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Max Fleischer's Superman/ Superman: The Lost Episodes

Max Fleischer's Superman/ Superman: The Lost Episodes

List Price: $19.98
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Highest quality here!
Review: My sentiments about these cartoons are the same as the other reviews, but I will add this: This is the highest quality disc representing the original cartoons out there today. The Superman Lost Episodes disc is just ok. The colors aren't as perfect as the Diamond Anniversary Complete Superman set. Spend your money on the complete series and save yourself from getting any poor quality disc. This is THE best~!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Complete Superman Cartoons: Diamond Anniversary Edition
Review: Nice item with neat animation. A must for any Superman fan. My only problem was the fact the dates when each cartoon was released is superimposed at [the] beginning of each feature for a few seconds. That did not seem to be necessary since that info is printed on the box. Otherwise nice DVD.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Classis Superman in Classic presentation
Review: (...) This presentation is not in "pan and scan" because most movies were not shot in widescreen until the 50's. This was a move to compete with TV. Also, most movies (if not all, but don't quote me) were made in mono audio. Stereo was not developed until later, and certainly wasn't put into use for an animated short. (...) I think an appreciation of the era in which these were created is in order before the presentation is criticized.
This is the real deal, and animation fans, Superman fans and film aficionados alike should enjoy the ASTOUNDING work done by the Fleischers at the time. These shorts are still considered to be a benchmark for other animators (ie Bruce Timm) to stand up to.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: They got it half right, at least
Review: So many of the VHS releases credit the entire SUPERMAN series to Fleischer Studios, when acutally they did only the first nine, which this edition attempts to present. I am always amazed that people seem unable to see the difference between "A Max Fleischer Cartoon" and "A Famous Studios Production" as displayed in the credits. For those not already familiar with the story, Paramount acquired the Fleischer Studios operations
in 1942 and continued all of their cartoon productions from that point under their management company, Famous Studios. It was Famous who produced the remaining eight shorts until 1944, most of which dealt with World War II themes, and others that did not.

As any true student of film history should know and understand,
the letterbox format that approximates the wide screen format pertains to films produced after 1952 when formats at at 2:1 or 1.85:1 ratio (the measurement of picture width to height) such as Cinemascope, Technirama, VistaVision, and Panavision came into being. Previous to this, the screen proportion was 1:33:1 as is the current television screen, not including the new HDTV screens. Therefore, it is impossible to offer the SUPERMAN cartoons in a format such as letterbox when the widescreen format did not exist at the time the cartoons were produced. And any attempt to present them in a letterbox format risks cropping the top and bottom of the full screen image. At the same time, there has been a VHS release with very sharp images that has transferred at less than full screen proportion, leaving a black boarder around the frame, and calling it letterboxing. This is not letterboxing, and actually is cheating the viewer of about 3-5% of the full picture area. So in the name of historical accuracy, expect to see the full TV screen area filled to truly represent what the producers wanted audiences to see.

Finally regarding the soundtracks, I do not understand why this company continues to tamper with the sound. Why bother to retain the integrety of the picture and alter the tracks, and actaully make them worse? Allowing for the limitations of optical recording 60 years ago, the dynamic range was still incredibly good, and nearly as good as what we have today, if good elements are available and the transfers are done by qualitied technicians who know how to get the best out of those soundtracks. So if such great pains are taken to present the picture, why not for the sake to total historical integrety give the same attention to the soundtracts as they were originally produced?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: BEST version of SUPERMAN shorts on DVD! Avoid others!
Review: I wish that the armchair animation historians would shut up and stop moaning about these animated shorts not being ‘widescreen’ – they were created in FULL SCREEN which, at the time, was slightly bigger than the picture we see on TV nowadays. This SLIGHT difference in size caters for those who insist the picture has been ‘butchered’ – it’s slight cropping to fit to TV! And by ‘slight’ I mean….so little that if it were returned, the ‘toon would be nothing more. This DVD is great – the shorts are well restored and the sound is fine. The slightly awkward arrangement of the episodes does not detract from the beauty of this title, which is part of animation history. AVOID other versions of the Superman shorts – the sound on those others has been converted to 5.1, which means someone with a [bad] sound effects CD has added out-of-synch inappropriate modern effect. Fine if you’re 3 years old – a nightmare if you want quality! Next, buy the only decent CARTOON CRAZYS DVD – Banned & Censored! Fantastic!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Shame some are not that well restored
Review: ...but other than that, if you love animation or just are a Superman fanatic (like myself) you must own this. The other thing is that the menu of the DVD is a bit akward, but who cares? Just one more thing, Mechanical Monsters sure was ahead from it's time.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Old School Sups!
Review: Definatly not the Superman from the well liked WB series! These are beautifully restored, however, the sound isn't DVD quality. I love the fact that all the classic episodes are on one DVD! These are a piece of not only comic, but film history too! I suggest this piece to own for any Superman fan. Just remember how old these cartoons are before you judge their quality.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Just a quick point
Review: These are some of the best cartoons ever made, hands down. I'd like to point out something to a reviewer from earlier. These cartoons aren't presented in widescreen, because they weren't done in that format. They were only slightly larger than the picture that you see. All of the shorts, be they Disney, Warner Bros, even The Three Stooges(not animated but they were shorts) were done in a box/standard format. Hence the reason for some slight clipping when they are formated for television. It wasn't until the features that the widescreen format was used for cartoons. Example: Lady And The Tramp

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Classic Superman
Review: This series was the template that Paul Dini and Bruce Timm used to create both the Batman and Superman animated series for Warner Brothers TV. The Fleischer Brothers' creation has a minimalist look than compared to the muscular development that was prevalent in the comic books at the time. But this version set the standard for character animation that has been used by almost every studio since. Their excellent perception of depth was another innovation. The Fleischers' actually shot the shorts in the same way that directors would shoot movies with backlight and shadows. Imagine what they could've done with Batman. Highly recommended for all fans of Batman: The Animated Series, Superman or Batman Beyond.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Brand new sound effects do not a good DVD make...
Review: While the picture quality of this disc is fantastic, the sound leaves little to be desired. The producers of this disc decided to completely redo the sound effects. They sound out of place and very new. The music and dialogue are the original and are very faint. Mixing all of the elements together leaves one feeling a little disjointed. Not a good DVD!!!


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