How To Draw Max Fleischer Style

Betty Boop, by Max Fleischer/Bud Counihan

Max Fleischer was an Austrian-American animated picture director and producer. He is all-time known as the co-founder of the famous Fleischer cartoon Studios, which he co-started with his brothers Dave and Joe. Together they are world famous as the creators of 'Koko the Clown' (1929-1934) and 'Betty Boop' (1930-1939). They also turned Due east.C. Segar's comic strip character 'Popeye' into a popular animated franchise (1933-1941). The Fleischer cartoons are renowned for their loose and bouncy animation, often set up to the shell of jazz music. They took full advantage of the fantastic possibilities of the still immature medium by experimenting with physically incommunicable gags and surreal imagery. In the 1920s they were easily the most groundbreaking cartoon studio in the world, inventing techniques such as rotoscoping and blending animation with alive-action. During the 1930s they were Disney'southward only serious competitors, oftentimes offering things Uncle Walt shied away from, such as jazz, violence and sexual allusion. The Fleischers remain some of the almost influential animators of all fourth dimension.

Early life and comics career
Max Fleischer was born in 1883 in Vienna, Austria, as son of a Jewish tailor. In 1887 his father emigrated to Brownsville in Brooklyn, New York City, where Fleischer would study art at Cooper Union and the Art Students League. His family were technical whizzes. Father William created several tailoring devices, while Max' brother Charles invented several patents for machines used in entertainment parks and blood brother Joe experimented with wireless telegraphy. Max's interest in engineering science was therefore sparked too.

In 1900 the 17-twelvemonth erstwhile Max Fleischer went to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He was so desperate to get a paper cartoonist that he offered the manager two dollars a week, just to be able to visit their fine art section on a regular basis. While his offer was refused he did become hired as a newspaper and errand male child. Soon Fleischer moved upwards to the position of photographer and eventually the job he then desired in the get-go identify: cartoonist. By 1902 he published editorial cartoons equally well equally ii gag-a-day comic strips, 'Algy' and 'Due east.G. Sposher, the Camera Fiend'. 'Algy' revolved around a immature street boy and his fruitless efforts to win over his sweetheart May McGinnis, while often being beaten up by thugs. 'Eastward.K. Sposher, the Photographic camera Fiend' followed a impuissant photographer. Fleischer signed many of his early comics with "'M. Fleischer", though sometimes used a less ethnic sounding pseudonym as well: "Mack". He also wrote and illustrated manufactures in Popular Scientific discipline Monthly'. Around the aforementioned fourth dimension Max' brother Dave worked equally a cleaning man and usher in the vaudeville theater Palace in New York, where he witnessed many comedians perform and learned from their craft. Dave was also active as a clown for a while.

E.K. Sposher, the Camera Fiend
'E.K. Sposher, the Photographic camera Fiend'. 3 December 1903.

Koko the Clown
In 1914 Max and his brothers Dave and Lou saw Winsor McCay'south animated short 'Gertie the Dinosaur' (1914) and decided to make animated films themselves. During Globe War I they created grooming films for the U.S. War Department, worked for J.R. Bray's animation studio and, in 1918, started the 'Out of the Inkwell' serial. This marked the debut of their first drawing star, 'Koko the Clown'. In each of his shorts Koko jumped out of an inkwell and experienced adventures in a live-action earth. The character was as well given a pet dog, Fitz. Koko and Fitz might accept been inspired by William Steinigans' 'Splinters' (1911-1912), which was a pantomime newspaper comic starring a similarly dressed tall clown and his puppy domestic dog.

Fleischer Brothers Studio
The 'Koko the Clown' format was succesful enough to enable the Fleischers to found their own studio. Max was credited as managing director, while Dave produced. In 1927 they signed a contract with Paramount, which would terminal until 1942. Among the notable people once employed at their studio were Ray Bailey, J.R. Bray, Frank Carin, Les Carroll, Shamus Culhane, Arthur Davis, Jim Davis, Tony Di Paola, Irving Dressler, Harvey Eisenberg, Frank Engli, Vincent Fago, Otto Feuer, Owen Fitzgerald, Lillian Friedman (the first woman studio animator), Gill Fox, Woody Gelman, Dan Gordon, Chad Grothkopf, Rube Grossman, Harry Haenigsen, Dick Hall, Cal Howard, Dick Huemer, Jerry Iger, Bob Kane, Jack Kirby, Seymour Kneitel, Tack Knight, Harry Lampert, Edwin Laughlin, Pauline Loth, Steve Muffatti, Joseph Oriolo, Tony Pabian, John Pierotti, Sy Reit, Vivie Risto, Erich F.T. Schenk, Hal Seeger, Isadore Sparber, Irving Spector, Al Stahl, John Stanley, Milt Stein, William Sturm, Martin B. Taras, Frank Tashlin, David Tendlar, Reuben Timmins, Jim Tyer, Myron Waldman, Carl Wessler, Bob Wickersham, Margaret Winkler (who was the first female producer and distributor of animated cartoons), George Wolfe and Ralph A. Wolfe.

Technical and cinematic innovations
The Fleischers' studio pioneered many technical innovations. They are the inventors of the "rotoscoping" progress, a method where movement is animated by tracing over frames of live-activeness films. It immune for a more than efficient and economical product of cartoons, which was not merely used by the Fleischers themselves but also by other studios to this day. They also patented the "rotograph", where the projector shows i film frame on a glass plate, with a jail cell laid over it. The combined paradigm is then re-photographed with an blitheness camera. Another invention was the bouncing brawl used to invite people in the audience to sing along with the lyrics on screen. It was first used in their drawing 'Oh, Mabel' (1924) and launched a series named the 'Song Car-Tunes' (1924-1927), afterwards renamed 'Screen Songs' (1929-1938). The 'Koko the Clown' cartoons also perfected the interaction between animated characters and alive-activity scenes. Their motion-picture show 'My Former Kentucky Home' (1926) was an early effort at synchronized sound, predating Walt Disney's 'Steamboat Willie' (1928) by 3 years. Finally, they also pioneered the "stereoptical process", where a diorama was used to go far appear as if the characters were walking in front of it, allowing an amazing sense of depth. It was first used in the Popeye cartoon 'For Better or Worser' (1935).

Some other historically important cartoon made that same year was 'Eveready Harton in Buried Treasure' (1928). which was the first 'adults simply' drawing in history. A collection of naughty pornographic jokes, it was allegedly intended for a party to honour Winsor McCay's altogether. According to Disney animator Ward Kimball it was fabricated equally a collaboration between Raoul Barré, Max Fleischer and Paul Terry'south studios, who all animated certain scenes without each other'southward noesis. Amidst the animators who worked on the picture were George Canata, Walter Lantz, George Vernon Stallings and Rudy Zamora Sr. Other sources merits that the short was too risqué to exist processed by any lab at the fourth dimension, which led the footage to sink into obscurity until the 1970s.

Max Fleischer's patent
Concept drawing for the rotoscope.

Betty Boop
In 1929 the Fleischers got defenseless up in legal troubles when their partnership companies Ruddy Seal Pictures and the Inkwell Studios went bankrupt, making them unable to use 'Koko the Clown' for ii years. In 'Hot Dog' (1930) the anthropomorphic dog Bimbo made his debut. Merely four months later he was upstaged by the Fleischers's most iconic graphic symbol: 'Betty Boop', designed past Grim Natwick. Betty fabricated her debut in 'Dizzy Dishes' (1930) and was originally a nameless dog girlfriend of Bimbo. She received her name in 'Dizzy Scandals' (1931) and lost her domestic dog-like features in 'Mask-A-Raid' (1931) to go a human. Her dog ears, for instance, were redrawn as ear rings. The huge-headed flapper daughter with the high voice soon became the first major female person cartoon star (non counting Minnie Mouse, who debuted in 1927 just was merely a supporting human activity to Mickey). Especially in Japan she was very beloved, where people know her as 'Betty-chan'. Her global popularity was mostly a result of her sexy looks. Many 'Betty Boop' cartoons of the early 1930s oftentimes had her lure off horny old men, while she was subject of some quite risqué gags for the time. In that hindsight she was the predecessor of subsequently animated sex symbols, such every bit Tex Avery's Red and Jessica Rabbit in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' (1988).

Betty's catchphrase was 'Boop-boop-a-doop-boop', which, from 'Boop-Oop-a-Doop' (1932) on, was turned into her own personal theme song ("There's a little queen, of the blithe screen..."). She paved the fashion for other drawing stars with their ain theme song, such as 'Popeye' (1933) ("I'm Popeye the Crewman Human being..."), Paul Terry's 'Mighty Mouse' (1942) ("Here I come to relieve the dààààày!") and - from 1947 on - Disney'southward 'Donald Duck' ('Who's got the sweetest disposition? One guess, guess, gauge, who?'). Betty's physical appearance and voice were modelled after Helen Kane, a waning Hollywood star at the time, known for her loftier-pitched "boop-oop-a-doop" catchphrase, which Betty also "borrowed" from her. Kane wasn't too flattered about this and unsuccesfully tried to sue. All of Betty's cartoons were in blackness-and-white, except for 'Poor Cinderella' (1934), which was done in a two-strip Cinecolor process.

Boop-Boop-a-Doop Girl, by Helen Kane

Betty Boop comic strip
Between 23 July 1934 and 28 Nov 1937 a comic strip version was published, 'Boop-Boop-a-Doop Daughter by Helen Kane', distributed by Rex Features Syndicate, which credited Helen Kane in the championship. Unfortunately for her Rex Features renegotiated behind her back and the title was changed again to 'Betty Boop past Max Fleischer' (1934-1937). In reality Fleischer wasn't the creative person, just Bud Counihan, creator of the comic strip 'Little Napoleon'. He was assisted by Ving Fuller, too as a Fleischer animator, Hal Seeger. The aforementioned men too made a 'Koko the Clown' pantomime comic strip for the New York Journal in Nov-Dec 1934, but it either simply lasted four episodes or was never published at all. 'Betty Boop' proved more durable, even though her initial lurid appearance was somewhat toned downward for readers.

Decline in popularity
The same fate happened to her blithe counterpart when the Hays Lawmaking was introduced in 1934. Betty Boop became a domestic housewife, while the censors vetoed every suggestive gag. This effectively killed the character'south popularity. Attempts to boost it up once more by pairing her with other popular newspaper comic characters such as Carl Anderson's 'Henry', Otto Soglow's 'The Little Rex' and James Swinnerton's 'Niggling Jimmy' had no effect. Past 1940 she starred in her final cartoon.

Koko the Klown, by Max Fleischer

Popeye
Luckily, the Fleischer studio had some other major star. In 1933 they adapted Elzie Segar's paper comic character 'Popeye' to the big screen. They gave him a catchy theme song, 'I'm Popeye the Sailor Human being', witten and equanimous by Sammy Lerner, with the concluding bars bravado his pipe as if it was a steamboat whistle ("Toot-Toot!"). To brand the transition some important changes were made. The animators only used Popeye, Olive Oyl and Wellington J. Wimpy and introduced 1 new major character to office as a villain: Bluto. Bluto had appeared in the comics before, namely in 1932, but Segar hadn't used him since. The Fleischers created a simple formula in which Popeye and Bluto constantly battle over Olive, and/or Popeye faces another foe.

In Popeye's get-go comic strip adventure (1929) he actually gained his powers from stroking the head of Bernice the Whiffle Hen. On 26 June 1931 he casually mentioned that he "ate his spinach", when general Bunzo asked him where he got his extraordinary powers? In the cartoons the Fleischers firmly established spinach as the exclusive source of Popeye's strength. Near the end of every drawing the sailor would seemingly be defeated or bound to surrender, only to whip out a can and swallow its content. Accompanied past the opening bars of his theme song and usually a rendition of U.South. patriotic songs like 'Stars and Stripes Forever', 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' or 'O Columbia, the Gem of the Bounding main' he would then beat out up his opponent(southward) and save the solar day. Generations of children started eating spinach because parents told them they as well would become as strong equally Popeye. The cartoons are fifty-fifty credited with popularizing the vegetable on a global calibration. Equally a upshot Segar introduced spinach as Popeye's source of strength in the comics too. But Bluto remained generally an animated character. Segar never used him in his comics and his successors neither. Only when Bud Sagendorf took over Bluto was used more regularly, only redesigned and renamed as "Brutus". For a long while information technology was believed that the Fleischers had copyrighted the proper name "Bluto" and the character. When somebody really took the measure of investigating the matter it turned out that Bluto had always been a Segar creation and thus he could exist used in the comics too.

Many film studios had attempted to adapt pop newspaper comics into an blithe series before. Even the Fleischers. Only all failed to duplicate the success of the originals. 'Popeye' was the starting time to actually become a hit and spawn a long-running serial. No other comic-based animated serial managed to suffer for virtually a century! This might be explained by the fact that Segar's unproblematic drawing mode and comical violence fit the blitheness medium perfectly. Popeye'southward eccentric spoken communication also translated well to voice actors. Jack Mercer (voice of Popeye) and Mae Questel (voice of Olive Oyl) had a lot of fun improvising dialogue and jokes. Popeye'southward laugh in the comics ("Arf, arf, arf, arf") became "Ug, ug, ug, ug" in the cartoons. Several of his catchphrases were used in both media, such as "I yam what I yam", "Well, blow me down" and "That'due south all I tin can stands and I can't stands no more." In that sense the comics and cartoons complemented each other. The franchise became and then popular that information technology even seriously rivalled Walt Disney's 'Mickey Mouse'. By 1936 the Fleischers had enough money for ii colour blithe features: 'Popeye the Crewman Meets Sindbad the Sailor' (1936) and 'Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Xl Thieves' (1937). Both were notably longer than most animated shorts at the time. A typical brusk only lasted six to 7 minutes, but both of these cartoons were each 17 minutes in length. They remain the best known 'Popeye' cartoons of all fourth dimension. End-motility animation legend Ray Harryhausen credited 'Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor' as the inspiration behind the movie 'The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad' (1958).

A truthful testament of how popular the Popeye cartoons were at the fourth dimension is the fact that he was featured twice, illegally as an enemy, in propaganda cartoons made by the Axis during World State of war II. In the Japanese war-time drawing 'Momotarō no Umiwashi' ('Momotaro'southward Ocean Eagles', 1943) Japanese troops bomb Pearl Harbour. Among the people trying to flee from the bombs nosotros can see Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto. In the very odd propaganda cartoon, 'Nimbus Libéré' (1944) directed past Raymond Jeannin and starring André Daix' 'Professeur Nimbus' Nimbus and his wife heed to Radio London. The announcer - a Jewish stereotype - claims that the Allied Forces will soon liberate Europe, which excites Nimbus and his family. The drawing then cuts to U.Southward. bomber planes which are steered past Popeye and Disney'south Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy who bomb their business firm flat. Underneath the rubble the radio is still playing until the Grim Reaper turns off the switch.

Still from 'Popeye Meets Sindbad the Sailor' (1936).

Surreal style
All throughout the 1920s and 1930s the Fleischer Studios made the well-nigh inventive and imaginative cartoons of their time, only rivalled past Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer's 'Felix the Cat' and later the Disney Studios. Many Fleischer films are completely surreal, such every bit the classics 'Koko'south Earth Command' (1928), 'Swing Y'all Sinners' (1930), 'Mysterious Mose' (1930), 'Bimbo's Initiation' (1931), 'Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle' (1932), 'Minnie the Moocher' (1932), 'The Old Man of the Mountain' (1933), 'Snow White' (1933), 'Betty Boop'southward Crazy Inventions' (1933), 'Red Hot Mamma' (1934) and 'Poor Cinderella' (1934). The animation is loose and free with no effort to mimick reality. Every character can transform into something else. Even plants and objects are able to of a sudden come alive.

Jazz soundtracks
The cartooniness is accentuated by the use of music, to which characters often bounce forth. The Fleischers cartoons were very pop amidst general audiences because they used jazz on their soundtrack. Iconic musicians like Cab Calloway ('Minnie the Moocher', 1932), Louis Armstrong ('I'll Exist Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You', 1932) and Don Redman ('I Heard', 1933) made cameo appearances in their films and allowed their music to be used, making them the first celebrity voice actors in blitheness.

Eroticism
Another trademark of the Fleischers, particularly the 'Betty Boop' cartoons, is their amazing sexual allusion. Betty is oftentimes stalked by men who want to kiss and fondle her. Her sensual, scantily-clad dances, like her hula dance in 'Betty Boop'southward Bamboo Isle' (1932), often teased moral guardians and censors. In some scenes her apparel becomes a see-through ('Is My Palm Read?', 1933, 'Red Hot Mamma', 1934) or accidentally slips up or down ('Mysterious Mose', 1930, 'Silly Scandals', 1931, 'Betty Boop's Ups and Downs, 1932,...'). In 'The Bum Brigand' (1931) a woman drags Bimbo the dog into a train, pulls downwards the curtain and the silhouettes prove that they take off their clothes too. More sneaky imagery shows men freezing in phallic shapes ('Dizzy Dishes', 1930) and subliminal nudity in certain frames ('Betty Boop'southward Rising to Fame', 1934). In 'Swim or Sink' (1932) a pirate captain asks for Betty ('Leave the damsel to me'), while rubbing one paw over his other, which look suspiciously like two people having sex activity. While the 'Betty Boop' cartoons often caused scandal at the time, it did increase their popularity.

Violence
Men stalking women was a recurring plot element in 'Popeye' too. Olive Oyl was often threatened or kidnapped by Bluto. Nevertheless 'Popeye' didn't feature much erotic innuendo. The series was far better known for existence quite violent. Older cartoons often ended in confrontations between the hero and the antagonist, only in 'Popeye' in that location were actual fist fights. Non only that: they happened almost throughout the unabridged length of each cartoon. Near other animated series in the 1930s were far more than gentle and pacifist in comparing.

Jewishness
Also remarkable for the fourth dimension was the Fleischers' non-stereotypical portrayal of African-Americans and Jews. The Fleischers didn't hibernate the fact that they, voice actress Mae Questel and most of their studio staff were Jewish. A random cameo of Jewish-American vaudeville comedian Monroe Silver can exist seen in 'Swing You Sinners' (1930), maxim: "Y'all needed it?", in reference to his stage act. In 'Minnie the Moocher' (1932) Betty's Boop'southward parents are conspicuously a Jewish couple, complete with her begetter wearing a kipple on his head and speaking with a Yiddish accent. In the Popeye drawing 'Bulldozing the Bull' (1938) Popeye hits a bull and then hard that it rains downwardly equally a chopped meat stand, with ane of the signs having a text in Hebrew which, if translated, reads 'kosher'.

Even so from 'Dizzy Dishes' (1930), which features the debut of Betty Boop and an early example of phallic symbolism.

Closing of the Fleischer Studios
Near the turn of the decade Walt Disney had a smash success with his starting time blithe feature 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' (1937). The Fleischers made two animated features of their own, 'Gulliver's Travels' (1939) and 'Mr. Bug Goes to Boondocks' (1941), which unfortunately both failed at the box office since they tried too hard to mimick Disney rather than remain true to their own style. The Fleischers blamed each other, which led to their break-up. Dave Fleischer left to bring together Columbia Pictures, while Paramount took the studio over, forcing Max to resign. The Fleischer Studios were renamed the Famous Studios and their most pop franchises, 'Popeye' and 'Superman' (1940-1943, based on Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster'south comic strip) were continued for years.

'Popeye' in particular proved to be their longest-lasting character. During World War Two the strong crewman appeared in several state of war-time propaganda cartoons in which he fights the Nazis and the Japanese Imperial Regular army: 'The Mighty Navy' (1941), 'Corrigendum Below' (1942), 'Y'all're a Sap, Mr. Jap' (1942), 'Bit the Japs' (1942), 'Spinach Fer Britain' (1943), 'Seein' Reddish, White 'N' Blue' (1943) and 'A Jolly Adept Furlough' (1943). Up until 1944 Paramount used the onetime Fleischer Studio in Miami, Florida, to breathing 'Popeye' cartoons. Subsequently that date they moved everything to New York City, leaving the concluding traces of Popeye's origins at Fleischers' behind. Although 'Popeye' remained succesful none of these afterwards cartoons ever captured the magic or originality of Fleischers' originals. The same could be said about a short-lived endeavor by sometime Fleischer animator Hal Seeger to revive 'Koko the Clown' as a Television set cartoon series (1961-1962), which even the eighty-year old Max Fleischer felt was "bad quality". The worst office virtually Paramount's takeover of the Fleischer Studios was that neither Max, nor Dave, ever saw a dime of the profits, since they sold the rights to 'Popeye' a few years earlier. The brothers would never reconcile.

Recognition
In 1972 the Fleischer Brothers won the Winsor McCay Laurels. In Max's case the prize was posthumous. In 1994 the Betty Boop brusque 'Snow White' and in 2004 'Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Crewman' were added to the The states National Film Registry for being "historically, culturally and aesthetically pregnant."

Final years and death
Max Fleischer remained active in animation, just never managed to regain his quondam glory. He died in 1972 from middle failure. Dave Fleischer passed abroad in 1979. Max' son, Richard Fleischer, was a noted movie director, best known for fantasy pictures such as '20.000 Leagues Under The Sea' (1954), ''Fantastic Voyage' (1966) and 'Soylent Green' (1973).

Temporary obscurity and negative reputation
After the Fleischer Studios folded, their cartoons fell into obscurity for a few decades. For many years they were unfairly compared to Disney and therefore seen as vastly inferior. Their cartoons made no attempt for realism, weren't as fluidly animated and lacked strong, coherent narratives. While all other studios did voice work showtime and animation later on, the Fleischers did it the other way around. Actors tried to match the mouth movements of the characters, frequently improvising lines over it. This gave the impression that they couldn't even properly synchronize voices. While Disney had a dignified status thank you to clean, wholesome family amusement and the apply of classical music on their soundtrack, the Fleischers looked more than primitive. Betty Boop'southward lewd gags, Popeye'southward violence and the apply of jazz - which had a sleazy reputation in the 1930s - made the Fleischer cartoons announced depraved.

Betty Boop and Felix by Walker Brothers
'Betty Boop and Felix', by the Walker Brothers.

Revival and revaluation
Like many classic cartoons the Fleischer shorts were frequently circulate on television set from the 1950s on. Still it took until the late 1960s, early on 1970s earlier they were finally unanimously revalued. Film historians praised their technical innovations. The shorts themselves were reappreciated as mannerly, imaginative and innovative in their ain correct. The unpredictability and sheer entertainment value of their storylines surpassed any criticism of their incoherent plots. The mail service-production voice synchronization was also viewed in a new light, as the actors' improvisations were quite funny and clever to heed to. At this point in history jazz was no longer seen as sleazy, merely a genuine art course. The Fleischers' soundtracks therefore received more admiration, specially from people cornball for the 1920s and 1930s. Terminal but not to the lowest degree, their bizarre storylines and erotic metaphors had a stiff influence on the hugger-mugger comix movement, well-nigh notably Robert Crumb, Kim Deitch, Jim Woodring, Al Columbia and Todd Schorr. Leslie Cabarga, a noted underground cartoonist, published the book 'The Fleischer Story in the Gold Age of Animation' (1976), which has become the authoritative history of the studio and as well brought forth a revival of Betty Boop's popularity. He made various greeting cards, ceramics lines and advertisements starring Betty. In 1990 he, Joshua Quagmire and Milton Knight too created a graphic novel: 'Betty Boop'due south Big Pause' (Get-go Comics, 1990).

Past the 1980s Betty Boop fabricated an amazing improvement in many different media: cartoons, advertizing and comics. Almost advertizement fine art was created past Ned Sonntag for Rex Features, who'd launched a paper gag-a-twenty-four hours comic, 'Betty Boop & Felix' (1984-1988), in which Betty teamed upwardly with Otto Messmer and Pat Sullivan's 'Felix the Cat'. The series was written and fatigued by Brian, Morgan, Greg and Neal Walker. Two animated TV specials starring Betty were made in the late 1980s, namely 'The Romance of Betty Boop' (1985) and 'The Betty Boop Movie Mystery' (1989). Betty Boop and Koko the Clown likewise had cameos in Robert Zemeckis and Richard Williams' 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' (1988), among many other archetype characters from the Aureate Age of Blitheness. Betty'south original voice extra, Mae Questel, was brought in to tape her dialogue. Sadly enough, the producers of 'Roger Rabbit' couldn't articulate the rights to 'Popeye'.

In 2016 famous blues guitarist Gary Lucas recorded a CD featuring recreations of the classic 1930s Fleischer soundtracks, 'Fleischerei - Music From Max Fleischer Cartoons'. The same yr a new comic book serial was created around 'Betty Boop', scripted past Roger Langridge and fatigued by Gisèle Lagacé. A revival drawing series based on Betty Boop, blithe by Normaal Studios, is in the works. In 2012 Betty and top model Daria Werbowy appeared in a Telly commercial for Lancôme, directed by Joann Sfar. In 2017 Betty and Fitz appeared with fashion designer Zac Posen in a TV commercial advertising Pantone.

Today the Fleischer Studios exist only as a company headed by Marker Fleischer, Max' grandson, who oversee merchandising activities and rights in collaboration with Male monarch Features. Max' granddaughter Ginny Mahoney is in charge of the Fleischer athenaeum, which can be consulted on the Fleischer Studios' official website.

Legacy and influence
The Fleischers' free-spirited atmosphere inspired comic artists similar Marten Toonder, Siem Praamsma, mcbess, Morris, Peter & Maria Hoey and animators such as Bob Clampett, Osamu Tezuka, Terry Gilliam, Ralph Bakshi, Sally Cruikshank, Matt Groening, John Kricfalusi, Stephen Hillenburg and Joe Murray. In 1938 Japanese cartoonist Kaneko Shigemasa drew a story titled 'Shin Nipponto - Sho-chan no Boken' ("New Japanese Island(s) - Sho-chan'southward Adventures"), starring ii characters who bear a strong resemblance to Popeye and Bluto. Function of the plot is clearly inspired by the animated brusk 'Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Xl Thieves'. Kaj Pindal'southward 'Mr. Pindal'south Inkwell Phantasy' (1950) borrowed heavily from the Fleischers' 'Out Of The Inkwell' series. In John Kricfalusi's 'Ren & Stimpy' drawing, 'Stimpy's Cartoon Testify' (1994), Stimpy makes an blithe short featuring a villain looking and sounding suspiciously like Bluto. A very short scene in the Betty Boop cartoon 'Kansas City Kitty' (1931) where a bunch of happy sea animals join Betty on a embankment trip was once described by Kricfalusi as his "favorite animated scene". He paid homage to it in his blithe music video for 'I Miss You' (1995) past Björk, which has a similar scene (with different animals) during the bridge. The ending of Kricfalusi'southward 'Boo-Boo Runs Wild' (1999) is also similar to the butt-slapping conclusion of the Betty Boop cartoon 'Bimbo's Initiation' (1931). In the episode 'Fire Dogs' (2003), from the 'Ren & Stimpy Developed Party Cartoon', Ren does a weird trip the light fantastic toe while Stimpy plays a panflute. The tune is a rendition of 'Tiger Rag', lifted from the Betty Boop cartoon 'Betty Boop and Grampy' (1935).

In 'The Simpsons' episode 'Jaws Wired Shut' (2002) by Matt Groening Homer saves Marge during the final minutes in a parody of the Fleischers' Popeye cartoons. The first segment of Groening'south 'Futurama' episode 'Reincarnation' (2011) is done in a Fleischeresque way, complete with black-and-white colours, bouncy blitheness and one scene featuring a stereoptical diorama. In 2000 Matthew Nastuk and Raymond S. Persi directed an blithe music video to the 1998 song 'The Ghost of Stephen Foster' by The Squirrel Nut Zippers which pays homage to the Fleischers. Steve Cutts' animated music video for Moby's song 'Are You Lost In The World Like Me?' (2016) also mimicks the Fleischers' way.

The Fleischer's influence can besides be found in other media. A British female person rapper used "Betty Boo" as a stage name, scoring a few hits with 'Hey DJ' (1989), 'Doin' the Do' (1990) and 'Where Are You Baby?' (1990). In 2005 a Serbian rock ring named themselves Betty Boop.

Books about Max Fleischer
For those interested in Fleischer'due south life and career Leslie Cabarga'south 'The Fleischer Story in the Golden Age of Blitheness' (1976), Richard Fleischer's 'Out of the Inkwell: Max Fleischer and the Animation Revolution' (2005) and Ray Pointer's 'The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer: American Blitheness Pioneer' (2017) are all highly recommended.

Max Fleischer and Betty Boop
Helen Kane and Max Fleischer.