History WesternAnimation / SupermanTheatricalCartoons

* {{Expy}}: "Showdown" has a cameo by a Daily Planet office boy who is clearly supposed to resemble ComicBook/JimmyOlsen, but he is never named in the cartoon. It's possible Paramount didn't have the rights to the character at that point, but wanted to incorporate him into the cartoons somehow, leading to this character. He never appears again after that scene or in any of the later entries.

* SoftGlass: In "Superdown", the Superman imposter doesn't have powers, but at one point, he punches through a window without hurting his hand.

* OhCrap: When the boss from "Showdown" discovers that the Superman he's talking to isn't his mook in disguise, but the ''real'' one.
** The mad scientist from The Mad Scientist has one when he sees Superman shrugging his laser off at full power.

* TooDumbToLive: Lois, most of the time. In the first short, Lois insist that she'd cover the story on the mad scientist alone without Clark and despite Perry's saying "no".

** Lois is actually the one who ends up using the titular machine to save the day in ''Magnetic Telescope'' after Superman finds himself powerless against the incoming luminous green comet (strongly implied but never outright stated to be made of [[KryptoniteFactor kryptonite]]), hurling the rock back into space.

* KryptoniteFactor: While never named outright, Superman finds himself powerless against the comet in "Magnetic Telescope", which constantly emits a SicklyGreenGlow and hurls Superman back to earth unconscious every time he attempts to attack it directly, strongly implying that the comet is made of the trope-naming mineral.

* ShoutOut: Whether or not its intentional, the scientist in "The Magnetic Telescope" resembles [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel's]] nemesis Dr. Sivana. And to a lesser degree, to [[ComicBook/LexLuthor that bald mad scientist that causes trouble for Metropolis]].

* BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon: In "The Mummy Strikes", an Egyptologist is killed by a tomb's poisoned needle booby trap. His assistant picks up the needle and gets her finger prints on it, [[EasilyCondemned so she is naturally arrested for it]]. Fortunately, Clark Kent and a professor find another booby trap and manage to clear her name.

* AdaptationalBadass, This series of cinematic shorts is where Superman gained his powers of Flight and X-Ray Vision from.

* BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon: In "The Mummy Strikes", an Egyptologist is killed by a tomb's poisoned needle booby trap. His assistant picks up the needle and gets her finger prints on it, so she is naturally arrested for it. Fortunately, Clark Kent and a professor find another booby trap and manage to clear her name.

* Determinator: The scientist supervillain in "The Mechanical Monsters" counts as a villainous version. Where many of the other villains flee at the first sign of their plans being thwarted, this guy just keeps throwing everything at Superman in an effort to either destroy the hero or to escape. When Superman interferes with one robot, he drops Superman onto some power lines. When Superman breaks into his headquarters, he sends his ''entire'' robot army after Superman. When Superman destroys them, he holds Lois hostage and tries to get Superman into a risky position by saving her. And after Superman successfully saves her, the guy tries to destroy them both via a vat of ''molten metal''. It's only after he exhausts everything on hand that he tries to make a break for it.

* AffablyEvil: Unlike all the other villains in this franchise, the Native American villain in "Electric Earthquake" has a [[WellIntentionedExtremist valid reason to want his people]] to regain control of Manhattan Island. Deep down, he's actually a decent being as opposed to all the other villains.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLC-C4aabM8&feature=fvst Volcano]]: July 10, 1942

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlYBhVcSjJc Destruction Inc.]]: December 25, 1942

* ShoutOut:
** The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' 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.
** ''Superman: Doomsday'' makes two -- in The Fortress of Solitude, the flying car from "The Bulleteers" and one of the robots from "The Mechanical Monsters" make "blink and you'll miss 'em" cameos (although one must beg the question where he got them, since the bullet car was completely incinerated in its short, and Superman destroyed all of the robots from Mechanical Monsters-or better yet, why he even has them laying around out in the open in his fortress in the first place).
** The ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} cartoons which Famous was making at the time made some shout outs to this series, with one of them, "She-Sick Sailors", having Bluto dress up as Superman to try and woo Olive. Incidentally, the theme when Clark changes to Superman is suspiciously similar to the "Spinach power up" jingle in the Popeye cartoons.
** There's another shout-out to the Fleischer Superman cartoons in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': The robots in the episode "Deep Freeze" are basically a cross between the robots from "The Mechanical Monsters" and the robots from Creator/HayaoMiyazaki's ''Anime/CastleInTheSky''.
** Whether or not its intentional, the scientist in "The Magnetic Telescope" resembles [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel's]] nemesis Dr. Sivana. And to a lesser degree, to [[ComicBook/LexLuthor that bald mad scientist that causes trouble for Metropolis]].
** ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' producers openly admit the giant robots were based on the Mechanical Monsters.
** ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' has a few situations where Supes punches an energy beam to reach the emitter. Like when he first met Brainiac.

From the studio that brought you such classics as WesternAnimation/BettyBoop and ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}, [[Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer Fleischer Studios]] played a major role in cementing [[Franchise/{{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 UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation. These cartoons were a big deal back in the '40s -- the first short, "[[WesternAnimation/TheMadScientist The Mad Scientist]]", was nominated for the 1942 UsefulNotes/AcademyAward (losing to a [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]] [[WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup Pluto short]], "Lend A Paw"). 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 -- yes, that's right, trailers for ''short cartoons.'' Try to wrap your head around that.

The Fleischer Brothers, Max and Dave, 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]] [[WesternAnimation/MrBugGoesToTown feature film projects]] and the terrible falling out between them, 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 Creator/{{Disney}}'s shorts, the most expensive shorts to produce at the time, cost on average $25,000 per short. To their shock, Paramount negotiated it down to $50,000 per short and the Fleischers just could not turn down money like that, making the ''Superman'' cartoons possibly the most expensive (adjusted for inflation) animated short series in Hollywood history. And boy, [[EyeCandy does it show in the art]].

* HotScoop: Lois.

From the studio that brought you such classics as WesternAnimation/BettyBoop and ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}, [[Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer Fleischer Studios]] played a major role in cementing [[Franchise/{{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 UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation. These cartoons were a big deal back in the '40s -- the first short, "[[WesternAnimation/TheMadScientist The Mad Scientist]]", nearly won the 1942 UsefulNotes/AcademyAward (losing to a [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]] [[WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup Pluto short]], "Lend A Paw"). 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 -- yes, that's right, trailers for ''short cartoons.'' Try to wrap your head around that.

The Fleischer Brothers, Max and Dave, 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]] [[WesternAnimation/MrBugGoesToTown feature film projects]] and the terrible falling out between them, 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 Creator/{{Disney}}'s shorts, the most expensive shorts to produce at the time, costed on average $25,000 per short. 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]].

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Lois is this to Clark when it comes to getting the story before he does. In one case, she drives off just as he's trying to get in her car but he takes the opportunity to change into Superman. In "Volcano," she ''steals his press pass,'' which prevents Clark from being inside the security perimeter when the volcano erupts.

* GoneHorriblyRight: In "The Magnetic Telescope," you'd think that the professor's counter-warning to the police that any attempt to interfere with his experiments with comets would be disastrous was more of a threat than an honest warning. [[VillainHasAPoint It turns out he had a point all along]] ''after'' the police sabotage his machine, as he soon loses control of his magnet after pulling a comet into the Earth and is unable to send it back to Earth. Disaster ensues.

* DisneyVillainDeath: One of the Nazi henchmen in "Jungle Drums" gets killed while grappling with Superman atop the AntiAir gun they've disguised as a large stone idol. He takes a leap at Superman but accidently goes over the edge and plunges to his death. We dont see the impact, but we do see his hand bounce to a stop.

* GodGuise: Its heavily implied that the Nazi commander and his men are posing as gods to the African tribe serving them in "Jungle Drums", altough not stated outright.

* {{Hammerspace}}: Subtly subverted in "Showdown". Initially it's unclear where the spandax-clad impostor is carrying the stolen jewels (and [[ShootingSuperman the gun that he pulls on the real Superman]]), but after losing his cape, he can be clearly seen to be wearing a hip-satchel.

* MalevolentMaskedMen: The train robbers from "Billon Dollar Limited". They're shown briefly unmasked just before they begin the heist.

* NonMaliciousMonster: The Arctic Giant, which goes on a rampage, only because it was scared and confused after being woken from it's deep freeze.

* PetTheDog: The Arctic Giant, after it's rampage is stopped, is set into a wildlife reserve. After all, it only went berserk because it was scared and confused.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: The villain in "The Electric Earthquake" is a Native American with obviously legitimate land claim grievances given his people's terrible history interacting with Europeans, and whose first public appearance is in the ''Daily Planet'', where he tries the legal and moral route of getting his story published in the paper (Heck, Clark clearly thinks he has a good point.) It is only the fact that both the piece of land he wants people to vacate is ''the island of Manhattan,'' one of the most densely populated places on Earth; and that after it is rejected he decides to stoop to making terrorist threats and has the destructive means and will to carry them out, that is obviously beyond the pale.

* TheWorldIsNotReady: Perry White decides to burn Lois's photos of the Underground World and pull the plug on the story, reasoning that no one would belive such a tale (even if Superman is involved). In his defence, it does sound ridiculous if you think about it.

* {{Hammerspace}}: Subtly subverted in "Showdown". Initially it's unclear where the spandax-clad impostor is carrying the stolen jewels (and [[ShootingSuperman the gun that he pulls on the real Superman]]), but after losing his cape, he can be clearly seen to be wearing a hip-satchel.

* HeroicMime: Not as Clark Kent, but Superman doesn't seem to talk when he's on the job. Until "The Arctic Giant", that is.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiN-9xsP9l4&feature=related The Mummy Strikes]]: February 19, 1943

* KryptoniteFactor: While never named outright, Superman finds himself powerless against the comet in ''"Magnetic Telescope", which constantly emits a SicklyGreenGlow and hurls Superman back to earth unconscious every time he attempts to attack it directly, strongly implying that the comet is made of the trope-naming mineral.