Hi!
Does anybody own the two disc DVD collection of Superman Cartoons distributed by Platinum Disc Corporation? If so, please let me know. I am mainly interested in whether the picture and sound quality is good, and are the cartoons complete? (in other words, do they have the Paramount Logo at the beginning and the end?)
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Hi Pavan-3 !
Thanks for putting me straight!
I just picked them up last night from a WalMart. They seem complete to me, from what I gather. The logo is at the begining (don't remember if the end as well... sorry). So far, the set seems great.
There's 17 episodes overall... how many were there made? I don't imagine tjis is a complete set, but I'd love to get one.
The only flaw I found to the set is the following:
1) both discs are identical and unmarked as to whether its disc 1 or 2. Thus, if you get absent minded in switching from the first to second disc, you could put the worng one in the box. The only difference is one disc has 9 toons, the other has 8.
2) In between each episode, you get the "joy" of seeing the Platinum Disc Corporation tag (approximately 10 seconds, but it gets tiring after the first time).
Otherwise, I'd say its a great set. Hope this helps some
It sure does, thanks !
shareThis is a follow up to my previous post.
To answer your question, there were 17 episodes made, so you have them all.
I picked the set up from Wal-Mart as well. It was in the clearance bin and I found them by chance, not knowing that the DVDs even existed.
They are digitally mastered and enhanced in 5.1 audio. The colours are great, the sound is great, and the menu is easy to use, although basic. I was very impressed by the quality, especially since they were based off the 1941 masters.
The opening paramount logo is still intact at the beginning of the cartoons, but not at the end. They fade to black at the end (usually with a close up of Clark Kent) and the cartoon is over.
I do not know how many episodes were made in the 40s, but the discs hold 17 episodes.
DISC ONE: (9 eps)
01: Superman
02: The Mechanical Monsters
03: The Billion dollar Limited
04: The Arctic Giant
05: The Bulleteers
06: The Magnetic Telescope
07: The Electric Earthquake
08: Volcano
09: Terror on the Midway
DISC TWO: (8 eps)
01: Japoteurs
02: Showdown
03: Eleventh Hour
04: Destruction, Inc.
05: The Mummy Strikes
06: Jungle Drums
07: The Underground World
08: Secret Agent
I just wanted to add another one of the collection's flaws (which will also bug the purists, I'm sure).
The disc's manufacturers wer "kind" enough to remind us who made our viewing possible, by putting their logo down in the lower right corner (much like the NBC logo), appearing every now and again. while not a huge issue, its a bit distracting, and takes away from the purity of the shows.
Otherwise, it sounds like nuclearrodent and I have the same collection (mine was also lost in the discount bin mess), and I figure, for the price paid, no point complaining. I rather enjoy it all, and watch an episode every day before bed (busy life, no time for all in 1 sitting)
Anyone have an idea how many episodes were made, tho?
Here is what I have learned....
The 17 episodes collected by Platinum aired between 1941 and 1943, and are presented in this set according to their theatrical release date. The first nine were produced by the Fleischer studio, while the latter eight were produced by Famous Studios after the demises of the Fleischer studio. Together they contain all of the Superman cartoons produced in the early 1940s. There have been other DVDs with these episodes. Usually other DVDs either contain the first nine while other "Lost Episodes" DVDs contain the latter eight. The Platinum Disc Corporation has both sets of episodes, so I think we hold in our hands ALL of the Superman cartoons produced between 1941 and 1943.
For more information: http://www.toonzone.net/brian/video/dvd/superman-winstar.html
Hello,
The best DVD version of these classic cartoons is the Image Entertainment DVD.
http://www.image-entertainment.com/detail.cfm?productID=14726
This set is restored picture and sound.
I heard the DVD version with 5.1 sound have edited audio (new sound FX etc.)
You can also get the original Max Fleischer cartoons at DigitalTreasures.com. The quality's pretty good for the price, I just got mine in the mail yesterday. These were nominated for Acadamy Awards, probably for the artwort - visually stunning!
Has episodes Arctic Giant, Terror on the Midway, Volcano, Mechanical Monsters, Bulleteers and Magnetic Telescope.
Go to DigitalTreasures.com.
The reason there are a lot of various poor versions is that they are in the public domain. You can download them for free here:
http://www.archive.org/details/superman_1941
I got mine on one disc with all 17 episodes from the bargain bin. It's from a company called Vintage Classic Movies. However, they ripped it off from Platinum. What they did was blank out the Platinum logo with the Superman logo. But the dorks didn't get them all because the Platinum logo still pops up every now and then.
shareI have the Platinum disc collection.
I'll say they are O.K. for a budget collection but there are better out there. The 5.1 sound the proclaim is a joke. It's just poorly canned echo using the original sound. The original sound has been run through a noise reducer, but doing so really chopped off any top end sound. Also, the sound is horribly compressed and clips constantly.
Terror on the Midway is by far the worst on the first disc. It's missing 15-20 seconds of footage off the beginning (after they introduce Superman) and is replaced with still frames of the actual footage. There's also a few seconds of footage missing near the end where Supe puts out the fire. You see his shadow take off his cape and then suddenly were at the Daily Planet. Pretty jarring soundtrack edit at that point too.
So far on the first disc, all but The Bulleteers is missing the closing title card. I also think there's a bunch of missing footage from this episode as well as there are a couple premature fadeouts with the audio going completely silent.
Also, the framing on a number of the films on this collection are cropped. During the titles, letters get chopped off the edges of the screen and many times even the Date and All Rights Reserved is cropped off.
So, I would call the Platinum collection adequate, but hardly collector quality.
I need to compare to a *cough* Bootleg VHS tape I got a number of years ago. Through several connections, I managed to get copies made of some very minty 35mm reels. They weren't masters, but I believe them to be only 2nd generation copies and seldom played. The sound was the best I'd heard, the colour was good the framing was good, opening and closing title cards present. The only qualm I had about them was this was the days before digital restoration, so they do show some light scratching. But still, lightyears ahead of the other junk that was circulating on Public Domain VHS tapes at the time.