Max and Dave Fleischer
Max and Dave Fleischer
Though not as well known as Disney, Max Fleischer can be argued to have achieved auteur status. His cartoons are easily identifiable, both in style and in content.
As you read the chapter for today, you might note particularly the ways in which Fleischer and his cartoons present an opposition to the work of Disney
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anarchy vs. efficient organization
What was the rotoscope and how did it allow Fleischer to produce graceful human movement? Why was it an invention looked down on by many animators?
What was the charm of the Out of the Inkwell cartoons?
Beyond the rotoscope, what other techniques did the Fleischers pioneer? How did each improve the look of the cartoon while at the same time saving animation time and money?
How successful were Max Fleischer's experiments with educational short documentaries?
What was the 'bouncing ball' series? Why aren't the Fleischers credited with the first sound-synchronized cartoon?
What does Maltin mean by "metamorphosis"? Be ready apply this concept to the Betty Boop cartoons we'll be seeing in class.
How were the Fleischer brothers experimenting with music very early in the sound era? What role did the sound track eventually come to play in their films?
Explain how the character of Betty Boop was developed.
"It has been said that the essential difference between Fleischer's cartoons and Disney's is that Disney's deal with a child's natural fears while Fleischer's depict adult traumas and emotions," Maltin notes. I'd like you to apply this statement to both the Disney and the Fleischer films we've seen in class.
The text has an extended description of Snow White, which we'll be seeing in a week or so, so you should pay particular attention to what Maltin has to say about it.
Why did Betty Boop change out of all recognition after 1934?
Once we've seen both the Disney and the Fleischer Snow White, I'd like you to be ready to compare the two heroines, Betty Boop and Snow White, one pre-Code and the other post-Code.
Fleischer's next big hit came with Popeye. What, in your estimation, made that series so popular?
What were the turntable camera and the 3-D process, as invented by the Fleischer studio?
After the strike at the studio, Fleischer moved the company to Miami, which seems to have marked the beginning of the end. What kinds of productions did the studio release during its final year or so of operation?
A kind of comeback seems to have come to Max and Dave Fleischer and their animators when they began production of the Superman cartoons in 1941. What made those cartoons so special?
On a larger scale, what made the Fleischers vulnerable to the takeover of their studio by Paramount pictures? How did their situation compare to Disney's at the same time?
What did Max and Dave Fleischer go on to do after losing their studio?
In class today, we'll start looking at the following Fleischer cartoons: