Press Release WHV Press Release: Max Fleischer's SUPERMAN 1941-1943 (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

MAX FLEISCHER’S
SUPERMAN 1941-1943




THE LANDMARK ANIMATED MAN OF STEEL SHORTS ARE
NEWLY REMASTERED FROM ORIGINAL 35MM NEGATIVES

AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE DIGITALLY AND ON BLU-RAYTM
MAY 16, 2023

#MaxFleischerSuperman

​

BURBANK, CA (March 8, 2023) – Warner Bros. Discovery has meticulously remastered Max Fleischer’s treasured set of 17 animated Superman shorts from the original 35mm source elements. Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1943 will be available to purchase Digitally on HD and on Blu-ray May 16, 2023.

Superman made his comic book debut in 1938, appearing in Action Comics #1 (dated June 1938, but officially published on April 18, 1938), and the Man of Steel’s popularity grew with his subsequent radio program. Max Fleischer gave the world’s first Super Hero his initial animated spotlight, producing 17 theatrical animated shorts from September 1941 to July 1943 that further elevated the character’s profile, and added many significant aspects to his canon – including coining many of Superman’s patented catchphrases and attributes.

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.

Well known radio actors Clayton “Bud” Collyer and Joan Alexander reprised their famed The Adventures of Superman radio show roles for the Fleischer/Famous Studios animated shorts as Superman/ Clark Kent and Lois Lane, respectively. Jackson Beck provided the voice of Perry White and the show’s primary narrator. Additional voices, many of whom had participated in the Superman radio program, were provided by Jack Mercer, Grant Richards, Julian Noa, Lee Royce, Max Smith, Sam Parker and Carl Meyer.

Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1943 will be available on May 16, 2023 to purchase Digitally in HD from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu and more, and on Blu-ray at major retailers both online and in-store.

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

SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE:

New Featurette – Superman: Speeding Toward Tomorrow – 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.

Featurette – First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series – 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.

Featurette – The Man, the Myth, Superman: Exploring the Tradition of Superman Heroes on the Page and Screen – 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.


Pricing and film information:

PRODUCT SRP
Digital HD Purchase $14.99 USA and CANADA
Blu-ray $33.99 USA, 39.99 CANADA

Languages: English
Subtitles: English, French
Running Time: 145 minutes

About Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment (WBDHE) distributes the award-winning movies, television, animation, and digital content produced by Warner Bros. Discovery to the homes and screens of millions through physical Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD retail sales and digital transactions on major streaming, video-on-demand cable, satellite, digital, and mobile channels.  WBDHE is part of Warner Bros. Discovery Content Sales, one of the world’s largest distributors of entertainment programming.

© Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. SUPERMAN and all related characters and elements are © & TM DC.

About DC
DC, part of Warner Bros. Discovery, creates iconic characters and enduring stories and is one of the world’s largest publishers of comics and graphic novels. DC’s creative work entertains audiences of every generation around the world with DC’s stories and characters integrated across Warner Bros. Discovery’s film, television, animation, consumer products, home entertainment, games, and themed experiences divisions, and on the DC Universe Infinite digital comic subscription service. Learn more at DC.com

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See on Amazon

 

[ScottRE]

Now THIS is a release worth waiting for.

 

[Robert Harris]

This has been a huge ongoing project. Will be beautiful!

 

[Konstantinos]

This has been a huge ongoing project. Will be beautiful!

I hope so! I hope they haven't scrubbed the film grain...

 

[Tino]

Any idea if the Blu ray includes the digital download?

 

[ScottRE]

Considering the checkered history of releases for these shorts, I am hoping for something special.

 

[Paul Penna]

Warner Bros. Discovery’s advanced remastering process began with a 4K, 16-bit scan of Fleischer’s original 35mm successive exposure negative.

Exactly what I wanted to know.

 

[Rob W]

Does anyone else remember a very tongue-in-cheek Superman story from one of the comics of the early 1940's ( reprinted many decades later when I saw it ) where Clark Kent took Lois Lane to a movie theatre showing one of these Superman cartoons ? If I recall correctly Clark had to find unique ways to distract Lois from finding out his secret identity from the cartoon on screen.

 

[John Sparks]

For that low low price…everyone is gonna buy this!!!

 

[Rob W]

Does anyone else remember a very tongue-in-cheek Superman story from one of the comics of the early 1940's ( reprinted many decades later when I read it ) where Clark Kent took Lois Lane to a movie theatre showing one of these Superman cartoons ? If I recall correctly Clark had to find unique ways to distract Lois from finding out his secret identity from the cartoon on screen.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Any idea if the Blu ray includes the digital download?

Since it is not mentioned in the artwork, I'm going to say not likely. Also, I find it interesting that it is coming out a month after the movie collection.

 

[Will Krupp]

Does anyone else remember a very tongue-in-cheek Superman story from one of the comics of the early 1940's ( reprinted many decades later when I read it ) where Clark Kent took Lois Lane to a movie theatre showing one of these Superman cartoons ? If I recall correctly Clark had to find unique ways to distract Lois from finding out his secret identity from the cartoon on screen.

Yes! I remember it well from one of those giant hardcover anthology reprints of the 1970's. There was a Batman, a Superman, and a Wonder Woman from what I remember. I don't know what happened to mine, at some point I must have thought I was too "growed up" for them. All I know is that they're gone and I would kill to have them still.

 

[David Deeb]

I love this is getting released on both BD and Digital at the same time. Its about time this started happening for every archive release.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I love this is getting released on both BD and Digital at the same time. Its about time this started happening for every archive release.

Unfortunately, this is not a Warner Archive release. It's from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

 

[justarandomstan]

Idk if I'd call it unfortunate.

Warner Archive is great, but at least in this instance, all copies will have pressed discs, and not just the first few batches. So, if you buy it a year from now, you'd still be getting pressed discs. And that's a big plus.

Also, with this being a wide release, there's gonna be a bigger spotlight on it, which matters!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Idk if I'd call it unfortunate.

Warner Archive is great, but at least in this instance, all copies will have pressed discs, and not just the first few batches. So, if you buy it a year from now, you'd still be getting pressed discs. And that's a big plus.

Also, with this being a wide release, there's gonna be a bigger spotlight on it, which matters!

I think you missed the point. It's unfortunate because it means Warner Archive titles still don't have updated digitals for their releases.

 

[justarandomstan]

Rob, I apologize, still haven't had my cuppa coffee yet

 

[RICK BOND]

Finally !!! This has been on my Wish List Forever. I have the old WB DVD,

and last year I got the 17 shorts in SD on Prime for $9.99. This will Blow away the old SD release.

 

[BobO'Link]

Idk if I'd call it unfortunate.

Warner Archive is great, but at least in this instance, all copies will have pressed discs, and not just the first few batches. So, if you buy it a year from now, you'd still be getting pressed discs. And that's a big plus.

Also, with this being a wide release, there's gonna be a bigger spotlight on it, which matters!

That later copies of an initial pressed disc release were burned copies only applied to the WA DVD releases, and even then not all of them. To date, all WA BRs have been pressed discs for every printing.

 

[David Deeb]

Unfortunately, this is not a Warner Archive release. It's from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

Was using the word "archive" in a general sense of any older collections and releases. I wish that there were more day and date releases of HD digital collections when the same Blu-ray sets are released for old TV series or other older collections.

For example, “Frasier” was released last month on Blu-ray, but not HD digital. I didn’t mean to start a discussion about Warner Archive.