a cartoon drawing of a man holding a sword with a lot of lightning coming out of it ALT: a cartoon drawing of a man holding a sword with a lot of lightning coming out of it

A bit late, but I can confirm that the Fleischer Studios Superman shorts are superb! #FleischerSuperman #Superman

The first "Superman" animated short by Fleischer Studios premiered on this day (Sept. 26) in 1941! Technical marvels and skill-fully crafted, this series of 17 animated shorts have left a significant mark on both the Superman mythos and the animation industry itself! #FleischerSuperman #Superman

I'm conflicted on whether I'd say at their worst they're better or worse viewing than Superman III or IV, because on the one hand, these are mercifully short, but on the other...III and IV, bad as they were, still weren't WWII-era propaganda. So...yeah. #FleischerSuperman

So on THAT depressing note, those were the Superman shorts. They were...kind of a mixed bag. The actual Fleischer ones were way better in just about every way (animation, story, less propaganda and 'oh god why' stuff.), so you kind of go out on a whimper. #FleischerSuperman

Superman (1940s animated film series) - Wikipedia

It's uh, kind of a sad story actually. #FleischerSuperman

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superma...

Okay, looking it up, not only is that not Lois, I've apparently been hearing a different actor and actress for Superman and Lois for the last so many, AND they're technically not 'Fleischer' Superman shorts for the last half. #FleischerSuperman

That said, is...this blonde woman NOT Lois in disguise? Despite her having the exact same design otherwise and even the same voice actress? #FleischerSuperman

Okay, no, so far this just seems to be like an undercover cop infiltrating the mafia story. Phew. #FleischerSuperman

And onward to the final Fleischer Superman short, 'Secret Agent'. Oh god, please don't tell me we're ending these on ANOTHER propaganda piece... #FleischerSuperman

a close up of a man 's face with bounce on his shirt ALT: a close up of a man 's face with bounce on his shirt

...I'm...I'm sorry, but did we really just go to a plot with a race of subterranean beings, and they're...they're BIRD people? #FleischerSuperman

This was a full on propaganda short, even ending on showing Hitler, so WHY DID THEY ALSO FEEL THE NEED TO DO REALLY BAD AFRICAN STEREOTYPES ON TOP OF THAT, HOLY HELL. #FleischerSuperman

a man in a suit and tie stands next to another man in a yellow shirt and tie ALT: a man in a suit and tie stands next to another man in a yellow shirt and tie

Oh god, never mind, we ARE going there, OH GOD. #FleischerSuperman

Wait, this is another propaganda one? Okay, I was worried about something WAY different than uh, that. #FleischerSuperman

For a short with mummies, that was fairly uneventful in the grand scheme of things too, at least until the very end.

...and now it's time for 'Jungle Drums' and I'm already so fearful of what I'm about to witness. #FleischerSuperman

Came back from dinner to a short where a professor has created a 'fluid of life' and injected it into ancient mummies.

Wait, I've seen this one.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7C0...

#FleischerSuperman

The following short was fairly mundane honestly, but I'll take that over the propaganda ones any day. Did get a chuckle out of the end where Lois could see through Clark in disguise but still has no idea Clark is Superman, because of COURSE she can/can't, lol. #FleischerSuperman

The Japanese army: "If you commit one more act of sabotage, we're executing our hostage (Lois Lane)!"

Superman: "Lol, bet."

I never thought I'd say this, but perhaps I was too harsh on you Man of Steel...

#FleischerSuperman

a cartoon of a baby laying on the floor and the words i hate it here ALT: a cartoon of a baby laying on the floor and the words i hate it here

Superman is killing tons and tons of Japanese people in this short if you want to know how it's going. Holy SHIT this one is so much worse than the previous propaganda one. #FleischerSuperman

a cartoon of a crab with the words oh no on the bottom ALT: a cartoon of a crab with the words oh no on the bottom

The short 'Eleventh Hour' wasn't even one of them I was worried about based on it's title, but literally the first thing that happens in it is text onscreen reading Yokohama and -

#FleischerSuperman

I love that when the fake Superman runs into the real thing and tries to shoot him, Supes just keeps staring at him without blinking an eye like 'Really bud?'. #FleischerSuperman

Picking up where I left off on these shorts, and someone is impersonating Superman to commit crimes, oh no!

The real crime is DEAR GOD WHAT DID THEY DO TO JIMMY OLSEN! #FleischerSuperman

Well that was...expectedly uncomfortable. *shudders* Anyway, that's enough shorts for tonight. Will probably try to finish these Fleischer shorts off tomorrow after work. #FleischerSuperman

Remember how I praised these shorts for actually not doing too terribly by their Native American villain in that one?

Yeah, throw that all out entirely now in regards to the Japanese in this short. I knew it was coming but HO-LY SHIT. #FleischerSuperman

Barely 30 seconds in to the actual start of the short and I'm already cringing at the side-profile view of probably-our-lead-villain, oh god. #FleischerSuperman

Against my better judgement, one more short for the night, and it's uh...oh boy it's gonna be a doozy.

Let's just say the title is a portmanteau of 'Japanese' and 'saboteur' and leave it at that... #FleischerSuperman

Ah, so we're essentially just doing King Kong with this one, eh? Well, a much smaller King Kong anyway. Bit of a step down from the dinosaur really, but it'll do. #FleischerSuperman

Lois: *disappointed becasue all she's been asked to do is review a circus*
Clark: "You know, maybe something more exciting will happen. It's a wonderful night for a murder or a fire or something."

CLARK, WHAT THE FU-

#FleischerSuperman

About halfway through these things now and while they're still fun, these were definitely not meant to be shotgun marathoned like this, so probably a good thing I won't be quite finishing them all tonight. This volcano one so far is probably my least favorite. #FleischerSuperman

The villain of this short being a Native American that wants his land back feels more than a little unfortunate...but on the other hand, they made him a scientist rather than going into stereotypes, so that's something, I guess? #FleischerSuperman

An electric earthquake sounds like something that we're somehow going to end up getting due to our current administration and they'll blame it on the woke or something because that's just real life now. #FleischerSuperman