Max Fleischer
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Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios, which he co-founded with his younger brother
Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...
. He brought such comic characters as
Koko the Clown Koko the Clown is an animated character created by Max Fleischer. He first appeared as the main protagonist in '' Out of the Inkwell'' (1918-1929), a major animated series of the silent era. Throughout the series, he goes on many adventures with ...
, Betty Boop,
Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
to the movie screen, and was responsible for several technological innovations, including the
rotoscope Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced o ...
, the " follow the bouncing ball" technique pioneered in the ''
Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes '' Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes'', ''Song Car-Tunes'', or (some sources erroneously say) ''Sound Car-Tunes'', is a series of short three-minute animated films produced by Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer between May 1924 and September 1927, pioneering t ...
'' films, and the "
stereoptical process While the history of animation began much earlier, this article is concerned with the development of the medium after the emergence of celluloid film in 1888, as produced for theatrical screenings, television and (non-interactive) home entertai ...
". Film director Richard Fleischer was his son.


Early life

Majer Fleischer was born July 19, 1883, to a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, (then part of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
:
Austrian Partition The Austrian Partition ( pl, zabór austriacki) comprise the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired by the Habsburg monarchy during the Partitions of Poland in the late 18th century. The three partitions were conduct ...
). He was the second of six children of a
tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...
from
Dąbrowa Tarnowska Dąbrowa Tarnowska ( yi, Dombrov) is a town in Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, about north of Tarnów. It is the capital of Dąbrowa County. Before reorganization (in 1999) Dąbrowa Tarnowska was part of Tarnów Voivodeship (1975–1998 ...
, Aaron Fleischer, who later changed his name to William in the United States, and Malka "Amelia" Pałasz. His family immigrated to the United States in March 1887, settling in New York City, where he attended public school. During his early formative years, he enjoyed a middle-class lifestyle, the result of his father's success as an exclusive tailor to high society clients. This changed drastically after his father lost his business ten years later. His teens were spent in Brownsville, a poor Jewish neighborhood in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. He continued his education at evening high school. He received commercial art training at
Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...
and formal art instruction at the Art Students League of New York, studying under
George Bridgman George Brant Bridgman (November 5, 1864 – December 16, 1943) was a Canadian-American painter, writer, and teacher in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Bridgman taught anatomy for artists at the Art Students League of New York for some ...
. He also attended the Mechanics and Tradesman's School in midtown
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. Fleischer began his career at ''
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...
''. Beginning as an errand boy, he advanced to photographer, photoengraver, and eventually, staff cartoonist. At first, he drew single-panel editorial cartoons, but then graduated to the full strips "Little Algie" and "S.K. Sposher, the Camera Fiend". These satirical strips reflected his life in Brownsville and his fascination with technology and photography, respectively—both displaying his sense of irony and fatalism. It was during this period he met newspaper cartoonist and early animator, John Randolph Bray, who would later give him his start in the animation field. On December 25, 1905, Fleischer married his childhood sweetheart, Ethel (Essie) Goldstein. On the recommendation of Bray, Fleischer was hired as a technical illustrator for the Electro-Light Engraving Company in Boston. In 1909 he moved to
Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
, working as a catalog illustrator for the Crouse-Hinds Company, and a year later returned to New York as art editor for ''
Popular Science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
'' magazine under editor
Waldemar Kaempffert Waldemar Kaempffert (September 27, 1877 - November 27, 1956) was an American science writer and museum director. Career Waldemar (Bernhard) Kaempffert was born and raised in New York City. He received his Bachelor of Science from the City Coll ...
.


Career


The rotoscope

By 1914, the first commercially produced animated cartoons began to appear in movie theaters. They tended to be stiff and jerky. Fleischer devised an improvement in animation through a combined projector and easel for tracing images from a live-action film. This device, known as the
rotoscope Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced o ...
, enabled Fleischer to produce the first realistic animation since the initial works of
Winsor McCay Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip ''Little Nemo'' (1905–14; 1924–26) and the animated film ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he worke ...
. Although his patent was granted in 1917, Max and his brothers Joe and
Dave Fleischer Dave Fleischer (; July 14, 1894 – June 25, 1979) was an American film director and producer, best known as a co-owner of Fleischer Studios with his older brother Max Fleischer. He was a native of New York City. Biography Fleischer was the ...
made their first series of tests between 1914 and 1916.


First venture

The Pathé Film exchange offered Max his first opportunity as a producer due in part to the fact that Dave had been working there as a film cutter since 1914. Max chose a political satire of a hunting trip by
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
. After several months of labor, the film was rejected, and Max was making the rounds again when he was reunited with John R. Bray at Paramount. Bray had a distribution contract with Paramount at the time and hired Max as production supervisor for his studio. With the outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Max was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma to produce the first Army training films on subjects that included ''Contour Map Reading'', ''Operating the Stokes Mortar'', ''Firing the Lewis Machine Gun'', and ''Submarine Mine Laying''. Following the
Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...
, Fleischer returned to Bray and the production of theatrical and educational films.


The Inkwell Studios

Fleischer produced his ''
Out of the Inkwell ''Out of the Inkwell'' is an American major animated series of the silent era produced by Max Fleischer from 1918 to 1929. History The series was the result of three short experimental films that Max Fleischer independently produced from 191 ...
'' films featuring "The Clown" character, which his brother Dave originated; he had worked as a sideshow clown at Coney Island. It was one of the later tests made from footage of Dave as a clown that interested Bray. Fleischer's initial series was first produced at the
Bray Studios Bray Productions was a pioneering American animation studio that produced several popular cartoons during the years of World War I and the early interwar era, becoming a springboard for several key animators of the 20th century, including the ...
and released as a monthly installment in the ''Bray-Goldwyn Pictograph Screen Magazine'' from 1919 to 1921. In addition to producing ''Out of the Inkwell'', Max's position at Bray was primarily production manager, and supervisor of several educational and technical films such as ''The Electric Bell'', ''All Aboard for the Moon'', and ''Hello, Mars''. And it was as production manager that Fleischer hired his first animator,
Roland Crandall Roland Dimon "Doc" Crandall (August 29, 1892 - August 14, 1972) was an American animator. He is best known for his work at Fleischer Studio, especially on the Betty Boop version of ''Snow White'' and as lead animator with Seymour Kneitel on the ...
, who remained with him throughout the active years of Fleischer's studio. ''Out of the Inkwell'' featured the novelty of combining live action and animation and served as semi-documentaries with the appearance of Max Fleischer as the artist who dipped his pen into the ink bottle to produce the clown figure on his drawing board. While the technique of combining animation with live action was already established by others at the Bray Studio, it was Fleischer's clever use of it combined with Fleischer's realistic animation that made his series unique. In 1921, Max and Dave established Out of the Inkwell Films, Incorporated, and continued production of ''Out of the Inkwell'' through various states-rights distributors. "The Clown" had no name until 1924, when Dick Huemer came aboard after animating on the early ''
Mutt and Jeff ''Mutt and Jeff'' was a long-running and widely popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about "two mismatched tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept of a newspape ...
'' cartoons. He set the style for the series, redesigning "The Clown", and named him "Ko-Ko". Huemer created Ko-Ko's canine companion, known as Fitz, and moved the Fleischers away from their dependency on the Rotoscope for fluid animation, leaving it for special uses and reference points where compositing was involved. Because Max valued Huemer's work, he instructed Huemer to make just the key poses and have an assistant fill in the remaining drawings. Max assigned Art Davis as Huemer's assistant and this was the beginning of the animation position of "inbetweener", which was essentially another Fleischer "invention" that resulted in efficient production and was adopted by the entire industry by the 1930s. It was during this time that Max developed rotoscoping, a means of photographing live action film footage with animation cels for a composited image. This was an improvement over the method used by Bray where a series of 8" x 10" stills were made from motion picture film and used as backgrounds behind animation cels. The Rotograph technique went into more general use as "aerial image photography" and was a staple in animation and optical effects companies for making titles and various forms of matte composites. In addition to the theatrical comedy films, Fleischer produced technical and educational films including ''That Little Big Fellow'' and ''Now You're Talking'' for A.T.&T. In 1923, he made two 20-minute features explaining
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
's Theory of Relativity and
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
's ''Evolution'' using animated special effects and live action.


Red Seal

In 1924, Fleischer partnered with Edwin Miles Fadiman,
Hugo Riesenfeld Hugo Riesenfeld (January 26, 1879 – September 10, 1939) was an Austrian-American composer. As a film director, he began to write his own orchestral compositions for silent films in 1917, and co-created modern production techniques where film ...
and Lee de Forest to form Red Seal Pictures Corporation, which owned 36 theaters on the East Coast, extending as far west as
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. During this period, Fleischer invented the " Follow the Bouncing Ball" technique in his ''
Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes '' Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes'', ''Song Car-Tunes'', or (some sources erroneously say) ''Sound Car-Tunes'', is a series of short three-minute animated films produced by Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer between May 1924 and September 1927, pioneering t ...
'' series of animated sing-along shorts. In these films, the lyrics of a song appear on screen and theater patrons are encouraged to sing along with the characters. An animated ball bounces across the top of the lyrics to indicate when words should be sung. Of the 36 ''Song Car-Tunes'' 12 used the De Forest
Phonofilm Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s. Introduction In 1919 and 1920, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patents on a sound-on-film proce ...
sound-on-film Sound-on-film is a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying a picture is recorded on photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog ...
process, the first of which was ''
My Old Kentucky Home "My Old Kentucky Home, Good-Night!" is a sentimental ballad written by Stephen Foster, probably composed in 1852. It was published in January 1853 by Firth, Pond, & Co. of New York. Foster was likely inspired by Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-sla ...
'' in 1926. This preceded
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
's ''
Steamboat Willie ''Steamboat Willie'' is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black and white by Walt Disney Studios and was released by Pat Powers, under the name of Celebrity Productions. The cartoon ...
'' (1928), which has been erroneously cited for decades as the first cartoon to synchronize sound with animation. The ''Song Car-Tunes'' series lasted until early 1927 and was interrupted by the bankruptcy of the Red Seal company—just five months before the start of the sound era. Alfred Weiss, owner of Artcraft Pictures, approached Fleischer with a contract to produce cartoons for Paramount. Due to legal complications of the bankruptcy, the ''Out of the Inkwell'' series was renamed ''The Inkwell Imps'' and ran from 1927 to 1929. This was the start of Fleischer's relationship with the huge Paramount organization, which lasted for the next 15 years. After a year, the Fleischer brothers started experiencing mismanagement under Weiss and left the company in late 1928. Inkwell Films, Inc. filed for bankruptcy in January 1929, and Fleischer formed Fleischer Studios, Inc. in March 1929.


Fleischer Studios, Inc.

In 1935, the Mother Goose-themed short film '' The Kids in the Shoe'' was released. Fleischer first set up operations at Carpenter-Goldman Laboratories in Queens with a small staff (see Fleischer Studios). After eight months, his new company was solvent enough to move back to its former location at 1600 Broadway, where it remained until 1938. At Carpenter-Goldman, Fleischer began producing industrial films including ''
Finding His Voice ''Finding His Voice'' (1929) is a short film, created as an instructional film on how the Western Electric sound-on-film recording system worked. Recording stars Billy Murray and Walter Scanlan, uncredited, provide the speaking and singing voi ...
'' (1929), a demonstration film illustrating the Western Electric Variable Density sound recording and reproduction method. Despite the conflicts with Weiss, Fleischer managed to negotiate a new contract with Paramount to produce a revised version of the "Song Car-tunes", produced with sound and renamed''
Screen Songs ''Screen Songs'', formerly known as KoKo Song Car-Tunes, are a series of animated cartoons produced at the Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1938. Paramount brought back the sing-along cartoons in 1945, n ...
'', beginning with ''
The Sidewalks of New York "The Sidewalks of New York" is a popular song about life in New York City during the 1890s. It was composed in 1894 by vaudeville actor and singer Charles B. Lawlor (June 2, 1852 – May 31, 1925) with lyrics by James W. Blake (September 23, ...
''. At this early stage in the sound era, Fleischer produced many technically advanced films that were the result of his continued research and development that perfected the post-production method of sound recording. Several of these devices provided visual cues for the musical conductor to follow. As dialogue and songs became major elements, more precise analysis of soundtracks was possible through other inventions from Fleischer such as "The Cue Meter".


Betty Boop

Max Fleischer's Betty Boop character was born out of a cameo caricature in the early ''
Talkartoon ''Talkartoons'' is a series of 42 animated cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1932. History For the Fleischer brothers, the transition to sound was relatively easy. With the new contr ...
'', ''
Dizzy Dishes ''Dizzy Dishes'' is an animated cartoon created by Fleischer Studios in 1930, as part of the ''Talkartoon'' series. It is noted for being the first cartoon in which Betty Boop appears. Plot The cartoon begins with four anthropomorphic flappe ...
'' (1930). Fashioned after popular singer
Helen Kane Helen Kane (born Helen Clare Schroeder, August 4, 1904 – September 26, 1966) was an American singer and actress. Her signature song was " I Wanna Be Loved by You" (1928), featured in the 1928 stage musical ''Good Boy''. The song was written for ...
, she originated as a hybrid poodle/canine figure and was such a sensation in the New York preview that Paramount encouraged Fleischer to develop her into a continuing character. While she originated under animator Myron "Grim" Natwick, she was transformed into a human female under Seymour Kneitel and
Berny Wolf Bernard "Berny" Wolf (July 18, 1911 – September 7, 2006) was an American animator and television producer. Wolf was born in New York City. His career in animation started in 1927, when he began work as an inker on Charles Mintz' Krazy Kat silen ...
and became Fleischer's most famous character. The "Betty Boop" series began in 1932 and became a big success for Fleischer. That same year, Helen Kane filed a lawsuit against Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, and Paramount claiming that the cartoons were a deliberate caricature of her, created unfair competition, and had ruined her career. The suit went to trial in 1934. An early-sound test film of an obscure Black performer, "Baby Esther" Jones, was shown as key evidence—disproving Kane's claims as originator of the singing style. Judge Edward J. McGoldrick ruled, "The plaintiff has failed to sustain either cause of action by proof of sufficient probative force." In his opinion, the "baby" technique of singing did not originate with Kane.'' The Mansfield News'', May 5, 1934.


Popeye the Sailor

Fleischer's greatest business decision came with his licensing of the
comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
character
Popeye the Sailor Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Popeye the Sailor Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Mickey Mouse in popularity, challenging Disney's preeminence in the market.


Paramount

During its zenith by the mid-1930s, Fleischer Studios was producing four series, '' Betty Boop'', ''
Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Screen Songs ''Screen Songs'', formerly known as KoKo Song Car-Tunes, are a series of animated cartoons produced at the Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1938. Paramount brought back the sing-along cartoons in 1945, n ...
'', and ''
Color Classics ''Color Classics'' are a series of animated short films produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1934 to 1941 as a competitor to Walt Disney's ''Silly Symphonies''. As the name implies, all of the shorts were made in color fo ...
'', resulting in 52 releases each year. From the very beginning, Fleischer's business relationship with Paramount was a joint financial and distribution arrangement, making his studio a service company supplying products for the company's theaters. During the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, Paramount went through four bankruptcy reorganizations, which affected their operational expenses. As a founding member of the
Society of Motion Picture Engineers The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and executives working in the m ...
, Fleischer was aware of the technical advancements of the industry, particularly in the development of color cinematography. Due to Paramount's financial restructuring, he was unable to acquire the three-color Technicolor process from the start. This created the opportunity for
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
, who was then a small fledgling producer, to acquire a four-year exclusivity. With this, he created a new market for color cartoons beginning with ''
Flowers and Trees ''Flowers and Trees'' is a 1932 '' Silly Symphonies'' cartoon produced by Walt Disney, directed by Burt Gillett, and released to theatres by United Artists on July 30, 1932. It was the first commercially released film to be produced in the full- ...
'' (1932). In 1934 Paramount approved color production for Fleischer, but he was left with the limited two-color processes of
Cinecolor Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two-color motion picture process that was based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and the 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel and ...
(red and blue) and Two-Color Technicolor (red and green) for the first year of his ''
Color Classics ''Color Classics'' are a series of animated short films produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1934 to 1941 as a competitor to Walt Disney's ''Silly Symphonies''. As the name implies, all of the shorts were made in color fo ...
''. The first entry, ''
Poor Cinderella ''Poor Cinderella'' (original title as ''Betty Boop in Poor Cinderella'') is a 1934 Fleischer Studios animated short film featuring Betty Boop. ''Poor Cinderella'' was Fleischer Studios' first color film, and the only appearance of Betty Boop in ...
'' (1934) was made in the two-emulsion/two-color Cinecolor Process and starred Betty Boop in her only color appearance. By 1936, Disney's exclusivity had expired, and Fleischer had the benefit of the three-color Technicolor Process beginning with ''
Somewhere in Dreamland ''Somewhere in Dreamland'' is a 1936 animated short in Max Fleischer's Color Classics series. The film was produced by Max Fleischer, directed by Dave Fleischer, co-directed by Dawn Fleischer, and was animated by Fleischer veterans Seymour Kneite ...
''. These color cartoons were often augmented with Fleischer's patented three-dimensional effects promoted as the "Stereoptical Process", a precursor to Disney's Multiplane animation. This technique used 3-D model sets replacing flat pan backgrounds, with the animation cels photographed in front. This technique was used to the greatest degree in the two-reel ''Popeye Features'' '' Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor'' (1936) and ''
Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves ''Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves'' is a two-reel animated cartoon short subject in the '' Popeye Color Feature'' series, produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on November 26, 1937 by Paramount Pictures. It was pro ...
'' (1937). These double-length cartoons demonstrated Fleischer's interest in animated feature films. While Fleischer petitioned for this for three years, it was not until the New York opening at Radio City of Disney's ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...
'' (February 1938) that Paramount executives realized the value of animated features and ordered one for a 1939 Christmas release.


Decline

The popularity of the Popeye cartoons created a demand for more. To meet Paramount's demands, the studio was challenged with rapid expansion, production speed-ups, and crowded working conditions. Finally, in May 1937, Fleischer Studios was affected by a five-month strike, resulting in a boycott that kept the studio's releases off theater screens until November. Having a paternal attitude towards his employees, Max took it personally, as if he had been betrayed, and thus developed an ulcer. Following the strike, Max and Dave Fleischer decided to move the studio for more space and to escape further labor agitation. In March 1938, Paramount approved Max's proposal to produce a feature just when he was preparing to move the studio from New York City to
Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
. Once in Miami relations between Max and Dave began deteriorating, beginning with the pressures to deliver their first feature, complicated further by Dave's adulterous affair with his secretary, Mae Schwartz. Jonathan Swift's classic novel '' Gulliver's Travels'' was a favorite of Max's and was pressed into production. Fleischer and Paramount originally budgeted the film '' Gulliver's Travels'' at $500,000—the same miscalculation made by Disney with ''Snow White''. The final cost for ''Gulliver's Travels'' was three times budget, or $1.5 million. It played limited engagements in only 30 theaters during the 1939 Christmas season, but grossed more than $3 million, giving Paramount a profit of $1.5 million before going into foreign release. But Fleischer Studios was penalized $350,000 for going over budget, and the contract did not allow Max and Fleischer Studios participation in the foreign earnings. This was the beginning of the financial difficulties of Fleischer Studios with reduced royalties due to this debt to Paramount. In 1940, Max was relegated to business affairs and continued technical development. His efforts resulted in a reflex camera viewfinder and line transfer methods to replace the time-consuming and tedious process of cel inking. That same year Fleischer and Paramount experienced lost revenues due to the failure of the new series '' Gabby'', ''
Animated Antics ''Animated Antics'' is an animated cartoon series produced by the Fleischer Studios from 1940 through 1941, and distributed through Paramount Pictures. Each cartoon ran less than 7 minutes, all in black & white (reports that ''Copy Cat'' was i ...
'', and ''
Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
'', all launched under the leadership of Dave. After
Republic Studios Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...
allegedly failed to develop
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
as a live-action serial, Max acquired the license that fall and initiated development. The cost for the ''
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
'' series has been grossly overstated for decades, based on Dave Fleischer's 1968 interview. The actual figure stated in Fleischer's contract was in the $30,000 range, twice the cost of a Popeye cartoon. ''Superman'' was a reflection of the type of "serious" cartoons that were not being made by rival studios. Their science fiction/fantasy elements appealed to Max's interests, finally leading the studio into maturity and relevance for the 1940s. The early returns on ''Gulliver'' prompted Paramount President, Barney Balaban, to order a second feature for their 1941 Christmas release. This second feature, ''
Mr. Bug Goes to Town ''Mr. Bug Goes to Town'' (also known as ''Hoppity Goes to Town'' and ''Bugville'') is a 1941 American animated Technicolor feature film produced by Fleischer Studios, previewed by Paramount Pictures on December 5, 1941, and released in California ...
'', was unique, having a contemporary setting. It was technically superior to ''Gulliver's Travels''. Paramount had high hopes for its Christmas 1941 release, which was well-received by critics during its December 5 preview. However, the exhibitors rejected it, fearing that it would not do business, and with the bombing of Pearl Harbor two days after the preview, the original Christmas release was cancelled. With the cancellation of the release of ''Mr. Bug Goes to Town'', Max was called to a meeting with Balaban in New York, where Max was asked for his resignation. Dave had resigned the month before, following the completion of post-production on the film. Paramount finished out the remaining five months of the 1941 Fleischer contract with the absence of both Max and Dave Fleischer, and the name change to Famous Studios became official on May 27, 1942. Paramount installed new management, among them Max's son-in-law, Seymour Kneitel.


Later career

Unable to form a studio due to the demand for military training films, Fleischer was brought in as head of the Animation Department for the industrial film company, The Jam Handy Organization in Detroit, Michigan. While there he supervised the technical and cartoon animation departments, producing training films for the Army and Navy. Fleischer was also involved with top-secret research and development for the war effort including an aircraft bomber sighting system. In 1944, he published '' Noah's Shoes'', a metaphoric account of the building and loss of his studio, casting himself as Noah. Following the war, he supervised the production of the animated adaptation of ''
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on ...
'' (1948), sponsored by
Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...
. Fleischer left Handy in 1953 and returned as Production Manager for the
Bray Studios Bray Productions was a pioneering American animation studio that produced several popular cartoons during the years of World War I and the early interwar era, becoming a springboard for several key animators of the 20th century, including the ...
in New York, where he developed an educational television pilot about unusual birds and animals titled, '' Imagine That!'' In 1954, Max's son, Richard Fleischer, was directing ''
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-J ...
'' for
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
. This brought about the honorary luncheon that united Max with his former competitor and reunited him with several former Fleischer animators who were then employed by Disney. This meeting of the former rivals seemed cordial, and Max remarked that he was very happy making educational films at this point in his career. However, in his collection of memoirs entitled ''Just Tell Me When to Cry'', Richard relates how, at the mere mention of Disney's name, Max would mutter, "that son-of-a-bitch". Fleischer won a lawsuit against Paramount in 1955 over the removal of his name from the credits of his films. While Fleischer had issues over the breach of contract, he had avoided suing for a decade to protect his son-in-law, Seymour Kneitel, who was a lead director at Paramount's Famous Studios. In 1958, Fleischer revived Out of the Inkwell Films, Inc. and partnered with his former animator
Hal Seeger Harold Seeger (May 16, 1917 – March 13, 2005) was an American animated cartoon producer and director who owned his own studio the Hal Seeger Studio (Hal Seeger Productions). He is most famous as the creator of the 1960s animated series '' Batfi ...
, to produce 100 color ''
Out of the Inkwell ''Out of the Inkwell'' is an American major animated series of the silent era produced by Max Fleischer from 1918 to 1929. History The series was the result of three short experimental films that Max Fleischer independently produced from 191 ...
'' (1960–1961) cartoons for television. Actor
Larry Storch Lawrence Samuel Storch (January 8, 1923 – July 8, 2022) was an American actor and comedian best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for cartoon shows such as Mr. Whoopee on ''Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales'' and hi ...
performed the voices for
Koko the Clown Koko the Clown is an animated character created by Max Fleischer. He first appeared as the main protagonist in '' Out of the Inkwell'' (1918-1929), a major animated series of the silent era. Throughout the series, he goes on many adventures with ...
and supporting characters Kokonut and Mean Moe. While Max appeared in the un-aired pilot, he became too ill to appear in the series, and, in poor health, he spent the rest of his life attempting to regain ownership of Betty Boop. Fleischer and wife Essie moved to the Motion Picture Country House in 1967. Fleischer died from arterial sclerosis of the brain on September 25, 1972, two months after his 89th birthday, and in announcing his passing the press labeled him "dean of animated cartoons". His death preceded the reclaiming of his star character, Betty Boop, and a national retrospective. The anthology film '' The Betty Boop Scandals of 1974'' started the Fleischer Renaissance with new 35mm prints of a selection of the best Fleischer cartoons made between 1928 and 1934. This was followed by '' The Popeye Follies''. These special theatrical programs generated interest in Max Fleischer as the alternative to Walt Disney, spawning a new wave of film research devoted to an expanded interest in animation beyond trivial entertainment.


References

;Notes ;Citations


Bibliography

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External links

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Freely downloadable Max Fleischer cartoons

The history of the Fleischer's ''Popeye'' seriesMax Fleischer
at the
TCM Movie Database Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...
*
Max Fleischer Biography

Out of the Inkwell

''Ko-Ko Song Car Tunes''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleischer, Max 1883 births 1972 deaths Fleischer family American animators Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States American people of Austrian-Jewish descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent Artists from New York City American animated film directors American animated film producers American surrealist artists Surrealist filmmakers Jewish American artists Film directors from New York City Film producers from New York (state) 20th-century American inventors Fleischer Studios people Popeye Bray Productions people