Out of the Inkwell: Max Fleischer and the Animation Revolution

25. The lawsuit against Paramount et al

Richard Fleischer 151 25 The lawsuit against Paramount et al., the possibility of somehow negating the ruinous 1941 contract, the chance of telling how he had signed the contract under duress, all this was something of a tonic for Max. It seemed that the tide was turning. It even seemed that the tide might be turning into something of a wave. A longtime friend and admirer of Max’s, a chap named Hal Seeger, approached Max with an interesting proposition. Seeger was the president of Hal Seeger Productions, a New York animation company that serviced big advertising agencies such as BBD&O and many other distinguished corporations like RCA, Campbell Soups, General Electric, and Westinghouse. In other words, he was a genuine producer and could be taken seriously. What Seeger wanted to do was revive and produce for television Ko-Ko the Clown and the Out of the Inkwell cartoon series as well as the bouncing ball Screen Songs, all of which 152 Out of the Inkwell Max had originated forty years earlier. Seeger had it all thought out. He and Max would be equal partners. Seeger would be the producer; Max would act as a consultant. They would make one hundred five-minute color cartoons. Each cartoon would open with Max in live action at the animation board, drawing and bringing Ko-Ko to life, just like the good old days. Max would also bring his vast expertise to the project as well as his many new concepts of how to drastically cut animation costs. Not only had Seeger thought it all out, but he had even gone so far as to contact some financiers, the Berger brothers, who ran a company known as Video House. The Bergers were gung ho about the project. Max’s feelings must have been a mixture of joy, pride, and bittersweet emotions as he absorbed all this. How did he feel about the title consultant instead of studio head? And did he realize that, as encouraging as all this was, his life was still in a reverse cycle? Ko-Ko the Clown was, after all, the first cartoon he had created at the very beginning of his career. But that was not the last stop in the reverse cycle. When the time came to start photography of Max at the drawing board, he wanted to look younger. He decided to dye his white hair dark brown. My mother, Essie, took the first stab at the dye job. Max’s hair turned out green. He let a professional take over. What he was doing, in fact, was going backward in time, toward his youth. Some pills are harder to swallow, more bitter than others, but as far as his outward demeanor was concerned, Max was excited; he was professionally and happily occupied in the field in which he excelled. He was the same sweet, funny, gentle, caring guy we always knew and always loved. Richard Fleischer 153 Out of the Inkwell, Inc., was reestablished on January 14, 1958, with production of the series starting on February 10. Ko-Ko the Clown was redesigned to give him a more modern look, and a girlfriend, Kokette, was supplied for him. Other new characters such as KoKonut and Mean Moe also joined the cartoon cast. The year 1958 ended on a very positive note. In a surprisingly short period of time, Out of the Inkwell was producing five-minute color cartoons at the rate of one a week. Eventually, one hundred were actually made. And the cartoons were moderately successful, although no blockbusters these. Video House sold its ownership to another distributing company, and ownership of the cartoons started to pass from hand to hand as other companies bought them and took a crack at trying to make a go of them. Things looked most promising when Seven Arts bought the distribution rights and came out, on October 23, 1963, with a full-page ad in Variety announcing its acquisition. But Seven Arts had no better luck than the others in trying to get the Ko-Ko cartoons off the ground and onto television screens. Then, on December 3, 1964, Variety announced the dissolution of Out of the Inkwell, Inc. Once again Cervantes was right. Ill luck seldom comes alone. And along came more. After more than five years of being an action pending in the courts, the suit against Paramount et al. was suddenly no longer pending...