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In the history of animation, Disney is the name most commonly associated with

the industry by a majority of people; however, it was Max Fleischer who was once the

king of the animated short film, pioneering techniues and rousing controversy within the

industry! Despite his studio"s successes and popularity, everything was all taken away in

the early #$%&s as Fleischer lost his studio to 'aramount 'ictures! It may be perceived as

a sudden loss, but the writing was on the wall( social, political, and economic events

occurred prior to the end which spelled the end of Fleischer )tudios! From employee

strikes, the introduction of the *ays +ode, and the rise of the Disney )tudios" popularity,

to personal rifts between the studio itself and between Max and his brother Dave, the

studio that produced the )uperman short films soon found itself going from hero to ero!

-ndoubtedly, the first major sign that Fleischer )tudios was headed for cataclysm

was the coming of the *ays +ode and censorship in *ollywood! Fleischer"s cartoons

during the #$.&s became known for dark humor, dirty jokes, urban themes, and sex,

particularly in relation with the /etty /oop character! *owever, even as early as #$&0,

before animation had gotten off the ground, censorship boards were popping up around

the country 1+ohen ##2! 3he first of these was founded in +hicago, followed soon by the

first state board in 'ennsylvania in #$##, and by #$.. these were joined by 4hio, 5ansas,

Maryland, 6ew 7ork, and 8irginia! It was #$.. when *ollywood looked into a national

censorship board in response to a series of scandals! 3hey formed the Motion 'icture

'roducers and Distributors of 9merica 1or the M''D92, headed by :ill *! *ays! 5arl

+ohen mentions that +ensorship was not a high priority for *ays! *is main concern was

to protect the film industry from further repressive local, state and federal legislation& marked the departure of many of

Fleischer"s key animators, including Dick *uemer, )id Marcus, @eorge ?ufle, and

@eorge )tallings, with 3ed )ears and @rim 6atwick leaving the following year! 9ll of this

was only worsened for Fleischer )tudios by a strike of their own in #$>0!

3he late #$>&s brought many changes for Fleischer )tudios! 'ressure from

'aramount 'ictures and the public led to their need to produce a feature(length animated

film! 3o this end, 'aramount financed a new studio in Miami, and Fleischer )tudios was

effectively split in two! 3his, along with an increased workload, put pressure on the staff!

6ot only were they expected to get their work done, but they also had a haphaard array

of extra training and classes available to attend, most of which staff simply did not have

the time to attend 1anger C2! :hen the time came to strike, many employees felt they

were being stifled creatively! 9ccording to *arvey Deneroff, )trike leader *arry

ampert, in reaction to this situation, stated that one of his reasons for leaving animation

was that the experience of working in the field was a narrowing one and that an artist

could wind up finding himself ualified only to work in animation, while his skills in

other areas atrophied< 1A2! Due to the working conditions, being cramped both physically

and creatively, as well as mounting pressures, the staff demanded higher salaries, with

talks of labor unions having been common for at least several years! Eventually, workers


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at Fleischer took up with the +ommercial 9rtists and Designers -nion, a 'opular Front

organiation! Due to the demand for more 'opeye cartoons, Fleischer implemented a

speedup on production, an action that the new union reacted to with a slowdown! 9fter

several attempts going back and forth with demands, members of the union left on strike,

picketing in front of the 6ew 7ork studio! 3he strike began on the 0thof May #$>0, and

lasted over five months, with only modest success! Most strikers had, according to Max"s

son ?ichard, run out of steam and money, and had little choice but to take what they

could and return to work 1Fleischer $.2! 3hough the strike finally ended, tensions did not!

:ith the advent of the new Miami studio, Fleischer was hiring at full force! 3he studio

itself was extremely expensive, pulling in at least >&&,&&& of 'aramount"s money, set to

be the world"s most advanced animation studio! 3heir feature(length film, @ulliver"s

Travels, proved to be a modest success; however, 'aramount dictated that Fleischer

needed to produce a second feature at half the budget 1Dial >.A2! It also became apparent

at this time that differences between brothers Max and Dave were becoming more severe,

as they were seeing their productions going in different directions, and their personalities

were clashing 1Fleischer #&$(##&2! 3hey also were reuested to produce a series of

)uperman short films, which Fleischer was reluctant to do due to the cost, time, and

effort reuired to produce such a cartoon! 3hey asked for a budget of about double the

amount of any other animated short to create their test film, and were surprised to find

'aramount accepted 1Fleischer #&%(#&A2! 3he shorts were fairly successful, but

Fleischer"s second feature,Mr. Bug Goes to Town, was anything but; Fleischer )tudios

had already owed 'aramount on their first feature, but the extraordinary failure of their

second pushed their fate over the edge! 3he real crushing blow occurred on December >#,


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#$%#, when it was announced Dave Fleischer, Max"s brother, would be leaving to take a

position at +olumbia 'ictures supervising their cartoon productions division! Eventually,

'aramount launched their takeover of Fleischer )tudios, which longtime Fleischer staff

member Myron :aldman suggested that 'aramount executives grew tired of losing

money< 1Dial >.C2! In late May of #$%., 'aramount finally seied Fleischer )tudios and

renamed it Famous )tudios, continuing many of Fleischer"s popular franchises such as

'opeye and )uperman under the new banner!

Fleischer )tudios was always a family company, but as it turned out at the end, a

somewhat dysfunctional one! -nfortunately, as the studio grew too large and too distant

from itself in the end, with major landmark tragedies along the way, its fate was

inevitable! Despite traveling down a bumpy road, filled with huge success and incredible

blunders, they"re still seen as having been a major driving force behind the animation

industry, and many of their characters and creations remain popular today!

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