The Mechanical Monsters

Wow, the first thing that hits you about every one of these vintage Superman animations is just the sheer quality of the animation, it's so astonishingly intricate in detail and gorgeous, and the character designs and the fluidity of their movements have such an eye-catching style to them that it's almost as if one of those old time Action Comics has come to life! If that was what the Fleischer Studios were going for when they were constructing this series of shorts than bravo guys, because you really nailed it. It was amazing just what the Fleischers were really capable of with a huge budget behind them and you can see every last penny on the screen, there's always a new detail that you can notice that you might not have the first time around. I love the design of the inexorably marching and transforming robots, something about the way they all stand to attention in unison and the classic Frankenstein march does make them a little strangely unnerving! They're so spot on the perfect image of what any imaginative young kid would think of if he were to think "evil robot" and I just love them! In my opinion though what's the most dated about this short is the dialogue and slight lack of logic in some of the story.. I mean for instance the Hitler knock-off can afford to build a squadron of sophisticated, semi-autonomous powerful robots that he could probably get militarised for a vast fortune but he uses them merely to commit petty larcenies? That must be where the mad part of scientist comes in.. The shorts are beautiful works of art visually but looking for depth is like diving into a kiddie pool, you're only gonna hurt yourself! I enjoy them for that thrilling and fascinating animation, when Superman is pummelling those surrounding robots into flaming scrap metal you can feel the superpowered strength of his blows! I love how there's no doom and gloom to this Superman, he's the real Man of Steel and is the purest of heroes and saves the day in an endless march of victory and I like that idea and image, it's simplistic, some might even say dated, but it's just good old fashioned heroics and is all so upbeat and "innocent", and there's value in that kind of hero and this short animation has its own kind of appeal. Old but still a great fun little watch and a real gem of an animation. X

This is the only Superman short in which I have seen this X-Ray Vision method used, and I must say if it can put wonder and amazement in the heart of a 20 year old black kid from New York in the year 2003, imagine what it did for people in 1942 !! This is a truly priceless and classic peice of American animation.

Do you like killer robots? Well, THE MECHANICAL MONSTERS is one of the earliest appearances of these audacious automatons. Superman must battle an army of them and uncover their human master.

One of the best of the series, this short cartoon is loaded with action, including the robots robbing banks, defying the police and their puny weapons, and flying!

The boffo finale pits Superman against all of them!

Innovative and meticulously animated, the Fleischer brothers really made a quality series of cartoons here. The robots themselves are wonders to behold. Their lair, complete with charging stations, is also worth mentioning.

A true blast from the past that's built to last!...

Sometimes you don't realize how drab something is until you see it juxtaposed against something really bright. And so it is with this old Fleischer Superman short.

Acting as the "bright", it illustrates just how "drab" the modern world, and by extension its pop culture, has become.

The animation here is just incredible. That it was done over 80 years ago makes it even more so. Can you imagine seeing this on a big screen in 1941? They must've been scraping the audience's Jaws off of the floor.

Completely free from the ironic, relativistic and naval-gazing zeitgeist of the 21st century, this "Oh, boy!"/"Gee whiz!" little serial is a breath of fresh air.

The Mechanical Monsters see's the return of our favourite superhero as this time he takes on a villian with a small army of giant robots he uses in his jewellery heists.

Alike the others this is quaint and highly nostalgic, with action happening in time with the music, cheesy one liners and Lois Lane there simply to be saved.

At 10 minutes in length there isn't much to see but it makes up for it being a nice slice of old school wartime entertainment.

The Good:

Highly nostalgic

Charming

The Bad:

Very short

Somewhat cheesy

Things I Learnt From This Short:

Every good villian needs a moustache

A villians lair isn't complete without a lava pool

I'm suddenly genuinely curious whether the police actually had tommy guns