Superman - The Golden Age of Animation

A look at how the Fleischer brothers pushed the limits of animation to create the definitive Superman.

All of these shorts can be found in the public domain archive at

Music licensed under creative commons by
LASERS

[king_big_pp]

"He's not an alien. He's not a god. He's just a dude from Kansas doing the right thing."
Couldn't have said it better myself.

[ross]

Whoa. That 1940s animation is gorgeous.

[bigneon_glitter]

"This is a job for Superman"

Clark would be perfectly happy living as "Clark". He loves his life, the people around him, & the world. Unlike Batman, he doesn't need to be Superman - it's simply that the world sometimes needs him to be. And Clark accepts that responsibility - that singular, circumstantial duty - because he loves his adopted home. Superman is the one superhero who acts solely out of love. And it's been 40 years since WB understood that.

[bigboi]

So you're telling me that the 40s Superman cartoon introduced Superman's flight, allowed cartoons to be used for more than comedy, invented rotoscoping, and provided an inspiration for Godzilla? These seem like the most important cartoons ever made.

[beckoning-chasm]

The Fleishers actually didn't want to do the cartoons, because they knew they'd be very difficult and costly to do them correctly. So they deliberately asked for an outrageous amount of money. And they were told "Here you go, all the money you asked for!"

[ZombieChimpanzee]

"he's just a dude from Kansas doing the right thing." a better understanding of the character than most directors have had. not just Snyder. like almost ever incarnation of him is always just centered around Lois Lane, as his one attachment to earth, Superman cares about more than just one woman, Superman loves earth because it's home to him. he enjoys everything from the things he can see because he's got all these powers and the ability to go places others can't, to the very simple things everyone's seen a hundred times. His parents, the Kents, raised him so that he'd appreciate and value those things, because they keep Clark grounded and with his mind in reality. they help make him a good person.

[christophersmith]

"Somewhere in our darkest night, we made up the story of a man who will never let us down." - Grant Morrison.

[theseanwardshow]

This wasn't just a brilliantly articulated and artfully executed documentary, it proved to be a moving and emotional tribute. Standing ovation from me for this video.

[mikehawk]

These cartoons are still incredible. Even CG couldn't make those robots coming to life in that line look more amazing. To be fair to 66Superman's cartoon, the 40s theatrical shorts had an INSANE record-breaking budget because of how much faith the studio had in the property. I'd honestly tell anyone who asks that these shorts put Disney's feature films from the same era to shame, animation-wise... Fleischer was a genius, & deserves as much credit to Superman as Seigel & Schuster, IMO.

[JAKphoenixify]

For the forties that was some fucking smooth animation

[LEETLAND]

Holy shit! That animation looked like it's alive. I never saw that kind of work. Genius.

[danni]

I love how this version of Superman shows that it takes him effort to do things. Yeah, he can lift unlimited weight, but it seems to be solely through willpower. It definitely takes a toll on him.

[vintagefan]

Max Fleisher is the most underrated God animator of all time! Everyone needs to watch these cartooons.

[mss]

This made me tear up. Really, not only by explaining what makes Superman great, but to finally find someone else who *gets* Superman, and not only knows, but *appreciates* the Max Fleischer cartoons. If I could, I'd easily give this video a million likes. :)

[Luka]

You are wrong on one point: this being made for children. Animation in general was not really meant for children in this era, but was shown before theatrical films, something that would have been seen by more adults than kids at that point in time. Only when TV was introduced and became massively popular did animation get the reputation of being "just for kids" (even though it arguably still isn't) due to its easy accessibility for everyone, including children.

[RuthwikRao]

40s were among the best years in animation.
So glad the game Cuphead is being made with the techniques and aesthetic of this golden age.

[thefearofgds]

2:32 ok...I knew I wasn't tripping. Whenever I would see clips or glimpses of these old Superman cartoons, i always thought they looked way better than the majority of animated superhero material released today. The art style and the way the animation moves is just beautiful. The way Superman is portrayed here was also a favorite of mine as well.

[Aldrius]

"Just a dude from Kansas doing the right thing".

Gosh that just sums up the character. Why do so many people miss this basic point by trying to overcomplicate the character with weird fish out of water stories?

[daseal]

Im glad some people still see Superman for who he truly is. It hurts me when I hear from people that Superman is boring or that he is an old washed-up superhero. Now I can direct them to your videos. Same goes for your Godzilla video. Thanks for all the hard work man, we really appreciate it.

[RadinV]

This holds up so freaking well.

It also inspired batman the animated series so that's a plus.