Superman theatrical cartoons of the 1940s

A blog post by Leonard Maltin recently highlights an old newspaper ad from 1942 where a Superman short subject is promoted. Check it the ad here.

It's amazing to me that Superman cartoons were already being produced in Technicolor just 3 years after Superman's debut in the print comics.

I've never seen any of these theatrical Superman shorts before. But now, thanks to YouTube, they are watchable. But sadly, this episode contains some unfortunate racist stereotyping. 

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In "Japoteurs", Supe saves Lois Lane from a plane piloted by Japanese saboteurs.

Racist cartoon Santa's Surprise (1947)

A racist cartoon for Christmas? Oh my. Back in 1947, was there no objection in the animation department at Paramount Pictures? Did no one in the studio department cry fowl at all of the racist images and characters?

Ugg...apparently not.

The IMDB description says: "Five children from around the world follow Santa home on Christmas Eve, and decide to give him some extra help around the workshop."

I can't think of another Christmas cartoon that is so racist.

Frank Tashlin cartoons

On Tuesday nite July 7 '09, the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles screened more than a dozen animated shorts directed by Frank Tashlin, from his involvement in several different animation studios. Tashlin is perhaps best known today for his work directing live-action Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, and Jerry Lewis comedies, where characters and situations are often rather cartoonish. Not surprising that years earlier, he began his career in Hollywood as an animator. The special screening and discussion by animation historian Frank Beck covered the director's early career. First, he worked for the Fleischer Animation Studios in New York as an errand boy and cel-washer. He then moved on to work for Van Beuren, the nearly forgotten animation studio responsible for such series as Aesop's Fables and the original Tom and Jerry, not to be confused with the now-famous cat and mouse duo(see picture at left). He moved on to Warner Brothers and Leon Schlesinget and directed cartoons from 1936-38. Most featured Porky Pig, some with Daffy Duck. Most all of them were in Black and White. Some were very racy and very violent. From 1939-41 he worked for the Disney studios. Then he moved on to Screen Gems in 1941. During the war, he directed a series of cartoons for the miliary ("Private Snafu"). Some of his last short films were stop-motion animation, and we watched one of these gems: Daffy Ditties: Pepito's Serenade from 1946.

Shorts that were screened at the Silent:

"Hook and Ladder Hookim" B/W(Tom and Jerry)
"Porky's Romance" B/W (1946)
"The Fox and the Grapes" (1941)
"A Hollywood Detour" (1942)
Scrap Happy Daffy" (WW2 Theme with Daffy Duck) (1943)
"Swooner Crooner" (Frank Sinatra-esqe Chickens) (1944)
"Censored" (A "Private Snafu" edu-tainment cartoon for soilders) (1944) (uncredited)
"A Tale of Two Mice" (Abbot and Costello-esque mice)(1945)
"Pepito's Serenade" (Stop Motion Animation) (1946)