| FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF ANIMATION The Superman animated short films listed above are truly spectacular classics. Commonly known as the "Fleischer Superman cartoons" are part of a series of seventeen (17) animated Technicolor short films, released by Paramount Pictures between 1941 and 1943. They are based upon the comic book character Superman and are seen as some of the finest animated cartoons produced during The Golden Age of American animation (1930s-40s). "NEW MUSIC" SOUNDTRACKS These 8 animated films feature new music composed and recorded by John Pritchard with keyboardist Adam Holzman adding highly creative tracks to 5 of the films. Each soundtrack has been selected to provide an alternative cinematic experience and avoid rehashing the characteristic adventure theme music of the original cartoons. The new soundtracks provide minimal dialogue and musical motifs to advance the storyline. Instead the music aims to provide more presence to the engaging film noir style of the Fleischer Brothers' imagination and celebrate the sheer visual beauty of their unique work. These are some of the greatest animated films ever made. While the Superman cartoons were originally made for Saturday matinees during World War II, they can be appreciated today as high forms of art, like any Picasso or Van Gogh. THE ORIGINAL SUPERMAN SERIES BY THE FLEISCHER BROTHERS ON DVD  $9.99 Amazon.com Catch the original animated adventures on DVD with the complete 1941-1943 Paramount Superman cartoon classics! Legendary animation innovators Max & Dave Fleischer were the first to bring Superman to theater screens, only four years after the comic book hero's debut. Capturing the comic book spirit better than any live action film with the stunning early art-deco look of the original Superman/Action Comics era and a film noir feel, these stylish adventures proved so powerful that they influenced every Superman production afterward. Now restored to their best possible quality, these 17 animation masterpieces are presented in superbly clear quality! FEATURING: Superman (Pilot), Mechanical Monsters, Billion Dollar Limited, The Arctic Giant, The Bulleteers, The Magnetic Telescope, Electric Earthquake, Volcano, Terror on the Midway, Japoteurs, Showdown, Eleventh Hour, Destruction Inc., Mummy Strikes, Jungle Drums, The Underground World, & Secret Agent. |
| "Secret Agent - 1943" 6:56 min. soundtrack by John Pritchard and Adam Holzman The original 1943 soundtrack was composed by Sammy Timberg and can be heard at the bottom of this page via YouTube.com. Secret Agent July 30, 1943 Director: Seymour Kneitel Animation: Steve Muffati, Otto Feuer Story: Carl Meyer Musical Arrangement: Sammy Timberg Clark is at a drugstore when a car crashes through the window while chasing another vehicle. The occupants get out, steal another car, and continue their chase with guns blazing. Clark jumps onto the back of the car. Police in a squad car spot the chase and save the woman driver being chased while the villains, along with Clark, get away. It turns out that the villains are saboteurs, either directly working for or sympathizing with the Axis cause. The woman was a spy who now must get a list of their names and plans to Washington. A police escort takes her to the airport but is ambushed by the villains. The woman drives through the shoot-out onto a mechanical rotating bridge where two of the saboteurs have been waiting. They trap her on it by activating the bridge. An accident causes her to fall unconscious on the tracks where giant rollers move the bridge. Meanwhile, Clark has allowed himself to be captured and tied up by the saboteurs, and once the last of them leave he changes into Superman and traps several of them in an elevator. He soars to the bridge and saves the woman by pushing the mechanical bridge back, taking the rollers off the tracks. He personally flies her to Washington, then takes back to the sky while the American flag flaps proudly in the wind. This is the only cartoon in the series where Lois Lane does not make an appearance. The voice of the secret agent woman is probably Joan Alexander's. Written by Ross May from his "Super Guide to Fleischer Brothers Superman Cartoons" located at SupermanHomepage.com created by Steven Younis.
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