# Superman (1941 film)
**Superman** (also known as *The Mad Scientist* or *The Death Ray*) is a 1941 American animated short film directed by Dave Fleischer and produced by [Fleischer Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/fleischer-studios), the first screen appearance of the [DC Comics](https://www.edgepedia.org/dc-comics) character Superman and the first entry in a series of seventeen [Technicolor](https://www.edgepedia.org/technicolor) theatrical shorts released between 1941 and 1943.[1](https://www.intanibase.com/iad_entries/entry?shortID=3295) • [2](https://www.dc.com/blog/2023/03/08/max-fleischer-s-superman-1941-1943) It was distributed by Paramount Pictures, runs about 10 minutes, and was photographed on 35mm film in Technicolor at a 1.37:1 aspect ratio with mono sound.[3](https://eofftv.com/superman-1941/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | September 26, 1941, in cinemas, distributed by Paramount Pictures[1](https://www.intanibase.com/iad_entries/entry?shortID=3295) |
| Director / producer | Dave Fleischer; produced by Fleischer Studios[1](https://www.intanibase.com/iad_entries/entry?shortID=3295) |
| Format | About 10 minutes, 35mm Technicolor, 1.37:1, mono sound[3](https://eofftv.com/superman-1941/) |
| Plot | A mad scientist kidnaps Lois Lane and attacks Metropolis with an energy cannon; only Superman can stop him[4](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film895156.html) |
| Voices | Bud Collyer (Clark Kent/Superman), Joan Alexander (Lois Lane), Jackson Beck (narrator), Jack Mercer (the mad scientist)[2](https://www.dc.com/blog/2023/03/08/max-fleischer-s-superman-1941-1943) • [3](https://eofftv.com/superman-1941/) |
| Award | Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons); lost to Disney's *Lend a Paw*[5](https://comicbookhistorians.com/fleischer-studios-superman-cartoons-by-matthew-rizzuto/) |
| Legacy | First use of the "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" introduction; ranked number 33 in the 1994 book *The 50 Greatest Cartoons*[6](https://www.animationscoop.com/first-in-flight-the-80th-anniversary-of-the-fleischer-studios-superman-cartoons/) • [7](https://fleischerstudios.com/origins) |
## Spoilers
### Story and style
The short opens with [Jackson Beck](https://www.edgepedia.org/jackson-beck) narrating Superman's origin, then moves quickly: [Lois Lane](https://www.edgepedia.org/lois-lane) is kidnapped by a mad scientist and witnesses his energy cannon turned on [Metropolis](https://www.edgepedia.org/metropolis), and only Superman can save the city and Lois.[11](https://thestopbutton.com/2018/09/11/mad-scientist-1941/) • [4](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film895156.html) The story credits are Seymour Kneitel and Izzy Sparber, working from the Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.[3](https://eofftv.com/superman-1941/) Radio actors Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander reprised their roles from *The Adventures of Superman* radio show as Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane, and Jack Mercer voiced the mad scientist.[2](https://www.dc.com/blog/2023/03/08/max-fleischer-s-superman-1941-1943) • [3](https://eofftv.com/superman-1941/)
The film introduced the narration "Up in the sky! Look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!", the first use of what became the character's familiar introduction.[6](https://www.animationscoop.com/first-in-flight-the-80th-anniversary-of-the-fleischer-studios-superman-cartoons/) Superman co-creator [Jerry Siegel](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-siegel) approved of the result: "The Superman cartoons are great! They're full animation and the earlier ones adhere very closely to what we were doing in the comics."[8](https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-first-fleischer-superman/)
## Production background
By 1940 Superman was among the most popular comic-book characters in the United States, appearing in *Superman* and *Action Comics*, a syndicated newspaper strip, a radio show begun in February 1940, and a wide range of merchandise.[8](https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-first-fleischer-superman/) Republic Studios had negotiated for the live-action film rights but could not agree on price or on the veto power the publisher, National Periodical Publications, required.[8](https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-first-fleischer-superman/) In September 1940, *Variety* reported that DC Comics had instead licensed the character to Fleischer Studios, whose seventeen planned cartoon shorts would be shown in cinemas and distributed by Paramount as part of its double bills.[9](https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/6284/1/Superman.pdf)
Fleischer Studios, run by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, was known for [Betty Boop](https://www.edgepedia.org/betty-boop) and Popeye and had recently moved to a new studio in Miami, where it had produced its first animated feature, *[Gulliver's Travels](https://www.edgepedia.org/gullivers-travels-1939-film)* (1939).[8](https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-first-fleischer-superman/) The Superman budget was extraordinary for the era: The Digital Bits records $50,000 per film,[10](https://thedigitalbits.com/reviews/item/max-fleischers-superman-bd-2023) while Animation Scoop gives $100,000 per short, roughly four times the studio's other cartoons.[6](https://www.animationscoop.com/first-in-flight-the-80th-anniversary-of-the-fleischer-studios-superman-cartoons/) Animator Myron Waldman recalled that each short was carefully laid out in advance because of the cost, with many more scene cuts than usual, character modeling, and foreground elements added to give the settings depth.[5](https://comicbookhistorians.com/fleischer-studios-superman-cartoons-by-matthew-rizzuto/)
## Animation techniques
The Fleischers had invented the rotoscope in 1915, a device that let animators trace live-action film frame by frame for fluid, lifelike movement.[7](https://fleischerstudios.com/origins) A few scenes in the first Superman short used the rotoscope technique, while the majority of scenes were hand drawn.[8](https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-first-fleischer-superman/) The series is also remembered for its [Art Deco](https://www.edgepedia.org/art-deco)-influenced visual design, stylized environments, and dramatic lighting.[12](https://alexfilmsociety.org/newsletters/Cartoon2010_FIN_WEB.pdf)
**First flight.** In the early comics Superman leaped great distances, which worked in static panels but, in the Fleischers' judgment, looked silly in motion. They asked DC for permission to make the character fully airborne, and from that point on Superman flew under his own power, a change the animated series introduced to the character's screen portrayal.[13](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-91290757-OPP-17.pdf)
## The series and its aftermath
The first short took almost six months to complete and premiered on September 26, 1941.[8](https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-first-fleischer-superman/) Seventeen shorts followed through July 1943, with a new one roughly every month: the first nine were made by Fleischer Studios (1941 to 1942), after which Paramount, which funded production and eventually purchased the studio's assets and fired Dave and [Max Fleischer](https://www.edgepedia.org/max-fleischer), reorganized it as [Famous Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/famous-studios), which produced the remaining eight (1942 to 1943).[9](https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/6284/1/Superman.pdf) • [14](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/93641/1/WRAP_Theses_Taylor_2016.pdf) The series added elements to Superman's canon, including catchphrases and attributes later associated with the character.[2](https://www.dc.com/blog/2023/03/08/max-fleischer-s-superman-1941-1943) Later Famous Studios entries shifted toward more realistic stories, including World War II propaganda themes such as *Japoteurs* (1942) and *Jungle Drums* (1943).[15](https://www.comicsonline.com/2009/04/_dvd_review_max_fleischers_superman_1941_1942/)
## Reception and legacy
The first cartoon was met with critical and audience approval, and it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), losing to [Walt Disney](https://www.edgepedia.org/walt-disney)'s *Lend a Paw*.[16](https://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/2006/01/22/the-superman-cartoons/) • [5](https://comicbookhistorians.com/fleischer-studios-superman-cartoons-by-matthew-rizzuto/) In a 1994 poll of 1,000 animation professionals published in Jerry Beck's book *The 50 Greatest Cartoons*, the short ranked number 33.[17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UJphNPwDfk) • [7](https://fleischerstudios.com/origins) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 97% Tomatometer from two critics' reviews; critic Alan Ng of Film Threat rated it 7.5/10, writing that the motions are "fluid, lifelike, and have an occasional flair for the dramatic."[18](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/superman-1941) • [19](https://filmthreat.com/reviews/superman-1941/)
Most audiences first encountered the cartoons on television, since they were originally theatrical releases.[20](https://movingimage.org/event/superman/)
**Restoration.** In 2023 [Warner Bros. Discovery](https://www.edgepedia.org/warner-bros-discovery) remastered all seventeen shorts from the original 35mm successive-exposure Technicolor negatives, scanning at 4K and recombining the negatives into single RGB images while preserving the original 1.37:1 ratio; the set was released digitally and on Blu-ray on May 16, 2023.[2](https://www.dc.com/blog/2023/03/08/max-fleischer-s-superman-1941-1943) New 4K restorations from 35mm archival prints, spearheaded by Max Fleischer's granddaughter Jane Fleischer Reid, have also been screened theatrically, including a Museum of the Moving Image program in 2025.[20](https://movingimage.org/event/superman/)
## References
1. [Superman (1941), The Internet Animation Database](https://www.intanibase.com/iad_entries/entry?shortID=3295)
2. [Max Fleischer's Superman 1941-1943, DC.com press release (March 8, 2023)](https://www.dc.com/blog/2023/03/08/max-fleischer-s-superman-1941-1943)
3. [Superman (1941), EOFFTV, The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television](https://eofftv.com/superman-1941/)
4. [Superman (The Mad Scientist) (1941), FilmAffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film895156.html)
5. [Fleischer Studios Superman Cartoons, by Matthew Rizzuto, Comic Book Historians](https://comicbookhistorians.com/fleischer-studios-superman-cartoons-by-matthew-rizzuto/)
6. [First In Flight: The 80th Anniversary Of The Fleischer Studio's "Superman" Cartoons, Animation Scoop (October 12, 2021)](https://www.animationscoop.com/first-in-flight-the-80th-anniversary-of-the-fleischer-studios-superman-cartoons/)
7. [History and Origins, Fleischer Studios](https://fleischerstudios.com/origins)
8. [The First Fleischer Superman, by Jim Korkis, Cartoon Research (March 29, 2019)](https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-first-fleischer-superman/)
9. [Superman research thesis, Bath Spa University Research Space](https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/6284/1/Superman.pdf)
10. [Max Fleischer's Superman (Blu-ray Review), The Digital Bits](https://thedigitalbits.com/reviews/item/max-fleischers-superman-bd-2023)
11. [Superman (1941, Dave Fleischer), The Stop Button (September 11, 2018)](https://thestopbutton.com/2018/09/11/mad-scientist-1941/)
12. [Alex Film Society cartoon program notes](https://alexfilmsociety.org/newsletters/Cartoon2010_FIN_WEB.pdf)
13. [TTAB proceeding document, USPTO, describing the Fleischer Superman shorts](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-91290757-OPP-17.pdf)
14. [PhD thesis, University of Warwick Research Repository (2016)](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/93641/1/WRAP_Theses_Taylor_2016.pdf)
15. [DVD Review: Max Fleischer's Superman: 1941-1942, ComicsOnline (April 2009)](https://www.comicsonline.com/2009/04/_dvd_review_max_fleischers_superman_1941_1942/)
16. [The SUPERMAN Cartoons, Film Buff Online (January 22, 2006)](https://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/2006/01/22/the-superman-cartoons/)
17. [SUPERMAN CARTOON: The Mad Scientist (1941) (HD 1080p), YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UJphNPwDfk)
18. [Superman (1941), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/superman-1941)
19. [Superman (1941), Film Threat review by Alan Ng (June 29, 2021)](https://filmthreat.com/reviews/superman-1941/)
20. [Superman! Restored Animated Classics from the 1940s, Museum of the Moving Image](https://movingimage.org/event/superman/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Animated short films and studio cartoon series*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license