History Trivia / SupermanTheatricalCartoons

* SerendipityWritesThePlot: It is because of this show that we picture Superman as being able to fly. In the earliest comics, Superman couldn't fly, he could just jump really high (hence "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound"). However, trying to animate Superman jumping into the air proved to be far more of a challenge than simply having him strike a dramatic pose and then levitate into the air. While he could previously fly into the radio serial, the visual image of Superman flying into the air became instantly iconic; the ability thus transferred over to the comic and engrained the visual into the public consciousness, and now flight is tied with his laser eyes for his most iconic superpower.

* SerendipityWritesThePlot: It is because of this show that we picture Superman as being able to fly. In the earliest comics, Superman couldn't fly, he could just jump really high (hence "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound"). However, trying to animate Superman jumping into the air proved to be far more of a challenge than simply having him strike a dramatic pose and then levitate into the air. While he could previously fly into the radio serial, the visual image of Superman flying into the air became instantly iconic; the ability thus transferred over to the comic and engrained the visual into the public consciousness.

* DigitalDestruction: Warner's DVD of the Superman Theatrical Cartoons claims to include transfers from the original masters, boasting sharp colors and no dvnr or interlacing, but they still includes some changes. These include plastered end logos for several shorts, missing sound effects from two cartoons' opening credits, and an audible jump during the prologue of The Mad Scientist.
** An [[http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Max-Fleischers-Superman-Blu-ray/50279/ unauthorized blu-ray set of the series]] plays this much straighter, with terrible picture quality, watermarks on every cartoon, and an excessive amount of grain smoothing, making the cartoons look like they were dipped in vaseline.

* UrbanLegendOfZelda: In 'The Mad Scientist', after Lois goes off to pursue the story Clark asks Perry "Chief, don't you think that's a... dangerous mission?". On the internet, apocryphal information had sprung up that the line was originally "Chief, don't you think that's a dangerous mission [[StayInTheKitchen for a woman]]?". Not only has there been no evidence of this edit across [[https://youtu.be/Og4fj0LWT9s?t=34 various copies]], but every reference of this rumor has been in anecdotes across various comment sections and online forum posts.

* UrbanLegendofZelda: In 'The Mad Scientist', after Lois goes off to pursue the story Clark asks Perry "Chief, don't you think that's a... dangerous mission?". On the internet, apocryphal information had sprung up that the line was originally "Chief, don't you think that's a dangerous mission [[StayInTheKitchen for a woman]]?". Not only has there been no evidence of this edit across [[https://youtu.be/Og4fj0LWT9s?t=34 various copies]], but every reference of this rumor has been in anecdotes across various comment sections and online forum posts.

* EditedForSyndication: Due to the shorts being PublicDomain, they were some of the earliest programming the Creator/DisneyChannel used to regularly play in its early days from the 80's through the early 90's. Because they would air three shorts together in half-hour blocks, this meant they only played the "It's a bird, it's a planet, it's Superman!" crawl and the opening narration explaining Superman's backstory and powers during the first short and removed them from the other two shorts that followed, since it would be redundant to play them for all three shorts in a row.

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: Supposedly, the first short, "The Mad Scientist", was edited in later releases to Main/{{Bowdlerise}} Clark's line "Don't you think that's a dangerous mission '''for a woman'''?" by omitting the "for a woman" part. The chief evidence for this claim is the awkward fade-out as Clark speaks the line. However, there are no known prints of the film that contain the alleged original line.

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: Supposedly, the first short, "The Mad Scientist", was edited in later releases to Main/{{Bowdlerise}} Clark's line "Don't you think that's a dangerous mission '''for a woman'''?" by omitting the "for a woman" part. The chief evidence for this claim is the awkward fade-out as Clark speaks the line. However, there are no known prints of the film that contain the alleged original line.

* EditedForSyndication: Due to the shorts being PublicDomain, they were some of the earliest programming the Creator/DisneyChannel used to regularly play in its early days from the 80's through the early 90's. Because they would air three shorts together in half-hour blocks, this meant they only played the "It's a bird, it's a planet, it's Superman!" crawl and the opening narration explaining Superman's backstory and powers during the first short and removed them from the other two shorts that followed, since it would be redundant to play them for all three shorts in a row.

* {{Directors}}: Dave Fleischer is credited for directing the first 9, while the other 8 made by Creator/FamousStudios split credits between 3 by Seymour Kneitel, 3 by Izzy Sparber, and 2 by Creator/DanGordon,

* EditedForSyndication: Due to the shorts being PublicDomain, they were some of the earliest programming the Creator/DisneyChannel used to regularly play in its early days from the 80's through the early 90's. Because they would air three shorts together in half-hour blocks, this meant they only played the "It's a bird, it's a planet, it's Superman!" crawl and the opening narration explaining Superman's backstory and powers during the first short and removed them from the other two shorts that followed, since it would be redundant to play them for all three shorts in a row.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Bub Collyer, who voiced Superman on radio, voices him in these cartoons. He'd reprise it in 1966 on Filmation's CBS ''Superman'' series, doing double duty as host of ''Series/ToTellTheTruth''.

* EditedForSyndication: Due to the shorts being PublicDomain, they were some of the earliest programming the Creator/DisneyChannel used to regularly play in its early days from the 80's through the early 90's. Because they would air three shorts together in half-hour blocks, this meant they only played the "It's a bird, it's a planet, it's Superman!" crawl and the opening narration explaining Superman's backstory and powers during the first short and removed them from the other two shorts that followed, since it would be redundant to play them for all three shorts in a row.

* {{Directors}}: Dave Fleischer is credited for directing the first 9, while the other 8 made by Creator/FamousStudios split credits between 3 by Seymour Kneitel, 3 by Izzy Sparber, and 2 by Dan Gordon,

* {{Directors}}: Dave Fleischer is credited for directing the first 9, while the other 8 made by FamousStudios split credits between 3 by Seymour Kneitel, 3 by Izzy Sparber, and 2 by Dan Gordon,

* EditedForSyndication: Due to the shorts being PublicDomain, they were some of the earliest programming the DisneyChannel used to regularly play in its early days from the 80's through the early 90's. Because they would air three shorts together in half-hour blocks, this meant they only played the "It's a bird, it's a planet, it's Superman!" crawl and the opening narration explaining Superman's backstory and powers during the first short and removed them from the other two shorts that followed, since it would be redundant to play them for all three shorts in a row.

* EditedForSyndication: Due to the shorts being PublicDomain, they were some of the earliest programming the DisneyChannel used to regularly play in its early days from the 80's through the early 90's. Because they would air three shorts together in half-hour blocks, this meant they only played the "It's a bird, it's a planet, it's Superman!" crawl and the opening narration explaining Superman's backstory and powers during the first short and removed them from the other two shorts that followed, since it would be redundant to play them for all three shorts in a row.
* HeyItsThatVoice: The voice of Superman in this series was also his radio voice actor of the time, Bud Collyer, and Lois Lane was voiced by her radio actress, Joan Alexander.
** Jack Mercer, known as the voice of {{Popeye}}, plays several different characters throughout the series, both major and bit players, including the Mad Scientist in the first short (using a nasally schoolteacher voice that is ''very'' close to his normal speaking voice), and the kid early in "Destruction Inc".
** [[{{Popeye}} Bluto/Brutus]] is Perry White, an Indian Scientist, a Professor and Professor Henderson.
** {{Popeye}} is Jimmy Olsen, a Mad Scientist, a Superman Impostor and Louis.

** An [[http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Max-Fleischers-Superman-Blu-ray/50279/ unauthorized blu-ray set of the series]] plays this much straighter, with terrible picture quality, watermarks on every cartoon, and an excessive amount of grain smoothing, making the cartoons look like they were dipped in vaseline.

** Jack Mercer, known as the voice of {{Popeye}}, plays several different characters throughout the series, both major and bit players, including the Mad Scientist in the first short (using a nasally schoolteacher voice that is ''very'' close to his normal speaking voice), and the kid early in "Destruction Inc".

** Jack Mercer, known as the voice of {{Popeye}}, plays several different characters throughout the series, both major and bit players, including the Mad Scientist in the first short, and the kid early in "Destruction Inc".

* {{Directors}}: Dave Fleischer is credited for directing the first 9, while the other 8 made by FamousStudios split credits between 3 by Seymore Kneitel, 3 by Izzy Sparber, and 2 by Dan Gordon,

* Directors: Dave Fleischer is credited for directing the first 9, while the other 8 made by FamousStudios split credits between 3 by Seymore Kneitel, 3 by Izzy Sparber, and 2 by Dan Gordon,