Those Fabulous Fleischers

Fleischer Studios:
Max and brother Dave Fleischer produced their "Out of Inkwell" films for the Bray Studios until 1921, when he and brother Dave established Fleischer Studios (initially named "Out of the Inkwell Films") to produce animated cartoons and short subjects; Max was credited as the producer at the beginning of every cartoon as well.
Fleischer invented the "follow the bouncing ball" technique for his Song Car-Tunes series of animated singalong shorts beginning in May 1924. This was before Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie (1928), which is often mistakenly cited as the first cartoon to synchronize sound with animation. Fleischer also devised a concept to simplify the process of animating movement by tracing frames of live action film. His patent for the Rotoscope was granted in 1915, although Max and his brother Dave Fleischer made their first cartoon using the system in 1914. This system was a trailblazer for films like Mary Poppins (1964) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). For a more detailed look into the Fleischer era visit http://www.fleischerpopeye.com.
Cool info about The Fleischer years.
Famous Studios
In May 1941, Paramount Pictures assumed ownership of Fleischer Studios, which had borrowed heavily from Paramount in order to move to Florida and expand into features (Gulliver's Travels and Mister Bug Goes to Town). Personal and professional disputes between Max and Dave (revolving around Dave's desire to have greater control over production and the music, and Max's disapproval of Dave's behaviour during an affair and subsequent divorce) led to the brothers not speaking to each other any more. By the end of the year, Max and Dave Fleischer were communicating solely by memo. In order to obtain financing from Paramount for 1940-41 productions, the Fleischers had to provide Paramount with undated, signed letters of resignation from Fleischer Studios to be used at Paramount's discretion. Conditions between Max and Dave continued to deteriorate. Dave left the studio for New York, and Max sent a telegram to Paramount stating that he could not work with Dave anymore. Dave then signed with Columbia to supervise the production of "Screen Gems" cartoons. This put Paramount in an untenable position, as the co-owner of the company that was making Paramount's animated films was also the head of production of cartoons for Paramount's competitor. Paramount called their loan, which effectively bankrupted the Fleischer Studios. The letters of resignation were produced, and Max and Dave were no longer officers of the company. (Famous Studios officially began on May 24th 1941 with Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer as employees - one year later Paramount accepted their resignations)] Paramount began reorganizing the studio, which they renamed Famous Studios. The Famous name was previously used as Famous Players Film Company, one of several companies which in 1912 became Famous Players - Lasky Corporation, the company which founded Paramount Pictures. Paramount's music publishing branch, which held the rights to all of the original music in the Fleischer/Famous cartoons, was named Famous Music.With . Famous Studios headed by Sam Buchwald, Seymour Kneitel, Isadore Sparber and Dan Gordon, production continued on the Popeye shorts. The early Famous-era shorts were often World War II-themed, featuring Popeye fighting Nazis and Japanese soldiers, most notably the 1942 short You're a Sap, Mr. Jap.
In late 1943, the Popeye series was moved to Technicolor production, beginning with Her Honor the Mare. Though these cartoons were produced in full color, some films in the late-1940's period were released in less-expensive two-color (usually) processes like Cinecolor and Polacolor. Paramount had begun moving the studio back to New York that January. Paramount renamed the studio Famous Studios, and although they had ownership of the company, it remained a separate entity. Four top Fleischer employees were promoted to run the animation studio: business manager Sam Buchwald, storyboard artist Isadore Sparber, animator Dan Gordon, and Max Fleischer's son-in-law, head animator Seymour Kneitel. Buchwald assumed Max Fleischer's place as executive producer, while Sparber, Kneitel, and Gordon shared Dave Fleischer's former responsibilities as supervising producers and credited directors.
NOTE**
Her Honor the Mare, We're On Our Way To Rio and The Marry-Go- Round will signal the last posting of the Fleischer Studios POPEYE and Famous Studios POPEYE theatrical releases.

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