Did WB Just Ruin The Best Superman Films Ever! 

I remember the music and the fact that Clark Kent winked at the audience at the end of every episode, when I watched the show as a kid in the 80's. Nowadays, I can't imagine living in the 40's and realising what happened in animated films was impossible to do in live action.

Don't ever stop talking about animation! It makes your channel stand out from other music channels and shows animation transcends age. Due to my refusal to give a penny to Zaslav and his lackeys, I'm getting this set on eBay third party when it goes down in price. Waner Discovery is ****show right now and I don't think they'll last at the rate they're going. I hope whoever acquires WB next will treat the properties and the people with the respect they deserve. Especially animation and its valuable history to the company.

I love the Fleischer Superman cartoons - in fact anything with that retro sci-fi vibe, such as Rocketeer. I'm sure that there would be a market for new material in the same style, though I'm less sure that we could trust film companies/animators to get it right. Apart from the visual style, you need the naivete too, and that always seems to be very elusive, meaning that 'modern' attempts either miss the point entirely, or devolve into comedy (or both). I've put this set on my wish list, but right now it's only available in the UK as an expensive US import...

Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1, most likely released on May 3, 1938. DC considers April 18 to be AC #1’s release date, but this is the book’s copyright registration date.

I'm a big Superman I like Superman Superman's my favorite superhero I grew up watching animation when I was a child

7:19 This assumes Warner Bros is incapable of listening to the market as to why their product didn't sell, especially considering things like mass cancellations are trackable and their reason can be easily investigated. If anything, there is a better argument that these mass cancellations will incentivize not only Warner Bros., but their competitors to cease such aggressive, revisionist mastering techniques on historic catalogue releases. This is how consumers communicate what they value to producers within the market. Every cancellation is giving Warner Bros. information about the product they've produced and put to market.

They are the best animation I have ever seen next to Walt Disney’s Snow White. The action to the real life like motion of the Fleischers rendition of Superman is a work of art in itself. Amazing animation

I have the complete collection as extras on my Superman Movie Collection Blu Ray set (UK release has Superman 1 to Returns including alternate/extended cuts, and Superman and The Molemen). The stories are very simple, but the animation is still incredible today. It's crazy to think it was done in the 40s. Hayao Miyzaki took inspiration from Superman and the Giant Robot for his robot in Laputa: Castle in the Sky. And they influenced the look of Batman: TAS and in turn all the othe DC animations in that continuity. They're a must for anyone interested in the history of animation and comic book adaptation.

These shorts are why Batman The Animated Series looks like it does. Massive influence, skyscrapers, 40's cars, Gotham PD blimps etc.

A while back, I dubbed these off of broadcast TV, from an oldies station. This is digital TV, so the copies are pretty good. I was able to remove the commercials and put them on DVDs. I don't think I had all 17 of them though. They're on a spindle somewhere. I have to hunt them down. Great episodes. I am tempted.

A Great Review! I remember the 1st time I was able to see these. I was 12 and went to Phil Seuling's NY Comic Book Convention at the Statler Hilton hotel. A comic book dealer set up a 16 mm projector in his booth and showed them. It was amazing. Other than Walt Disney studio's, these episodes were works of art. Kids growing up in the 1960's who were used to the Fleischer studios Popeye were blown away watching them. The crowd around this dealer's booth became so congested that he had to be told to stop showing them because people couldn't walk down the aisles. We had NEVER seen these before. I watched every episode and then wished I could see them again. Remember, there was NO VHS, NO BetaMax, NO DVD's.😊 I think this release is a great day for Superman fans. Keep it up TJ.

THE WARNER BROS REALLY DID A EXCELLENT WORK IN PRODUCE THESE CARTOONS , MAINLY IN THE OLD TIME FROM VHS

ITEM 1- The Superman radio show was the first adaptation outside of the comics. ITEM- I'll consider the new collection, for the completist in me!

Thanks for bringing this up, I had no idea these were released!

I heard that buzz too before the release, that they'd done too much DNR and so on. I didn't cancel my order, because it's generally been my experience that these complaints are usually overblown, and because I own every other release of these shorts, I'm not going to not get the new transfer :p I think they look pretty nice. To me the compression artifacts we get on standard definition dvds versus the DNR on this 4k transfer is basically a wash. Perhaps some clever fan restorationists can make use of this transfer in conjunction with previous transfers to arrive at a happy medium. The fan restoration community has done some pretty amazing work. In fact, there's a fan restoration of these shorts already here on youtube which I think will remain my go-to versions of these shorts. That restoration is called The Mild Mannered Collection, and is worth checking out. Sadly, RU-vid's algorithm isn't ideal for showing off the work they've done, but the raw uncompressed files can be found online by those with a mind to seek them out.

This was my first introduction to superman when i was about 4 or 5 years old. I didn't remember much but i still remember the joy i felt during the opening and the action scenes, especially the train pulling scene and the laser punching scene. I didn't know what was this series' name or where to find it. But it was always in the back of my mind like an old dream. Now at 25 years old i finally found it.

TJR there is more to media that music....animation is important. Thanks for the video

I thought this was going to be about the two Richard's' "Superman" films from the late '70's/ early '80's. 😁😂 I've never heard of these animated films, but the clips remind me of the "Spider-Man" cartoon show I used to watch when I was little in the mid '70's. Funnily enough, my nephews were watching repeats of those same cartoons in the early '10's on a cable channel. I thought it was amusing that they were watching and enjoying the same show that I watched so long ago.

I'm 18 and this is one of my favorite Superman content of all time A lot of people my age tend to find him boring and bland, which is sad 😢 The great thing about Superman's that despite his powers he still strives to be human and humble When I first saw this, it was like being 6 again 😊 Dave and Max Fletcher really captured the amazing essence of Superman dreaming heroes and caped crusaders alike And although my favorite superhero is Spider-Man The greatest thing about Superman is that It's not a story about what a man WOULD do his power, but SHOULD we do I think this and Superman the animated series are PEAK Superman content It really made me believe a man could fly🦸‍♀️ Animation in itself is underrated, I hope to an animator one day ... One day Thanks for reviewing this

3:30-3:37 the fact is that X-ray 🩻 vision can see through things, except lead.

It honestly kills me that this still happens. That, when upgrading to formats that can actually display film grain in a much more organic way than DVD ever could, some studios still insist on wiping that grain away. One could argue, for animation, that they're presenting it as the animation cels would have looked, but I think the DNR process still sacrifices image detail that need not be sacrificed.

I can’t recall which RU-vidr did a review on this but I believe they said that the 1940s Superman animated features were different on the recently released 4k Superman box set than the stand-alone Blu-ray release of these. One had less DNR than the other is what I remember. If someone who has both the boxset and the stand-alone release could compare and confirm, I’d appreciate it.

I find this fascinating. I grew up as a DC Comics fan and collected from about 1973 through college. I don't have many left. I used to have the hard cover Superman book and the Batman book, each which started at the beginning and went to .. I don't remember. I 've never seen any of the Superman animated shorts. I wish my local library system had a copy so I could borrow but not own. I love how you pointed out the film noir technique of the art. It's really cool! Do you know if there is a Batman film shorts collection? Batman is such a noir character to begin with, at least when he started and with certain artists and writers. Probably no Fleischer Batman. Anyway, if I did decide to purchase this, I would go with the original DVD because reviews of the newer Blu Ray are just not as good - folks seem to like the 'imperfections.' Thanks TJ!

If you have the Superman Anthology Blu-Ray set from years ago or the recently releases 4K Blu-ray set of the Christopher Reeve movies, you’ll have these animated films on the special features disc. Those versions are on Blu-ray, but are not these new restored versions. They will have all the film grain and blemishes in tact.

I love buying compilations of older animated shorts. One of my favorite items in my Blu-ray/DVD collection is the Walt Disney Treasures Goofy collection. I will definitely be looking into buying both the DVD and Blu-ray sets for the Fleischer Superman cartoons, which were my first introductions to Superman when I was very young, preceding my first watch of Superman the Movie. Quick question, were there any special features on either set? I'd love to see a documentary about the shorts. Anyway, I'm glad I found this channel. Subscribed!

Thanks for the recommendation. From the bits you showed, I will check these out. I've never heard of them.

I saw the black and white version of the film with the numbered robots, when I was a child. I thought it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen.

I remember watching these cartoons on TV in the late 50s/early 60s, so they must have been syndicated to TV stations which showed them during locally produced children's programs.

important influence on John Byrne's run

I bought some of those cartoons on VHS in 1985.

Good to see another comic book/super hero related video TJR. I have all these classic toons on the Superman Ultimate Collection set. Which itself is another very cool item. I don't think any super hero series has ever matched the animation quality of this 40's series, although Spawn came close. I also really love the Superman and Batman animated series from the 90's, but as far as artistic quality, the 40's series can't be beat.

Very cool! I've never heard of these and now I want to watch them! Thanks as always for your videos!

*appeared in *1938* Also no, it wasn't first time Superman appeared outside comics (if I am being completely anal that would be 1939 McClure Newspaper Syndicate since newspaper isn't comics,also it was first and last time Superman co creators ever did detailed Krypton,before character got completely changed since 1945). The Adventures of Superman 1940 (radio show) was the first (besides guy playing Superman on the very first official Superman day on 3rd July 1939) and it's first time Bud voiced Superman, which he did since then unti his death in 1969. It is also first time he not only was said to fly, which he actually did in some issues (ie by maneuvering in the air) but directly defy gravity which in comics Superman would do very rarely even in 1960s when yellow sun as power source was finally established (before that it was race of supermen were already powerful on their planet (unreleased : which charged them with power in the first place) + lower gravity of Earth / (since 1945) they are powerful only on Earth due to low gravity (but in 1948 they had x-ray vision even back on Krypton) Fun fact : Fleischer cartoon adapted origin from Action Comics 1 , ie no showing of Jor-L and Lora (that was the spelling at the time) and with Superman growing in orphanage, while radio show actually had Jor-L and Lora explaining how on Krypton they, race of supermen (kryptonites (which will later on mean radioactive rock) and kryptoians as name for them came later) can jump infinitely into any direction and it's absolutely normal while men of Earth are able to move free feet in a distance at best. But interesting things is that they place newborn Kal (in Hebrew means lightweight, in Russian means shit, both Siegel and Shuster came from jewish immigrants from Russian Empire) but when his rocket arrives he is aged and a fully grown man And in red and blue suit with cape and shield, which is also marks first time when suit came from Krypton (before that in comics Superman mentioned inventing materials and making it himself) and in complete full form (though maybe without S) similar to Man of Steel, also it's first time when Kal aged during his space flight similar to Superman The Movie where he was placed as a newborn and arrived as 2-3 year old Smollinsky (who also had cameo in III as kid and his (real life) mom to whom Chris Reeve Superman gave photo as well as soldier between Ferris and Emil Hamilton in Man of Steel during Faora extortion of Lois scene). Yeah, in radio show they completely skipped him growing up on Earth, he just got named Clark Kent by two random men who he saved, which also gave him advice to become journalist in order to know people of Earth more. Also radio version is The first time when Superman is shown to acknowledge that he actually came from another planet that is no more Before/as soon as he becomes Superman (in comics of that era, before 1948 for sure, he even referred to himself as "us,/earthling" many times, including in Siegel written stories. So yeah.

I'd never heard of these animated shorts before, but I'm not that big of a Superman fan as compared to Batman. The few clips you played has definitely spurred my interest in checking them out though. The animation looks absolutely stunning, and I can certainly see the influence it had on Batman: The Animated Series. I can see where the DVD people are coming from as well with your comparison of the two, but I don't think the blue-ray release is that big of a downgrade to make it completely unworthy of purchase, especially if you're an animation and/or Superman collector. Thanks for bringing them to my attention, TJR! P.S. I guess I'm in the minority, but I subscribed to your channel precisely because of the animation videos, so keep 'em coming. We're not that aligned when it comes to music taste, so I usually only check out the ones discussing the industry as a whole.

I heard but I have not seen the DVD version that they removed machine guns from the bad guys. Is it true? All I owned is the older version

*The Amazing Story of Superman Documentary* - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pCIRmVKxESQ.html *How Fleischer Studios Created the best Superman ever* - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YwGCepGdZt4.html

I’m interested. I have fond memories of renting these shorts on VHS from the local video store where my aunt and mom worked.

After seeing this I will seek out the collection.

At least they didn't destroy them with added fake cg film grain like they did to the Betty Boop remasters.

Love those things. Beautiful. Very cool.

I own the 2009 set. They are really good quality as opposed to some single releases. I might be intrigued by the new DVD's. Some shorts on how these films were made would be nice on the package!

Really great video!

The new 4k masters look great despire film grain but the coloras are slightly off. The new RM is a budget RM and automated. Great video but Superman first flew on the radio not the shorts and the first short and some shorts feature the radio show cast. Superman first appeared in comincs in 1938 as well. Clayton Bud Collyer was the first to bring Kent and Superman to life on radio and in these shorts. He developed Kent's persona himself from the comics. The opening announcing and narration is by George Lowther who annoucned and narrated the show at the time and was a writer and director on the show. He and Jack Johnstone another writer and director created most of the Kyrptonian background and names for radio. Lowther created Kyrptonite as well for radio.

Lore of Did WB Just Ruin The Best Superman Films Ever! Momentum 100

My abiding memory of the first Fleischer Superman cartoon is the sheer amount of carnage involved. It was quite breathtaking considering the period and, as you say, wouldn't have been possible in live-action at the time (nor indeed for decades). Film restoration is a vexed issue and no one seems to ever be entirely happy with the results, especially if the process *is* automated rather than manual because they don't think it'll make enough to justify the latter cost... On which point, though, is this going to be a big seller anyway? This strikes me as being a relatively special interest item even among people into superhero stuff; I'm glad it exists but I can't see it making a lot of money for them even so.

So should I just get the Bosko DVD diamond edition?

there is MUCH more color in the DVD samples you show vs BD. Even the building facade and rock backgrounds are much more nuanced and interesting in the DVD than the BD. another missed opportunity for Warner Bros to shine.

Good Job we love movies and SuperHereos are awesome 👍👍

I just order this release! Looks pretty good

TJR i love how you don't a 1000 edits in your videos when you talk. 🙂

Short answer...yes...long answer... stay tuned

I’m in the minority but I like the Blu-Ray. I get and respect people’s critiques but overall I’m annoyed by the dust specs on the DVD.

a frame by frame restoration cannot be done for profit. it must be done for historical preservation because these films are important. that's one of the main problems with capitalism. nothing gets done unless it makes a rich person richer.

Oh, you're gonna love this scathing review of Warner's Superman revival... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qon8TsLNX3U.html Just like you, he knows what he's talking about! 👍😎

Talk more about babes AWOOOGA