"Out of the Inkwell"

Book Review # 108601

Art > Artists
English > Analysis
Film > History of

An examination of the relationship between Koko the Clown and his creator, Max Fleisher in "Out of the Inkwell."

2,910 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2006 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the "Out of the Inkwell" series (1919-1921) by the Fleischer brothers, which was developed in order to demonstrate Max Fleischer's invention of the rotoscope. The paper specifically looks at the oftentimes puzzling relationship between the protagonist of the shorts, Koko the Clown, and his creator, Max Fleischer, who, more often than not, subjects Koko to strange and often painful situations.

From the Paper:

"This finale presents a puzzling situation, whose hand comes from off-screen to interject in the life of the live-action creator of this world? This places not only Koko but Max as well as the creations of a more powerful orchestrator than even Max the animator. The mysterious hand could possibly represent Max Fleischer the filmmaker, instead of Max, Koko's animator in the shorts, but the conclusion is certainly left unclear. Still, it is moments like these that cement the Out of the Inkwell series in my mind. Unlike the later Disney cartoons, which seemed to exist only as exercises in progressing realistic cartooning, the Inkwell shorts are imaginative and funny, not restricted to laws of reality or logic. The series delights in showcasing the line between the real world and the animated world, how an animated clown can jump all over it."

Sample of Sources Used:

Lavery, David. The Two Clowns. http://thelaverytory.blogspot.com/2007/01/two-clowns.html.
Quickstop Entertainment. Popeye-Con. http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/2007/08/20/comics-in-context-190-popeye-con/.
Sensei, Sarah. YouTube Animation History Part 2: Max Fleischer the Rotoscope and Censorship. http://www.sarahsensei.net/blog/?p=5
Wikipedia. Clown. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clown
Wikipedia. Out of the Inkwell. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Inkwell.