A lone baby alien survivor of the planet Krypton is sent to Earth moments before the planet explodes. Growing up he discovers he has strange powers and later becomes Superman, protector of justice. Under the alias of Clark Kent, a news reporter, he leads a double life and keeps his true identity and powers a secret from all. Superman made his animated debut in this series of seventeen classic Technicolor short films produced by Fleischer Studios and its successor Famous Studios in the 1940s. They were so ahead of their time with some animation that was worthy of and ended up being nominated for the 1942 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. I love these short films most especially because they have some of the cleanest animations I have ever seen which still manages to hold up to today's standards. I would even go as far as to argue that they are even better than some modern-day animated projects and looking at the quality of them, it is plain to see they were leagues ahead of their time. What made this series all the more incredible is the fact they were released during the period of World War 2, and yet, the visuals of these shorts are just breathtaking, which is most likely due to them being lavishly budgeted. I would have thought that a show like this wouldn't have had such a grand budget, let alone being made in colour but thank goodness it did because they are simply fantastic. There are however elements of the current ongoing period featured within, whilst of course being set in the modern day of that time during the 1940s, there are later episodes which featured some war propaganda. In the episode Jungle Drums, it featured Nazis whom Superman naturally defeats and at the end of the episode, we see a disheartened Hitler who is listening to the news of his plans failing. These propaganda episodes were obviously included as a means to boost morale and rally viewers, especially the younger audience during such trying times. This show is responsible for many great feats, from not only being one of the best-animated projects ever made but also accomplishing so much more in changes to the original design of the character which would alter the character forever going forward! These very cartoons were responsible for Superman being able to fly. When they started working on this series, Superman could only leap from place to place in great bounds however, they deemed it as "silly looking" after seeing it fully animated and decided to have him fly instead, after getting permission for this change. This has since become one of Superman's most recognisable abilities, being able to fly, and thanks to this series, he has ever since. One of the most interesting processes used by the team in creating this cartoon was the method of Rotoscoping. It is the process of tracing animation drawings from live-action footage, which was used extensively to lend realism to the human characters and the man of steel himself. I found this immensely fascinating and I began to wonder what other projects out there have used this technique. However, some of Superman's actions could not be done with this method like, for example, flying or lifting incredibly large objects and therefore had to be figure drawn. One of the greatest achievements from this show's legacy would be the inspiration of two phenomenal shows also set in the DC universe, Batman: The Animated Series (TV Series 1992-1995) and Superman: The Animated Series (TV Series 1996-2000). They were both made using the hand-drawn animation style and in the case of the Batman show, it was made to look like it was set in a futuristic 1940s period, inspired by this very show and that show would go on to have the follow-up Superman series coming almost full circle. Although with the later Superman show they chose not to keep the 40's style of Batman because of this show's existence. Overall, I adore this animated superhero cartoon. It has achieved so many technical feats that was able to deliver content like nothing ever seen before and I have nothing but respect for it. Undoubtedly one you should watch especially with them all being available on YouTube.
Creators: Dave Fleischer, Steve Muffati
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