Search - Superman Cartoons Collectible Tin with Handle on DVD

The complete Superman cartoon series, and more!

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 12/10/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A faux lunchbox to store ECHO BRIDGE's SUPERMAN CARTOONS in is a nice touch.

Set's limitations: 1.) minor over-compression; 2.) Supermans are on a flip-disc; 3.) "Echo Bridge" watermark appears intermittently
Pluses: 1.) all 17 Superman shorts included; 2.) decent source material; 3.) BONUS DISC: "TV Classic Cartoons Vol. 6" (19 shorts, including VAN BEURENs)

The Superman series, FLEISCHER's final independent animations, are artistically some of their very finest. This level of quality was maintained after FAMOUS's late-1942 takeover of Max Fleischer's studio was completed.

PROGRAM--

DISC 1, SIDE A
SUPERMAN (aka "The Mad Scientist") (1941) - Series premiere covers Superman's arrival on Earth as a baby, his orphanage boyhood and employment at the Daily Planet. The Man of Steel's first villain nemesis threatens Metropolis with a ray gun.
THE MECHANICAL MONSTERS (1941) - "Mad" inventor uses robots to rob a jewelry store. Lois Lane is captured trying to stop the heist.
BILLION DOLLAR LIMITED (1942) - A trainload of gold destined for Fort Knox is hijacked, along with Lois Lane.
THE ARCTIC GIANT (1942) - A huge, frozen prehistoric lizard thaws out at a museum and reanimates. It then rampages through Metropolis.
THE BULLETEERS (1942) - Terrorists destroy several Metropolis edifices and threaten to wreck more. They abduct Lois Lane at the last place attacked.
THE MAGNETIC TELESCOPE (1942) - Plummeting meteorite fragments brought to Metropolis by a giant iron-attracting telescope badly damage the city. After refusing to halt his experiments, the device's inventor next targets the city with an immense, potentially deadly comet.
ELECTRIC EARTHQUAKE (1942) - American Indian scientist tries to force the return of Metropolis to his tribe. Lois Lane follows him to his undersea lab, where he electrically sets off seismic activity.
VOLCANO (1942) - Lois Lane's attempt to "scoop" Clark Kent on a South Pacific volcanic eruption gets her into hot lava.
TERROR ON THE MIDWAY (1942) - Lois Lane tries to rescue a small girl from an escaped circus gorilla.
DISC ONE, SIDE B
JAPOTEURS (1942) - Enemy spies steal a new bomber just before its test flight. Lois Lane is trapped inside the plane.
SHOWDOWN (1942) - A criminal disguised as Superman ransacks Metropolis, and later regrets it.
ELEVENTH HOUR (1942) - Lois and Clark are captives in WWII-era Yokohama, Japan.
DESTRUCTION, INC. (1942) - Clark Kent and Lois Lane look into the mysterious death of a munitions factory guard.
THE MUMMY STRIKES (1943) - The mysterious death of an archaeologist takes Lois Lane and Clark Kent to Egypt. Clark accidentally awakens giant mummies that guard a tomb.
JUNGLE DRUMS (1943) - Nazis sabotage a plane flying secret documents over Africa. The dying pilot gives these to Lois Lane, but she is captured and brought to a remote Nazi base.
THE UNDERGROUND WORLD (1943) - Lois Lane and a professor are captured by underground birdmen who want to toss them both into a lava pit.
SECRET AGENT (1943) - A spy travelling to relay information to her superiors in Washington is ambushed. Superman rescues her. (last of the series)

DISC TWO: TV CLASSIC CARTOONS V.6
A CAR-TUNE PORTRAIT (1937) - Animator's hand draws an orchestra of animals who try to play the 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody in a dignified fashion.
AN ELEPHANT NEVER FORGETS (1935) - Young pachyderm gets revenge on an ape for bothering him in school.
BUNNY MOONING (1937) - Jack and Jill Rabbit prepare for marriage to the song, "Everybody's Getting Ready for the Wedding."
The Mite Makes Right (1948) - Narrated story of Tom Thumb.
THE TEARS OF AN ONION (1938) - A peach befriends a lonely onion who later rescues the peach from a hungry crow.
TIME FOR LOVE (1936) - Story of love lost and regained, as told via swan characters.
COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN (1949) - Hillbilly cats and dogs cease fueding to await the arrival of the new schoolmarm.
CRAZYTOWN (1954) - A place where the illogical reigns supreme.
CUPID GETS HIS MAN (1936) - WC Fields and Edna Mae Oliver resist Dan Cupid's attempts to make them a couple.
THE GOLDEN STATE (1948) - Humorous singalong about California.
IT'S A GREEK LIFE (1936) - A centaur blacksmith repairs Mercury's winged shoes, takes them on a test flight and ruins them.
PICNIC PANIC (1935) - Teapots have an adventure at a picnic. (First appearance of Molly Moo-Cow.)
WINTER DRAWS ON (1948) - Sing-along features birds heading South for the winter. (Song: Alabamy Bound)
ALL's FAIR AT THE FAIR (1938) - An animated look at the 1939 New York World's Fair's gadgets.
ANTS IN THE PLANTS (1940) - The queen exhorts her ant community to defeat the aardvark.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS (1936) - Young female bird leaves Hawaii and travels to NYC with a jazz band, only to be thrown out of a club and into the cold winter night.
THE LITTLE STRANGER (1936) - Based on Hans Christian Anderson's "Ugly Duckling" fable.
PEEPING PENGUINS (1937) - Four little penguins ignore their mom and explore a hunting cabin, where they find trouble.
PLAY SAFE (1936) - A little boy starts up a train engine, then can't control it."