Inkwell Images
So here’s Betty Boop showing a picture of her buddy Ko-Ko coming to life via that creepy birth through pen nib process favored by the Brothers Fleischer. Nice legs, though.
When I was little, the early Max Fleischer efforts were, by far, the scariest cartoons I was watching. The weird imagery, the nightmarish ambiance, the sexual subtext, the alien sounding jazz scores, and those relentlessly odd post-sync voice tacks… all this and more was pretty disorienting stuff for a second grader. At face value, things like “Bimbo’s Initiation” or “Minnie the Moocher” are kind of like David Lynch for kiddies, very wild, very imaginative, very disturbing.
I loved ‘em.
I had a hard time getting my head around the whole out of the inkwell concept, though. Sometimes characters were “drawn” into life, or, at other times, they simply jumped out of an India ink bottle, completely formed. In either case, their existence could come to an abrupt end at any instant when they were sucked back into the pen, or hurled by the cartoonist’s fingers back into the inkwell. A fairly abstract type of alternate reality for a kid to absorb.
The first RKO Van Beuren talkies have some of the same parallel universe vibe (the commonality with the Fleischer output heightened, no doubt, by the fact that all their female characters sounded like Betty Boop too.) Not quite so horrifying, but offbeat and a lot of fun.
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On April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
just make sure and don’ty submit ANY cartoons with clowns in them to Fred. no matter how aesthetically they are handled.
clowns don’t work. people are afraid of clowns.
this is an absolute that Fred went on at length to me about.
personally i wasn’t aware that there were any blanket policies or rules in our business, but after being brow beaten by Fred in his NYC offices for 40 minutes on how people don’t like clowns i’ve succumbed to his infinite wisdom.
because he’s written and drawn so many cartoons….
On April 16th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Can it be that Fred suffered from my phobea I acquired as a pre-schooler seeing the old OUT OF THE INKWELL films on television? As I result, I “frightened” into this industry, and for years I harbored a hatred of black ink until my second year in high school.
On April 16th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Frightening Clowns? Apr 16th
Can it be that Fred suffered from my phobea I acquired as a pre-schooler seeing the old OUT OF THE INKWELL films on television? As I result, I “frightened” into this industry, and for years I harbored a hatred of black ink until my second year in high school.
On April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Dan. Is that the closest you’ve come to using your real name on this blog? And, yes, while there are policies like that in the business, we’re open to anything. We’re actually doing a short with clowns later this season. Maybe your pitch had other concerns.
On April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
ha hah!
pitch?
my meeting began and ended with the apparently irrefutable fact that clowns don’t work. while it sticks in my craw that Fleisher’s KoKo the clown is featured as a legendary character here and now in 2006, the above post is meant for young animators who are pitching to Frederator.
i would hope to relay my waste of time and energy (and materials as i never got my pitch stuff back…) to them so they don’t make the same mistake. Fred said he doesn’t like clowns because people don’t like clowns(ihateclowns.com was cited as the primary example).
this is what i experienced and what i’m stating here.
i’m not lying. i don’t hate anyone at Frederator.
i find fault with blanket statements or “rules” applied to cartoons.
i check in here once in a while (uh… yeah, thats my blog name that i post with) and little alarm bells went off in my head when i saw *gasp* a clown!
it blew my mind when my cartoon pitch, four weeks delayed, finally came to pass and my materials remained unopened, my animatic remained unwatched, and i sat and listened to inane psychobabble about how people don’t like clowns - no matter what.
i don’t agree.
if you are doing a short with clowns later this season, then i would venture to guess that it is because Adult Swim has already broadcast their clown short and the waters have now been successfully tested.
if you want to discuss this more, you can reach me here:
educatedmetalhead@yahoo.com
or i can come by as i live in LA now.
until then.
On April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Sorry you feel that way, Dan, and that your experience was unpleasant (seriously). You’re welcome to stop by any time with any ideas you might have. And give my best to hornsofthedevil.
On April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Anyone remember LITTLE CLOWNS OF HAPPY TOWN (1992, on ABC). I don’t.
On April 16th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I do remember them, and had fortunately forgotten about them until now. Certainly worth forgetting.
On April 16th, 2006 at 12:00 am
On April 16th, 2006 at 12:00 am
On April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Uughhh…what was I ON?
On April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Stephen King’s IT frightened me.
-jx
On April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
What about Killer Clowns from Outer Space? That was an awesome film! Creey yes, but really cool!
On April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I think there is a successful show in Disney called “Jo Jo’s circus” or something…I dunno..I have always known Fred to be they guy who would do the thing that others wouldn’t..like when most studios were completely afraid of doing a girl cartoon, Fred was clear that he really wanted to do one (waaaaay back when when studios were telling me that “girls just don’t watch cartoons”) and now we finally get to do one! He was also the guy who asked John K. about how to make a successful cartoon, and actually took his advice! The basic Frederator philosophy is if you have strong, loveable characters, and a great story, whatever they/it may be, then you have something that they can produce. Maybe your show just wasn’t right for the Frederator platform, or needed more development.
On April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
The old early Betty Boops are the most amazing, creative cartoons ever made! I got the VHS box set a while ago, and am blown away by the ideas these guys came up with. Get the box set man, 8 tapes, 15 bucks on ebay. Wowser.