History WesternAnimation / SupermanTheatricalCartoons

** 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, hurling the rock back into space.

** Subverted several times throughout the series, as the series shows that for all of his power, there are some things even Superman can't fight namely the forces of nature itself. In "Volcano" and "The Magnetic Telescope", Superman's powers are largely ineffective against the volcano and the meteor, both being problems he can't simply punch into submission. Instead, he has to use his brain and rely on science to save the day.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvtUaXiKGug The Arctic Giant]]: Feb 27, 1942

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b55dgTgcZf4 Terror on the Midway]]: August 28, 1942

** Her reaction in "Terror on the Midway", when she sees the giant gorilla coming towards a little girl, causing her drop her camera in shock.

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.

* RemovingTheRival: In "Volcano", Lois steals Clark's pass to go investigating the eponymous volcano alone [[GloryHound and get sole credit for the story]].
* RetCanon: Superman's ability to fly came from these cartoons.

* "[[WesternAnimation/TheMechanicalMonsters]]": November 28, 1941

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb8iYqIVBzQ The Mechanical Monsters]]: November 28, 1941

* BoringInvincibleHero: Frequently downplayed throughout the shorts, and completely averted several times. This Superman is powerful enough to support the weight of an entire skyscraper and is the only really superpowered character in the shorts. Most of his opponents are merely normal people with some unique technology. However, in some cases said technology can actually cause him problems (the tear gas bombs in the "Billion Dollar Limited") and sometimes he fights creatures who are powerful in their own right (such as the titular creature in "The Arctic Giant"). And the series shows that for all of his power, there are some things even Superman can't fight namely the forces of nature itself. In "Volcano" and "The Magnetic Telescope", Superman's powers are largely ineffective against the volcano and the meteor, both being problems he can't simply punch into submission. Instead, he has to use his brain and rely on science to save the day.

* InvincibleHero: Admittedly, the characterization is pretty shallow and the conflicts are ''very'' one-sided. Still, the villains are shown to be ruthless and unstoppable before Superman jumps in, and there is a real sense of wonder about his fantastic abilities. So, the final analysis? Heroic, yes. Invincible, yes. [[BoringInvincibleHero Boring]], '''''[[ShowyInvincibleHero hell, no]].'''''

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: "The Arctic Giant."

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Fleischer_Superman_1510.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"[[CatchPhrase This looks like a job]] ''[[PowerMakesYourVoiceDeep for Superman!]]''"]]

* RemovingTheRival: In "Volcano" Lois steals Clark's pass to go investigating the eponymous volcano alone [[GloryHound and get sole credit for the story]].

* TitleSequenceReplacement: Sometimes, shorts come to home video with their openings replaced with the prologue from the first. Also, sometimes "The Mechanical Monsters" lacks the part of the opening where Superman shows off his XRayVision (later used to find out which robot contained Lois).

* ThoseWackyNazis: Nazi saboteurs are the main antagonists in "Secret Agent" as they try to stop a female double agent from getting important documents to Washington, D.C.

--> ''He isn't human!''

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, Dave tried to scare off Paramount 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 his shock, Paramount negotiated it down to $50,000 per short (equal to almost $900,000 in 2018 dollars) 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]].

* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: The Artctic Giant has this in spades with ge alleged “Tyrannosaurus” found in Siberia with its display listing it’s age at around 3400 B.C. which... anyone with even basic paleontologistic knowledge will tell you is preposterous.

** In the backstory for "The Underground World", Prof. Henderson explains that his father disappeared years ago while exploring the titular caverns. Later, when Clark and Lois visit the caverns a large statue of Henderson Sr. can be seen towering over the its tribal (and visibly non-human) inhabitants.

* KillerRobot: The eponymous machines from "The Mechanical Monsters."

* EscapedAnimalRampage: The cartoon "Terror On The Midway" features Superman attempting to stop the chaos created when several circus animals escape their cages and restraints, including a giant ape.

* HarmlessFreezing: In "The Arctic Giant" a Tyrannosaurus Rex frozen for millions of years is accidentally thawed out and goes on a rampage.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okl9vSJCRNg Japotuers]]: September 18, 1942