A scene from "The Cobweb Hotel'', a creepy Halloween cartoon by Dave Fleischer (1936)
Channel: BrainAlarm
Date: 2023-10-25

In this funny creepy story, a newlywed couple of flies checks into the Cobweb Hotel. The seemingly friendly spider gives them a warm welcome. That does not bode well.

This animation comes from the 'Color Classics' series by Paramount Pictures, intended as competition for Walt Disney's 'Silly Symphonies'. Most of the cartoons from the 'Color Classics' series were made using the Setback Camera or Stereoptical Camera built by Max Fleischer. This was first used in the animation 'Poor Cinderella' from 1934. With it, a 3D effect could be created. Fleischer Studio was far ahead of its competitor Walt Disney with this. Disney used his 3D Multiplane Camera for the first time in 1937.

The construction consisted of a camera set up in front of a turntable with a miniature set and, in the foreground, hand-drawn animated characters on thin, transparent plastic paper or a cell, also called celluloid. This made it look as if the two-dimensional cartoon characters moved in a 3D environment, also known as the 'Stereoptical Process'. The table could be rotated to achieve a pan effect or tracking shot.

Due to financial problems and a feud between the brothers, the studio was eventually taken over by Paramount Pictures. In 1942, the studio was dissolved.

Watch the full cartoon here:
https://youtu.be/jSHCCJdhoIM

Sources:
https://archive.org/details/the_cobweb_hotel