162:, with the additions of a black ruffled collar replacing the big white bow, three pom-pom front buttons, and a prominent cone-shaped cap also with three pom-poms. The white face with slit eyes was a design common among German circus clowns. Both costumes have white gloves with long fingers, white foot coverings, and a hat with the same white pom-pom as in front. A 1922 sheet music drawing makes the connection more explicit, saying "Out of the Inkwell, the New Yama Yama Clown", with a picture of Koko.
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beginning in mid-1927, and "Out of the
Inkwell" was retitled as "The Inkwell Imps". The series continued for two years until July 1929, ending with "Chemical Koko". Due to alleged mismanagement under Alfred Weiss, the Inkwell Studios filed bankruptcy in January 1929, and Koko was put into retirement for two years. In 1931, the legal entanglements regarding Koko were resolved, and he returned to the screen beginning with "The Herring Murder Case" (1931) and became a regular in the new Fleischer
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series for eight years. He redesigned the "Clown" for more efficient animation production and moved the
Fleischers away from their dependency upon the Rotoscope for fluid animation. Huemer created Ko-Ko's canine companion, Fitz. Most importantly, Huemer set the drawing style that gave the series its
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released through
Paramount (1918), and later Goldwyn (1919-1921). Aside from the novelty of the Rotoscoped animation, this series combined live-action and animation centered on Max Fleischer as the creative cartoonist and "Master" of "The Clown". "The Clown" would often slip from Max's eye and go on
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In the films produced from 1924 to 1927, the clown's name was hyphenated, "Ko-Ko". The hyphen was dropped due to legal issues associated with the bankruptcy of the
Fleischer's partnership company, The Red Seal Pictures Corporation. Alfred Weiss presented the Fleischers with a new Paramount contract
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in a clown costume. After tracing the film footage amounting to some 2,500 drawings and a year's work, the character that would eventually become Koko the Clown was born, although he did not have a name until 1924. "The Clown"'s appearance owes much to
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The series was very popular, and in 1921 Max and Dave
Fleischer formed their own studio, Out of the Inkwell Films, Inc. Their films were distributed through the States Rights method through
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Because of the realistic effects displayed in his sample films, the result of
Fleischer's Rotoscope, and a past relationship with John R. Bray, he was hired as production manager for
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Koko's first color appearance was a cameo in the cartoon "Toys Will Be Toys" (1949), one of the revived
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an adventure, pull a prank on his creator. Fleischer wrote, and animated the early shorts along with
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for television, and a series of 100 color episodes were produced in 1960–1961 by
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distinctive look. The illustration at the heading is an example by Huemer.
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came to the studio as their animation supervisor, having animated on the
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The Art and
Inventions of Max Fleischer: American Animation Pioneer
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The Art and
Invention of Max Fleischer: American Animation Pioneer
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Funny
Pictures: Animation and Comedy in Studio-Era Hollywood
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158:. Dave's clown costume was clearly inspired by one worn by
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Of Mice and Magic: A History of
American Animated Cartoons
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The character originated when Max Fleischer invented the
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companion "Fitz the Dog", who would later evolve into
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Animation in the United States during the silent era
464:Television series by U.M. & M. TV Corporation
334:. University of California Press. pp. 42–43.
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403:Before Mickey: The Animated Film, 1898–1928
387:. May 9, 1961 – via Internet Archive.
242:. In 1958, Max Fleischer set out to revive
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418:Max Fleischer's Famous Out of the Inkwell
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454:Fleischer Studios series and characters
504:Animated characters introduced in 1919
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252:using the voice talents of
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449:History of animation
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19:Fictional character
307:The New York Times
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36:Koko the Clown in
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459:Fictional clowns
412:. Penguin Books.
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