Super Lulu (1947) More at IMDbPro »

Of all the major Hollywood studios, Paramount may well have had the worst animation department. The excellent cartoons exhibited in Paramount cinemas in the 1930s (the Popeyes, the wonderfully rotoscoped Superman cartoons, the Betty Boops which I personally dislike) were made by the Fleischer studio for distribution by Paramount. When Paramount actually made cartoons in-house (Casper the Friendly Ghost, Little Lulu, the post-Bluto Popeyes), the results were generally rather dire.

It's significant that, when Paramount wanted a cartoon sequence for 'The Big Broadcast of 1938', the work was jobbed out to Leon Schlesinger's animators at Termite Terrace, who usually laboured for Warner Brothers ... far and away the best cartoon studio in Hollywood history.

The 'Little Lulu' toons are based on a character created for the Saturday Evening Post by Marjorie Henderson Buell (aka 'Marge'), notable only for being one of the very few female cartoonists in what has always been the boys' territory. (The single-named Marge wasn't even a very talented cartoonist; at least two other women -- Dale Messick and Ramona Fradon -- were consistently much better.) Paramount's Lulu cartoons are insipidly plotted and weakly animated; the content is appropriate for very young children, but surely children deserve something better. The Lulus are extremely dated, not least because of the peculiar 1940s hairdo that Lulu wears. From a modern viewpoint, Little Lulu comes off as a weak imitation of Beryl the Peril, a much funnier character. Lulu is voiced by Mae Questel, using the same annoying adenoidal voice she used for Olive Oyl and Betty Boop. Were Paramount simply too lazy to find a better voice artist?

'Super Lulu' is a mildly interesting instalment in the Lulu series, only because it references Superman: a much more important cultural figure who (via Fleischer) was also starring in a Paramount animation series. In this cartoon, Lulu is hooked on Superman comics, and she even daydreams herself as Super Lulu, battling a giant and performing other epic deeds. Lulu's practical-minded father insists that she give up those comic books. SPOILERS COMING. A burglar enters the house, ties up Lulu's father, and proceeds to steal the valuables. (Very considerately, the burglar has dressed himself in an official burglar's uniform: domino mask, striped shirt, flat cap.) Lulu, wearing her Super-suit, gets the jump on the burglar and captures him for the police. Fade out on a happy ending, as Lulu and her father enjoy a Superman comic book together.

I try not to deconstruct children's entertainment, but it's perhaps not a good idea to offer children a story in which a little girl tackles a burglar. I do recall an actual case in Europe, circa 1980, in which a boy about eight years old knocked out a burglar, then told the police afterwards 'I did what Tintin would have done.' Good job it didn't turn out otherwise.

I'll rate 'Super Lulu' one point out of 10, for its depiction of Superman's popularity in the first decade of his career. The other Lulus are worth zero points.