Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer | |
---|---|
follow the bouncing ball" technique | |
Notable work | Animated Antics Betty Boop Color Classics Out of the Inkwell Popeye the Sailor Talkartoons Screen Songs Song Car-Tunes Stone Age Cartoons First Superman animated work |
Spouse | Ethel "Essie" Goldstein (died 1988) |
Children | 2, including Richard Fleischer |
Relatives | Dave Fleischer (brother) Lou Fleischer (brother) Seymour Kneitel (son-in-law) |
Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer
Early life
Majer Fleischer was born July 19, 1883,
Fleischer began his career at The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 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, working as a catalog illustrator for the Crouse-Hinds Company, and a year later returned to New York as art editor for Popular Science magazine under editor Waldemar Kaempffert.
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,[13] enabled Fleischer to produce the first realistic animation since the initial works of Winsor McCay. Although his patent was granted in 1917, Max and his brothers Joe and Dave Fleischer 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. 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 Pictures. 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, 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, Fleischer returned to Bray and the production of theatrical and educational films.
The Inkwell Studios
Fleischer produced his Out of the Inkwell 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 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, 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 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[14] and Now You're Talking for A.T.&T.[15] In 1923, he made two 20-minute features explaining Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity[16] and Charles Darwin's Evolution[17] using animated special effects and live action.
Red Seal
In 1924, Fleischer partnered with Edwin Miles Fadiman,
Of the 36 Song Car-Tunes 12 used the De Forest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, the first of which was My Old Kentucky Home in 1926. This preceded Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie (1928), which has been erroneously cited for decades as the first cartoon to synchronize sound with animation.[18] 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.
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 (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, beginning with The Sidewalks of New York.
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
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. 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.[19][20][21]
Popeye the Sailor
Fleischer's greatest business decision came with his licensing of the
Paramount
During its zenith by the mid-1930s, Fleischer Studios was producing four series, Betty Boop, Popeye, Screen Songs, and Color Classics, 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, Paramount went through four bankruptcy reorganizations, which affected their operational expenses.
As a founding member of the
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
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.[citation needed]
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
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 $1.5 million. It played limited engagements with only 24 prints in 36 theaters during the 1939 Christmas season, but grossed more than $3 million during the Christmas week, 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 research into line transfer methods to replace the time-consuming and tedious process of cel inking. While ahead of his time, that same year Fleischer and Paramount experienced lost revenues owing to the failure of the new series
The cost for the Superman series has been grossly overstated for decades on the basis of Dave Fleischer's 1968 interview.[citation needed] The actual figure stated in Fleischer's contract was in the $30,000 range,[citation needed] twice the cost of a Popeye cartoon.[citation needed] Superman was a "serious" type of cartoon that was not being made by rival studios which features anthropomorphic comic animal characters. The science fiction/fantasy elements of Superman 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, was unique, having a contemporary setting. Most importantly, it was technically and artistically 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 because it was not a Disney animated Fairy Tale. And with the bombing of Pearl Harbor two days after the preview, the original Christmas release due in three weeks was cancelled.
With the cancellation of Mr. Bug Goes to Town, Max was called to a meeting with Balaban in New York, where he was asked for his resignation. Dave had resigned following the completion of Post-production on Mr. Bug in late November 1941. 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,
Following the war, he supervised the production of the animated adaptation of
In 1954, Max's son, Richard Fleischer, was directing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for Walt Disney. 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, to produce 100 color Out of the Inkwell (1960–1961) cartoons for television. Actor Larry Storch performed the voices for Koko the Clown 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.[citation needed]
Fleischer and wife Essie moved to the
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
- ^ Fleischer biographer Ray Pointer gives the alternative date of July 18.[9] Film historians Maurice Horn and Richard Marschall point out that, although dates as varied as 1883, 1884, 1885, and others have been given, the correct and verified date is 1883.[6]
Citations
- ^ The Polish-American immigrant who changed the face of animation, https://lwlies.com/articles/max-fleischer-and-the-face-of-animation
- ^ https://comicbookhistorians.com/max-fleischer-1883-1972-inventor-cartoonist-animation-pioneer-by-matthew-rizzuto
- ^ "SFE: Fleischer, Max".
- ^ Cabarga 1988, p. 10.
- ^ Scivally 2008, p. 24.
- ^ a b Horn & Marschall 1983, p. 234.
- ^ Bendazzi 2016, p. 44.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 97.
- ^ a b c Pointer 2017, p. 7.
- ^ "Out of the Inkwell. Die Zeichentrickfilme von Max und Dave Fleischer". Archived from the original on January 11, 2005. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) von Mark Langer, in: Blimp Film Magazine, No. 26 - ^ "Max Fleischer, the Psychedelic Animator". May 13, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ Fleischer 2011, p. 2.
- ^ Maçek III, J.C. (August 2, 2012). "'American Pop'... Matters: Ron Thompson, the Illustrated Man Unsung". PopMatters.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "AT&T Archives: That Little Big Fellow". YouTube. April 6, 2011. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Now You're Talking (1927) - Fleischer Studios Silent Cartoon". YouTube. April 3, 2011. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "The Einstein Theory of Relativity (Max Fleischer, 1923)". YouTube. March 16, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Evolution". YouTube. June 28, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
- ^ Fleischer 2011, p. 43.
- ^ Supreme Court Appellate Division- First Department. N.p., n.p.
- ISBN 9780520223691.
- ^ The Mansfield News, May 5, 1934.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-7432-0481-1.
- Bendazzi, Giannalberto (2016). Animation: A World History. Volume I: Foundations—The Golden Age. New York: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781138854529.
- Cabarga, Leslie (1988). The Fleischer Story. New York: DaCapo Press. ISBN 9780306803130.
- Fleischer, Richard (2011). Out of the Inkwell: Max Fleischer and the Animation Revolution. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813134642.
- Horn, Maurice; Marschall, Richard (1983). The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 9780877543992.
- Pointer, Ray (2017). The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer: American Animation Pioneer. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN 9781476663678.
- Scivally, Bruce (2008). Superman On Film, Television, Radio, and Broadway. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN 9780786431663.
- Smith, Scott (1998). The Film 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential People in the History of the Movies. Seacaucus, N.J.: Crol Publishing Group. ISBN 9780806519401.
Also, he appears in Walt the musical
External links
- Media related to Max Fleischer at Wikimedia Commons
- Max Fleischer at IMDb
- Freely downloadable Max Fleischer cartoons
- The history of the Fleischer's Popeye series
- Max Fleischer at the TCM Movie Database
- Out of the Inkwell
- Ko-Ko Song Car Tunes