Fleischer Brothers

Fleischer Studios, Inc. is an American corporation which originated as an animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York. It was founded in 1921 by brothers Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer, who ran the company from its inception until they were fired by parent company and distributor Paramount Pictures in April 1942. In its prime, Fleischer Studios was the most prominent competitor to Walt Disney Productions and is most notable for the production of cartoons featuring Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Popeye the Sailor, and Superman. Unlike other studios, whose most famous characters were anthropomorphic animals, most of the Fleischers' most popular characters were humans. However, the Fleischer brothers encountered some difficulties they could not overcome, such as censorship, high production costs and organization problems, which eventually lead to the downfall of Fleischer Studios.