Superman Destroyed?

There’s controversy in fandom over the new Blu-ray release of the 1940’s Superman cartoons.

One pre-release review says the remastering is awful…

https://thedigitalbits.com/item/max-fleischers-superman-bd-2023

… and another says it’s even worse than awful…

https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/115440/maxfleischerssuperman.html

… while another praises the image quality.

https://13thdimension.com/sneak-peek-behold-the-majesty-of-the-remastered-fleischer-superman/

The pre-release listing on Amazon has been pulled…

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BXQM8FTK/

… but Superman isn’t missing, because my copy should be here on Wednesday. I’m going to assume Amazon deleted the listing because they can’t fill any more pre-release orders.

Something that can’t be debated is the Blu-ray is not part of the Warner Archive Collection, which has a reputation for absolutely impeccable quality. Color is corrected, and blemishes are cleaned, but they prefer to leave film grain intact, out of concern that removing it will result in a softer image.

Animation expert and historian Jerry Beck has been involved with many video releases, going back to VHS and LD. On Facebook, Beck seemed to imply the Archive Collection team would have done a better job of mastering the Superman Blu-ray.

Take your pick – but remember, if it doesn’t say “Archive Collection”… its not “Archive Collection”. Just saying… — Jerry Beck

For 25 bucks, I will decide for myself whether the cartoons look fantastic or if they suck royally.

Back for More Hanks Hijinks

Tom Hanks is scheduled to return to the Boss Radio 66 mic on May 23 at 1 PM ET. From this picture I expect we’ll be hearing some — yay! — summer Surf music.

Tom’s latest side hustle is novel writing. Following the old adage “write what you know about,” Hanks certainly knows the movie business. The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece was released a couple of days ago, and it’s on my Kindle Paperwhite. Here’s a sneak peek.

Made for Each Other

“Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court” is scary enough without Frontline’s ominous music bed.

What Clarence and Ginni have in common is anger and resentment. Having failed to resolve their lifelong internal conflicts, they cling to the certainty of an intolerant faith that is anything but Christian in its outlook. They’ll take everything they can get while hating the world and everyone in it including, it seems, themselves.

The Hearst Follies – 2

As Howard Hughes would do later, William Randolph Hearst bought his way into the movie business. One of Hearst’s productions was Gabriel Over the White House. Walter Huston, who played a bank president in American Madness before the election of FDR, is promoted by Hearst to dictatorial President.

While watching Gabriel Over the White House, I wished that eye-catching Jean Parker had been given more screen time, as the daughter of a labor leader.

Part 3 will be about the woman who caught Hearst’s eye years before Gabriel, his mistress and protégé, Marion Davies.

The Hearst Follies – 1

April 8, 1911, Winsor McCay, “The Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald,” released Little Nemo, a groundbreaking work of animation based on his Sunday comic strip.

Just three months later, on July 23, 1911, McCay left the New York Herald to work for William Randolph Hearst. Little Nemo, renamed In the Land of Wonderful Dreams, reappeared on September 3 in Hearst’s New York American.

We are living in the final few years of printed newspapers. Hearst was a towering figure in the business, whose influence helped to make the American comic strip an important creative and commercial medium. Comic strips led, of course, to the creation of comic books.

Don’t delay in watching this 2-part American Experience documentary. The videos are supposed to expire on May 31.