Tuesday 26 July 2022

Inkwell Laughter

Max Fleischer’s old inkwell from the silent cartoon days returns to the big screen in the Betty Boop short Ha! Ha! Ha! (1934).

The short’s unusual in that it sometimes uses live action footage and animation over still photos. Betty turns on a canister of laughing gas. At the end, she and Ko-Ko jump back into the inkwell, and the cap jumps up to seal the bottle.



Cut to the bottle shaking with laughter then collapsing to end the cartoon.



Seymour Kneitel and Doc Crandall are the credited animators.

4 comments:

  1. This is actually a remake of the Inkwell cartoon The Cure(1924), even using the same still photo effects.

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    1. Thanks for the information. I didn't realise that. I've never seen the earlier cartoon, though I notice now it's been on-line for some time.

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  2. Incidentally, wasn't that Koko's last appearance? At least he went out laughing.

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    1. It might have been. I've never really thought about it.

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