Out of the Inkwell is an American animated film series of the silent era created by Max Fleischer, which pioneered the use of several animation techniques during its run. The shorts were a mix between live-action and animation, with cartoon character Koko the Clown (initially known as "The Inkwell Clown" or simply "The Clown") interacting with the people around him, most notably Fleischer himself (referred to as "The Boss").

The series was first produced at Bray Pictures between 1918 and 1921, when Max and Dave Fleischer founded Inkwell Studios, releasing the series through various state-rights companies (including what would become Screen Gems)John Canemaker; Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat; Pantheon Books; (1991) until 1924 when the Fleischers joined Red Seal Pictures. After Red Seal folded in 1927, Paramount Pictures picked up the series and renamed it The Inkwell Imps, which ran until 1929.

History The series was the result of three short experimental films that Max Fleischer independently produced from 1914 to 1916 to demonstrate his invention, the rotoscope, a device consisting of a film projector and easel used to achieve realistic movement for animated cartoons. The rotoscope projected motion picture film through an opening in the easel, covered by a glass pane serving as a drawing surface. The image on the projected film was traced onto paper, advancing the film one frame at a time as each drawing was made. Fleischer's younger brother Dave Fleischer, who was working as a clown at Coney Island, served as the model for their first famous character, eventually known as Koko the Clown, who in each cartoon popped out of the inkwell into the "real world".

The earlier shorts followed a rather simple formula: Fleischer would draw the clown who, driven by curiosity, ended up getting himself and the "Boss" as well into trouble. However, the arrival of animator Dick Huemer in mid-to-late 1922 triggered a number of important changes, beginning with the clown being redesigned to look more appealing and easier to animate, which not only helped reduce Fleischer's dependency on the Rotoscope for fluid animation, but also allowed for more complex and outlandish premises as well as giving the cartoons a newspaper comic-like look. Huemer also christened the still-unnamed clown as "Ko-Ko" in 1925 and, influenced by his work on the Mutt and Jeff cartoons (where he began his career in 1916), created a small canine companion named Fitz, who would become Ko-Ko's none-too-bright stooge and later evolved into Bimbo in the sound era. Nevertheless, the interaction of the live-action sequences with the artist/creator, Max Fleischer, and his pen and ink creations remained the foundation of the series.

The Out of the Inkwell series ran from 1919 to mid 1927, and was renamed The Inkwell Imps for Paramount, continuing until 1929. In all, 77 Out of the Inkwell and 57 Inkwell Imps films were produced in eleven years.

In late 1928, the Fleischers fell out with business partner Alfred Weiss and left Inkwell Pictures to establish a new studio. As a result, Weiss retained the Ko-Ko character, while the Inkwell Imps series continued under another staff until July 1929, when Paramount replaced it with Fleischer's Talkartoons. Weiss would re-issue a handful of 1921–26 Out of the Inkwell shorts with sound beginning in the fall of 1929.

Fleischer regained rights to Koko the Clown in 1931, adding him to the Talkartoons series as a supporting character to Bimbo and Betty Boop. Koko's last Fleischer theatrical appearance was in the Betty Boop cartoon Ha! Ha! Ha! (1934), a fully-animated remake of the silent Inkwell film The Cure (1924). Years later, Koko had a brief cameo in the Famous Studio-produced Screen Song entry Toys will be Toys (1949), his only theatrical appearance in color.

In 1950, Stuart Productions released a number of the Inkwell Studios Out of the Inkwell cartoons, and a selection of the Paramount Inkwell Imps cartoons to television. In 1955, the Inkwell Imps, along with 2,500 pre-October 1950 Paramount shorts and cartoons were sold to television packagers, the majority acquired by U.M. & M. TV Corporation.

In 1958, Max Fleischer revived his studio in a partnership with Hal Seeger, and in 1960 produced a series of one hundred Out Of The Inkwell five-minute cartoons. In the new color series, Koko had a clown girlfriend named Kokette, a pal named Kokonut, and a villain named Mean Moe. Larry Storch provided the voice for Koko and all of the supporting characters.

As of 2025, all of the shorts in the series are now in the public domain. One short in the series, 1922's The Hypnotist, was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010. In 2024, the short Koko's Earth Control was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Filmography The following is an attempt to list the complete filmography of the Out of the Inkwell/Inkwell Imps shorts, assembled from the best surviving documentation.

The Bray Studio Years (1918–1921)

Inkwell Studio: Out of The Inkwell years 1921–1927

Inkwell Imps (1927–1929)

Out of the Inkwell (1962 TV series) The following is a list of Out of the Inkwell cartoons produced by Hal Seeger, which aired in first-run syndication starting in 1962. They were distributed by Seven Arts Television. +No.TitleAnimation DirectionPilotEast Side, West SideMyron Waldman1Balloon Blues2Koko Gottum Injun Trouble3Koko Meets Boobnik4Baby FaceShamus Culhane5Flying Saucery6Knight Work7Kononut, Private Eye8Love in Bloom9Mean Moe Means Well10Now You See It...Now You Don't!11Polar Bear Facts12Pow-Wow-Wow!13The Egg and Me14The Mystery Guest15The Refriger-RaiderAl Eugster16A Fishy Story17A Haunting We Will GoOrestes Calpini18A Queen for a Day19Bluebeard's Treasure20Comic Strip21Fastest Pop Gun in the West22Gigantical23In the Army24Koko Meets Robin Hood25Koko Roams in Rome26Mean Moe Takes Over27Mean Moe's Money Mad28Moving Madness29Mummy's the Word30Reflection Land31Success Story32That's Show Biz33The Big Bank Robbery34TV or Not TV35Whale of a Story36Which Witch is Which37Irving the Indian Nut38Mad Scientist Gets Madder39Mean Moe Rain Maker40Medicine Man41No Soap42On With the Show43Rodeo44So Long, Ceylon45Wild West StoryTom Golden46A Dog Gone Snooper47Arabian DazeJames Tyer48Comic Book Capers49Enchanted Prince50Extra Special Delivery51Footloose Fox52Make Room for Moe53Plane Stupid54Pony Express55Sing-Along with MoeJames Tyer56Station Breaks57Strictly from Lumber58The Invisible OneJames Tyer59The River Robbers60Arty PartyShamus Culhane61Blunder Down Under62Growing Pains63Koko in a London Fog64Koko Meets Barney Beatnik65Mean Moe and Cleopatra66Mean Moe Gets the Bird67Mean Moe the Great68Mean Moe the Star69Moe Moves InJames Tyer70Rocket Ranger71Sold on Manhattan72The Cliff-Hanger73The Fan Letter74You Are Here75A Lot of Bull76Achilles is a Heel77Bomb-y Weather78Fearless Female79Funnyland80Gone Hollywood81Having a Hex of a TimeTom Golden, Arnie Levey82Jungle BungleAl Eugster83Let George Do It84Mean Moe DayMyron Waldman85Mean Moe Tells William TellMyron Waldman86Mean Moe the Lion Tamer87Mean Moe's Fairy Tale88Musketeer Moe89Romance Machine Made90Sahara Today, Gone Tomorrow91The Hillbillies92The Sleeping Beauty93The UnwashablesTom Golden, Arnie Levey94Tic-Tac-Moe95Who's Napoleon?96Down to Earth97Mayor Mean MoeMyron Waldman98Mean Moe Cools Off99Mean Moe's Side Show100Speak for Yourself, Mean Moe

References

External links

Max Fleischer's Famous Out of the Inkwell, Inkwell Images