As America approaches 100 years as an animation powerhouse, MoMA is thrilled to present a comprehensive survey of classic cartoons by the Fleischer Brothers, most famous for their Jazz Age creations Betty Boop and Koko the Clown as well as their wildly popular screen adaptations of E.C. Segar’s Popeye and DC Comics’ Superman. This retrospective will include family-friendly matinees, but also programs historical (spotlighting Max Fleischer’s very early Koko the Clown silents, which famously combined live-action hijinks with hand-drawn animation) and thematic, all too appropriate given the Fleischers’ merciless sense of humor and profound eye for anything phantasmagorical and transgressive – including sound-era triumphs like the Betty Boop headliner Minnie the Moocher, featuring a ferocious rotoscoped performance from Cab Calloway, or the Technicolor two-reeler masterpiece Popeye The Sailor Man Meets Sindbad the Sailor Man. Much of the material in Fleischer Cartoons draws from a wealth of new 4K restorations supervised by Max Fleischer’s granddaughter Jane Fleischer Reid, many of which will be making their world premieres at MoMA.
Fleischer Cartoons: The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer
March 7 – 14, 2024
Screening Schedule
Fleischer Cartoons: Greatest Hits
• Koko’s Earth Control. 1928. 7 min. DCP.
• Bimbo’s Initiation. 1931. 6 min. DCP.
• Snow White. 1933. 7 min. DCP.
• Dinah. 1933. 7 min. DCP.
• Betty Boop & Grampy. 1935. 7 min. DCP.
• Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor. 1936. 17 min. DCP.
Thursday, March 7, 7:00 p.m. T2 – Followed by a discussion with Jane Fleischer Reid and
Mauricio Alvarado
Fleischer Cartoons: Silent Program 1
• The Clown’s Little Brother. 1920. 5 mins. DCP.
• Boxing Kangaroo. 1920. 6 mins. DCP.
• The Runaway. 1924. 8 mins. DCP.
• The Cartoon Factory. 1924. 8 mins. DCP.
• Koko’s Kane. 1927. 6 mins. DCP.
• The Fadeaway. 1926. 8 mins. DCP.
• Koko Plays Pool. 1927. 7 mins. DCP.
Friday, March 8, 4:00 p.m. T2 – With piano accompaniment from Ben Model
Fleischer Cartoons: The Pre-Codes
• Barnacle Bill. 1930. 8 min. DCP.
• Ace of Spaces. 1931. 7 min. DCP.
• Minding the Baby. 1931. 7 min. DCP.
• In My Merry Oldsmobile. 1931. 7 min. DCP.
• Chess Nuts. 1932. 6 min. DCP.
• Mask-a-Raid. 1931. 6 min. DCP.
• KoKo Lamps Aladdin. 1928. 6 min. DCP.
Friday, March 8, 7:00 p.m. T2
Monday, March 11, 4:30 p.m. T2
Fleischer Cartoons: Matinee Program 1
• Can You Take It?. 1934. 7 min. DCP.
• Educated Fish. 1937. 7 min. DCP.
• Betty in Blunderland. 1934. 7 min. DCP.
• Bizzy Bee. 1932. 7 min. DCP.
• Poor Cinderella. 1934. 10 min. DCP.
• Koko’s Kink. 1928. 6 min. DCP.
• Buzzy Boop at the Concert. 1938. 8 min. DCP.
Saturday, March 9, 1:00 p.m. T2
Fleischer Cartoons: Spooky! Surreal!
• Swing You Sinners!. 1930. 8 min. DCP.
• Betty Boop’s Halloween Party. 1933. 7 min. DCP.
• Red Hot Mama. 1934. 7 min. DCP.
• Koko’s Hot Dog. 1928. 6 min. DCP.
• Bimbo’s Initiation. 1931. 6 min. DCP.
• Betty Boop, MD. 1932. 7 min. DCP.
• The Cobweb Hotel. 1936. 8 min. DCP.
• Goonland. 1938. 8 min. DCP.
Saturday, March 9, 4:00 p.m. T2
Fleischer Cartoons: Betty’s Beginnings
• Dizzy Dishes. 1930. DCP. 6 min.
• Barnacle Bill. 1930. DCP. 8 min.
• Mysterious Mose. 1930. DCP. 6 min.
• Accordion Joe. 1930. DCP. 6 min.
• The Bum Bandit. 1931. DCP. 6 min.
• Silly Scandals. 1931. DCP. 6 min.
• Bimbo’s Express. 1931. DCP. 6 min.
• Mask-a-Raid. 1932. DCP. 7 min.
Saturday, March 9, 7:00 p.m. T2
Tuesday, March 12, 4:00 p.m. T2
Fleischer Cartoons: Matinee Program 2
• Somewhere in Dreamland. 1936. 9 min. DCP.
• Play Safe. 1936. 8 min. DCP.
• Clean Shaven Man. 1936. 6 min. DCP.
• Small Fry. 1939. 8 min. DCP.
• The Mechanical Monsters. 1941. 9 min. DCP.
• Betty Boop’s Crazy Inventions. 1933. 7 min. DCP.
• Mother Goose Land. 1933. 7 min. DCP.
Sunday, March 10, 1:00 p.m. T2
Fleischer Cartoons: Silent Program 2
• Jumping Beans. 1922. DCP. 8 min.
• The Puzzle. 1923. DCP. 7 min.
• Koko the Knight. 1927. DCP. 6 min.
• Koko’s Kozy Korner. 1928. DCP. 6 min.
• Koko It’s The Cats. 1926. DCP. 9 min.
• Koko Beats Time. 1929. DCP. 7 min.
• Noise Annoys Koko. 1929. DCP. 6 min.
Sunday, March 10, 4:00 p.m. T2
Fleischer Cartoons: Color Classics
• Cobweb Hotel. 1936. 8 min. DCP.
• Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor. 1936. 17 min. DCP.
• Arctic Giant. 1942. 8 min. DCP.
• Poor Cinderella. 1934. 10 min. DCP.
• Play Safe. 1936. 8 min. DCP.
• Kids in the Shoe. 1935. 7 min. DCP.
• Small Fry. 1939. 8 min. DCP.
Monday, March 11, 7:30 p.m. T2
Fleischer Cartoons: New York Stories
• Stop That Noise. 1935. 6 min. DCP.
• Any Rags?. 1932. 6 min. DCP.
• Betty Boop’s Penthouse. 1933. 7 min. DCP.
• Minnie the Moocher. 1932. 8 min. DCP.
• Noise Annoys Koko. 1929. 6 min. DCP.
• A Dream Walking. 1934. 7 min. DCP.
• Koko’s At the Circus. 1926. 5 min. DCP.
Tuesday, March 12, 7:00 p.m. T2
Fleischer Cartoons: The Musicals
• Screen Songs: Popular Melodies. 1932. 8 min. DCP.
• Brotherly Love. 1936. 6 min. DCP.
• When Yuba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba. 1923. 8 min. DCP.
• The Old Man of the Mountain. 1933. 6 min. DCP.
• Time On My Hands. 1934. 7 min. DCP.
• A Language All My Own. 1935. 6 min. DCP.
• Honest Love and True. 1938. 8 min. DCP.
Wednesday, March 13, 7:00 p.m. T2
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