The Bulleteers

The Bulleteers
Superman series
Title card from The Bulleteers
Directed by	Dave Fleischer
Produced by	Max Fleischer
Story by	Bill Turner Carl Meyer
Voices by	Bud Collyer Joan Alexander Julian Noa Jackson Beck
Music by	Sammy Timberg
Animation by	Orestes Calpini Graham Place
Studio	Fleischer Studios
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	March 26, 1942 (USA)
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	8 min. (one reel)
Language	English
Preceded by	The Arctic Giant (1942)
Followed by	The Magnetic Telescope (1942)

The Bulleteers is the fifth of the seventeen animated Technicolor short films based upon the DC Comics character of Superman, originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. This animated short was created by the Fleischer Studios. The story runs about nine minutes and covers Superman's adventures as he defends the city against a villainous gang called "The Bulleteers", who are equipped with a bullet-shaped rocket car. It was originally released 26 March 1942.

The story begins as the clock strikes midnight. A strange, bullet-shaped rocket-car blows right through the police department, leaving an explosion in its wake. The paper the next day reports the destruction of the building and bafflement of the police. Perry White calls Lois Lane and Clark Kent into his office. Just as he is explaining the report, the sound of a loudspeaker comes in through the window. The leader of the "Bulleteers", as Lois later calls them, is shown announcing from his hideout atop a mountain outside of town, the demands of his gang. Over the speaker, Clark, Lois, and the rest of the town hear it: Turn over the city treasury or other municipal buildings will be next!

Later, Lois asks the mayor what he is doing about the problem. The mayor announces that he will not be swayed by criminals. That day, policemen all over town setup sandbag fortifications for their machine guns and searchlights in preparation for the Bulleteers. At midnight, the gang strikes again, first destroying the town's power plant, bullets from defending policeman bouncing harmlessly off the bullet-car's sleek surface. Lights in the Daily Planet flicker on and off, and Lois takes off in a car to get closer to the scene, leaving Clark behind. Clark takes the opportunity to enter a nearby phone booth and don his Superman costume.

The Bulleteers take aim now at the city's treasury building, but Superman steps in front of them and knocks the rocket-car off course. As they struggle to regain control, he leaps in the air and grabs its front trying again to force it off-course, but the Bulleteers, through wild maneuvering, manage to shake him off the car to the ground below. Superman lunges to keep them from the treasury, only to arrive too late. Piles of rubble from the explosion bury him.