The Fleischer Story by Cabarga, Leslie (1988) Paperback Paperback – January 1, 1988

My daughter loved it! Animation is her life and she has such high respect for this man! It's one of her favorite books!

I liked reading about how the Popeye and Betty Boop and 1940s Superman cartoons were made.

good book

I have always loved Popeye and its great to find a book that has lots of artwork in it plus a full history of the Fleischer Studios.

This book will help me grow as an artist with cartoon sketches. Inspirational.

'The Fleischer Story' is a modest, but richly illustrated account of the Fleischer brothers, their animation studio, why it closed down (although that remains quite a mystery), and what happened thereafter.Cabarga doesn't delve too deep, and there's little new information on the studio for readers of Leonard Maltin's 'Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons; Revised and Updated'. But that's not surprising, for Cabarga's book is from 1976, the early days of animation history, and actually came out before Maltin's book. Nevertheless, up to this day 'The Fleischer Story' counts as the definitive book on the Fleischer Brothers, for the simple reason of having no competitors.

This book, originally written in 1976 and updated in 1988, was written at a critical time when a few of the important personalities in the book were still alive to be interviewed. I have the Michael Barrier book and the Leonard Maltin book on the history of animation at all the studios, but this book concentrated on the Fleischer brothers. Like many studios, they had stellar moments, and had some run of the mill stuff as well. If their first full length feature "Gulliver's Travels" had done better at the box office, they may have truly soared into a big animation powerhouse. The timing of the war killed their next feature, "Hoppity Goes to Town" and they would never try one again. But their shorts from Popeye, to Betty Boop, and the marvelous Superman shorts show what they were capable of. The pioneering work they did in roto-scoping, and in using 3 dimensional backgrounds on a turntable gave their projects a unique look. The art deco styling and cinematic angles used in the Superman shorts has continued to marvel new fans spoiled by modern computer animation and digital 3d.The book had been out of print for years. Now even the 1988 update has been out of print for over 15 years and is rare and expensive. The 1988 version of the book is my personal favorite, it added many more sketches and photos.

Long out of print, this is from 1976. Totally in black and white, even the shots from "Gulliver's Travels." Despite the slick covers you see on this thing, it's pretty dreary inside. This presentation wouldn't be tolerated today. Needs to be redone.