# Out of the Inkwell

Out of the Inkwell is an American animated film series of the silent era. It was produced by Max Fleischer from 1918 to 1929 and was called The Inkwell Imps at the end of that period.

## 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.
Out of the Inkwell began at the Bray Studio as a monthly entry in The Bray Pictograph Screen Magazine produced for Paramount from 1918, and later for Goldwyn Pictures from 1919 to 1921. In that same year, The Fleischer brothers started their own studio, and in 1923, the clown who previously had no name came to be known as Koko when animation veteran Dick Huemer became the new director of animation.
Huemer, who began his animation career with the Mutt and Jeff cartoons in 1916, brought the influence of the short and tall companions to Out of the Inkwell with the creation of a small canine companion named Fitz, who later evolved into Bimbo in the sound era. Huemer redesigned the clown for animation, which reduced Fleischer's dependency on the Rotoscope for fluid animation. He also defined the drawing style with his distinctive inking quality that the series was famous for, but it was the interaction of the live-action sequences with the artist/creator, Max Fleischer, and his pen and ink creations that were the foundation of the series. Typically, the cartoons start with live-action showing Max drawing the characters on paper, or opening the inkwell to release the characters into "reality".
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. The Inkwell Imps series was replaced by the "Talkartoons" in 1929, and Koko was retired until 1931, appearing as a supporting character with Bimbo and Betty Boop. Koko's last theatrical appearance was in the Betty Boop cartoon Ha-Ha-Ha (1934), a remake of the silent Out of the Inkwell film The Cure (1924). Koko had a brief cameo in his only color theatrical appearance in the Screen Song entry Toys will be Toys (1949).
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.
Many of the shorts in the original 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 Ko-Ko'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)

* Experiment No. 1 (10 June 1918) (lost)
* Experiment No. 2 (5 March 1919) (lost)
* Experiment No. 3 (2 April 1919) (lost)
* The Clown's Pup (30 August 1919)
* The Tantalizing Fly (4 October 1919)
* The Boxing Kangaroo (2 February 1920)
* The Chinaman (19 March 1920)
* Slides (12 April 1920) (lost)
* The Circus (6 May 1920)
* The Ouija Board (4 July 1920)
* The Clown's Little Brother (6 July 1920)
* Poker (aka The Card Game) (2 October 1920) (lost)
* Perpetual Motion (2 October 1920)
* The Restaurant (6 November 1920) (lost)
* Cartoonland (2 February 1921) (lost)
* The Automobile Ride (20 June 1921)

### Inkwell Studio: Out of The Inkwell years 1921–1927

* Modeling (1 October 1921)
* November (1 November 1921)
* Fishing (21 November 1921)
* Invisible Ink (3 December 1921)
* The Fish (7 January 1922)
* The Dresden Doll (aka. The Mechanical Doll) (7 February 1922)
* The Mosquito (6 March 1922) (lost)
* Bubbles (20 April 1922)
* Flies (1 May 1922)
* Pay Day (8 July 1922)
* The Hypnotist (26 July 1922) (partially survives as a 3-minute excerpt)
* The Challenge (29 August 1922)
* The Show (21 September 1922)
* The Reunion (27 October 1922)
* The Birthday (4 November 1922)
* Jumping Beans (15 December 1922)
* Surprise (15 March 1923)
* The Puzzle (15 April 1923)
* Trapped (15 May 1923)
* The Battle (1 July 1923)
* False Alarm (1 August 1923)
* Balloons (aka. Koko's Balloons) (1 September 1923)
* The Fortune Teller (1 October 1923)
* Shadows (1 November 1923) (Lost)
* The Contest (1 December 1923)
* Bed Time (12 December 1923)
* Ko-Ko's Lunch on a Cart (20 January 1925)
* Masquerade (1 February 1924)
* The Cartoon Factory (21 February 1924)
* Mother Gooseland (21 March 1924)
* Trip To Mars (aka. The First Man on the Moon) (1 April 1924)
* A Stitch in Time (aka. Koko Needles the Boss) (1 May 1924)
* Clay Town (28 May 1924)
* The Runaway (25 June 1924)
* Vacation (23 July 1924)
* Vaudeville (aka Koko's Showtime) (20 August 1924)
* League of Nations (17 September 1924)
* Sparring Partners (1 October 1924)
* The Cure (13 December 1924)
* The Laundry (30 December 1924) (Lost)
* Thaddeeus and Arlene (2 January 1925)
* Ko-Ko the Barber (25 February 1925)
* Big Chief Ko-Ko (2 March 1925)
* The Storm (aka. Koko's Storm) (21 March 1924)
* Ko-Ko Trains 'Em (aka. Koko's Pup Talent) (9 May 1925)
* Ko-Ko Sees Spooks (aka. Koko Haunted Hat) (13 June 1925)
* Ko-Ko Celebrates the Fourth (4 July 1925)
* Nutcracker Suite (1 September 1925)
* Ko-Ko Nuts (15 September 1925)
* Ko-Ko on the Run (26 September 1925)
* Ko-Ko Packs 'Em (17 October 1925)
* Ko-Ko Eats (15 November 1925) (Lost)
* Ko-Ko Steps Out (21 November 1925) (Lost)
* Ko-Ko's Thanksgiving (21 November 1925)
* Ko-Ko in Toyland (12 December 1925)
* Ko-Ko the Hot Shot (30 December 1925)
* Ko-Ko's Paradise (aka. Heavenly Daze) (27 February 1926)
* Ko-Ko Baffles the Bulls (6 March 1926)
* It's the Cat's (1 May 1926)
* Ko-Ko at the Circus (1 May 1926)
* Toot Toot (aka. Koko's Toot Toot) (5 June 1926)
* Ko-Ko Hot After It (12 June 1926)
* The Fadeaway (1 September 1926)
* Ko-Ko Kidnapped (26 October 1926) (Lost)
* Ko-Ko's Queen (1 October 1926)
* Ko-Ko the Convict (1 November 1926)
* Ko-Ko Gets Egg-Cited (1 December 1926)
* Koko in 1999 (10 March 1927)

### Inkwell Imps (1927–1929)

* Koko the Kavalier (10 April 1927)
* Koko Makes 'Em Laugh (29 July 1927)
* Koko Plays Pool (6 August 1927)
* Koko's Kane (20 August 1927)
* Koko the Knight (3 September 1927)
* Koko Hops Off (17 September 1927)
* Koko the Kop (1 October 1927)
* Koko Explores (15 October 1927)
* Koko Chops Suey (29 October 1927)
* Koko's Klock (26 November 1927)
* Koko's Kicks (30 November 1927)
* Koko's Quest (10 December 1927)
* Koko Back Tracks (aka. Koko in Reverse) (24 December 1927)
* Koko the Kid (24 December 1927)
* Koko's Kink (7 January 1928)
* Koko's Kozy Korner (21 January 1928)
* Koko's Germ Jam (4 February 1928)
* Koko's Bawth (18 February 1928)
* Koko Smokes (3 March 1928)
* Koko's Tattoo (17 March 1928)
* Koko's Earth Control (31 March 1928)
* Koko's Hot Dog (14 April 1928)
* Koko's Haunted House (28 April 1928)
* Koko Lamps Aladdin (12 May 1928)
* Koko Squeals (26 May 1928)
* Koko's Field Daze (9 June 1928)
* Koko Goes Over (23 June 1928)
* Koko's Catch (7 July 1928)
* Koko's War Dogs (21 July 1928)
* Koko's Chase (11 August 1928)
* Ko-Ko Heaves Ho (25 August 1928)
* Ko-Ko's Big Pull (7 September 1928)
* Ko-Ko Cleans Up (21 September 1928)
* Ko-Ko's Parade (8 October 1928)
* Ko-Ko's Dog Gone (22 October 1928)
* Ko-Ko in the Rough (3 November 1928)
* Ko-Ko's Magic (16 November 1928)
* Ko-Ko on the Track (4 December 1928)
* Ko-Ko's Act (17 December 1928)
* Ko-Ko's Courtship (28 December 1928)
* No Eyes Today (11 January 1929)
* Noise Annoys Ko-Ko (25 January 1929)
* Ko-Ko Beats Time (8 February 1929)
* Ko-Ko's Reward (23 February 1929)
* Ko-Ko's Hot Ink (8 March 1929)
* Ko-Ko's Crib (23 March 1929)
* Ko-Ko's Saxophonies (5 April 1929)
* Ko-Ko's Knock Down (19 April 1929)
* Ko-Ko's Signals (3 May 1929)
* Ko-Ko's Conquest (31 May 1929)
* Ko-Ko's Focus (17 April 1929)
* Ko-Ko's Harem Scarum (14 June 1929)
* Ko-Ko's Big Sale (28 June 1929)
* Ko-Ko's Hypnotism (12 July 1929)
* Chemical Ko-Ko (26 July 1929)