Volcano (1942)

Volcano Review

Volcano is a 1942 animated short film from Fleischer Studios. It is the eighth entry in the Superman series.

This short features a volcano erupting. Clark and Lois are sent in to investigate, and when the volcano erupts, it is up to Superman to save her and the entire town below. Needless to say, this is yet another one of those shorts which favor the natural over the fantastical which is problematic for me as it’s too realistic and not fun or memorable enough. The action here also isn’t particularly striking.

But what makes Volcano still very good are the character interactions. Yes, Lois continues to be a terrific character in this series and I loved how selfish and overly confident she is in this film where she purposefully did not want Kent with her as she wants all of the journalistic glory for herself. That made her a bit unlikable, but also genuinely interesting and realistic. And I loved Clark’s final remark to her, that was so amusing. The animation’s superb as expected.

Volcano is greatly animated and very fun in its character interactions, but it needed a more interesting story and action.