Directed by | Dave Fleischer
Story by |Seymour Kneitel
I. Sparber
Animation by |Steve Muffati
George Germanetti
Voices by |Bud Collyer
Joan Alexander
Julian Noa
Music by |Sammy Timberg
Produced by | Max Fleischer
Studio |Fleischer Studios
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures
Release date | November 21, 1941 (USA)
Format | Technicolor, 9 min. (one reel)
Language | English
Preceded by |Superman (1941)
Followed by |Billion Dollar Limited (1942)

The Mechanical Monsters is the second of the seventeen animated Technicolor short films based upon the DC Comics character Superman. Produced by Fleischer Studios, the story features Superman battling a mad scientist with a small army of robots at his command. It was originally released by Paramount Pictures on November 21 1941.

Plot
The story starts as one of the robots flies into a scientist's secret lair and unloads a pile of cash into a vault. The robot is controlled completely from the scientists command center, and we see that he is one of many robots similar to him, lined up along the walls of the lair. Next, we see the front page of the Daily Planet, reporting the "mechanical monster's" robbery right along side an announcement for the display of 50 million dollars of the world's rarest gems at the local museum.

Later, as Lois and Clark are covering the museum's exhibit for the Planet, a robot lands in the street outside. The police pelt it with machine gun fire as it marches towards the museum, but the bullets bounce harmlessly off. Museum visitors, including Clark and Lois, flee as the monster marches towards the jewels and begins loading them into an opening in its back.
While Clark phones the Planet from the nearest phone booth, Lois climbs into the monster's back, just as the monster leaves the museum and takes off into the sky. Clark emerges from the booth, notices Lois gone, and says, "This looks like a job for Superman." He changes his clothes and emerges in his classic red cape. Flying high above the city, Superman spots the robot and uses his x-ray vision to see Lois inside with the jewels. (This is the only time he uses his x-ray vision in the Fleischer shorts.) He lands on it and struggles to open the door in its back, only to have the scientist maneuver the robot upside down and throw him off into a power line, tangling him in the wires. As the robot is upside down, the door flies open and all the jewels fall out, with Lois surviving only by hanging for dear life until the robot flips back over.

As Superman struggles to free himself from the wires, the robot arrives at the lair, but instead of jewels, the scientist finds Lois in its payload. Infuriated, he demands that she tell him where the jewels are. The next time we see her, she is bound and gagged on a platform held over a pot of boiling metal. The scientist pulls a lever which starts some machinery gradually lowering her closer and closer to the liquid.

Meanwhile, Superman frees himself from the power lines and knocks down the door to the scientist's lair, only to meet the army of robots. Under the scientist's control, the robots emit fire from their eyes, encircle Superman, and pound him with their fists. But Superman defeats them, sending the scientist running. When Superman catches up with him, he is holding a knife to the rope holding Lois' platform above the molten metal, and threatens to cut it if he takes another step. Superman makes a move, the rope is cut, and Superman speeds across the room to catch Lois just in time. The scientist then pulls a lever to dump the hot liquid on them, but Superman shields Lois with his cape, then grabs the scientist and leaps into the sky to take him and Lois back to the city. The film ends with a shot of the next issue of the Planet, describing the latest adventure. In the office, Clark says "That's a wonderful story, Lois." Lois replies, "Thanks Clark, but I owe it all to Superman." Clark smiles.

References in later works
The Mechanical Monsters is referenced in works such as Hayao Miyazaki's animated film Castle in the Sky, and the more modern short World of Tomorrow (2005) by Director Kerry Conran, a prequel to his Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), in which an army of robots attack New York City.

Historians also point out the similarity between the robots in the Lupin III (Episode 155 Farewell My Beloved Lupin) television series and the ones in The Mechanical Monsters.
A mechanical monster is shown on display in Superman's Fortress of Solitude in Superman: Doomsday.

The article "The Mechanical Monsters" is part of the Wikipedia encyclopedia. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU FDL.

modified: 2007-12-11 20:54:12