Billion Dollar Limited (1942)

Director:

Dave Fleischer

Writers:

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

Release Date:

9 January 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Superman versus modern train robbers.

Plot Keywords:

Train | Superman | Gold | Damsel In Distress | Rescue

Cast

Joan Alexander	...	Lois Lane (voice) (uncredited)
Bud Collyer	...	Superman / Clark Kent / Gangster (voice) (uncredited)
Julian Noa	...	Narrator / Gangster (voice) (uncredited)

Runtime:

9 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #3145) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Argentina:Atp

Company:

Fleischer Studios

Quotes:

[first lines]
Voices: Up in the sky, look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!
Narrator: Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, this amazing stranger from the planet Krypton, The Man of Steel: Superman! Possessing remarkable physical strength, Superman fights a never-ending battle for truth and justice, disguised as a mild-mannered newspaper reporter, Clark Kent.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in She-Sick Sailors (1944)

Best of the Superman Shorts

While all of the Fleischer/Famous Studios "Superman" cartoons are excellent, "Billion Dollar Limited," the third in the series, is probably the best of the lot in terms of overall animation, plot, and pacing. Why it wasn't even nominated for an Oscar as Best Animated Short for 1942 (Incredibly enough, only the first one was) in inexplicable.

Here, Lois Lane is assigned to cover the transfer of one billion dollars in gold to the U.S. Mint. Masked gangsters in their super-powered (for 1942) car take off after the train, determined to get that gold. Without giving too much away, what ensues is a thrill ride for both the characters and the audience, with truth, justice, and Superman triumphant at the end.

As they did in all the Fleischer/Famous Superman cartoons, Clayton "Bud" Collyer and Joan Alexander, who played Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane on radio, have the voice work honors here, and Fleischer perennial Jack Mercer gets a little to do as one of the bad guys, as well.