Superman (1941)

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

Directors:

Dave Fleischer, Steve Muffati (uncredited)

Writers:

Jerry Siegel (comic strip created by: Superman) (as Jerome Siegel), Joe Shuster (comic strip created by: Superman)

Stars:

Bud Collyer, Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

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

Storyline

The Mad Scientist threatens to use his Electrothanasia-Ray to cause "total destruction" to the fools who had laughed at him. Lois Lane pilots an airplane to his mountaintop laboratory, but The Scientist has her bound and gagged before she knows it. He forces her to watch on a television screen as his ray destroys a famous bridge. Next, he uses the ray to topple over the Daily Planet, but Clark Kent changes to Superman in time to save the building and put his indestructible body in front of the ray. The Mad Scientist is thrilled at the opportunity to pit his deadly machine against the Man of Steel.

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Plot Keywords:

man in tights | character name as title | superman character | clark kent character | lois lane character | 

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Genres:

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

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

This series is where Superman "learned" to fly. Prior to this he was only able to "leap tall buildings in a single bound." It was deemed that leaping would not look right on film. However, even when Superman flies it looks as if he needs to make a jumping start, rather than just taking off.

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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. But there came a day when giant quakes threatened to destroy Krypton forever. One of ...

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Alternate Versions

In the scene in the editor's office, when Lois Lane runs off to "follow up her lead," Clark Kent originally asked Perry White, "Don't you think that's a dangerous mission for a girl?" In most current prints, the scene is cut so that the line now ends on the word "mission."

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Connections

Version of Superboy: The Tween Years (2015)

User Reviews

Great animation but.....

Every episode is the same. Lois gets into danger and doesn't even try to get away. Clark gets a telegram and saves her. Still better than the Marvel and HB super hero cartoons that were made 25 years later.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Superman

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fleischer Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

10 min 144 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1