Fleischer Studios

Fleischer Studios was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of its films. In its prime, Fleischer Studios was a premier producer of animated cartoons for theaters, with Walt Disney Productions being its chief competitor in the 1930s. Today [as of 2023?], the company is again family owned and oversees the licensing and merchandising for its characters. Fleischer Studios included Out of the Inkwell and Talkartoons characters like, Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Bimbo, Popeye the Sailor, and the comic character Superman. Unlike other studios, whose characters were anthropomorphic animals, the Fleischers' most successful characters were humans (with the exception of Bimbo, a black-and-white cartoon dog). The cartoons of the Fleischer Studio were very different from those of Disney, both in concept and in execution. As a result, they were rough rather than refined and consciously artistic rather than commercial, but in their unique way, their artistry was expressed through a culmination of the arts and sciences. This approach focused on surrealism, dark humor, adult psychological elements, and sexuality. Furthermore, the environments were grittier and urban, often set in squalid surroundings, reflecting the Great Depression as well as German Expressionism. History The Silent Era The Fleischer Studio was built on Max Fleischer's novelty film series Out of the Inkwell (1919–1927). The novelty was based largely on the results of the "rotoscope", invented by Fleischer to produce realistic animation. The first Out of the Inkwell films were produced through The Bray Studio. They featured Fleischer's first character, "The Clown," which became known as Ko-Ko the Clown in 1924.