eight being handled by FamousStudios, their successor. On another note, in the late forties, Columbia Pictures made an unrelated live action series of Superman serials, which featured Supes [[RogerRabbitEffect turning into an animated version of himself]] whenever he flew, reportedly due to budget constraints.

* DigitalDestruction: Warner's DVD compilation includes some auditory changes, such as missing sound effects from the opening credits of "Electric Earthquake" and "The Magnetic Telescope", and a jump in the prologue of the first short.

* BraidsAndBuckskins: Averted with the villain of "The Electric Earthquake," who dresses in a suit and tie and later a mad scientist's lab coat. His Native American ancestry is only used as an explanation of why he's blowing up the city.

* BraidsAndBuckskins: completely averted with the villain of "The Electric Earthquake," who dresses in a suit and tie and later a mad scientist's lab coat. His Native American ancestry is only used as an explanation of why he's blowing up the city

* OhCrap: When the boss from "Showdown" discovers that the Superman he's talking too isn't his mook in disguise, but the ''real'' one.

The Fleischer Brothers had to make similar mental gymnastics themselves at the beginning when they were approached by Paramount to make this series. Already stretched from [[MaxFleischersGulliversTravels their ill-fated]] [[MrBugGoesToTown feature film projects]], they were in no mood to take on this project, which presented considerable demands for a more realistic style. So, they tried to scare off the studio execs by saying they would need around $100,000 per short, an astronomical figure considering the typical WaltDisneyPictures short, the biggest averaged budgeted company in animation was around $25,000. To their shock, Paramount compromised at $50,000 per short and the Fleischers just could not turn down money like that, making the ''Superman'' cartoons the biggest budgeted (adjust for inflation) animation short series in Hollywood history. And boy, [[EyeCandy does it show in the art]].

* DeadUnicornTrope: The "cliche" of Clark turning into Superman in a phone booth is based almost entirely on TWO of these cartoons: "The Mechanical Monsters" and "Bulleteers". In the first cartoon, Clark is with Lois when he ducks into a phone booth to...call in the story to the Daily Planet. While he's on the phone, Lois sneaks away to investigate the story further. Clark finishes the call, steps out, sees Lois is missing, and only then goes back in the booth to change into Superman. In "Bulleteers", Clark changes in the phone booth for no apparent reason, helping to solidify in the public's mind that this is how he "always" changes into Supes. The earliest known comic where he does this was in a newspaper strip that came out later the same year as "Bulleteers". In that strip, Clark even [[LampshadeHanging thinks to himself]] [[{{Deconstruction}} that this is a fairly uncomfortable place to change clothes in]] [[JustifiedTrope and that he's doing it here only because he's in a hurry.]]

* ThemeSongAssonance: "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u_Zf806lr0 Superman! Da da da da da da! Superman. Da...]]" The inspiration for similar assonance in the themes of [[{{Film/Superman}} the movies]] and ''SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''.