Max Fleischer's Superman Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Max Fleischer's Superman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 10, 2023

A brief but essential chapter in the Man of Steel's history, Max Fleischer's Superman is a collection of 17 beautifully-animated shorts that played in theaters between 1941 and 1943. Co-produced by Fleischer Studios and their successor Famous Studios, these 10-minute adventures introduced several elements to the franchise that are now common parts of Superman lore... including his ability to fly, believe it or not. Its visual aesthetic directly influenced later DC animated shows like Batman: The Animated Series and, of course, Superman: The Animated Series, both of which aired during the 1990s and were considered benchmarks in their own right. These vintage shorts, clearly aimed at a younger crowd, certainly aren't as sophisticated from a storytelling standpoint but still carry an awful lot of charm.

For an overview and appreciation of Max Fleischer's Superman, please read Jeffrey Kauffman's 2012 review of the public domain-sourced Collector's Edition Blu-ray set infamously released by Gaiam. Of course, die-hard fans may remember that collection as one of the format's worst offerings due to its fatally bad transfer, lackluster Dolby Digital audio mix, and total lack of bonus features. Warner Bros.' new Blu-ray collection improves upon the situation in every department... but that isn't exactly a high bar to clear, and this is far from a perfect release.

Before we begin -- and because I had nowhere better to put this -- it should be known that, despite the fact that these 17 shorts are thankfully presented in their original, uncut form, a few episodes feature the incorrect intros. This was an issue present on WB's old DVD set (along with a few minor audio issues, mentioned below) and has obviously not been rectified; it's not exactly a deal-breaker in my opinion, but certainly worth noting for die-hard fans.

Max Fleischer's Superman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

There's a lot to unpack in Warner Bros.' "restoration" of Max Fleischer's Superman... but for the majority of buyers, this new Blu-ray clearly outpaces Gaiam's Collector's Edition set released more than a decade ago. That disastrous effort -- which I'd personally rate at a 0.5/5, just for perspective -- features no shortage of mostly non-avoidable drawbacks due to its public-domain source, and the resounding majority of said drawbacks are completely rectified here. So if you're more of a casual fan and/or don't really care about film grain, buy this set with confidence and be happy.

Trained eyes, however, will notice that something's a little off about this visual presentation, a hunch that's confirmed if you sit through the new featurette "Speeding Towards Tomorrow" included on this Blu-ray. Since Warner Bros. owns the original separate Technicolor negatives for these shorts, their exclusive restoration for this Blu-ray began with a high-res (presumably 4K) scan of those negatives, which were combined using their proprietary process and then cleaned up to remove dirt, debris, and other damage. The raw (pre-cleaned) image from that scan was used to show off clips of the show in "Speeding Towards Tomorrow", revealing wonderfully rich textures that, damage aside, has the appearance of authentic nitrate film grain and looks great. However, most of this grain was scrubbed away during their cleaning process, robbing Max Fleischer's Superman of its original texture and even some of the crisp linework and other details. In short, it's extremely soft and less eye-catching and, though certainly watchable, marks a substantial step down from "what could have been". Whereas their boutique label Warner Archive routinely treats the animated library with care, WB's growing number of DNR-scrubbed releases now has another unfortunate member in its ranks.

Is this enough to consider WB's new restoration of Max Fleischer's Superman a total loss? That's all a matter of opinion. I'll concede that, despite the general lack of film grain and its overly soft appearance, the original aesthetic still shines through and looks quite good in motion. Colors seem true to form, not consistently vibrant but certainly not prone to bleeding, and its overall smoothness is still much more film-like than the waxy, processed appearance of Gaiam's older Blu-ray set. But there's also some room for improvement in its encoding: though again it's better than the old Blu-ray by leaps and bounds, one can easily pick out mild amounts of posterization and macro blocking along the way, which again are more visible due to the texture loss. All told, there are things to appreciate here but also plenty to criticize, with my final judgment being that it was a missed opportunity to create something truly special.

Max Fleischer's Superman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Luckily, there's less turbulence in the audio department... although again this Blu-ray set uses the same audio source from their older set, which includes some of the incorrect intro sequences (briefly mentioned above) as well as a few minor sync issues. But in all other respects it's a decent improvement: the jump from low-bitrate Dolby Digital to DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio -- in addition to the subtle sonic details uncovered by the new restoration -- yields better results overall, although Max Fleicher's Superman is again no audio tour de force, with an unavoidably boxy soundstage that isn't as natively impressive as its visual style. But save for those stray audio issues that WB still has yet to rectify, there's almost no tangible room for improvement here so it's pretty tough to complain overall.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during all 17 shorts as well as the bonus features.

Max Fleischer's Superman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with retro cover art and no inserts, although an episode list is printed on the inside design. Three bonus featurettes are included, two of which are carried over from WB's own 2009 DVD.

• NEW! Max Fleischer's Superman: Speeding Towards Tomorrow (13:20) - This short but enjoyable retrospective features new interview clips with director Matt Peters, producer Jim Krieg, supervising producer Rick Morales, and screenwriter Jeremy Adams (all recorded separately), who each share their thoughts on the Fleischer Superman cartoons and their important place in the franchise's history, from its visual design to unique character contributions and more modern DC productions that it influenced like Batman: The Animated Series. Plenty of grainy supportive clips (see above) are included, as are glimpses of vintage comic artwork.

• First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series (12:55) - This DVD-era featurette takes a closer look at the film's hand-drawn animation and visual design, supported by interviews with contemporary animators, Fleischer associates, animation historians, and more. Definitely worth a look if you haven't seen it already.

• The Man, The Myth, Superman (13:37) - Another DVD-era piece, this featurette -- which includes a few short interviews with various authors and historians -- offers a broader overview of Superman, where he fits into the lineage of similar mythical characters throughout history, and why they're so popular and enduring.

Max Fleischer's Superman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Although its formulaic, kid-friendly stories can't help but date Max Fleischer's Superman, these 17 shorts' beautiful aesthetic and animation make them an essential part of any fan's library... and, thanks to the enduring presence of the shows it influenced (including Batman: The Animated Series and, of course, Superman: The Animated Series), it hasn't aged nearly as much from a visual perspective. Warner Bros.' Blu-ray technically beats Gaiam's 2012 Collector's Edition set in every department, but there are obvious A/V issues that make this far from a perfect release.