Superhero Rewind: Fleischer Superman Cartoons Commentary Week 1

[Cobracatcommander]

heard the phantom was the first to wear a costume.

[shadowspider9]

lol. I remember watching this when it came out on VHS when i was really young. I think it was what really got me into super heroes.

[diddymuck]

Studio Ghibli genius Hayao Miyazaki used the Mechanical Monsters robot in the last episode of Lupin the Third (2nd season) and later in Laputa, Castle in the Sky.

[alexander3062]

am i the only one who noticed the parallel of how the secret passage in the mountain opens and lets the vehicle out, and how in the batman animated series they did the same basic thing with the secret passage, bruce timm wasnt kidding when he said these cartoons influenced him

[Geekvolution]

@alexander3062 Yeah, good call!

-CL

[alexander3062]

why does the superman symbol have black in it in this version?

[WhiteMamba824]

IMO that is the only legit time Superman should show up, is when there is absolutely no one that can stop a disaster, a force of nature, a terrible act from a terrorist, etc I also like how he's a public figure, yet mysterious enough that he isn't "talky" and it keeps the character from falling into the problem of the suspension of disbelief of Superman just being Clark w/o glasses. The less that people of the universe know about Superman, the better.

[1truemisfit]

I forgot to mention that when Fleischer and his partners approached DC about Superman flying, there was some heavy disagreement at first by DC about him flying. Siegel and Shuster stepped in, heard the pitch, and actually agreed. Superman was supposed to not have any outright powers, but rather was just a strong guy that could jump high due to strength. Flying was the beginning of his superpowers... Then came X-ray vision.

[1truemisfit]

Interesting! You know, Superman often changed in the store room in the old radio shows, early comics and the George Reeves TV series.

[armhand97]

18:25 Actually, I've heard Paramount managed to negotiate for at least half of their asking price for the budget

[KonElKent]

I don't know if you've seen it or not (and if you are interested I'd be willing to make a copy of my copy), but the unreleased 1994 Fantastic Four movie has a scene with the Human Torch engaging in an almost indentical "flying man vs laser" battle.

[thomajake]

Great shout out for Bud Colyer. I listen to the old radio episodes of Superman on podcast and really enjoy him in the lead.

[beauhopkins1]

at 20:16 he uses his cap to shield him and Lois from the molten metal. That has always bothered me about indestructible superheros. I can see how they are indestructible but unless they mention that their suit is made of some special material how are we supposed to believe it can handle so much without waring or tearing.

[jonhayashi1]

When I saw Superman jump from building to building the first time in the Arctic Giant I thought, wow able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! I thought that was cool and showed that the Flechiers were willing to try different variations on the flying! Also I feel Arctic Giant was made after the first Mad Scientist cartoon since the animation of the characters looks more polished to me then in the first one. Fun commentary!

[TheTc1993]

I ilke how light don't just clcik on and off they have progression from on to off

[skyhime]

It always bothered me when I heard the announcer say "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound." I always thought: why leap when he can fly? Now I see. Supes didnt originally fly.

[dre2you]

44:09 on Superman's indestructible cape. It depends on what you go by, but in the comics sometimes it is explained that Superman's cape and costume are made from the Kryptonian blanket that was in the ship he came to earth in, thereby making it just as invulnerable as Superman

or

that Superman emits a microscopic Kryptonian aura that protects his suit and sometimes cape from shredding, burning, etc.

[dre2you]

One thing that always bugged me in the comics was Superman's really long cape, is he wearing that under his clothes too? It's kinda ridiculous, I like that the cape is significantly shorter here.

[dre2you]

Can you guys please consider doing a Batman The Animated Series Commentary as part of Superhero Rewind? Thank you, I really enjoyed this.

[wood02230223]

Just a thought about why they changed the leaping to flying, animating a flying Superman is cheaper than a constantly leaping Superman. This could have been one of the reasons behind the change so they could put that saved money elsewhere into the production. Also, I am blown away by how old this is and how great the animation is, when you commented that these were made shortly after Superman came out I was blown away even more so than when I started watching your video.

[holsson85]

One thing you mentioned regarding the fps; I've often disliked some manga/anime do to the low fps, the many shortcuts, static ppl in the background, talking ppl JUST moving their mouth etc. Really bugs me allot!

This cartoon is beutifully made, modern can be too, like Metropolis, but considering how old this is, thats amazing!!

[deadman00]

If u look at Superman Chronicles u see that indeed that the comic only dealt with the orgin breifly. the Daily strip did a full orgin. it wasnt until around the 50s that the comic book did the full orgin. which is interesting. You do make a good point that supervillains coming late. the thing is though that in that time the creators had him face the social issues of the times. that was their purpose for him in that time.

[JerkyChid]

His eyes are squinted because he needs his glasses and he can't see a thing

[mswoodenly]

This animation is better than the animation of today imo

[ComicReviewer1994]

But in the arctic giant he does fly out the building doesnt he cause thathats how he flys usually. no?

[Geekvolution]

@ComicReviewer1994 Yeah, it looks the same, but he's actually just jumping really high. We never see him actually suspended in the air in the episode-- if he goes up, he's coming right back down.

-Captain Logan

[ComicReviewer1994]

@Geekvolution it is a bit confusing as a kid l lived on these. to this day ther still a big influence on every gd dc animation since then.

[deadman00]

The flying thing is interesting.

in the comics at the time he did not fly, he only lept. Flisher had trouble realising the 'leaping' so Superman flew instead.

I had read that suposidly the radio show had him fly for a narrative purpose.

[xJoeEDangerouslyx]

@Geekvolution In the comics, the origin was told twice in the earliest years. After the first issue did I think 3 pages on the origin, the daily strip told the origin in its continuity as well. Both tellings involve Clark Kent being discovered and sent to an orphanage. He was not raised by the Kents at all. Interestingly, the strip started with scenes on Krypton and named and showed Supes' parents before they were ever done in the books. In the daily, they were called "Jor-L and Lora."

[gunblade007]

hey what's the name of the theme song?  I so want to download it on my ipod

[DokkenMcleod]

Wow really cool fellas i learned alot and really enjoyed this episode.

[pypeworld]

The Fleischer Superman Cartoons still have an amazing retro style that still holds it's own, plus Superman punching a laser beam is so wonderfully iconic.

[SPAKman619]

this was very cool and i found it very informative, i knew some stuff and laerned some new stuff

[transfan1988]

Wow, this is the first time in many years that I see this. The art is just beautiful. Actually I believe this cartoons were the first Superman fiction I saw as a kid.

[simba317]

I find it really interesting that you talk about how Superman is this natural aspect in conflict with the scientific, especially with people like all the scientists, technology and technological advancement that Superman goes up against because it really reflects the time this came out. World War II, World War I and also the Civil War brought mechanized warfare and the mechanization of death to a new level and people really questioned the utility of science. TBC...not enough space lol.

[simba317]

Also, the Nazis systematically killing the Jews and the dropping of the atomic bomb really brought this fear out in people. So for Superman, the natural figure to be triumphant over the technology or science is really interesting.

[0ACapedCrusader0]

Thanks for doing this Cap Logan and Vince, really looking forward to next weeks episode. I hope one of the four you do next time is "The magnetic telescope", It is my personal favorite.

[666deadman1988]

Great show. I loved these cartoons when I was a kid and I still think they're awesome.

[pinkyelloweater]

I had this cartoon on tape

[Zipblockgory]

See this is animation All Star Superman should have been on this level of animation now what we got.

[sXeblues]

I dig how this series made certain things standard in Superman's mythos, in a similar way to how the radio show did with things like Jimmy Olsen, Perry White and the iconic Daily Planet - which was like the Daily Star or something previously. Pretty cool. -rave

[Hyman74Roth]

@36:11 was the funniest thing that the cap said on the commentary.

Wonderful and unexpected commentary from you guys.

[jamesedwardclard]

like this alot you should do commentaries on all the old serials

[TheKaleidoscopian]

This is now probably my favorite thing on Youtube, on one of my favorite YT channels... I love these shorts, I have one of the myriad dvd collections. Listening to you guys, I hear so many things I personally thought or found interesting, but usually have no one to talk to about. Great piece. ~noirgwio

[CoolioVids101]

Its a shame these will be the only commentary there are fun

great work guys

[Torreygnr1]

This was an awesome and informative commentary. I remember having a compilation VHS tape of these as a kid and loving them, but I had no idea how influential they were on the character. I definately saw the influence on Bruce Timm that you guys mentioned and for some reason when I saw Lois Lane I instantly thought of Tim Sale's artwork and I thought Clark's face kinda looked like Frank Quietly's Superman. Anyway I can't wait for the next part, great job.

[Crazycharliemma]

this was fun when u comein back to superhero movies?

[therealmanos]

This is excellent. Great work guys. This was a wonderful way to spotlight these films.

[dvid22]

with your powers combine ( you are superhero horror rewind). ftw

[vacuumina]

lois lane looks ugly as hell in these cartoons o_O

[VsxFedora]

PERFECT! Just when i started reading the original golden age Superman stories, a show that faithfully interprets it is featured on what's probably my favorite comic-related channel :)

WELL DONE, GUYS!

[vacuumina]

I love Commentary!!! :P

[bluedragonfive]

thanks for doing this cap I love commentaries.