Terror on the Midway (1942)

Strong and Moving!

good back-story, and good acting

Fresh and Exciting

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This cartoon is not only the last of the Superman cartoons produced by Fleischer. But the last animated short Fleischer Studios ever produced. This is one of the Superman cartoons i remember the most, of the 8 Fleischer cartoons, and 4 Famous Studios cartoons i had on DVD as a kid. It scared the crap out of me when i was little. But despite all these facts, this is still one of my least favorite of the cartoons produced by Fleischer, along with Volcano. But it's still great and enjoyable. Let's see why.The story is about this circus that Lois is sent to review. Later that night, as Lois attends the clown performance, a monkey wanders from the main tent and accidentally opens the cage of a giant gorilla (That looks an awful lot like King Kong). Growling, the Gorilla named "Gigantic" wanders into the tent, sending everyone into pandemonium, as the Gorilla goes on a rampage. Circus workers try to stop the Gorilla, but are overpowered by it's strength. Now it's up to Superman to save the day.So this is one of my lesser favorite Superman cartoons. It seems kinda weird that Superman is challenged by King Kong. I know it has a name, but i'll just refer to it as King Kong. I mean, he has been up against giant robots, death rays, and Godzilla. And destroyed them all with little challenge, and with ease. But he seems to have the same challenge against King Kong, as he had against all his other foes. Many of the action scenes in this one, also aren't quite as good as in the other cartoons. So what do i like about this cartoon?? Well i like that the animation isn't as colorful in this one, but darker. Fitting the tone of the cartoon. So this cartoon has great animation. An although i find it silly that Superman is challenged by an animal, i still find alot of the scenes with King Kong, and the other animals exciting. Even though they aren't the best action scenes in the series. And Lois proves to be very brave in this one. She doesn't get into trouble because of some selfish reason, but because she is trying to save a child. I also really like that they pay tribute to King Kong in this one.So although not one of the best, still highly recommended. 8/10Like i said above, this was not only the last of the Superman cartoons produced by Fleischer. It was the last cartoon that Fleischer Studios produced in general. Leaving behind a legacy of experimentation, wacky visuals, gags, and sensual appeal. Starting out with the groundbreaking Out of the Inkwell series, being the first animated films to use the rotoscope. An animated series made to demonstrate his invention of this technique.And later the Betty Boop cartoons, starring the first animated sex symbol. with they're dark and etchy humor, and surreal gags, these cartoons i sometimes think were superior to the old black and white Mickey Mouse cartoons.And of course the Popeye cartoons. Which alot of times i think were funnier than both the old Mickey Mouse cartoons and Donald Duck cartoons. Atleast the ones made by the Fleischers were. I especially love Popeye's voice, it cracks me up.They also created the Color Classics series, which i will admit were far from the quality of the Silly Symphony cartoons, which they were made to compete with. I will still admit alot of these cartoons still have they're own charm, and kept with the fleischer tradition of showing a grimmer reality than that of they're Disney counterparts.They also made 2 very good animated feature films. The second animation studio to make feature films in fact. These were Gulliver's Travels, and Mr. Bug Goes to Town. Although i will admit these films were not as good as the ones Disney made. They still had alot of charm to them.And finally the Superman cartoons. The first action cartoons ever.And they made other cartoon series as well, but the ones i mentioned seems to be the most famous, and i'm not even going to get into them all, i mean i could go on about this forever, i just love this stuff.When Fleischer Studios closed down, Paramount replaced the studio with Famous Studios. Which would continue the Popeye and Superman cartoon series' and would make other cartoon series' as well.Anyways, Terror on the Midway wasn't the best Superman or Fleischer cartoon, but it was a decent cartoon to end the studio off with.

I really enjoyed the fact that the producers were able to put a little different offering before us. The usually simplistic plot is jazzed up. Apparently, the Fleischer Brothers were on their way out, and further Superman episodes would be watched over by someone else. In this one there is a circus in town. For some reason Lois and Clark are sent to cover it. Most of the episode has to do with atmosphere and circus images. That is until some carelessness leads to a huge gorilla being released, putting Lois in danger and causing a bunch of dangerous animals to be released. Superman must attempt to quell the scattered carnivores and rescue Lois. I thought the suspense and the realism of this episode was good. No outer space attacks. No misguided or mad scientists. No weird science.

I love the Fleischer Superman cartoons. The animation is smooth and fluid with vivid colors. The distinct art-deco style, vintage science fiction imagery, and use of noirish shadows gave them a look unlike any other cartoons. The music and voice work is superb. They're fun, accessible, enduring animation classics.The ninth in the series (and last for Fleischer) is a very simple story about Lois and Clark on assignment covering a circus when things go haywire and a large gorilla named Gigantic escapes and begins to attack people. Clark takes his sweet time about it but eventually changes into Superman, where he battles the gorilla, as well as other animals, to restore order to the circus.I have mixed feelings on this one. There is a certain laziness about the story and, for a nine minute cartoon, it does seem to inexplicably have some padding. Still, the sequences with the animals are well-animated and exciting. It's entertaining, as the whole series is, but clearly something is missing. This would be the last Superman cartoon to be done by Fleischer Studios. Paramount would seize control of the studio, fire Dave and Max Fleischer, and rename it Famous Studios. Many of the same artists and animators would carry over, as would the voice talent. But the Fleischers would no longer be making Superman cartoons.

A SUPERMAN Cartoon.The Circus has come to town and girl reporter Lois Lane has been assigned to cover it. It's all pretty routine, until Gigantic, the huge & terrifying ape, escapes and spreads TERROR ON THE MIDWAY. With the enraged simian menacing Lois, it looks like a job for Superman...This was another in the series of excellent cartoons Max Fleischer produced for Paramount Studio. They feature great animation and taut, fast-moving plots. Meant to be shown in movie theaters, they are miles ahead of their Saturday Morning counterparts. Bud Collyer is the voice of Superman; Joan Alexander does the honors for Lois Lane. And isn't that the voice of Jack ‘Popeye' Mercer as the first sideshow barker?