In this one, we got a Godzilla going on!

By this point the opening has solidified (for now anyway). We follow that with news that a “huge monster” has been found frozen in ice in Siberia. For the purposes of this cartoon (and ignoring inaccuracies we’ve discovered since), this is a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It’s not some mutant or alien beast, just a dinosaur frozen since the Mesozoic. It’s worth remembering that, though dinosaurs are ancient, the discovery that T-Rex had existed was still relatively new as of 1942. There were definitely people working on this cartoon who had been children when T-Rex was considered a new find and would probably still think of them as a big deal new monster, appropriate for the big new deal hero of the age.

Anyway, the frozen dino is brought to Metropolis. Perry finds out the thing might still be alive in the ice and sends Lois to investigate. This is a good cartoon for Lois and it all starts with her NOT being sent to get “the women’s angle” for once. She’s full-in on investigating in the face of peril and she’s got quips. That said, it’s Lois’s presence that distracts the worker and causes the dino to thaw (and it thaws amazingly quickly). Still, it is decidedly not her fault.

Did you know that T-Rex was bulletproof? This cartoon knows it. And there is carnage all over the city as its mere presence walking down the road causes panic and accidents. Obviously this is a job for the main guy the cartoon is about. The dino, just deciding to walk through a dam and a bridge instead of going around for some reason, gives our hero a chance to pull off some impressive rescues. Then he captures it. Overall, decent stuff, though slight in the way these shorts kinda have to be.

Aside from it being a good showing for Lois, there’s two things I kinda feel like thinking about: One: Something this short has in common with the most-recent Superman movie, Clark wants to take the giant monster alive. The depiction of it being kept in the zoo at the end of this looks like torture, but the intent of the story is that this is merciful and now there’s a new place where you can go and see a living dinosaur, thanks to Superman.

The other thing is that Superman doesn’t seem to be up to flying yet in this one. If you’d asked me, I’d say we’ve seen him flying in the previous shorts. Certainly he defies gravity while punching his way up the laser that one time and he’s able to change direction mid-leap while dealing with that train that other time. This here time, it’s very pointedly jumping we see. And I have to say, I like it. We should see Superman jump more often.

I am by no means opposed to Clark flying (it’s the heat vision I have a problem with, remember), but I’ve never been big on the floaty Peter Pan-esque flight where he basically takes off by standing on his tip-toes and then floating away. I like it when he has to plant his feet and jump to get in the air. And if he’s not going around the world or anything, why not let him come down and do it again as he goes? It’s makes him seem more physical. And I consider that a plus.

Oh! And it ends with a wink! Very important.