I think the decision to leave out the Kents from Superman's origin in these toons was based on two reasons.
First, they were not a major part of Superman's history at the time. Between 1938, the first appearance of Superman in Action Comics #1, and 1941 when these cartoons were made, the Kents were not a big part of the Superman mythos. Originally, it was a "passing motorist" who found the infant Kal-El. He was then taken to a orphanage.
See the page here: http://superman.ws/tales2/action1/?page=1
It wasn't Superman #1 in 1939 that Superman's adoptive parents were introduced. Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster didn't even give them first names. It wasn't until George Lowther wrote a Superman novel in 1942 that they received their original names, Eben and Sarah Kent. Obviously, these names have since then changed into Martha and Jonathan Kent. According to an entry in Wikipedia: "the first extensive retelling of Superman's origins in Superman #53 in 1948 named Ma "Mary Kent." In the early 1950s, however, Ma's name was definitively given as being "Martha Kent," and has been as such ever since. ... Mary made few appearances in Superman stories until the introduction of the Superboy comic in 1949. In this series, Ma Kent made a lasting mark, being a regular supporting character of the teenaged superhero".
So, you can see that between 1938 and 1941, the Kents were barely a part of the Superman history. It wasn't until the 1960s with Superboy that the Kents became an influence. Most of today's modern emphasis on Ma and Pa Kent, seen in the Dean Cain Superman show for example, can be traced from this point, which includes comics writer John Byrne when he rewrote Superman's origin in 1986, changing continuity so that Jonathan and Martha kent were alive for Superman's adulthood.
Secondly, if the Kents were considered, they were eliminated for time. Being short, and action-based cartoons with formulaic plots - usually centered around a menace, Lois' peril at the hands of the menace, and Superman's defeat of the menace - the makers of these cartoons were not looking to tell complicated narratives about Superman's formative years. The Kents and Superman's Smallville experiences were quite unnecessary in terms of the stories being told. So, for the sake of time and brevity, that whole part of the Superman mythos, which wasn't as developed as today in any case, was dropped.
In the 1941 cartoons, there was little screen time to explore Superman's adoptive parents, but even if they had, chances are they would have been a small part of the story since at the time they were barely fleshed out as characters at the time. For the sake of time and material, they just dropped the whole concept. Instead, they went with his origin as told on the first page of Action Comics #1.
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Film_Dex
18 years ago
>>> Instead, they went with his origin as told on the first page of Action Comics #1.
Well, it was told in one panel of Action Comics #1. The origin was fully fleshed out only in the newspaper comic strips, when the strip made its debut on January 16, 1939.
In 12 strips the story is told - giving the name of Krypton for the first time, introducing Jor-L and Lora,the rocketship sent to Earth, the passing motorist, etc.
Actually the second panel is somewhat of a hoot. Lora says, "Jor-L, I'm afraid our newborn son, Kal-L, is a bit of a roughneck. He gave the doctor a discolored eye, and I've had difficulty preventing his leaping from my arms."
And Jor-L says, "Just like his dad."
So I'm wondering, did Jor-L often give doctors black eyes, and strive frequently (but unsuccessfully) to escape from Lora's embrace?
Those comic strips are a fun read, though. The dialog is stilted, the 1939 phraseology interesting, and the activities of Superman - who couldn't fly and was not all powerful - fighting against crime in Depression era America is very interesting.
As for these shorts, I'm sure a lot of you guys know that Bud Collyer and Jean Alexander, who played Superman and Lois Lane on radio, provided the voices for the movies as well.
And if you're interested in Superman on radio, you can read a transcription of the 11 parter: Batman's Great Mystery, at The Thunder Child webzine. Batman never got his own radio show (although there were attempts) but he frequently guest-starred on Superman.
http://thethunderchild.omnivoreink.com
is the URL.
And next issue, February, will feature a detailed analysis of all the Max Fleischer films, plus an interview with Tom De Haven, who has written the new Superman novel, It's Superman.
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kevrob
18 years ago
The SUPERBOY strip actually debuted in 1944, in
MORE FUN COMICS #101, cover-dated JAN-FEB, 1945.
Kal-El's Earth parents appear in the first story,
but don't get the Jon and Martha monikers until
later in the series.
http://www.dcindexes.com/database/story-details.php?storyid=10985
Kevin
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LarrupinLou
17 years ago
That's the problem with the old comic book heroes. They kept changing the character's canon whenever they felt like it. It's very confusing.
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MRstonerscififan
17 years ago
its even harder for a new superman fan to know what the ral history is with all the diff historys floating around togther
"one ring to bind them all"
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Tsiakkos
14 years ago
Actually in the first stories of Superman that were published on the newspaper, he was raised in an orphanage. Just go and read them in DC Comics. They have them there. The Fleischer beginning it's just a short description of the first stories published in the newspaper. This is actually the origin of Superman which was changed down the future.
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