|
| |||
SUPERMAN - CARTOON VOLUME 1
Directed by: Max Fleischer, et al.
Region:
2 (Europe, Middle East & Japan only)
Special
Features:
None
This cheapo collection (retailing in South Africa for less than US$4)
comes courtesy of a German outfit, and consists of old
Superman cartoons which have lapsed into the
public domain. That means no copyright and thus no royalties to be paid –
hence the low price.
The same outfit also distributes other public domain cartoon titles on DVD
such as Popeye, Chilly Willy (not what you’d think it is),
Mighty Mouse and even old Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny
cartoons. All these cartoons are incredibly old and probably wouldn’t
appeal to older kids who are accustomed to more recent and advanced
animated techniques. However, my nineteen-month-old daughter likes them
(although to be honest, she looses interest in them quicker than the
recent Looney Tunes DVD reissues I bought for her).
Anyway, the cartoons included on this disc date from the early to
mid-1940s and were made by the legendary Max Fleischer. Max who? Well,
contrary to what you may believe, it was Fleischer, not Disney, that
produced the first sound cartoon. Fate and history has unfortunately been
unkind to Fleisher’s legacy. (You can read more about him
here and
here.)
Anyway, when the Superman character was
created in 1938, it proved to be an enormous hit. Paramount studios
contracted Max and Dave Fleischer to produce as series of cartoons based
on the comic strip.
Well, I remember that when Star Wars was
originally released back in the summer of 1977 a Daffy Duck cartoon
(the excellent Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century) was shown
beforehand. (This was the case both here in South Africa and in the
States.) These Superman cartoons run for
about seven minutes at the most and were meant to be shown as a prelude to
the main feature in cinemas. Unlike the so-called “serials” of the time,
they were self-contained episodes telling short stories by themselves. No
“To be continued . . .” business.
The pilot Superman episode was quite
expensive for its time: a whopping $50,000, about three times what Popeye
cartoons of that time cost! Subsequent cartoons in the series had a budget
of $30,000. All 17 of the Superman cartoons
came in at $530,000.
Snooty kids of today may not be particularly impressed by these cartoons;
after all, they are quite dated. Anal Superman completists and animation
fans with an academic interest in them should however check them out.
Personally I enjoyed them both for their time capsule look back at the
1940s (dig that episode with the Japanese saboteurs!) and the art deco
animation no doubt inspired by Fritz Lang’s
Metropolis and in turn no doubt inspiring Tim Burton’s
Batman.
The episodes included on the disc
are:
Superman: The Magnetic Telescope (Fleischer, 1942)
To makes things worse the picture and sound quality are terrible. No doubt
transferred from ancient 16mm- and 8mm prints, the sound is tinny and
image is not sharp, dirty and washed out. Are these cartoons several
decades or several centuries old? You will be forgiven for believing the
latter.
While not a particular fan of huge corporations, one must admit that
outfits such as Disney and Warner Bros. go to quite some trouble
preserving and restoring their old material for the DVD market. If you
have seen the recent re-issued Looney Tunes and the 1940
Pinocchio on DVD then you’ll know what I’m talking about. The German
outfit responsible for this disc probably doesn’t have the budgets of
these huge multinationals, but still!
WORTH IT? No. The cartoons themselves are retro fun, but even at
this price this disc isn’t worth your while.
RECOMMENDATION: If you’re really interested in these old
Superman cartoons then it would seem that your best would be checking
out the DVD set released by Bosko. It boasts the original sound mix and
the image quality is apparently the best of the various sets available.
(I’ve supplied a link at the bottom of this page to purchase it from
Amazon.com
if you’re interested.)
Click
here to receive our free weekly e-mail newsletter.
|
|
||
Sometimes one can judge a DVD by its cover because I’m afraid this disc is
as 
Excuse the old fart-ism bit here: back then going to the movies meant more
than being endlessly bombarded by cell phone and other ads beforehand.
Back then there’d usually be a newsreel (which is exactly what it says it
is) and a cartoon. I remember as a kid we were often more excited about
what cartoon would be shown than the movie itself! Just how old am I? 
THE DISC: The disc contains only five 