Out of the Inkwell Films

Max and Koko The Clown bet who can blow the biggest soap bubble.

Max is too rushed to do a thorough job of drawing Koko this morning. Max is going fishing. However, to amuse the clown, he draws a fishing pole and a pond before he goes.

The Clown causes trouble for the Cartoonist, and a sculptor using the studio, when he escapes from his backdrop and hides in the wet clay of a bust.

In this Christmas season release, Max assembles a toy train track while Ko-Ko the Clown visits a cartoon toyland, playing cops and robbers and rescuing a doll in distress.

This fascinating series features Max himself, filmed in live action, sitting at a drawing board and concocting adventures for his star performer Ko-Ko the Clown. Max is supposedly the guy in charge, and he takes sadistic glee in putting Ko-Ko through various forms of hell, but the clown usually fights back and sometimes gets the best of his Uncle Max. FADEAWAY elevates this charged relationship to new heights (or depths?) of nightmarish surrealism; it's also one of the most enjoyable Inkwell cartoons I've seen to date, packing lots of imaginative, unpredictable twists and turns into an eight minute running time.

“Tramp, Tramp, Tramp the Boys Are Marching” features a song that dates back to the Civil War, one which was still familiar to audiences of the 1920s. The cartoon begins as Koko the Clown emerges from an inkwell-- an iconic image for animation buffs --and then steps over to a chalkboard to draw an orchestra. The band, “Koko's Glee Club,” marches to a nearby cinema (accompanied by a dog who beats cymbals with his tail) where they lead the audience in the title song.

In this one, Max has run low on ink, so Ko-Ko finishes drawing himself and then heads over to the camera room, where he creates his own characters, a mechanical dancing Dresden doll with whom he falls in love and a couple of automaton musicians. He gets rid of the musicians, but, alas, the projectionist gets oil onto Ko-Ko's soon-to-be bride, melting her.

An "Out of the Inkwell" cartoon featuring Ko-Ko the Clown.

Koko the Clown discovers a machine that can make cartoons.

Max has a toothache, and it's up to The Clown and a bespectacled rabbit to pull out the aching tooth.

Max is inspired by a cute puppy, and gives Ko-Ko a trained dog to show off in a circus ring. The dog performs a variety of tricks, but things get out of hand once Ko-Ko's trained fleas are let loose into the crowd.

Ko-Ko gathers eggs on a farm while Max works on an incubator.

Max sends Ko-Ko on a rocket toward the moon, but Ko-Ko crash lands on Mars, where he encounters bizarre creatures and contraptions. Meanwhile, Max himself is blasted into outer space.

Ko-Ko the Clown is brought to life with a needle and thread.

Max and Dave Fliescher are eating hot dogs in their animation studio and begin drawing. The hot dog becomes a "real" dog, and it and Ko-Ko the Clown alarmingly end up inside a Gas Chamber.

Koko the clown is sent to the nut house by Max.

Max Fleischer is going to a shooting gallery, so he practices on Koko and Fitz, sending them both to Paradise in this slightly erratic but funny cartoon.

First, Max, in his pyjamas, gets back up and draws an isolated mountain area and puts Koko on top of a steep mountain. "That will keep you busy for the night," says the real-life somewhat nasty cartoonist to his subject. The cartoon really gets wild from that point with guest appearances from Mutt and Jeff, and other "stars" of the day as Koko experiences one adventure after another from the "Cave Of The Winds" to Goliath chasing him all over.

An "Out of the Inkwell" short featuring Ko-Ko the Clown, this time as a fireman.

Ko-Ko is chased by a cartoony spider while Max deals with a mouse in his office.