Max Fleischer Movies
Austrian-born cartoonist/animator Max Fleischer moved to the U.S. with his family at age four. He initially studied to be a mechanic, but chose instead a career in art, beginning with a photo-engraving job on the Brooklyn Eagle. While working at Popular Science Monthly, Fleischer developed an interest in the burgeoning field of animation. Together with his younger brother Dave, Fleischer began producing instructional cartoons for the Army in 1915; during this period, the Fleischer brothers developed and patented the Rotoscope process, wherein live-action films are traced frame-by-frame onto animation cells. With Dave working as his live model, Max inaugurated his own cartoon series, officially titled "Out of the Inkwell" but more popularly known as "Koko the Clown." These short cartoons ingeniously (and sometimes brilliantly) combined animation with live action, usually in the form of an on-screen Max Fleischer wielding his pen to "create" Ko-Ko before our eyes.A second series of Fleischer cartoons encouraged the theatre audience to sing along with the printed lyrics of popular tunes by "following the bouncing ball;" this series would yield an experimental 1925 sound cartoon, Sweet Adeline. When talking pictures were permanently established in 1929, Fleischer began releasing his product through Paramount pictures, an association which lasted for 13 years. Maxs 1930s cartoon output included such "stars" as Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor and such portmanteau animated series as Color Classics. Fleischer was at his best with grotesquely designed characters and wild nonsequitur sight gags; he was at his worst when trying to emulate Walt Disney. A bitter strike in 1937 prompted the Fleischer brothers to move their studios from New York to Florida. It was down among the sheltering palms that Max and Dave produced their first feature-length cartoon, Gulliver's Travels (1939), at the command of Paramount, which wanted a success commensurate to Disney's Snow White (1938). Plagued by inconsistent animation and unappealing characters, Gulliver's Travels was an artistic disappointment, though it posted enough of a profit to encourage Fleischer's next feature cartoon, Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941); this one died at the boxoffice, irreparably damaging the relationship between Fleischer and Paramount.
In 1941, Max and Dave launched their most ambitious project to date: the elaborate and expensive Superman cartoon series. When flagging box-office receipts failed to justify continuing the Superman series, Max and Dave Fleischer split up, and their animation staff was taken over by Paramount. Dave moved to Columbia Pictures, while Max went into the industrial-cartoon field. Until the day he died, Max held Walt Disney responsible for his ultimate downfall, claiming that Disney had lifted his best ideas (including Max's 3-dimensional background process) and wooed away his best people; actually, Max's failure was more due to his profligate budgets and his inability to see eye-to-eye with his brother Dave. Max's last professional stint was as "guest star" on the pilot episode of a new series of Koko the Clown TV cartoons in 1961. Max Fleischer was the father of prominent live-action director Richard Fleischer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1948
The rare original version of the classic underdog holiday story by ace animator Max Fleischer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1942
An excited astronomer presents to the world his new creation, a magnetic telescope that exerts tremendous pull upon objects in outer space. Daily Planet reporters Lois Lane and Clark Kent, along with Planet editor Perry White are present at the initial presentation, and witness how the telescope succeeds in capturing a meteor and altering its path. Unfortunately, the telescope cannot adequately control the meteor, and fragments plummet down upon the city of Metropolis. The astronomer is forbidden to continue his experiments, for fear that greater destruction could come, but the stubborn scientist refuses to listen and tries to next capture a passing comet. The police try to thwart his efforts by disrupting the telescope's power supply, but it is too late -- the comet is now on a collision course with Earth. While Lois calls for help, Clark slips away and changes into Superman. The comet is too powerful for even the Man of Steel to send back into space on his own, but by welding together the telescope's power source and reversing its polarity, Superman is able to force the comet back into space and save the day once again. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- 1942
The third in series of classic Fleischer Superman cartoons, Billion Dollar Limited starts with heavily armed guards keeping watch as a billion dollars of gold is loaded onto a train, to be taken to the mint. Clark Kent is also at the station, bidding farewell to fellow reporter Lois Lane, who has won the prize of accompanying the train to its destination and writing a story about the trip. As Kent leaves, he is almost swideswiped by a strange looking car. Inside the car is a gang of masked thugs, intent on getting that gold for themselves. In their technologically advanced car, they are capable of catching up with the train, and several sneak on board. They quickly turn loose the car that contains most of the guards, then climb over the train cars to the engine and seek to gain control of it. Lois, hearing noises, travels to the engine, just after the engineer and his assailant fall from the car. Lois grabs a machine gun left behind by one of the crooks and opens fire on the still-pursuing car, then tries to control the train, with little success. Kent, reading over the wire about the danger to the train, changes into Superman and flies off to the rescue. He saves the train from being diverted into a carload of TNT and rescues it as it falls off of a bridge dynamited by the gangsters. Although he almost succumbs to a tremendous load of tear gas, he finds the strength to overcome the villains and deliver the train to its final destination. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bud Collyer
- 1942
The last of the Superman cartoons produced by the actual Fleischer studios, Terror on the Midway opens as reporter Clark Kent drops his friendly rival Lois Lane off at the circus. On assignment, Lois heads into the big top, ready to enjoy her work and relax. Unfortunately, a mischievous monkey has managed to unlock the cage that holds a ferocious gorilla. The gorilla makes its way into the big top, where it begins terrorizing the crowd and the performers. Although its handlers are quick on the scene, it overpowers them and continues wreaking havoc, forcing the audience to flee. Lois, seeing a little girl trapped, tries to rescue her, but ends up focusing the rampaging ape's attention on them both. Fortunately, Clark has heard about the melee, and changes to Superman. After subduing some other animals that have escaped in the fracas, he is attracted by Lois's scream. She has climbed a pole to escape the ape, but he is still advancing toward her, even as a fire rages around them. Superman rescues her just as the pole is falling, and subdues the ape into the bargain. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bud Collyer
As Electronic Earthquake opens, the viewer sees a strange cable that flows into the harbor near Metropolis. The cable slinks along the harbor to the underwater lair of a brilliant Native American scientist. The scientist visits the Daily Planet, where he demands that Metropolis be returned to his people, who settled there long ago. Editor Perry White refuses to print the scientist's demand, at which point the scientist tells him that he will destroy the city if his demand is not met. He returns to his secret lab, followed by Lois Lane, who smells a good story. Unfortunately, Lois is discovered and captured, and the scientist proceeds with his plan. Utilizing his cable, he sends enormous surges of electricity under the ground, triggering a terrific earthquake. Superman finds the source of the earthquake and breaks the main cable, then begins dismantling various other cables from the lab. This unfortunately causes the lab to start flooding. Superman saves Lois in the nick of time, and succeeds in capturing the evil scientist as well. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bud Collyer
- 1942
Explorers near the North Pole make a startling discovery: a perfectly preserved prehistoric dinosaur-like animal, frozen in ice. This invaluable discovery is brought to Metropolis, where the experts at the city's museum can study it more closely. Lois Lane, a reporter with a nose for news, is of course on the scene. Although she's all business, the engineer to whom she is speaking gets distracted by her shapely gams as she climbs the stairs in front of him. Not noticing what he is doing, he sets his oil can down precariously on a ledge; it gets knocked off into the engine which controls the museum's freezing unit and knocks the unit out altogether. The engineers work to restore power quickly, before the temperature rises and the ice surrounding the monster melts -- but to no avail. Freed from centuries in his frozen prison, the giant goes on a rampage throughout Metropolis. Fortunately, Superman is quickly on the scene, and although he gets sidetracked rescuing Lois -- who is determined to be in on the action so that she gets the best story -- he eventually defeats the reptile and all turns out well. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bud Collyer
- 1942
There are no volcanoes near the great city of Metropolis, but when word comes that a long-dormant volcano in the South Pacific is headed for a cataclysmic eruption, Daily Planet editor Perry White quickly dispatches ace reporters Lois Lane and Clark Kent to cover the big event. White hopes that the two rivals can put aside their differences and work in tandem, but Lois is not about to give away her chance at a solo byline on a story as big as this. She slyly purloins Clark's press pass. While he goes through the red tape of acquiring another, she takes off for where the action is. And there's a lot of action, as the volcano has entered into its full-strength convulsions. Lois finds herself in mortal danger, trapped aboard an overhead tram, the cables of which are breaking. Meanwhile, Clark has seen that the volcano has blown its top and changes into Superman. The Man of Steel uses his incredible strength and ingenuity to force the lava flow into the sea and away from populated areas, then manages to save Lois and the cable car in the nick of time. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bud Collyer
- 1942
The city of Metropolis is under siege by a nefarious group of terrorists that go by the moniker of the Bulleteers (because of their innovative Bulletcar). They've already struck some of the city's famous landmarks and the utility stations that are part of its lifeblood. Now they are making their demands known: Metropolis has 48 hours to hand over the city Treasury. If the city refuses, they will bring ruin upon Metropolis. The Mayor says that their demands are totally unreasonable and absolutely refuses to comply, prompting the terrorists to launch their attack (targeting the Daily Planet for special abuse). This prompts Lois Lane to take off after them, hoping for a scoop, and it prompts Superman to engage them in a final battle, during which he succeeds in destroying the mighty Bulletcar, capturing all of the Bulleteers and saving (once again) both Lois and the entire city of Metropolis. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bud Collyer
- 1941
The Mechanical Monsters is the second in the famous Fleischer series of Superman cartoons and contains two notable "premieres" -- the first time Superman uses his x-ray vision and the first time Clark Kent uses a phone booth to change into Superman. In this short, Metropolis is the scene of a series of strange crimes. Giant robots, under the control of the Mad Scientist that created them, are robbing establishments of money and jewels. Naturally, the Daily Planet's top reporters, Clark Kent and Lois Lane, are after the story behind these robberies and the mechanical monsters that are perpetrating them. They arrive at the scene of a robbery in progress at a jewelry store; trying to intervene, Lois somehow gets trapped inside one of the robots. Kent makes the switch to the mighty Superman and follows the robots as they make their way back to the scientist's lair, but he gets waylaid by some pesky power lines. While he deals with this distraction, the Mad Scientist discovers Lois, ties her up and plans to get rid of her by pouring a cauldron of molten steel on top of her. Superman arrives with barely a second to spare, rescues the intrepid girl reporter, makes mincemeat of the robots and brings the Mad Scientist to justice. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bud Collyer
- 1941
Directed by Dave Fleischer, brother of the legendary Max Fleischer (who serves as producer), this animated short film was the first cinematic adaptation of the classic comic book Superman. Long before George Reeves or Christopher Reeve donned the famous red cape, voice-artist Bud Collyer was Superman, providing the superhero's dialogue in dozens of shorts and television programs over the course of three decades. In this first adventure, Clark Kent must turn into his alter-ego Superman and save the people of Metropolis from certain doom at the hands of a maniacal scientist with a deadly energy cannon. Joan Alexander provides the voice of Lois Lane. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- 1941
Two years after the release of Gulliver's Travels, the Fleischer brothers produced Hoppity Goes to Town, their second feature-length cartoon. The film is based in Bugtown, an insect community, and the insects that populate the picture are a sort of melting pot of the bug world. There is Hoppity the grasshopper, who is the dreamer of the bunch; Mr. Bumble the bee, who operates the honey shop, and his daughter Honey Bee, who loves Hoppity; C. Bagley Beetle, the ruthless businessman who plots against his own community for his personal greed; Smack the mosquito and Swat the fly, Mr. Beetle's comic-relief henchmen; and little Buzz, a young bee and a member of the Bee Scouts. The insects live in their isolated world, forever in dread of the increasing encroachment of the humans, but their world is shattered when their protective fence is knocked down and the humans begin making more and more excursions into their area and destroying their homes. Mr. Beetle sees this as his opportunity. He lives in what he believes to be a safe zone and wants Honey for his wife, so he continually pressures Mr. Bumble to let him marry Honey in exchange for moving Bumble into the safer area. But Hoppity has his own plans. Convinced that there are greener pastures elsewhere, he embarks on a journey with Bumble to the big house on the hill, the home of a struggling young songwriter named Dick Dickens and his wife, Mary. Hoppity and Bumble decide that the Dickens' garden is an insect utopia, and try to convince their community to abandon their homes and start fresh. Ultimately, Hoppity and Mr. Beetle must battle not only for control of Bugtown, but also for Honey's heart, and there are some songs by Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser along the way. Hoppity Goes to Town was originally released under the title Mr. Bug Goes to Town. ~ Bob Mastrangelo, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gwen Williams, Jack Mercer, (more)
- 1940
Upon learning that his sweetheart Olive Oyl has left him for a cowboy, Popeye heads Way Out West in his "prairie schooner." Arriving at the Bar None Ranch, Popeye is determined to prove that he isn't a tenderfoot--or, as he puts it, "My feet ain't tender, I always walks this way". Ranch foreman Bluto is equally determined to get rid of the persistent sailor, and to that end he unleashes a fierce bucking bronco and a poisonous boa constrictor (apparently the only one of its kind on earth) to finish Popeye off. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1940
After years of courting his sweetheart Olive Oyl, Popeye finally works up the nerve to pop the question. Coyly, Olive sends Popeye on his way, promising to give him her answer in the morning. Alas, all hopes for future marital bliss are dashed when Olive has a terrible nightmare, in which she finds herself at the mercy of Popeye's capricious--and combative--lookalike sons Pip-Eye, Pep-Eye, Poop-Eye and Pup-Eye (who of course would show up in future cartoons cast as Popeye's nephews). "Wimmen Is a Myskery" was remade in 1954 as Bride and Gloom. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1940
Arriving at the Spinach Theater to star in a musical version of "Romeo and Juliet", that eminent tragedian Bluto discovers that he has been fired and Popeye has been hired in his place. For the rest of the cartoon, Bluto does everything in his power to sabotage the performance, as "Romeo" Popeye and "Juliet" Olive Oyl bravely soldier on. Ultimately, Popeye dons female drag and chews his spinach to ring down the curtain on Bluto permanently. Throughout the action, the three principals sing (?) to the tune of the famous aria "M'appari Tutt'Amor", from Frederick Von Flotow's opera "Martha." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1939
The third and last of the two-reeler Popeye cartoons, Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp starts out with a framing device. Olive Oyl is working at Surprise Pictures as a script girl, and she decides that remaking the story of Aladdin as a vehicle for her beloved Popeye would be a great idea. As she begins contemplating this scenario, we see Aladdin (Popeye), a poor boy who pines for the beautiful Princess (Olive, of course). A wicked Wazzir comes to Aladdin and tricks him into searching for a magical lamp that is deep inside a mysterious cave. The Wazzir intends to use the power of the lamp to get the Princess for himself, but he does not get that chance after Aladdin becomes trapped in the cave. Striking the lamp to light a match, Aladdin inadvertently summons a Genie who must do his bidding. With the Genie's help, Aladdin becomes a prince and woos the Princess, but the Wazzir becomes wise to the boy's true identity and plots his ruin. Fortunately, Aladdin uses the really magical power of spinach to ultimately defeat his enemy and live happily ever after with the Princess -- which is not the fate of Olive herself, who awakens from her reverie to find herself surrounded with scripts. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
Impressed by the success of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Paramount Pictures ordered the studio's resident animation producer Max Fleischer to come up with a feature-length cartoon of his own. Utilizing an expanded staff and new production facilities in Miami, Florida, Fleischer and his brother Dave Fleischer spent six months mulling over story properties before deciding upon Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels; 20 months later, the film was completed and ready for release. Only the first part of Swift's novel, taking place in the miniature lands of Lilliput and Blefuscu, was used in the film, while the original plot, a satire of warfare stemming from an argument over which end of an egg to crack, was jettisoned entirely in favor of a sappy love story with slapstick overtones. Shipwrecked by a storm at sea, normal-sized Lemuel Gulliver washes up on the shore of Lilliput, where the citizens are no larger than Gulliver's thumb. Discovered by excitable town crier Gabby, Gulliver is roped to the ground by the Lilliputians, only to escape with ease upon waking up. While longing to head homeward to England, Gulliver becomes involved in a feud between Lilliput's King Little and Blefuscu's King Bombo. On the eve of the wedding between Little's son Prince David and Bombo's daughter Princess Glory, the two monarchs have a falling out over which national anthem will be played at the ceremony. After a seemingly endless series of misunderstandings and intrigues-many of them perpetrated by Bombo's comic-opera spies Sneak, Snoop and Snitch-Gulliver solves everyone's problems by suggesting that both anthems be played together, resulting in what was supposed to have been the film's hit song "Faithful Forever". Lacking the emotional "pull" of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs--not to mention the excellence of Disney's animation--Gulliver's Travels must rely upon the slapstick antics of Gabby, the three spies, and carrier pigeon Twinkletoes to keep the audience awake (all of these characters would be spun off into cartoon series of their own). The songs, like the film itself, are nothing special, though Paramount managed to get a lot of mileage out of "All's Well" and "It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day". Singers Sam Parker, Lanny Ross and Jessica Dragonette are heard as Gulliver, David and Glory, while such Fleischer "regulars" as Jack Mercer and Pinto Colvig play the comic roles. Its many flaws aside, Gulliver's Travels was reasonably successful at the box office, though one wonders if it wouldn't have been an even bigger hit had the Fleischers followed through with their original plan to cast Popeye the Sailor in the role of Gulliver. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1939
A tall, slender Betty Boop is in charge of an automobile hospital, where cars are treated like human beings. After singing the title song, Betty tends to such patients as an ice wagon suffering from a terrible cold, a wobbly car with a bad case of "auto intoxication", and a race car that has been "living too fast." There's also the nervous "jittery buggy", an Irish-accented police car with flat "feat", and an insane "cracked cylinder case." But Betty and her highly efficient staff ministers to all the patients, not only curing them but giving them a complete overhaul. The best is saved for last when Betty tackles a most unsual emergency case involving an "expectant" auto. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1939
An unusually tall and slender Betty Boop is enchanted by an organ grinder's monkey--so much so that she invites the "jitter-monk" into her home. Betty's dog Pudgy seemingly finds a kindred spirit in the mischievous simian, so Betty briefly steps out of her apartment and heads downstairs, intending to purchase the animal from its owner. But in her absence, the monk shows his true nature by eating all the food in the house and leading the flustered Pudgy on a not-so-merry (and VERY destructive) chase. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1939
In this Freudian delight, Popeye suffers a terrible nightmare in which he goes on a picnic in the clouds with an angelic Olive and a demonic Bluto. Throughout the ordeal, Popeye is plagued by common everyday objects that continually change size, shape and substance; worse still, Bluto seems to be winning Olive's affections without even trying. The bad dream reaches a pinnacle of horror when Popeye is besieged by gargantuan replicas of Wimpy, Swee'Pea and the Jeep--and this time, he can't even depend on his spinach to save him. Wotta Nitemare is the first of four "Popeye" cartoons to forsake the traditional "ship-door" opening credit titles in favor of "customized" titles superimposed over the action. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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