tavm Review of Superman: The Arctic Giant

Superman: The Arctic Giant (1942)

The Arctic Giant is a nearly excellent Superman cartoon

[9/10 · 2 March 2007]

Shades of King Kong and The Lost World permeate this Superman cartoon from the Fleischer Brothers. The T-Rex is brought from a mysterious island to The Museum of Natural Science in Metropolis. Lois gets assigned to cover the event. As a worker watching the machine that keeps the dinosaur frozen leaves with Lois to guide her through the rest of the museum, he leaves the oil can on the banister near the engine which causes the oil can to shake and disrupt the engine (he must be a newbie!). This causes the ice to melt freeing the dinosaur to cause havoc on the city. Chief calls out Clark Kent who changes into Superman just as Lois finds herself in the dino's way. Superman says to stay put but of course Lois doesn't listen. With bullets unable to stop him, the prehistoric monster manges to destroy dams and bridges which Superman manages to fix. Lois gets close enough to take a picture and manages to get in the Rex's mouth! Once again, Superman saves her and gets the large animal back to the museum. Later, Lois asks where Clark was during all of this. "I was fainting somewhere," comes the reply. Fast paced and action packed was this cartoon with all the energy you'd expect from '40s-style animation especially from the Fleischer Studio. Great sequences of the dino destroying various property and Superman's quick attempts at repairs. Well worth seeing for any fan of Supes, '40s animation, and any comic book fan of the golden age of comics. Not the most realistic design of a dinosaur but still effective.