Fleischer Cartoons: The Pre-Codes

Film

No upcoming events

Mask-a-Raid. 1932. Directed by Dave Fleischer, produced by Max Fleischer. Courtesy of FleischerToons.

Barnacle Bill. 1930. DCP. 8 min.
Ace of Spaces. 1931. DCP. 7 min.
Minding the Baby. 1931. DCP. 7 min.
In My Merry Oldsmobile. 1931. DCP. 7 min.
Chess Nuts. 1932. DCP. 6 min.
Kitty From Kansas City. 1931. DCP. 8 min.
KoKo Lamps Aladdin. 1928. DCP. 6 min.

Only the pre-Code era of Hollywood could have produced a figure as provocative as Betty Boop, and indeed, once censorship began being enforced in earnest in 1934, Betty was almost immediately forced to trade in her garter for a demure, housewifely apron. But there is nothing demure about the Fleischer cartoons in this program, which constantly push the limits of suggestiveness with sexual situations, implied nudity, imaginative violence, substance abuse, and the rough ethnic humor that was a part of the Fleischers’ very urban, very New York environment. We’re not in Walt Disney’s Kansas anymore. This program is not for children or the faint of heart.

This film accompanies Fleischer Cartoons: The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer.

Past events

Mon, Mar 11, 2024, 4:30 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T1, Theater 1

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1
Fri, Mar 8, 2024, 6:30 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2

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