During the 1920s, one of the best cartoon characters was Koko the Clown. Not only were the cartoons fun and innovative, they hold up very well when you watch them today...providing silent movies CAN be terrific entertainment.
In these cartoon shorts, Dave Fleischer dressed up as Koko and his movements were Rotoscoped...meaning that animator Max Fleischer (Dave's brother) would trace the footage...giving Koko much more fluid and realistic movements. Nearly all of the shorts began with Koko climbing out of an inkwell or being drawn onto art board by Max...and the two would soon begin interacting.
"Bed Time" is a good film...though compared to many other Koko films it's a tiny bit of a disappointment. This is because what happens during most of the cartoon just seems very random and you do later discover why this is the case....but it also makes for a cartoon that is fun but with less lasting impact than other Koko shorts. Still, slightly subpar Koko is still much better than nearly any other silent cartoon of the era.
In these cartoon shorts, Dave Fleischer dressed up as Koko and his movements were Rotoscoped...meaning that animator Max Fleischer (Dave's brother) would trace the footage...giving Koko much more fluid and realistic movements. Nearly all of the shorts began with Koko climbing out of an inkwell or being drawn onto art board by Max...and the two would soon begin interacting.
"Bed Time" is a good film...though compared to many other Koko films it's a tiny bit of a disappointment. This is because what happens during most of the cartoon just seems very random and you do later discover why this is the case....but it also makes for a cartoon that is fun but with less lasting impact than other Koko shorts. Still, slightly subpar Koko is still much better than nearly any other silent cartoon of the era.