The Tantalizing Fly

The Tantalizing Fly 1919

6.40

A film in the “Out of the Inkwell” series, an early animated short from Max Fleischer.

1919

Jerry on the Job: The Mad Locomotive

Jerry on the Job: The Mad Locomotive 1922

1

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".

1922

The Automobile Ride

The Automobile Ride 1921

3.50

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.

1921

Jerry on the Job: The Bomb Idea

Jerry on the Job: The Bomb Idea 1920

5.80

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.

1920

The Clown's Little Brother

The Clown's Little Brother 1920

6.00

Koko the Clown's little brother comes to visit and wreaks havoc in Max Fleischer's studio.

1920

The Chinaman

The Chinaman 1920

7.00

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.

1920

Colonel Heeza Liar's African Hunt

Colonel Heeza Liar's African Hunt 1914

7.00

Mistaking a tiger's tail for a snake, Colonel Heeza Liar puts himself in wrong with a big tiger, who gives him a very bad quarter of an hour, until the matchless courage and ingenuity of our hero overcomes him. Next our friend mistakes a bear's ears for a butterfly, and tries to net them, with the result that soon he is up a tree only a breath or two in advance of the bear. Things look very dark for him, especially as the bear energetically tries to shake the colonel from his perch like a ripe apple, but again his resourcefulness finds a victory. As a final grand windup he makes the biggest bag of game, all at one shot that anyone ever secured under similar circumstances.

1914

How the Telephone Talks

How the Telephone Talks 1919

1

"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.

1919

Colonel Heeza Liar's Forbidden Fruit

Colonel Heeza Liar's Forbidden Fruit 1923

3.00

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.”

1923

The Clown's Pup

The Clown's Pup 1919

4.50

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.

1919

The Cuckoo

The Cuckoo 1920

1

A silent ornithology film from Bray Studios

1920

Bobby Bumps, Office Boy

Bobby Bumps, Office Boy 1917

1

Bobby works at his father's office; there is some question of payment, however.

1917

Dinky Doodle in Lost and Found

Dinky Doodle in Lost and Found 1926

7.30

The animator tries to lose Dinky Doodle and Weakheart in the countryside. But they're kidnapped and taken to the moon by a witch. They finally get back to earth to take their revenge against their creator.

1926

Jerry on the Job: Cheating the Piper

Jerry on the Job: Cheating the Piper 1920

3.50

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.

1920