Created in the early 20th century by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, Fleischer Studios was a pioneer in the art and craft of animation and were responsible for creating and animating some of the most beloved characters in American animation including Betty Boop and Koko the Clown. The studio was also renowned for its animation of two extremely popular comic-strip characters: Popeye (originally created by Elzie Segar) and Superman (originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster).

The artists of Fleischer Studios were not only animators, they were innovators as well. Known for their ground-breaking marriage of live action with animation, their ingenious “bouncing ball” cartoons, their gritty, urban and often surreal landscapes, their jazz cartoons featuring early film footage of the era’s popular artists including the very first film footage of Cab Calloway, and many inventions including Max’s rotoscope and “set-back” process, the influence of Fleischer Studios can be seen today in everything from music videos to karaoke to Japanese animé.