Fleischer Studios, Inc., was an
American corporation which originated as an
animation studio located at 1600
Broadway,
New York City, New York. It was founded in 1921 as
Inkwell Studios (or
Out of the Inkwell Films) by brothers
Max Fleischer and
Dave Fleischer who ran the company from its inception until
Paramount Pictures, the studio's parent company and the distributor of its films, forced them to resign in April 1942. In its prime, it was
Walt Disney Productions's very first significant competitor and is notable for bringing to the screen cartoons featuring
Koko the Clown,
Betty Boop,
Bimbo,
Popeye the Sailor, and
Superman. Unlike other studios, whose most famous characters were anthropomorphic animals, the Fleischers' most popular characters were humans.