A mad scientist unleashes robots to rob banks and loot museums. Superman saves the day. Animation by Steve Muffati and George Germanetti. Music by Sammy Timberg. Produced in 1941.

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Reviewer: Anonymous - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - October 7, 2017

Subject: classic cartoon love this animated short good animaiton - October 7, 2017classic cartoon

Reviewer: sggradual - favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 9, 2016

Subject: Superior animation Great animation from the creator of popeye. Very realistic for their day. Good cartoon - December 9, 2016Superior animation

Reviewer: dahszil - favorite favorite favorite favorite - February 23, 2014

Subject: tired of computer animation, like the old style animation now Its nice to see these old style animations. Adding those shadows is even more impressive when you realize that artists made these frame by frame by drawing and "painting" with their own hands .btw, i don't understand why so many reviewers seem not to like dialog. - February 23, 2014tired of computer animation, like the old style animation now

Reviewer: uglyMood - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 30, 2013

Subject: Sky Captain I've run across people that think Kerry Conran stole the flying robot sequence in Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow from this short, but that's not the case. His mother worked on the Superman cartoons in the paint department, and he did a shot-for-shot recreation of the robot attack as an homage to her work. The women in paint (ink was pretty much men-only) never got the recognition they deserved.



On a side note, if you watch a lot of these cartoons back to back you can almost see Superman rolling his eyes as Lois gets herself into needless trouble YET AGAIN. She seems to have lemming DNA. - November 30, 2013Sky Captain

Reviewer: indianacarnie - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 29, 2013

Subject: Nice Liked it much better than I thought I would. Decent print and audio. Not a huge Superman fan but was nicely pleased by this one. So cool seeing "Superman" when he was "just" a "Superman" and not the almost omnipotent being he became.(though those have their place too) - March 29, 2013Nice

Reviewer: splue - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 31, 2011

Subject: mechanical monsters scary!!! - July 31, 2011mechanical monsters

Reviewer: RipJarvis - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 28, 2011

Subject: Possibly the best (and not just for their time) action cartoons! I read somewhere that these were the direct inspiration for the entire form of Anime. "Bud" Colyer (sp?) who voices Superman also did so for the radio show. The music is still "Superman" for me, though I love John Williams' theme. - May 28, 2011Possibly the best (and not just for their time) action cartoons!

Reviewer: Hypatia-9 - favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 14, 2010

Subject: VTOL and Robot etymology. sontronics wrote: "it's interesting that it was made before the word 'robot' was coined to describe the mechanical monsters."



Not quite. The word "robot" first appears in Karel Čapek's "R.U.R." (Rossum's Universal Robots), which was published in 1920.



What I find interesting is the transformer aspect of the robots. They fly, and then transform from a VTOL (Vertical-Take-Off-Landing) vehicle into a walking Mech-robot.



Also, the fire blasts that the Mechs shoot from their eyes is way-cool. - November 14, 2010VTOL and Robot etymology.

Reviewer: soinc16 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 20, 2010

Subject: Fun Episode

getherbacktomorrowebook.com Probaby one of my favourite episodes, its nice to see that its in public domain. - September 20, 2010Fun Episode

Reviewer: itronic - favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 23, 2010

Subject: Subtitles

Subtitled versions in other languages are available at

http://dotsub.com/view/1bfc5ffa-6b9c-4e7c-b24d-4c6a42a7e4fe Great animation.Subtitled versions in other languages are available at - July 23, 2010Subtitles

Reviewer: 10hertz - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 12, 2009

Subject: Suprise I like the styling in this animation. Not the usual cartoon look that I tend to think of when it comes to kids cartoons. - June 12, 2009Suprise

Reviewer: frelkster - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 18, 2008

Subject: se choong hao superman fei chang hao! - November 18, 2008se choong hao

Reviewer: Onimusha - favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 30, 2008

Subject: Superman Another excellent cartoon from the days when they made good films - September 30, 2008Superman

Reviewer: human - - August 17, 2008

Subject: What happened to the rest of the Superman shorts?



All 17 of them are still available at There used to be about a dozen of the Superman shorts on this site, now there's only three.All 17 of them are still available at http://toonamiarsenal.com/features/superman/, but being as that is a Warner-owned site, they've chopped the Paramount intro tags off of them. - August 17, 2008What happened to the rest of the Superman shorts?

Reviewer: petypablo - - August 13, 2008

Subject: help how do you download this movie - August 13, 2008help

Reviewer: sontronics - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 27, 2008

Subject: robots this is great art. you can see the influence in many modern day films. also, it's interesting that it was made before the word 'robot' was coined to describe the mechanical monsters. - July 27, 2008robots

Reviewer: g rated - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 18, 2008

Subject: 5 star cartoons LOOTING of NATIONAL BANK

in 1st scene reminds me of the

Federal Reserve Bank = not Federal & no

reserves - LOOTING of the money supply

of the American People & LOOTING of our riches

in 2nd scene - towards the end - robots - reminding of the Federal Reserve Bank chairman's FIRE COMING OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS - trying to destroy us - they will stop at nothing to

LOOT this country.



Take back america & stand up for the

US Constitition & Holy BIble - July 18, 20085 star cartoons

Reviewer: jreed88 - favorite favorite favorite favorite - April 16, 2008

Subject: Perfect-except for the lack of variety There really are only about 10 lines in the whole short-and probably only 5 that aren't used in all the other shorts (ei: "This is a job for Superman" and "I couldn't have done it without Superman").

I also like that in all the shorts, Clark always waits around a bit before changing into Superman. This is what I think his though process is: "okay a few million in city damage has been done and, oh no! Lois has vanished and characteristically run towards danger in order to get a headline! I guess I should be saving her and the city right about now."

Also I think Lois is a totally hot combo of Jessica Rabbit and Dolores in "How Framed Roger Rabbit?" I love quirky Lois voices! - April 16, 2008Perfect-except for the lack of variety

Reviewer: Jimmy G Brown - favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 20, 2006

Subject: Nice, but: Oops. Another great example that while science has given us better means of doing it. Skill still comes first!!



Note. The robot that leads to badguys downfall. Good old #13. But, oops. The makers goofed the first time they showed the robots back in the jewelry store. Notice that the first time you see its back. It says #5. But, switches accordingly to #13 to match the front for the rest of the show.



Hmm. I may have to breakdown and start going with MP2. I did MP1 and the sound music drags a little on the end? Or was that the cartoon itself? - November 20, 2006Nice, but: Oops.

Reviewer: infopablo00 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 25, 2006

Subject: super A masterpiece of pop art.

(Made even before pop art itself was invented)

;) - August 25, 2006super

Reviewer: skippy the dancing canopener<?. - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 25, 2006

Subject: Blooper Anybody else catch the blooper,the robot stealing the jewel's is #5,the one arriving back at the lab is #13.I wonder if this has hidden meaning for the era or just a super duper bluper.Did 13 stand for maryjane back then, I wonder.I guess we will never know. skippy the dancing canopener. -- August 25, 2006Blooper

Reviewer: tominator_66 - favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 8, 2006

Subject: strong influence A great show for it's time. The thing that I found most interesting is the almost direct "borrowing" of the robot's design by the makers of SkyCaptain and the World of Tomorrow made last year. The giant robots in the beginning of the movie copy the wing and hand design and even the use of shadows almost exactly. - June 8, 2006strong influence

Reviewer: helbent - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 1, 2006

Subject: Stupid villian Great example of 40's animation. Color and movement and backgrounds are first rate for the day. Two things cracked me up. One, this guy can build flying robots, but he can't figure out how to keep the door latched on their backs, and two, as the villian is lowering Lois into the molten metal he insists that she tell him where the jewels are when he has tied a gag around her mouth. No wonder he was stupid enough to think his robots could destroy Superman. - May 1, 2006Stupid villian

Reviewer: Spuzz - favorite favorite favorite - April 29, 2006

Subject: The House Of Jewels is no match for the Mysterious Mechanical Monsters! Pretty good Superman cartoon here as Clark and Co. try to figure out what kind of mechanical monster (which looks suspiciously like the Iron Giant) robbed the bank on the SAME DAY a gaudy jewelry exhibit opens. Shore enough, the Monster attacks that, and Lois, snoopy reporter that she is, decides literally to back seat it to where the monster is going, luckily, Clark feels that Lois is in trouble and changes to superman. While in the air, he uses his x-ray vision, this is probably the only time IÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂve seen him use this in these cartoons. The animation is, as usual, excellent. The Fleschers took pride in these cartoons, itÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs obvious. - April 29, 2006The House Of Jewels is no match for the Mysterious Mechanical Monsters!

Reviewer: MoonBeamlady - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 13, 2006

Subject: Superman:The Mechanical Monsters I really enjoyed this!I really was scared!!!Good Show! - March 13, 2006Superman:The Mechanical Monsters

Reviewer: desmay - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 15, 2006

Subject: So Good They Destroyed the Studio The Superman shorts were at one time the most expensive cartoon shorts ever produced. They pretty much bankrupted the Fleischer studios because while they were gorgeous and popular, they didn't make their money back. But watch them carefully, and you can't help but be impressed by them. They're beautiful, awesome, majestic. Nothing in superhero cartoons came close to rivaling them for the next 50 years... - January 15, 2006So Good They Destroyed the Studio

Reviewer: Savant Trigger - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 18, 2005

Subject: Very groovy Very fast-paced and entertaining!



I especially liked the minimalistic dialogue (the characters say perhaps ten lines throughout the whole movie). The lines that were said, however, were delivered in a style more likened to an announcer than a character.

Lois's voice is very low, it's kind of weird. I also think it's interesting the way she climbs in the robot after the jewels. Is it some sort of critique on women?

By the way, I think Superman looks very creepy when he's using his X-ray vision... - September 18, 2005Very groovy

Reviewer: Bartacovic - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 16, 2005

Subject: early superman Excellent example of early superman, forshadowing "five is alive"---"transformers" and much more recient films. - May 16, 2005early superman