The Tantalizing Fly 1919
A film in the “Out of the Inkwell” series, an early animated short from Max Fleischer.
A film in the “Out of the Inkwell” series, an early animated short from Max Fleischer.
Max draws Koko on the drawing board. He then receives a call and leaves. Koko leaves after but not before taking some money from Max's wallet that he left behind. Max arrives to his date then comes back to his office to get his wallet. After recovering it, he drives with his date to get twelve gallons of gas. Koko arrives just as the pump is going and mischievously takes the hose from the car as the hose falls to the ground unknowingly to anyone else. Just as the wasted twelve gallons are up, Koko puts it back in the car before Max retrieves it! He gets his wallet and finds his money gone so he excuses himself.
A man reads in the newspaper that Bolsheviks are on the loose and that the public should beware of odd acting strangers. He spots a pipe smoking man holding what he believes is a bomb, and thinks he must be one of the Bolsheviks. He tries to get away from the stranger, but the stranger seems to be following him, polishing his bomb and getting ready to light it. But that round bomb ends up having a more recreational use of a different type of explosion.
This one is amusing in its early use of the rubber tire school of animation as Mr. Givny informs Jerry that they are out of coal for the train. The passengers who appear behave amusingly and when the train itself takes on anthropomorphic life, it makes its own sense -- outrageous for the day, even if slightly banal for fans of "Thomas the Engine".
Koko the Clown's little brother comes to visit and wreaks havoc in Max Fleischer's studio.
The Inkwell Clown battles a boxing kangaroo.
Jerry Flannigan and Mr. Givney encounter some bellicose mosquitoes.
"All sounds travel in waves much the same as ripples in water." Educational film produced by Bray Studios New York, which was the dominant animation studio based in the United States in the years surrounding World War I.
Forbidden Fruit begins with New York in the grip of a banana shortage. Residents sing (or scream) “Yes! We Have No Bananas,” the hit novelty song of 1923 (inspired by real-life banana shortages—the film also references current events by mentioning mobster Louis Cohen, arrested for murder the same year). The scene shifts to animator Walter Lantz strumming the song on his guitar, before a co-worker presents him with a banana that transmogrifies into Colonel Heeza Liar, who tells the tale of how he ended “the great banana famine in 1923.”
Max Fleischer draws a clown, who comes alive on the page. The clown doesn't like the way he is drawn and demonstrates his own artistic abilities.
A silent ornithology film from Bray Studios
Max Fleischer considers hiring a new cartoonist. While the new guy draws Max's portrait, Koko gets into a fight with a cartoon Chinese man.
Directed by Dave Fleischer.
Bobby works at his father's office; there is some question of payment, however.
When the New Monia station is overrun with mice, Mr. Givney can only shoot them one at a time, but Jerry uses a flute to lure them out, "Pied Piper of Hamlin" style.
A "Unnatural History" cartoon
Animated film based on the comic strip "Jerry on the Job" - a man on the station platform tells Jerry Flannigan and Mr. Givney that he knows how to run a train without coal.
One of the "Out of the Inkwell" series of silent short films featuring a combination of live action and hand-drawn animation.
Max Fleischer draws Koko and a haunted house, while his colleague and the janitor mess around with a Ouija board. When Max goes over to take a look, Koko is haunted by ghosts and inanimate objects, and escapes into the real-world studio.
A rare spoof. With the success of the 1925 film, The Lost World, it is common that when something is popular and successful, it is bound to be a subject for parodies and cash-in attempts. One of them was The Lost Whirl. This film featured stop-motion animation by Joseph L. Roop, who worked on the original classic, The Lost World.