1. MAX FLEISCHER’S SUPERMAN (1941-1943)

So why after calling Batman The Animated Series the absolute best is it second to the Fleischer Superman cartoons? Easy, without these cartoons there would be nothing at all in the way of superior animation. In fact there is still nothing today, with all of the technology out there that even comes close to the look of these cartoons. Every single thing going on in animation today owes a debt to Max Fleischer’s Superman.

Some will point out that historically Max Fleischer and his brother Dave only produced nine of the shorts before being ousted by Paramount Pictures due to ongoing inner conflicts. The fact of the matter is that the look and style of these cartoons didn’t change when the producers did, mainly only the themes changed. The Fleischer brothers original nine leaned more towards science fiction while the Paramount eight delved into World War II storylines.

The Fleischer’s used Rotoscoping to give the Superman shorts their very specific look. In Rotoscoping animators trace live action to bring the realism of the movements to bare. From that they fill in the backgrounds and create the world. Imagine that, hand tracing each frame of live movement to apply to a simple short. Then take into account that Fleischer relied on assistant animators with little to no idea on how to draw a man flying or running at super speed and a picture of how important these shorts were begins to develop.

Saying that the Superman shorts were ahead of their time is an understatement, they actually created their time and the future of animation. Fleischer did the same thing that Siegel and Shuster did when they created Superman, they brought a sense of awe and excitement to a young medium. Granted the storylines were simple but that doesn’t take away from the importance because without these shorts something like Batman The Animated Series never would have happened.