Lois Lane in the first Fleischer Superman cartoon...

[Mike in Jersey]

Hi,

Does anyone have info or have they seen Model Sheets for Lois Lane as she appeared in the first Fleischer Superman cartoon? It appears that she was modeled on (perhaps rotoscoped from) Joan Alexander. What precipitated the change in appearance? Why was she drawn differently in the first cartoon?

Thanks,
Mike

[Geezil]

The change itself was most likely made to bring Lois' appearance more in line with that in the comic book series at the time.

[Tim Lones]

Hi,

Does anyone have info or have they seen Model Sheets for Lois Lane as she appeared in the first Fleischer Superman cartoon? It appears that she was modeled on (perhaps rotoscoped from) Joan Alexander. What precipitated the change in appearance? Why was she drawn differently in the first cartoon?

Thanks,
Mike

Geezil's answer sounds as good as any..BTW if Game Show Network ever shows the series "The Name's The Same" again, It is a must see.. It was Joan Alexander's only regular TV exposure..And she was extremely attractive...She is still living in NYC..close to 90 years old..

[Ray Pointer]

The first animated Lois was closer to the original comic book design. She was redesigned for the later cartoons with a larger face and eyes for more expression. The fact that Joan Alexander was the radio voice had nothing to do with Rotoscoping her, especially since teh radio cast was in New York, and Fleischer Studios was in Miami. The voice recordings were done in New York and shipped down to Miami. At the same time, the music was also recorded in New York since Lou Fleischer and Winston Sharples were dissatisfied with the quality of the music being recorded in Miami. Interestingly enough, the sound of the music for SUPERMAN #1 resembles the Sharples arrangements for Famous Studios post 1944 and beyond with the use of sharp trumpets and reverb. While the credits name Sammy Timberg, both Timberg and Sharples are listed on the music cue sheets, and it was Shaples who did the orchestrations that became his signature with all later Famous cartoons.

There was little Rototracing done for Lois, and the actions requiring this could have been done by anyone. Some scenes with SUPERMAN were Rotoed with Seymore Fleischer (Charlie's son, not animator Seymour Kneitel) acting for Roto reference footage.

[Detroiter]

The voice recordings were done in New York and shipped down to Miami. At the same time, the music was also recorded in New York since Lou Fleischer and Winston Sharples were dissatisfied with the quality of the music being recorded in Miami. Interestingly enough, the sound of the music for SUPERMAN #1 resembles the Sharples arrangements for Famous Studios post 1944 and beyond with the use of sharp trumpets and reverb. While the credits name Sammy Timberg, both Timberg and Sharples are listed on the music cue sheets, and it was Shaples who did the orchestrations that became his signature with all later Famous cartoons.

Were the Superman cartoons the only films to be recorded in New York, or did they record other voice or music tracks there?

[J Lee]

Were the Superman cartoons the only films to be recorded in New York, or did they record other voice or music tracks there?

Jack Mercer turns up as voice artist in the Superman series, along with his Popeye work during the 1941-43 period, so unless Jack was commuting between Manhattan and Miami, some of the voice tracking for both series had to have been done in Florida when Mercer was involved (Mae Questel noted 20 years later that she did some of her lines for the KFS Popeyes while in California, with Mercer and Jackson Beck doing their lines from New York, but the Superman series may have been the first time voice actors in the same cartoon did dialogue recording while 1,000 miles or more apart from the person they were supposed to be talking to on-screen).

As for the music, I believe Ray went over the move back to New York on the board a few years ago, but you can hear a noticable improvment in the Fleischer soundtracks from their first year in Miami (1939) to the following years, so it appears the Miami musicians disappeared at the start of 1940, even though the on-screen sound quality (probably due to Miami's audio mixing abilities) didn't match those of the Fleischer shorts made in New York. There's a certain echo-y/muffled quality noticable, especially on the B&W shorts, and a lack of sharpness on the higher notes that doesn't return until Famous Studios' move back to New York.