Superman (1941)

Director:

Dave Fleischer

Writers:

Jerry Siegel (characters) and
Joe Shuster (characters) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 September 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Man of Steel fights a mad scientist who is destroying Metropolis with an energy cannon.

Plot Keywords:

Mad Scientist | Ray | Planet | Bridge | Bound And Gagged

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Joan Alexander	...	Lois Lane (voice) (uncredited)
Jackson Beck	...	Perry White / Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Bud Collyer	...	Clark Kent / Superman (voice) (uncredited)
Jack Mercer	...	The Mad Scientist (voice) (uncredited)
Julian Noa	...	Perry White (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Dave Fleischer

Writing credits
Jerry Siegel		(characters) (as Jerome Siegel) and
Joe Shuster		(characters)
Seymour Kneitel		(story) &
Izzy Sparber		(story) (as I. Sparber)
Jay Morton		uncredited

Produced by
Max Fleischer	....	producer

Original Music by
Winston Sharples		(uncredited)
Sammy Timberg		(uncredited)

Sound Department
Milton Lustig	....	sound effects (uncredited)
Maurice Manne	....	sound effects (uncredited)

Animation Department
Frank Endres	....	animator
Steve Muffati	....	animator

Music Department
Sammy Timberg	....	music arranger
Lou Fleischer	....	music supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Fleischer Studios

Distributors

• Frekvensia GeTe (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Future Film (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Nickes Sound City (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Paramount Pictures
• Passport International Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Suevia Films (2001) (Spain) (DVD)
• Super Video Release (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Techno Film (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Videomestarit (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Canada) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Screen Time Images  audio restoration
• Screen Time Images  film restoration

Also Known As:

Runtime:

10 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-7 (2006) | Argentina:Atp | Spain:T | USA:Approved (PCA #2966) | USA:Passed

Company:

Fleischer Studios

Trivia:

Kryptonite was the invention of the radio show, and was created due to a format constraint. Whenever Bud Collyer needed some time off, the writers could add kryptonite to the current storyline and have another actor moan in pain until Collyer returned from his holiday.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Voices:Up in the sky, look: It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman!
Narrator:[opening narration] In the endless reaches of the universe, there once existed a planet known as Krypton, a planet that burned like a green star in the distant heavens. There, civilization was far advanced and it brought forth a race of "supermen," whose mental and physical powers were developed to the absolute peak of human perfection...

Movie Connections:

Featured in Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked (2003) (TV)

The first Superman animated cartoon was brought excitingly by Max and Dave Fleischer

Several months after Captain Marvel was the first comic book superhero depicted on the silver screen, Superman became the second but the first to be animated as opposed to the live action of the previous one. The voices of the leading character and female co-star Lois Lane were the same from the radio series that had already started beforehand: Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander. Collyer, especially, established how different the personalities of Clark and Supes could be by simply changing his voice when he changed to his costume. The story, about a mad scientist bent on destroying the world, is a bit cliché for today but the Max and Dave Fleischer animation is still impressive even now with the way the thing can build excitement especially when The Man of Steel tries to punch that disintegrating ray back to its source. So on that note, this first epi of the Superman cartoon series was off to a good start. P.S. You know this was an early version of Jerome Siegel & Joe Shuster's creation when Supes' origin tale says he was raised in an orphanage instead of the farm of Jonathan and Martha Kent!