Perpetual Motion | 1920 | Animated Short, Comedy

Title: Perpetual Motion | 1920 | Animated Short, Comedy Director: Dave Fleischer Studio: J.R. Bray Studios Starring: Max Fleischer, Roland Crandall Release Date: October 2, 1920 Runtime: 5 Format: Silent, black-and-white; live-action/animation Country: United States Language: Silent Genres: Animation, Comedy --- Summary: An eccentric inventor unveils a perpetual motion machine powered by a powerful magnet, only to be sabotaged when Max Fleischer and a studio colleague mischievously remove the magnet. The Inkwell Clown springs from the animator’s pen and soon gets entangled with the runaway magnet, creating a cascade of visual gags as live action blends with animation. Playing with the illusion of control between creator and creation, the short uses slapstick and trick effects to satirize quack inventions and celebrate the elastic possibilities of animated physics. --- Background: Perpetual Motion is an entry in Max and Dave Fleischer’s Out of the Inkwell series, produced during the Bray Studio years (1918–1921). The films combined live-action studio scenes with animated antics of the Inkwell Clown—later known as Koko—brought to life using the Fleischers’ pioneering rotoscope technique. Released in 1920, the short reflects the series’ hallmark interplay between the on-screen animator and his unruly cartoon creation. --- Trivia: Perpetual Motion debuted on October 2, 1920, during the Bray Studio period of the Out of the Inkwell series. The short was released the same day as another series entry commonly listed as Poker (The Card Game). Dave Fleischer directs while Max Fleischer appears on screen, a recurring device in which the animator confronts his own cartoon. Roland Crandall, later a key Fleischer animator, is credited alongside Max Fleischer. During 1919–1921, Out of the Inkwell shorts were issued through The Bray Pictograph Screen Magazine for Goldwyn-era distribution, situating this title within that release pattern. The film’s gags revolve around a powerful magnet, a frequent prop in Fleischer shorts for staging physics-defying comedy. --- Hashtags: PerpetualMotion OutOfTheInkwell KokoTheClown Fleischer SilentFilm 1920 Animation PublicDomain