By the summer of 1933, the Fleischer brothers’ self-named animation studio was riding high. Based largely on the success of flapper dream girl Betty Boop, whose risqué series of cartoons became immensely popular in the […]
Fairy tales have long served as source material for filmmakers–only natural when one considers how universal those stories truly are. These fantastical, largely archetypal narratives draw on moral codes and lessons that transcend time, telling and […]
In 1941, Paramount approached Max and Dave Fleischer, heads of their in-house animation production, with a proposal: to adapt the increasingly popular Superman comic book into an animated series for the big screen. But the Fleischers were reluctant. […]
“Folks, now here’s a story ’bout Minnie the Moocher … she was a red-hot hoochie-coocher …” With her somewhat inauspicious debut in 1930’s Dizzy Dishes, Betty Boop became the most unlikely of stars. Initially drawn as a […]
In the eight decades since her 1930s heyday, Betty Boop has been licensed and merchandised to the point of pure excess, appearing on everything from key chains and coffee mugs to bed sheets and car floor mats. I […]
Today marks the 131st anniversary of legendary animator Max Fleischer’s birth. Last week over at True Classics, we looked at Fleischer’s gorgeous Superman series from the early 1940s, a series that marked his final work for Paramount. […]
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