Billion Dollar Limited

The Fleischer Studios started a series of shorts based on the character of Superman. This was the third of nine done by Fleischer Studios, with another eight done by Famous Studios Paramount. All of the series features excellent animation and backgrounds and have a similar feel to them, reminiscent of the Supeman comics themselves. The Fleischer shorts were as good as their Popeye shorts and the Famous Studios shorts are among the best done for Paramount after Fleischer Studios waved bye-bye. Well worth seeing. Recommended.

This is a more conventional, non-war effort episode. In this one, it is announced that a huge amount of gold is being transported on a train. Maybe they should have given the bad guys a program so they would know where this is all along the way. We're no dummies! We know those bad guys are going to try to get that gold. And there is no better way to cause trouble than to stick our Lois Lane on there. Of course, Clark is going too. This is a masterful effort to use what a train is and create visuals of cars flying apart, track being uprooted, people panicking and on and on. Of course, when Miss Lane is in trouble, you know who is going to show up.

If you enjoyed the numerous other "Superman" short animated stories from the 1940s, then you will definitely also like "Billion Dollar Limited".

Writers Seymour Kneitel and Izzy Sparber put together an enjoyable and entertaining script here, despite the fact that "Billion Dollar Limited" is only running at 9 minutes. It is a well-rounded script and story, and I definitely found it to be enjoyable, and very much in the spirit of "Superman".

The art and animation style in "Billion Dollar Limited" is similar to that in most of the other 1940s animated short "Superman" stories, for better or worse.

My rating of the 1942 animated short story "Billion Dollar Limited" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Billion Dollar Limited (1942)

** (out of 4)

The third Superman cartoon from Paramount has robbers trying to cash in on the government sending a billion dollars in gold on a train. Lois of course finds herself on the train as Superman must come to her rescue. This is without question the weakest of the first three shorts and I'm really amazed at how poorly written some of it is. The criminals in this short are without question some of the dumbest I've seen since DUMB AND DUMBER because nothing they do here makes any sense. The thieves want the gold yet they are constantly doing things that could destroy the gold like sending the train into explosives. There's another sequence where they blow up a bridge to send the train off a cliff and again I have to wonder what type of idiots these guys are. Both Lois and Superman are pretty bland here without too much to do. Seeing Superman carry the train was pretty neat but that's about it.

A SUPERMAN Cartoon

A huge shipment of gold is being sent across country by train. Using ultra-modern techniques, a sophisticated gang of hooded thieves try to waylay the gold. With intrepid reporter Lois Lane as the only passenger on board, it's Superman to the rescue. But now that it's become a runaway train, can even he stop the BILLION DOLLAR LIMITED?

This was another in the series of excellent cartoons Max Fleischer produced for Paramount Studio. They feature great animation and taut, fast-moving plots. Meant to be shown in movie theaters, they are miles ahead of their Saturday Morning counterparts.