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Max Fleischer’s Superman Animated Shorts Fly Onto Blu-ray

Some over at Warner Bros. Discovery decided now is the time for Max Fleischer’s treasured set of 17 animated Superman shorts to be meticulously remastered from the original 35mm source elements and released on Blu-ray on May 16th.

The Max Fleischer Superman serials ran from 1941 to 1943 and arrived only 3-years after the hero debuted in Action Comics #1.

From the press release:

“Warner Bros. Discovery’s advanced remastering process began with a 4K, 16-bit scan of Fleischer’s original 35mm successive exposure negative. Staying true to the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.37-to-1, the highest quality raw image was then scanned and then entered into the recombine process –utilizing special proprietary software to merge the successive exposure Technicolor negatives into a single RGB color image. The end result are pristine animated shorts that have been restored to the animators’ originally intended production quality.”

  • EPISODES (AND PREMIERE DATE):
  • Superman (Mad Scientist) – 9/26/1941
  • The Mechanical Monsters – 11/28/1941
  • Billion Dollar Limited – 1/9/1942
  • Arctic Giant – 2/27/1942
  • The Bulleteers – 3/27/1942
  • The Magnetic Telescope – 4/24/1942
  • Electric Earthquake – 5/15/1942
  • Volcano – 7/10/1942
  • Terror on the Midway – 8/28/1942
  • The Japoteurs – 9/18/1942
  • Showdown – 10/16/1942
  • The Eleventh Hour – 11/20/1942
  • Destruction, Inc. – 12/25/1942
  • The Mummy Strikes – 2/19/1943
  • Jungle Drums – 3/26/1943
  • Underground World – 6/18/1943
  • Secret Agent – 7/30/1943

The extra features will include the following:

Superman: Speeding Toward Tomorrow (New Featurette) – Superman’s exploits in the Fleischer series modernized the monomyth of the Greek godlike hero and expanded and romanticized the prevalent themes of sci-fi and fantasy. It was this combination of heartfelt storytelling, relatable heroes and amazing visuals that has endeared the Fleischer series to fans as one of the greatest superhero stories of all time. This featurette explores the visual storytelling as the lavish animation, with special attention paid to all the atomic age technology, pushes science fiction closer to becoming a powerful
social and pop culture force.

First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series (Featurette) – The Origins and Influence of This Groundbreaking Cartoon Series – A gathering of contemporary animators, comic book & animation historians, and legendary Fleischer artists examine these beloved shorts, focusing on the animation and the breakthrough techniques that created it, as well as studying the title character’s place in history.

The Man, the Myth, Superman: Exploring the Tradition of Superman Heroes on the Page and Screen (Featurette) – A fascinating study of Superman-esque characters throughout history – in ancient
myth, literature and film – that bring forth imaginative, super-human qualities, captivating audiences
and enduring the test of time.

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