Max Fleischer's Superman (1941-1942) Warner

[captainsolo]

Biggest release of the year as far as I'm concerned and they gave it to the studio label.
If the audio errors aren't finally fixed it will be ridiculous. As it stands you have to mix and match audio with the Bosko DVD mono for a proper presentation.

The Warner scans were from their purportedly negative sources and are of better quality than anything else available. These were also used for the handful of Laserdisc releases of the TV series episodes where they tacked on a Fleischer cartoon.

It should also be stressed these were done for the film set extras and I don't know if anyone paid it as much attention as they should. The color timing also doesn't match the Bosko presentation which was mastered directly from best available 35mm surviving print materials. For years I've advised people to have the standalone WB DVD and the Bosko because the standalone had a few audio errors tweaked and you need the Bosko for everything else audio wise plus having a baked in warts and all approximation of release prints.

This should have been an Archive disc and it should be a UHD. But that's just my two cents. As long as it's better than what we have and the audio errors are fixed I'll be happy....ish.

Oh man...this could have been a full blown 4K scan, restoration and UHD and literally been the best animation video release in home video history...nah just make a 1080p bump for the movie extras again.

[gkolb]

Here's the press release from the home page.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=32221

Realllllly nice cover art!

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Hammerlover

Since Warner has the negatives, this should be the definitive release for these classic cartoons.

Based on how their Superman UHD box set is being handled, I wouldn't assume anything they put out these days is definitive.

[mar3o]

The cover art is so good I find it hard to believe it's official.

[Roscoe]

No list of contents yet. Will the notorious short featuring Japanese saboteurs be included?

[Deciazulado]

Well, the back says seventeen,
if you know what I mean.
Will the way they look
be beyond compare.

[scarecroe]

Nice, first day buy!

Are these new or legacy featurettes?

• Max Fleischer's Superman: Speeding Toward Tomorrow - intense action, noir filmmaking, a heroic soundtrack, Max Fleischer's Superman changed the world of superhero storytelling forever - Featurette
• First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series - Featurette
• The Man, The Myth, Superman - Featurette

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by scarecroe

Nice, first day buy!

Are these new or legacy featurettes?

• Max Fleischer's Superman: Speeding Toward Tomorrow - intense action, noir filmmaking, a heroic soundtrack, Max Fleischer's Superman changed the world of superhero storytelling forever - Featurette
• First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series - Featurette
• The Man, The Myth, Superman - Featurette

The 2nd and 3rd features are legacy and can be found on the 2009 DVD. I'm not sure about the 1st feature. I'm guessing it's new.

[navydavey]

Hopefully this gets a release in the UK.

[Burt Lancaster]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Biggest release of the year as far as I'm concerned and they gave it to the studio label.

UGH I know!! I also dislike the vague "newly restored". The Woody Woodpecker set said "Remastered in HD" and it wasn't! It was a junky update of the dvd set, lots of dnr and lots of compression horrors.

I love Max Fleischer's Superman, I want to upgrade my dvds, but seeing this is not being done by the warner archive collection, I'm extremely concerned...

Mask of the Phantasm, Popeye cartoons, etc. all look great. New 4K scans of either the camera negatives or other elements. NO dnr, NO compression flaws. Those were done by WAC. *With the one exception of Tex Avery Vol. 2 which looks dreadful*

On the flip side of the coin, we have the warner bros company. Their releases include: Duck Dogers, The Flintstone's, Batman TAS, Scooby Doo, Where are you, complete with dnr and compression artifacts --just what we love, right!?

UGH! Warner PLEASE do this one without noise reduction!!!

Originally Posted by captainsolo

If the audio errors aren't finally fixed it will be ridiculous.

Would you mind posting the audio problems here, it would get more people aware and I forgot myself lol. Much appreciated!

[xXx$uicide_Ma$terxXx]

I was hoping this would come from WAC. I'm not looking forward to this at all anymore. I assume it'll be a smooth grain free mess like all other animation BDs from Warner Bros that aren't WAC. I really hope I'm wrong but I just have a terrible feeling about this.

[disneygeek98]

I held off on buying the DVD for years as I had a feeling that this would eventually come to Blu-ray and I’m so glad that it finally is! In fact May should be an exciting month for fans of classic cartoon shorts as Warner is also supposed to be releasing Volume One of Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice the same month! I sure do hope that we finally get some more information on that set sometime this month!

[Batman90]

Originally Posted by disneygeek98

I held off on buying the DVD for years as I had a feeling that this would eventually come to Blu-ray and I’m so glad that it finally is! In fact May should be an exciting month for fans of classic cartoon shorts as Warner is also supposed to be releasing Volume One of Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice the same month! I sure do hope that we finally get some more information on that set sometime this month!

No point in buying the Looney Toons set they will never complete it like the first Looney Toons set they released on Blu-ray they never finished it.

[Hammerlover]

Originally Posted by disneygeek98

I held off on buying the DVD for years as I had a feeling that this would eventually come to Blu-ray and I’m so glad that it finally is! In fact May should be an exciting month for fans of classic cartoon shorts as Warner is also supposed to be releasing Volume One of Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice the same month! I sure do hope that we finally get some more information on that set sometime this month!

Nice to see a little optimism on here!

[disneygeek98]

Originally Posted by Batman90

No point in buying the Looney Toons set they will never complete it like the first Looney Toons set they released on Blu-ray they never finished it.

I’m still going to buy it, while I’d have to agree that it would be very unlikely for Warner to release all 1,000 Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts from 1930 to 1969 on Blu-ray. I’m confident that this new set will contain at least a few shorts that haven’t been released on Blu-ray or even DVD yet.

[Hammerlover]

Originally Posted by disneygeek98

I’m still going to buy it, while I’d have to agree that it would be very unlikely for Warner to release all 1,000 Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts from 1930 to 1969 on Blu-ray. I’m confident that this new set will contain at least a few shorts that haven’t been released on Blu-ray or even DVD yet.

Absolutely agree. Otherwise, what's the point in doing it?

[CelestialAgent]

Tbf it has been released on Blu-ray before, just a not very good public domain release.

[Dsneybuf]

Originally Posted by gkolb

Here's the press release from the home page.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=32221

Realllllly nice cover art!

[Show spoiler]

Considering how often DVD covers have their backgrounds replaced with a solid color in reprints, I find it interesting that the reverse happened here.

[Jar Jar Stinks]

Originally Posted by gkolb

Here's the press release from the home page.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=32221

Realllllly nice cover art!

The back cover looks like ass.



That's the best image of Supes they could find?

[Dsneybuf]

On the bright side, it lists a DTS-HD MA audio track. After I learned that the Warner Archive isn't releasing this disc, I feared the shorts would only have lossy audio again.