Superman (1940s animated film) - Public domain

The Fleischer Superman cartoons are a series of seventeen animated superhero short films released in Technicolor by Paramount Pictures and based upon the comic book character Superman, making them his first animated appearance. They were originally produced by Fleischer Studios, which completed the initial short and eight further cartoons in 1941 and 1942. Production was resumed in May 1942 by Famous Studios, a successor company to Fleischer, which produced eight more cartoons in 1942–1943. Superman was the final animated series initiated by Fleischer Studios before Famous Studios officially took over production. The rights to all seventeen cartoons eventually reverted to National Comics, who licensed TV syndication rights to Flamingo Films (distributors of the TV series Adventures of Superman). All eventually fell into the public domain, due to National's failure to renew their copyrights; thus, they have been widely distributed on VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD. Nonetheless, Warner Bros. (via DC Comics) now owns the original film elements to the cartoons. List of series: 1. Superman 2. The Mechanical Monsters 3. Billion Dollar Limited 4. The Arctic Giant 5. The Bulleteers 6. The Magnetic Telescope 7. Electric Earthquake 8. Volcano 9. Terror on the Midway 10. Japoteurs 11. Showdown 12. Eleventh Hour 13. Destruction, Inc. 14. The Mummy Strikes 15. Jungle Drums 16. The Underground World 17. Secret Agent Genres: Action, Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Directed by: Dave Fleischer, Seymour Kneitel, Isadore Sparber, Dan Gordon Story by: Seymour Kneitel, I. Sparber, Bill Turner, Tedd Pierce, Dan Gordon, Carl Meyer, Jay Morton, Robert Little Based on: Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster Produced by: Max Fleischer, Sam Buchwald, Dan Gordon, Seymour Kneitel, I. Sparber Starring: Bud Collyer, Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck Production company: Paramount Pictures, Fleischer Studios