Superman and Superboy Cartoons and Film Serials

Superboy and Superman Film Serials and Cartoons

This is a collection of cartoon shorts and serials that were produced for Superboy and Superman. There are four sets in all, which are described below. All of them are named for series, title, and episode name. Please be aware that the video and audio quality has several limitations, due to the fact that many of these come from television recordings on consumer equipment available at the time of broadcast. Sometimes the sound is mono with audio on only one side. However, this is a great vintage collection that any classic superman fan will enjoy. All videos are AVI and require DivX for video and AAC Audio. Please help keep these timeless treasures alive, many not available on DVD.


1941 Superman Cartoon Shorts

The Fleischer & Famous Superman cartoons are a series of seventeen animated Technicolor short films released by Paramount Pictures and based upon the comic book character Superman. The pilot and first eight shorts were produced by Fleischer Studios from 1941 to 1942, while the final eight were produced by Famous Studios, a successor company to Fleischer Studios, from 1942 to 1943. Superman was the final animated series initiated under Fleischer Studios, before Famous Studios officially took over production in May 1942


1948 Superman Serial

Superman (1948) is a 15-part black-and-white Columbia film serial based on the comic book character Superman. It stars an uncredited Kirk Alyn(billed only by his character name, Superman; but credited on the promotional posters) and Noel Neill as Lois Lane. It is notable as the first live-action appearance of Superman on film and for the longevity of its distribution. The serial was directed by Thomas Carr, who later directed many early episodes of the Adventures of Superman television show, and Spencer Gordon Bennet, produced by Sam Katzman and shot in and around Los Angeles, California. It was originally screened at movie matines and after the first three scene-setting chapters, every episode ends in a cliffhanger. The Superman-in-flight scenes are animations, in part due to the small production budget.


1950 Atom-Man vs. Superman Serial

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), Columbia's 43rd serial and the second live-action Superman screen appearance, both featuring Kirk Alyn as Superman, finds Lex Luthor (Lyle Talbot), secretly the Atom Man, blackmailing the city of Metropolis by threatening to destroy the entire community. Perry White (Pierre Watkin), editor of the Daily Planet, assigns Lois Lane (Noel Neill), Jimmy Olsen (Tommy Bond) and Clark Kent (Kirk Alyn) to cover the story.


1961 Unaired Adventures of Superboy Pilot

The Adventures of Superboy is a proposed TV series that was put into production in 1961. It was meant to capitalize on the success of Adventures of Superman, which went out of production in 1957, but only a pilot episode ("Rajah's Ransom") was produced. It featured the first non-comic book portrayals ever of Superboy and Lana Lang and stands as a forerunner of later series Superboy, which lasted four seasons and Smallville, which lasted ten seasons.


1966 Superboy Cartoon

The Adventures of Superboy is a series of six-minute animated Superboy cartoons produced by Filmation that were broadcast on CBS between 1966 and 1969. The 34 segments appeared as part of three different programs during that time, packaged with similar shorts featuring The New Adventures of Superman other DC Comics superheroes. These adventures marked the animation debut of Superboy, as well as his teenage alter ego Clark Kent, who acted as the bespectacled, mild-mannered disguise for the young hero, Lana Lang, and Krypto the super-powered dog who would accompany his master on every dangerous mission. Other characters such as Pa and Ma Kent, foster parents of the Boy of Steel, and the town of Smallville were also faithfully recreated from comic book adventures. As a result of the production's budget, the show featured a great amount of stock animation as well as limited movement from the characters.

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The Science of Superman - Book by Mark Wolverton

A book that explores the powers, abilities, and properties of American's best-known superhero, Superman. The book explores how, even though he is a fictional fantasy, his powers can still be explained by science. His book covers his life on Krypton, invulnerability, flight, strength, speed, hearing, vision, and kryptonite.
The book is scanned in PDF format with OCRed text.



The Science of Superman - Video by National Geographic

A video that is based on the book, produced by National Geographic that gives a documentary-style treatment to the subject of the science behind superman's powers. Using footage from all video and comic incarnations of the superhero, the film shows how his fantastic powers are still explainable by science.
The video is in AVI format with DIVX audio and AC3 video.