I love the Fleischer Superman cartoons. The animation is smooth and fluid with vivid colors. The distinct art-deco style, vintage science fiction imagery, and use of noirish shadows gave them a look unlike any other cartoons. The music and voice work is superb. They're fun, accessible, enduring animation classics.This first of the Fleischer series is one of the finest animated shorts ever produced. After a brief rundown of Superman's origin, it wastes no time getting right into the plot. The Mad Scientist (voiced by Popeye's Jack Mercer) is threatening to use his death ray on the city. Newspaper editor Perry White assigns the story to his two best reporters, Clark Kent and Lois Lane. However, Lois wants to crack the story on her own so she hops in her plane and flies off. Yep, Lois Lane in this short is not only a fearless reporter but also an aviatrix! Needless to say if you are familiar with Superman at all, Lois is captured by the bad guy. It's up to Superman to save the day. But is he any match for the Mad Scientist's deadly weapon? This is a simple, fun, exciting cartoon. Some of the people today raised on "grim & gritty" comic books might scoff at certain elements, such as the Scientist's comical bird sidekick or the image of Superman punching the ray beams. Unfortunately these cynics miss the point entirely. This cartoon is pure unadulterated escapism. It's imaginative, fantastic fare for those who just want to smile for ten minutes.

Superman (1941) ** 1/2 (out of 4) The first of seventeen shorts produced by Max Fleischer for Paramount. This one has Lois Lane investigating the story of a mad scientist who is going to use a deadly ray to cause havoc all over the city. Soon Lois is taken hostage and it's up to Superman to save the day. This was the first film in the series that I had ever seen and I'm going to watch them in order but so far I really wasn't too impressed. That's not to say this is a poor film because it certainly isn't but I was expecting a lot more from the Fleischer boys. I read at IMDb that this was the most expensive cartoon made at the time and I find that hard to believe because part of the problem I had with the film was its look, which I thought was rather cheap. I also didn't care to much for the vocal work but it didn't bother me too much. The story itself was pretty simple and straight-forward, which was another thing that could have been improved. The film does fly by pretty fast and while nothing is above average, the entire thing does stay average and mildly entertaining.

When Max & Dave Fleischer expressed interest in moving Superman from the printed page to the silver screen,they spared no expense to fulfill their dream. From 1941 to 1943,the Fleischers produced 17 beautifully illustrated & animated shorts for Paramont Studios (in full Technicolor,which was very good,considering it was World War II at the time). 'Superman'(or the Mad Scientist,at it's also known as), was the first,and probably the best of the series. Metropolis is threatened by an insane scientist that he will level the city with an "Electrothenasia Ray" (obviously a fore runner to Laser). It's up to Superman to thwart his plans. Lois Lane tries to intervene,but gets captured by the Scientist (and his pet raven/crow/whatever kind of black bird that it is). When Superman shows up at his lab, the Mad Scientist turns the ray on Superman, but Superman gets his second wind & manages to bend the ray's beam,sending the energy back into the machine, causing a chain reaction of destruction. Superman manages to not only save the day,but puts the Mad Scientist in prison. Hooray for Superman!

This is the first of what would turn out to be 17 Superman cartoons produced by the Fleischer brothers for Paramount Studios. This cartoon was released on September 26, 1941. The plot is as follows: An evil mad scientist threatens to attack the city at midnight. Lois Lane hops in her airplane and flies to the scientists hide out. The scientist captures her, and then procedes to attack Gotham. Blowing up a bridge, and attempting to topple the Empire State Building, until Superman arrives and saves the day.The New York Times said of this cartoon " {this cartoon} is among the brothers' less successful efforts. The Fleischers show so little aptitude for -or interest in-realistic animation styles. Superman and Lois Lane are at their most wooden. So is the story's villain, a mad scientist. But the scientist's raven is wildly alive, like any real Fleischer creation, and the film sneaks in as many raven's-eye glimpses as possible. Heroic human figures have little to do with the grim, witty hallmarks of the Fleischers' imagination."I must disagree with the Times' opinion. If one was to look at Superman comic strips from this point of time, one would see that the Superman of the comic books and the Superman of the cartoons, looks essentially the same. Yes, the raven is the most "cartoon" like character in the cartoon, but the film is still enjoyable, and is a snapshot of what cartoons were like right before the start of WWII.