The Ouija Board

The Ouija Board 1920

6.30

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.

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

How the Cowboy Makes His Lariat

How the Cowboy Makes His Lariat 1917

1

Wild West performer Pedro Leon is the highlight of this three-minute film that shows how cowboys make rope and various other items. Within the three-minutes we learn that horsehair is the best thing to use so we see a couple men, including Leon, put the hair together and from here we see how they get it prepared to use for rope and other items.

1917

The Lost Whirl

The Lost Whirl 1928

1

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.

1928

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

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 Tantalizing Fly

The Tantalizing Fly 1919

6.44

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

1919

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

If We Lived on the Moon

If We Lived on the Moon 1920

1

A Popular Science Monthly film demonstrating how life on the moon would be different than life on Earth.

1920

Cheating the Piper

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

The Circus

The Circus 1920

7.10

One of the "Out of the Inkwell" series of silent short films featuring a combination of live action and hand-drawn animation.

1920

The Cuckoo

The Cuckoo 1920

1

A silent ornithology film from Bray Studios

1920

Dumb-Belles

Dumb-Belles 1927

6.00

Two henpecked men run off and pretend to be athletic trainers in order to get jobs in a weight loss club for women. The Sunkist Bathing Beauties are featured performers.

1927

The Tail of the Monkey

The Tail of the Monkey 1926

4.70

After an organ grinder's monkey grabs a little girl's lollipop with his tail, the musician explains why monkeys are so clever with their tails.

1926

The Ruby of Razmataz

The Ruby of Razmataz 1917

1

Animated short originally presented as part of the Paramount Bray-Pictograph program.

1917