Book Review: The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer

Subtitled “American Animation Pioneer,” author Ray Pointer’s book on Max Fleischer is a thorough and fascinating look at the man who brought Popeye to the screen, and was responsible for Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, and others.

The book carefully offers the history of Fleischer’s life and career, detailing the innovations in cinematic animation the came from his fertile mind. The depth of the artwork, the fluidity of the subjects’ movements, the layers of personality for each character, and the witty humor all combined to create some of the finest cartoons in movie history. As the author points out, the history of animation is too often dominated by the formidable contribution of Walt Disney. It can be successfully argued that Fleischer was as good or better.

Pointer’s study also gives the reader as much biographical information as possible about each of the contributors at every level; the artists, directors, and voiceover artists that helped these films come to life. We see the initial ideas, the evolution of the creative process, the growth of the productions, and how they expanded to longer subjects and, eventually, feature films. The details in this book are remarkable and it is filled with photos and graphics that enhance the text.

The wealth of information in this book makes it the definitive study of its subject, with greater authenticity added via a Foreword written by animation historian and expert Jerry Beck. The contribution of Max Fleischer to animated cinema is nearly impossible to fathom. Ray Pointer’s book takes on that challenge in a quintessential text that is most highly recommended. The book is available here.