The Mechanical Monsters


The Mechanical Monsters is the second of seventeen animated Technicolor short films based upon the DC Comics character Superman. Produced by Fleischer Studios, the short details Superman opposing a villainous inventor and his army of robots. It was originally released by Paramount Pictures on November 28, 1941.

Plot

As word spreads about a bank robbery committed by a villainous inventor using an army of robots he created, Clark Kent is covering a museum exhibition that showcases the world's rarest jewels for the Daily Planet. He is greeted by Lois Lane, who intends to cover the story as well, just before one of the inventor's robots infiltrates the museum, with the police failing to stop it. Museum visitors, including Clark and Lois, soon flee as the robot begins loading the jewels into a compartment within its torso. While Clark phones in the story, Lois sneaks into the robot's compartment before it leaves the museum and takes to the sky. Clark notices Lois is gone as he goes back into the phone booth to become Superman.
Image:Superman-mechanical-monster.jpg|thumb|250px|left|A scene from the short detailing one of its titular robots on the attack
Flying high above the city, Superman spots the robot and uses his X-ray vision to see Lois inside it. He lands on the robot and struggles to open its compartment before it maneuvers itself into an inverted position and throws him off into an overhead power line, tangling him in its wires. Its compartment opens up and all the jewels spill out, while Lois holds onto its hatch for dear life until the robot flips back over and arrives at its creator's lair as Superman frees himself from the wires. When Lois refuses to tell the inventor what became of the jewels at his demand, he begins lowering her towards a pot of molten metal in what appears to be an industrial foundry.
Superman soon infiltrates the inventor's lair, only to oppose his robots; they appear to gain the upper hand, but Superman is undeterred and vanquishes them all as the inventor is sent running. He then threatens to drop Lois into the metal's pot if Superman comes closer, but he manages to save her and shields himself and Lois from the metal using his cape when the inventor attempts to douse them with it. Superman soon seizes the inventor before escaping with Lois in tow, and turns him into the authorities as the stolen jewels and bank money are recovered. Afterwards, Clark compliments Lois for her article covering the whole story; she remarks that she owed it all to Superman.

Cast

The short film marks the only instance in which Superman is depicted using X-ray vision in a Fleischer short.