While their creations have not enjoyed the same longevity as their competitors, Dave
and Max Fleischer's contribution to animation is second to none.
Their studio revolutionized the medium, through innovation in synchronized sound and their
signature rotoscoping technique.
Over the span of two decades they created a body of work that was constantly involving,
the influence of which is still felt today.
The Fleischers were born and raised in New York City and it was here they founded Inkwell
Studios in 1921.
Their initial output consisted of Max's early experiments with rotoscoping, a technique
that allowed him to appear in the same film as his animations.
Here we see him interacting with first original creation, Koko the Clown in 1928's Koko's
Earth Control.
This surreal style became synonymous with the city.
The animation was raw, the subjects racy.
These cartoons reflected the anxieties of urban living in the midst of the Great Depression.
Max Fleischer was constantly innovating, inventing new ways to express his vision.
Experimenting with synchronized sound, he coined the Bouncing Ball technique.
This was used mainly in singalong films but proved that audio-visual synchronization was
possible.
He also further developed his rotoscoping process, best explained in this Paramount
promotional film.
The Fleischers are probably best remembered as the creators of Betty Boop, a character
controversial for her depiction of temptation.
Though with the passing of the Hays Code in 1934 her antics were toned down.
Despite censorship, this was probably the height of the Fleischers popularity.
They had licensed the comicstrip character Popeye and turned into a series of successful
shorts.
When their main competitor Walt Disney made the jump to colour cartoons, they responded
with Max Fleischer's Color Classics.
Comparing this to their work just a few years earlier is like night and day.
There is a warmth to these cartoons separate from the colourization.
They have heart.
This is probably best illustrated in 1936's Christmas Comes But Once
a Year.
Due to the high cost of operating out of New York, Fleischer Studios moved to Miami in
the late 1930s.
Paramount had been distributing their films for several years and while Max had been campaigning
for the opportunity to produce a feature length animated film, they always maintained the
financial risk would be too high.
Only after the success of Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves did long-form
animation seem viable.
And so for their first feature they adapted Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.
The production got caught up in the move and faced an 18 month deadline, as Paramount wanted
it for a Christmas release.
They made the deadline at the cost of quality and in the process went well over-budget.
Although the film was a box office success, earning well over 3 million dollars, Paramount
fined the Fleischers $350, 000 for exceeding the original budget.
In an attempt to save the studio from financial ruin, Max acquired the rights to Superman.
The series was a hit but mental and financial stress mounted.
There were personal issues between the brothers and their relationship deteriorated.
Using borrowed money they completed their second feature, Mr. Bug Goes To Town, again,
a Christmas release, in 1941.
By the end of that year Dave had quit the studio, with Max being asked to resign the
following month.
Having loaned the money, Paramount assumed full ownership of Fleischer Studios.
The Fleischers' legacy lives on through their influence and homage.
Now maybe it's the time of year but I'm not looking at them through the lens of their
art or innovations.
I'm seeing them as brothers, Dave, the younger, posing for his brother's early rotoscope experiments.
In all likelihood this is projection, a reach.
It was well-documented they hated each other but I don't think it's possible to hit the
collaborative, creative heights they did without the intrinsic bound of a life shared.
These cartoons came from two psyches with the same experience, the same memories.
Without one, there wouldn't be the other.