American comics: You're asked to fish, but you catch a Superman template?

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If it weren't for the fact that the film was released in Los Angeles and received a good response,

Furthermore, confident in the popularity of Superman, one of the main characters featured in the short film, theaters hesitated to offer such ticket prices.

Of course, despite the listed ticket prices, the box office figures for a short film are still uncertain.

There is no certainty in the film.

1932 was an extremely difficult year for the film industry, with not only a sharp drop in attendance, but also frequent box office failures for many highly anticipated blockbusters.

Paramount, the company that suffered the most severe losses, is now on the verge of bankruptcy, with losses approaching $2000 million.

The same is true for other film companies. Although their individual losses were not as severe as Paramount's, they were still operating at a loss, with the smallest company losing nearly $400 million.

This movie is dead!

This is a slogan that circulated in Hollywood for some time, and it is the cry of more than 10,000 unemployed workers and band actors.

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Movie theaters are prepared to lose money on animated short films.

Even major feature films are already at a disadvantage, not to mention 10-minute animated shorts.

However, at the premiere.

A huge crowd surrounded the theater, eager to see Superman on the big screen.

The cinema clearly did not expect this animated short film to be so popular.

The unprepared theater was immediately packed with people buying tickets to watch the movie.

Many members of the public, unaware of the facts, even thought it was just another protest.

It is said that dozens of police officers were on the scene that night to maintain order, and it took about two or three hours to resolve the situation.

Because of the large crowd, shops around the cinema were opened, resulting in several people sustaining minor injuries.

The last time this happened was when Charlie Chaplin's film "The Light of the City" was released.

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On the other hand, cinemas were indeed in chaos.

Since we did not expect so many viewers, the theater did not prepare enough movie tickets. Moreover, "Superman and Mickey" is an animated short film with a short viewing time.

As soon as the first group left the theater, the next group joined in, and soon there was a constant stream of people wanting to enter the theater.

It is said that the box office staff were unable to handle such a large number of viewers, and at this point, the entire cinema staff and even the owner joined in selling tickets to prevent the crowds from overturning the cinema.

"...There were so many people. They ran into the theater and told me they wanted a copy of 'Superman and Mickey Mouse.' We didn't have time to respond. By the time we realized what was happening, the entire theater was packed with moviegoers. For theaters during the Great Depression, this was almost unimaginable. It wasn't until that moment that I realized we were in deep trouble..."

This was the answer given by the manager at the time in a later interview.

This shows how popular "Superman and Mickey" was when it was released.

Its box office grossed $278 million, which is an amazing achievement for an animated short film.

And this was only in the United States. In fact, in the international market after that, "Superman and Mickey" grossed over 500 million, and the image of Superman became known in Europe outside of the United States from that time onwards...

The more profound impact of the success of "Superman and Mickey" was that the success of the animated short gave Disney more confidence in making animated films, which led to the birth of the classic feature-length animated film "Snow White".

Of course, when the decision was made to make this movie, the whole of Hollywood thought Disney was crazy.

Chapter 619 The Transformation of Classics

Hollywood called producing such an 80-minute film "a foolish move by Disney," as they couldn't believe audiences would pay for and spend over an hour in theaters for a movie then known as a cartoon.

But Walter was adamant: the success of Superman and Mickey Mouse proved to him that animation could indeed attract audiences. If Superman and Mickey could do it, why couldn't Snow White, another Disney film,?

At the time, the only person who supported Walter's decision was Xu Fu, the owner of the Messenger newspaper.

He not only approved Disney's determination to produce a feature-length animated film, but also provided financial assistance to avoid the worst possible disruption in the chain. And as it turned out, Disney and Xu Fu's decision was correct; *Snow White* achieved unprecedented success, becoming the second internationally successful animated film after *Superman* and *Mickey Mouse*, and the first feature-length animated film overall.

...

"Give me a ticket for Superman and Mickey."

"10 cents".

I bought a movie ticket for 10 cents at the cinema.

Xu Fu glanced at the thin movie ticket in his hand, then turned to look at the long row of audience members behind him.

Three days have passed since "Superman" and "Mickey" were released, but the movie theaters are still packed with people.

After getting a movie ticket, Xu Fu walked through the crowd into the theater, found his seat, and sat down, listening to the discussions around him.

With his [super hearing], he was able to survey the theater without leaving his seat. The vast majority of the audience were devoted Superman readers, with a small minority being Mickey Mouse fans as well.

It was certainly exciting to see two beloved characters make their debut in an animated short film.

As the audience eagerly awaited the start of the film, the theater lights were dimmed, and then a large image of Mickey Mouse appeared on the big screen, symbolizing the opening of a Disney animated film.

Superman and Mickey

As Mickey Mouse's image dimmed, the movie title began to appear on the screen.

It is worth noting that the order of the short film titles is slightly different in the versions released in Los Angeles and New York.

In Los Angeles theaters, the short film was shown under the names Mickey and Superman, while in New York, where Xu Fu was located, the short film was changed to Superman and Mickey.

This idea was discussed early in the animation development process.

The purpose is to highlight the differences in popularity among different cities.

In Los Angeles, where Disney's headquarters are located, the focus is naturally on promoting Mickey Mouse, while in New York, Xu Fu is naturally paying attention to Superman's first appearance on the big screen.

A little story about the order of short film titles flashed through my mind.

The movie begins with the classic "Willie the Steamroller" whistle, and Mickey Mouse appears on the big screen in the movie theater.

Mickey: "Cruel, cruel!"

In the kitchen, Mickey was whistling as he ate his breakfast when he suddenly felt the house was a bit empty. He turned and went to the other living room, pressed a few buttons, but didn't hear Pluto's reply. He put his hands on his hips and tried calling out a few more times.

Barbarian: "Woof, woof, woof..."

Suddenly, a few faint voices were heard.

Mickey: "Oh, Brutus, where have you been again?"

Pluto, covered in mud, ran back to the living room amidst Mickey's scolding.

Mickey was about to say something when he saw the dirty Pluto when he was suddenly pulled towards the basement by Pluto's trouser leg.

Mickey: "Brutus, look what you've done! You've made a mess of this place!"

Looking at the messy basement, Mickey got a little angry.

Barbarian: "Woof, woof, woof..."

Brutus wagged his tail again, brought the poster to his mouth, and handed it to Mickey.

Mickey: "What's that?"

Mickey: "Pension?"

Mickey took the poster from Pluto's mouth, opened it, and saw a man wearing a blue bodysuit, a red cape, and a large "S" on his chest, lifting a car high above his head and reading out the name on the poster.

Mickey: "Superan? What's this? Where did you find that poster, Brutus?"

Looking at the Superman poster, Mickey's face showed a puzzled expression.

She turned the question to Pluto, who wagged his tail and barked at Mickey a few times, then nodded to him, revealing the supposed entrance to the basement.

Mickey: "How come I don't remember having such an entrance in the basement?"

A look of surprise flashed across Mickey's face as he saw the entrance that had suddenly appeared.

However, before he could react, he was suddenly thrown against a pillar at the entrance by Brutes, who pulled down his pants.

"I'm so dizzy."

"How did he do that!"

"OMG..."

On the big screen, the image began to rotate from Mickey and Brutus's perspective.

Many viewers felt slightly dizzy, and then gasped.

Multi-plane shooting is a new animation technique pioneered by Disney.

By rotating the image frame by frame, he created the illusion of a moving field of view, making the resulting image appear 3D to the naked eye.

Of course, this is not easy to do.

Walter spent nearly a week creating this short film, which is less than five or six seconds long.

However, the results show that the multi-plane shooting technique conveyed the content of the film more vividly, creating an illusion of presence.

It was through this experimentation in the short film *Superman and Mickey* that Disney later used the technology in a simpler form in *Snow White*. The nightmarish squeezing of the princess lost in the woods and the transformation of the queen after drinking poison were both visual effects created using this new technology.

"Woof, woof, woof..."

"Oh, Brutus!"