Unboxing: Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1943 Remastered Blu-ray

It’s Unboxing Time!

This week we’re looking at the disc and box art for the upcoming remastered released of the Max Fleischer Superman animated shorts from 1941-1943. These theatrical shorts are really cool. I first saw them as a kid on VHS. It’s been a while since I’ve watched. I just remember how amazing the animation and stories were, especially considering when they were made.

I haven’t had a chance to check out the video quality. I did just now see a couple comments online saying WB over-processed the original footage.

Here’s what the press release says on the remastering proess:

Warner Bros. Discovery’s advanced remastering process began with a 4K, 16-bit scan of Fleischer’s original 35mm successive exposure negative. Staying true to the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.37-to-1, the highest quality raw image was then scanned and then entered into the recombine process –utilizing special proprietary software to merge the successive exposure Technicolor negatives into a single RGB color image. The end result are pristine animated shorts that have been restored to the animators’ originally intended production quality.

EDIT: I watched the first three episodes. They look pretty darn good to me.

Here’s what the packaging looks like:

The Blu-ray will be released on May 16, 2023. I definitely need to check out this version as soon as I get a chance.

Let me know if you’ve seen the animated shorts before or if you plan on picking up this release.