{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = Electric Earthquake | image = Electricearthquake1.JPG | caption = Title card from ''Electric Earthquake'' | director = Dave Fleischer | story = Seymour Kneitel <br /> Isidore Sparber | animator = Steve Muffati <br /> Arnold Gillespie | based_on = {{Based on|Superman||Jerry Siegel|Joe Shuster}} | starring = Bud Collyer <br /> Joan Alexander <br /> Julian Noa <br /> Jackson Beck | music = Sammy Timberg | producer = Max Fleischer | studio = Fleischer Studios | distributor = Paramount Pictures | released = {{Film date|1942|05|15}} | color_process = Technicolor | runtime = 9 minutes (one reel) | language = English }}
'''''Electric Earthquake''''' (1942) is the seventh of seventeen animated Technicolor short films based upon the DC Comics character of Superman, originally created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. This animated short was created by the Fleischer Studios. The story runs for about nine minutes and covers Superman's adventures in stopping a madman from destroying Manhattan with electronically induced earthquakes. It was originally released on May 15, 1942.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |page=139}}</ref> This is the first of the films to make it clear that the action is taking place in Manhattan.
==Plot== thumb|right|200px|The animated short A Native American scientist demands the ''Daily Planet'' run a report that Manhattan belongs to his people and should be immediately vacated. Perry White dismisses him as a crank, and he storms off with a vague threat. Intrigued, Lois follows him to his motorboat. Hiding in the back, Lois is taken to a deserted fishing house and an elevator leading underwater. The scientist spots her in the elevator's reflection, brings her to his underwater capsule on the ocean floor, and restrains her in a mechanical chair. He starts up an earthquake machine, sending a surge of electricity through wires and into the bedrock under the city. This causes the entire city to shake and crumble. Clark Kent changes into his Superman costume.
thumb|left|Starting up the earthquake machine.
Superman dives into the ocean and notices the wires embedded in the rock. He tries pulling them out, but the ends repeatedly explode in his face, destroying the bedrock, and tangle him up. Finally, Superman follows the wires to the underwater capsule and pulls them out from its base, causing explosions that destroy the machine. As water floods the capsule, the scientist takes the elevator to the surface. Superman spots the elevator and catches the scientist at the top, but is told that Lois is trapped, and darts back down to save her. The scientist loads the elevator with dynamite and sends it down after him. Superman frees Lois before the capsule explodes and captures the scientist as he is making a getaway in his motorboat.
Later, Clark and Lois watch the now-rebuilt Manhattan from a cruise ship and agree that it "looks just as good as ever".
==Cast== * Bud Collyer as Clark Kent/Superman * Joan Alexander as Lois Lane * Julian Noa as Perry White * Jackson Beck as the Narrator, Native American Scientist
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{YouTube|2Btl1q2ZZEA|''Electric Earthquake'' (1942) (Fleischer Superman Cartoon #7)}} * [https://www.archive.org/details/superman_electric_earthquake ''Electric Earthquake''] at the Internet Archive * [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034699/ ''Electric Earthquake''] at the Internet Movie Database
{{Supermanshorts}}
Category:1942 films Category:1942 American animated films Category:1940s animated superhero films Category:Superman animated shorts Category:Fleischer Studios short films Category:Short films directed by Dave Fleischer Category:Paramount Pictures short films Category:Films about earthquakes Category:Films scored by Winston Sharples Category:Films scored by Sammy Timberg Category:Films scored by Lou Fleischer Category:1942 animated short films Category:Films set in Manhattan Category:Articles containing video clips