Rating: 
Summary: A good buy
Review: My son has enjoyed these on video and we plan on enjoying even more of them from this DVD. I think his grandparents will enjoy them too.- Visual and sound quality of the material is very good - not perfect or restored, just very good for 50+ year old cartoons.
- The added dates mentioned in other reviews are not too bad, but I do wish they were not there.
- Bosko intro item could be skipped. They blow their own horn too much.
- Initial menu is quick and easily navigated (you can tell what item your "cursor" is on). Scene index presents the episodes in groups of 3 nicly presented but could use some imporovements - default item should be "next" as this would allow you to page thru the items by pressing enter rather than 4 x down plus enter!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent animation and attention to detail
Review: These are animated shorts from the late thirties to 1940's that are among the best of cartoons. The scenery is full of detail and the technicolor is better than Disney.
Rating:
Summary: Best so far...
Review: These are easily the best presentation of the Fleicher Superman Cartoons I've seen so far. Even Terror On The Midway has been restored!! No kidding, until now, all I'd seen were still pictures representing the first minute of the episode. Now, it's all back. Also, there is no noodling with the sound to make it "booming". It's mono and perfect. The picture quality is the best of those I've seen so far (I've seen the laser discs, the Nature vs War...versions and the 3 pack with Popeye). Only ONE downside. After each chapter starts, a small title on the bottom of the screen comes on telling us when it was originally released in theatres. It's short but unexpected and, no matter what anyone says, an alteration. This...keeps it from being perfect, but they are...good. 4 stars!
Rating:
Summary: The Only one to Get!!!!
Review: This is"the" collection for anyone interested in purchasing these classic animated shorts. Their unedited(unlike Disney's Fantasia)and are best viewed on DVD. I did notice a slight change of music at the end of"The Mummy Strikes"though but that's relatively minute. But there's been no other better collection of these toon's to date.
Rating:
Summary: A Super Find for SUPERMAN, video and animation fans.
Review: These cartoons--animated features--are astounding. They were produced during WWII(1941-1943)and some of the themes involve SUPERMAN assisting Allies in battle with the AXIS powers. Max and Dave Fleischer are the driving force who creatively superintended work of more than 600 artists and technical specialists on cartoons costing a much as $100,000 per feature! To this astonishing budget was brought the radical technique of what is now termed ROTOSCOPE. Ralph Bakshi perfected this combination of LIVE ACTION and ANIMATION using it to film such underrated masterpieces as THE LORD of THE RINGS;WIZARDS & AMERICAN POP. But the Fleischer Brothers were innovators of this startling mode of film making that predates CGI fx by almost 40 years and...with exception of Disney's epochal FANTASIA(1940)...employs sophistication in "background" lay-out not seen for more than another decade in seminal matte work of sci-fi classics, THIS ISLAND EARTH(1955) and(Disney assisted)FORBIDDEN PLANET(1956). These cartoons are technically amazing. Thematically the stories are eclectically dazzling. Some are typical Superman vs. Monsters (The Arctic Giant views like Ray Bradbury's "Foghorn" BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS). Others are rad-bad scientists/terrorists (with Star Wars weaponry):THE BULLETEERS(one of the best);ELECTRIC EARTHQUAKE( PC precursor featuring a vengeance-driven indian/Native American--who attempts to(a la Lex Luther)earthquake Manhattan out of existence. THE MUMMY STRIKES and(genuinely scary)THE UNDEGROUND WORLD are horror stories. There are episodes that feature Superman helping to win WWII(JUNGLE DRUMS is "Heart of Darkness" take-off where Superman
rescues Lois about to be burned at the stake in a ritual sacrifice superintended by an occult Nazi "high priest".This one might also offend PC'ers with its depiction of African warriors as cannibals under sway of Nazis; but the closing frame showing HITLER enraged by Allied bombing/interdiction of German submarines leaves no doubt about who the battle for TRUTH, JUSTICE and THE AMERICAN WAY is being waged against. Some viewers mention predictability of the episodes.
I disagree.The format: FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET...MORE POWERFUL THAN A LOCOMOTIVE etc. does introduce each cartoon.But, given that each one is only 8 minutes long, the fact that an entire story is presented, developed and climatically resolved is itself nothing short of a dizzying, artistic triumph. SUPERMAN himself is portrayed...George Reeves SUPERMAN incarnation seems to be based on the cartoon image...as MAN OF STEEL. But Kryptonite is not ever his Achilles' heal. Lex Luther is never arch-enemy and major aspects of the mythology...((Superman is raised in an orphanage. X-ray vision is used only one time in the 17 epidodes. In many stories,Superman does NOT fly: he prodigiously bounds from place to place))...are not employed. An interesting dimension of the series is characterization of Lois Lane. In a word, she is a Wonder Woman: tall, physically adept; utterly fearless, often reckless in her pursuit of TRUTH as The Daily Planet's star reporter. Though Clark Kent is portrayed as capable, "mild mannered reporter,"Lois is depicted as daringingly resourceful and Clark's professional superior.
One episode depicts her flying a plane on a spy/reporting assignment disguising her as virtual double for AMELIA EARHART. Again: the series is a fantastic find.Yes: Famous Studios picked-up the slack after the Fleischer Brothers had enough pressure in producing $100,000 cartoons. Ironically the only episode that...to me... seems artistically "off" is the first one: SUPERMAN(aka The Mad Scientist). Here animation looks a tad two dimensionally flat/uninspired(definitely not full metal jacket rotoscope effort). And the story of Superman's Kryptonian origin is undeniably rushed through incidently. Other features in 'the canon" range from GREAT to SUPERb. If you're a Superfan or video/animation buff,this series is treasure as rare as antidote to Kryptonite would be to America's mythical Man of Steel(10 stars).
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: These Superman shorts are definitely some of the best examples in classic animation that you can find. TheDVD fully restores the brilliant color as if these cartoons were made today rather than in the 1940s. It's true that most of the plots put Superman against gangsters rather than any super villians, but we are talking about Superman's very early career. These are excellent shorts and deserve this wonderful treatment. I would highly recommend this DVD to anyone interested not only in the history of Superman but in beautiful, classic animation.
Rating:
Summary: Classic cartoons get DVD treatment...
Review: At last, the original Superman cartoons are brought to DVD in their entirety. I'm a huge fan of the original 'toons and so this disc was a real treat. The animation is vivid and inspired as well as the sound quality, which has been largely improved. My biggest complaint is the quality of the stories. True, they were great then, but after a while they get very, very predictable. Oh well. They're still loads of great fun.
Rating:
Summary: Your kids will love it
Review: My children request this DVD regularly. Animation aficionados will be in nirvana watching this feast for the eyes. Most adults, though, might have to take the episodes in small doses. The plots are too similar and the Superman theme song plays almost continually. The opening title sequence is also pretty long, which becomes tiring moving from one short to another. Parents should be reasonably happy with the content here. There's less overt violence here than in most Disney films. Lois is a very independent modern woman; even though Superman continually rescues her from her journalistic risks, she remains a tough character - much more so than Clark. In fact, she exudes more personality than even Superman - who speaks very little and is usually busy performing heroic deeds. My DVD has no special features - just the 17 Superman shorts. It also does not have enhanced audio features. Thus, I'm a bit confused by the comments by other reviewers. Potential buyers of this DVD will want to compare this to the two rival Superman restoration DVDs by Audio Galaxy. I do not own those, but I have some clips of them on my Gulliver's Travels DVD by Audio Galaxy. The color in this Bosko Video edition is indeed darker, but Audio Galaxy's renditions still look great. Who knows how either of these compare to the original 1940s film before time took its toll on them. I liked very much what Audio Galaxy did with the sound to Gulliver's Travels, and I expect the enhanced audio option on their Superman DVDs are a plus. For me the big advantage of the Bosko Video was that it's all on one disk - rather than Audio Galaxy's two disks.
Rating:
Summary: Lone Masked Guy
Review: THIS dvd has the BEST picture quality of these early 40's cartoons originally made for theatres. They're all mono sound but if that is'nt a problem AND seeing a golden age Superman in works that rank amoung the greatest cartoons ever made is'nt a problem for you then THIS is the dvd for you. If you prefer these in remixed Dolby stereo sound with surround via Pro Logic on your reciever then Audio Galaxy's "Max Fleischer's Superman" and it's other volume "Superman: the lost episodes" are for you BUT mind you the picture quality is nowhere as good as on this dvd! If you like traditional caped heroes, this is a MUST see. Heck, the WB Batman toons were inspired in part by these very cartoons! You think SUPER FRIENDS in the 70's rocked, well see THESE....these will earthquake rock you! Your exposure to classic animation is INCOMPLETE without seeing these cartoons PERIOD.
Rating:
Summary: Great cartoon
Review: These cartoons still look better then cartoons from today. All the episodes are good. The only thing i don't like about the cartoon is the predictability, but it is understandable for the time period.
| 
