2011 Movie News Archives

September 14, 2011: Fleischer's Superman Celebrating 70 Years

Fleischer Superman September 26, 2011 marks the 70th anniversary of the Fleischer "Superman" animated shorts. The LA Times has filed a report, looking back on what many regard as the best version of Superman to hit the big screen.

    Although their studio was searching for a new character to replace Betty Boop, whose cartoon series had ended in 1939, the brothers Fleischer initially turned down Paramount's offer to animate "Superman." In an interview given later in his life, Dave Fleischer recalled: "I didn't want to make 'Superman.' Paramount wanted it. I told them because it was too expensive, they wouldn't make any money back on it. The average short cost nine or ten thousand dollars, some ran up to fifteen. I couldn't figure how to make 'Superman' look right without spending a lot of money. I told them they'd have to spend $90,000 on each one ... [and] they spent the $90,000. But they were great."

    The "Superman" cartoons were great: The most polished animation and dramatic direction the Fleischer studio ever created brought the comic books to life. The series lasted for only 17 installments, but they created a signature version of the hero that helped defined his essence as he flew across all of pop culture.

You can read the complete article at the LA Times website.



2011 Movie News

Listed below are all the Movie News items archived for 2011 organized into various categories:

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Justice League Movie News: Direct-to-DVD Animated Movie News: Christopher Reeve Movie News: Other Movie News:

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