Pretty Good

best movie i've ever seen.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Wow, when I first ever saw a couple of these vintage animated Superman shorts on late night public domain TV years ago I was so struck by the rich visual design and structure of them, and I can see why this first one in particular seems to have struck a chord with a lot of people over the years. The story is a little basic, but it's a fun little scenario that serves its purpose as a kind of pilot for this seventeen episode series. There's something simple yet profoundly appealing and beautiful about the way the animation looks and moves, it's so dynamic and bright and vivid, the shadows, angles and images are so sharp and well thought out, it's like the old comics of the 40s come to life, and is a marvellous little work of art and animation. You can almost feel the love and sweat that must have been painstakingly put into it, and it was all by hand back in 1941, no computers for a long time to come. The Fleischer Studios must have had a lot depending on them making a strong impression with this first episode of a specially commissioned series and I think they put the vastly increased budget that they had to develop these shorts to excellent use, as it's some of the most fluid and clean animation I've ever seen, and not just by the standards of the time. For what it is, it's pretty flawless. It's a world apart from the trademark bizarre surrealism of a lot of the earlier Betty Boop toon shorts. I'm fascinated by all the small details that are put into every frame of it, like all the dials and lenses that are on the mad scientist's giant laser cannon. My favourite part is when Superman pushes back the laser beam and wrecks the weapon, it really spectacularly demonstrates his strength and determination. How noble of Mr Superman to also save the bad guy along with Lois at the last second as his observatory lair is exploding. Too bad about the scientist's pet crow though, after the blast it doesn't show him again, I think he may have crowed his last kaw! Some of the short is a little silly, like when the headstrong Lois Lane knocks right on the villain's front door and is promptly swept up and taken hostage, and it made me laugh how daintily Clarke Kent sneaks into the closet with the window on the door to change into Superman right in front of everybody, and sneaks back out and politely closes the door behind him! The music is nice and charming to hear in an old fashioned saving-the-day kind of way, I had no idea that the reason Superman flies is due to an idea by Max Fleischer who felt that it would be more practical and easier to animate a flying Superman instead of him leaping around like a flea everywhere, and thus a new iconic superpower was born! Nice going Max, but when you look at how natural it looks when Superman is flying, it makes you wonder why they didn't have him doing it from the very beginning.. Still pretty dang great stuff, there remains something quite special about these classics, they have a timeless sort of quality, and this short is positively a must-see for fans of the early days of animation or admirers of the Superman character, and 1941 or not, he never looked better.

The Fleischer "Superman" series was so important to me as a child, I looked back on these with great joy. This is the first of the shows and involves the introduction to our hero. They veer away from the comic book beginning by short cutting a bit. They ignore the Kent family, putting the little space traveler in an orphanage, having him discover his gifts on his own. The adventure involves a mad scientist who develops a kind of destructive ray. He uses it to destroy a bridge, killing many people trapped on the span. Lois circumvents Perry White's decision to send Clark and her to do a story on this guy (how they found out where he was is never explained). Of course, she gets grabbed and tied up immediately by the guy, and while she watches, he begins to destroy stuff. We don't need to look at how it ends, but there is a nice quality to these cartoons that really struck home with me as a child.

That Arguably All-American Genre of the Super Hero was still a new and still growing staple in the Comic Books publishing field in 1941. Coincidental to the looming and rapidly gathering clouds of War. The numbers of super hero features their proliferation continued as sort of psychological protective response to the Axis threat. Admittedly, their roots go much deeper into literary figures and the Great Depression gave them the first propagating stimulus; but it was still World War II that stimulated the colorful Magazines or Periodicals (Comic "Book" being an obvious malapropism.).As an example, typical comics' covers of 1941-45 would feature war related illustrations that weren't related to any of the internal stories' content, except in the broadest, most general sense. Heavily symbolic illustrations on Action Comics with Superman saving a Tank crew, Detective Comics with Batman & Robin presenting a G.I. with a new rifle, USA Comics with Captain America kicking Hitler in the nuts, Whiz Comics with Captain Marvel airlifting Refugee Kids to Freedom and Marvel Mystery featuring Sub-Mariner sinking a U Boat while The Human Torch burns the wing off of a Messerschmitt.There is little wonder that the Super-Hero would soon move off of the comics page to the daily newspaper strip, Radio Programs, Movie Serials and the Animated Cartoon Short. (Television was still off in the not too distant future.) And leading the parade was that Strange Visitor from another Planet, the Man of Steel (Himself), Superman! The first roll on the Monopoly Board landed Superman on Mutual Radio's Network in 1940. This gave the World The Adventures of Superman 15 minute daily serialized program. The cast featured Bud Collyer's multi-ranged vocals voicing both the mild mannered, high pitched Clark Kent as well as the richer, deeper and powerful Superman. Miss Joan Alexander did Lois Lane with Announcer ("….The Adventures of Syue-Puhr-Man!") Jackson Beck did Perry White. (As for Cub Reporter, Jimmy Olsen, he didn't appear until later in the decade, originating on the Radio, not in the comics, as Jimmy, the Office Boy.) When the deal was struck between Superman's copyright owner, DC Comics/National Comics Publications and the Fleischer Brothers Animation Studios, tendering the rights to produce the first Superman animated series, the decision was made to retain the services of Mr. Collyer, Miss Alexander and Mr. Beck to reprise their voice characterizations.So the first cartoon was on the drawing board. Not surprisingly, it would contain the obligatory origin sequence. But in dealing with this in a rapid, sort of re-cap style; Max & Dave and company avoided using-up a whole cartoon; thus allowing the story of 'The Mad Scientist' (alternate & possibly working title). As for this story it is sort of typical, but gained in status by being the first with Superman (or any other Super Hero, for that matter).OUR STORY (at last)………………..The Editorial Offices of THE METROPOLIS DAILY PLANET are inundated with reports of wanton destruction of bridges, buildings and urban infrastructure of the City. The Editor (called oddly enough, "Chief" wants Clark Kent to investigate, but spunky Lois Lane, Girl Reporter, is determined to scoop Kent, only to be taken hostage by the Evil, Mad Scientist. (Is there any other kind?) Superman shows up, saves Lois from being consumed in molten metal and apprehends the villainous (Is there any other kind?) renegade genius. Lois gets scoop and by line. Clark establishes a series long custom of winking at the audience as ironic conversation about the adventure fills the Planet's Editorial Office.WE feel obligated to two neat, little touches that made for a much better first episode. First is the use of the Mad Doctor's pet anthropomorphic cuddly vulture. Secondly we salute the eerie, hauntingly bizarre voice of the MAD SCIENTIST; which we just discovered was provided by Mr. Jack Mercer, famous for Popeye's gravely voice. The series hasn't a real klunker in the whole bunch; though naturally, some individual cartoons will be found to be better than others. We noticed that the shorts produced at the Fleischer Studios auspices seem superior to those made after that notorious coup-de-tat that transformed the animation house into Paramount's Famous Studios.EDITOR'S NOTE: Warning! Achtung! Cuidado! When you get your Tape or Whole DVD Set, do not attempt to view multiple shorts, one after another. Doing your watching in this manner tends to render them seemingly repetitive, monotonous and boring even; kinda like attempting a 3 Stooges marathon of shorts featuring Joe Besser. Try instead to do your viewings interspersed with other features.After all, this is truly "…..Truth, Justice and the American Way!"

Sixty one years have elapsed since this first Superman cartoon was shown and it still remains as timeless as ever.I had first seen this decades back (not in 1941 because it would be a good several years until I was born) and recently I picked up a copy from a car boot sale. I watched it and enjoyed it throughly.The story is perfectly simple. A mad scientist has some kind of ray aimed at Metropolis and he also kidnaps Lois Lane. Superman of course comes to the rescue. There is no complex plot, just plenty of action.Lois and Clark are not quite equals in this adventure. Nowadays in the Superman comics I think Lois and Clark are married but Lois sort of looked down on Clark in these adventures-she doesn't even let him come out on assignment with her.Another thing I liked was the way Clark changed into Superman. He would always say, "This is a job for Superman," before heading into a storeroom and changing. Magic!For fans of Superman (particularly younger fans), I recommend they check this out if they can get a copy.