Superman in film the script, giving it a serious feel with Christ-like overtones. Christopher Reeve was cast as Superman, having initially failed to impress the Salkinds before bulking up. Brando meanwhile, despite spending less than two weeks on the shoot, and not even reading the script until then, earned $3.7 million up front, plus 11.75% of the gross profits from the film. The film was a success both critically and commercially, being released during the Christmas season of 1978; it did not have much competition, leading the producers to believe that this was one factor in the film's success. Shooting of the two
Superman (1940s cartoons) collected Fleischer / Famous cartoons were included in the box sets "The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection" and "Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition", where both sets also included a 13-minute short documentary on the history of these cartoons, entitled "First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series". This documentary (which was included on the "Superman II" two-disc special edition DVD) features interviews with surviving members, relatives and biographers of the animation and production team, also contemporary animators such as Bruce Timm (""), Paul Dini and Dan Riba ("") who detail the influence these cartoons have had on their own works. Upon this release though,