Max Fleischer's SUPERMAN "The Mad Scientist" (1941), the greatest VISUAL animated short in history?

They did spent the money on those Looney Tunes (maybe not PD ) and those look fantastic , still not sure how these cartoons would look like if they weren't PD, and what the reason there's a whole bunch of Looney Tunes they refuse to spend the money on

 

I have no clue. I've told Steve Hoffman before that I'm bewildered as to why the studios leave so many important films (including cartoon shorts) sitting in the dust on their shelves. Some of them are already mastered, but they don't get released. My only conclusion is that the execs they have a) don't care, b) are too busy, and c) have no concept what their audience would like to see.

 

d) All Of The Above.

Some of the Warner Bros Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies PD's have been restored, but sadly most o the classics that got the AAP treatment have sat unrestored. Sad.

 

I started a thread on this last week.

These Fleischer Superman cartoons are some of the greatest shorts ever made, and obviously of a character that is iconic. I wish someone would pony up the money for a full restoration.

They deserve it!

 

The work already done was in HD that I know of; the only real problem would be getting a BD release with all audio tracks corrected.

 

BIG fan of the super Fleischer "Superman" serials & "The Mad Scientist" [1941] is indeED me fave [even luv the sound effects].
However, Fleischer Animation Studio's "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor" [1936] & "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves" [1937]; both w/the unparalleled striking effect of the uncanny 3D backgrounds achieved by the studio's exclusive Rotograph device are even better IMO.
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Was "super" bummED when Warner failed BIG time too release the 'Supertoons' in HD on the “Superman Ultimate Collector’s Edition” Blu-ray nor HD DVD [only in SD].
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The Blu is blu too:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Max-Fleischers-Superman-Blu-ray/50279/#Review
ugh!

 

I don't know how they remove spots and blemishes from these cartoons but I could imagine it would make a person go insane.

 

That transfer is remarkable - does anyone know what version (if any) this was taken from? I literally had to remind myself this wasn't remade in places!

 

That's the WB restored one, and one of the ones with opening corrected.

 

It's great to see that they managed to tell a story in ten minutes in those days that would take a 2015 blockbuster about 2 1/2 hours.....

 

I could wax lyrical all day about how great those Fleischer shorts are for a variety of reasons, but you're absolutely right - they take you on epic journeys in around the same time most Hollywood films have meandered through their credit sequences! Rarely is a frame wasted, with virtually every shot either setting up action or showing you something happening, though considering their cost and how they were produced, I'm hardly surprised the studio was frugal...

 

also great ,not as great looking

 

well maybe if these weren't PD Warner might have spent more money fixing them up

 

I like how Lois strikes a blow for feminism in 1941:

Lois: "But Chief, I'd like the chance to crack the story on my own..."

Chief: Wellllllllll...

Lois: "Thanks, Chief!"

 

They scan each frame of the negative individually, then apply manual clean-up on an as-needed basis. Some light filtering done by software is then next.

 

When I was a kid I had an album on Harmony of stories about children from the Bible told by Bud Collyer. I have a digital version I found on line. Warm nostalgia.

 

Fun watch. Had never seen that. All hand drawn. Thats a lot of work!

Only Superman could box his way through an electrothanasia ray!

 

I think it reflects the comics of that day. Most stories were contained within one issue. Plus, origins were kept very lean when it came to story telling. As an example, despite the elaborate versions of the origin that have appeared over the years, Batman's original origin story was two pages long (it was recreated in the first issue of the "Hush" Story Arc with art by Jim Lee).

Also, much of what we associate with Superman actually came out of the Fleischer Superman shorts (Superman had only been around about two years when the cartoons were done). When they rebooted Superman in the 1980s, they used the Fleischer Shorts as an inspiration for the way Superman would be. However, it took 32 pages to tell Superman's origin.

 

I think they should run this kind of material prior to new Superman releases in theaters.

 

What I would rather see is, instead of including an origin in a Superman movie, one month before the release of the new movie just put out Superman The Movie at theaters and let people know if they want to see the origin watch that movie. Then with the new movie just go straight into the new story. To me, Superman The Movie is a perfectly good origin movie for Superman.