This is another great Superman cartoon, not one of the best the Fleischers made, but still entertaining.

The story is about this fictional volcano called Mt. Monokoa, on a fictional unnamed island. On this island occurred the mightiest erruption that ever shook the earth, burying the beautiful city beneath it in molten lava, and creating destructive tidal waves that raced around the world. For 300 years, the mighty volcano lay dormant. A new and more beautiful city sprang up at its base. But now, after centuries of inactivity, slight tremors are being felt. Scientists of course watchfully check delicate instruments to determine the seriousness of the renewed activity. And that's when Lois and Clark of course are sent to report about it. On arrival, Clark has lost his press pass, but without him knowing, it's actually Lois who has stolen his press pass. As Clark goes to the town to acquire another pass, Lois takes a tour of the volcano. Her guide tells her that the plan to save the city is to blow a hole in the side of the volcano, thus altering the course of the lava flow away from the town, to the ocean on the other side of the island. Suddenly, the volcano begins to erupt, and lava spews out of its top, flowing towards the town. Lois and her guide are separated. Two men on the other side of the volcano scramble to get to the machinery which will blow a hole in its side, but a giant boulder cuts the wire connecting the dynamite to the machine. Now it's up to Superman to save the day.

Not one of the best ones that the Fleischers made, i like the other ones better. I don't know how to explain why. Maybe some of the animation is a bit sloppier than in the others. And the cartoon also tries to copy the spectacular scene in the Magnetic Telescope, where Superman grabs both ends of this cut wire, allowing the electric current to run through his chest from arm to arm, in the end of this cartoon. Some on IMDB also complain that Lois is a brat, when she steals Clark's press pass. Stuff like that doesn't really ruin the cartoon for me, since in my opinion it only makes the characters more realistic. So with all of that said, what did i like about this cartoon. Well i like the fact that in this one, it's not a villain or a monster Superman is fighting, for once, but a natural disaster. Fighting natural disasters is also a very cliche superhero challenge or task nowadays, but like i said in my review of Billion Dollar Limited, the plots in these shorts were original for they're time, and were some of the first films with these kinda plots. And this is the first and only time in this series, that Superman is fighting a natural disaster. Something different from the other cartoons, but great. I also really love the animation on the lava. And there are some really exciting scenes where Superman saves the town from the Volcano in this. My favorite scene is when Superman flies up to the volcano, catching a huge boulder hurtling toward the town and flinging it into the ocean. Great stuff!

This one is very entertaining. Not my favorite, but well worth a look. 8/10.

As part of sitting through the old 1940s "Superman" animated stories, I came upon the 1942 "Volcano".

I have watched it before, during my childhood in the 1980s, so it wasn't exactly anything new and undiscovered for me. However, I will say that it was nice to get to sit down and watch it again. I watched it for the first time about some 40 years after it was initially released, and then watched it against some 40 years after my first time watching it. I am sort of seeing a pattern here.

The storyline in "Volcano" was pretty straight forward. However, I found the story that Bill Turner and Carl Meyer wrote for this particular short animated feature to be a bit too simplistic. Sure, it is limited what you can manage to accomplish in just 8 minutes, but some of the other stories from the same era were more well-rounded.

Sure, "Volcano" was watchable and enjoyable, and definitely felt like something in the spirit of "Superman". The narrative was just a bit too generic and predictable.

All in all watchable for what it was. My rating of "Volcano" from directors Dave Fleischer and Willard Bowsky lands on a six out of ten stars.

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.

Mt. Monokoa, which has been dormant for about 300 years, is getting ready to erupt. In order to save the town at its base, some scientists plan to blow away the rim of the volcano facing away from the town. The hopes being the lava would flow towards the sea and spare the town. Lois and Clark are sent to cover the story, but Lois has stolen Clark's press pass so that she can have the story to herself. While Lois is being given a tour of the volcano, it erupts (of course). In the town below, Clark changes into Superman and tries to save Lois and finish the job the scientists started with altering the lava flow away from the town.

This is the eighth in the series and, while it's still entertaining, some noticeable flaws stand out more than usual. For starters, the action isn't quite as good as you might expect given that a freaking volcano is erupting. Then there's some rather sloppy animation in the later parts of the cartoon. They also try to replicate the spectacular sequence from The Magnetic Telescope where Superman picks up two ends of wire and conducts electricity through his body. It does not have the same impressive impact as the earlier cartoon, however. It's not one of the series' best but still enjoyable.