I’m digging into the archives for this one. Last year, I read that a historic marker was going to be placed at the old Fleischer Studios in town. When I mentioned it to Constant Companion, he was game to go – nothing like adding to our knowledge of Miami (and other) history.
I was first made aware of the Fleischer Studios when I took part in an oral history project of the nascent Greater Cleveland Ethnographic Museum. This short-lived grass roots effort documented and celebrated the ethnic diversity of Cleveland. Among others, I interviewed Greek immigrants about their lives and experiences. Among them was Mike Syntax, an advertising man.
Mike grew up in Cleveland, went to East High School (I think). After graduation he drove west to work at the Disney Studios, along with a few other recent graduates (also sons of immigrant). Mike and some others left Disney to join the Harman-Ising Studio (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harman-Ising_Productions.Then) came the army; he enlisted; with his arts background he worked for the Stars and Stripes. In Europe he met the love of his life, a Greek girl, with whom he spent a long life. Mike returned to Cleveland where he ran a successful ad agency.
Long ago, before Daughter entered elementary school, we used to watch a fair amount of tv, especially on Bravo and Arts & Entertainment networks. At that time both of them broadcasted a rich array of arts programming. I taped and rewatched a full length animated Gulliver’s Travels, a Fleischer Studios production (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rehNT9wIjUg).
Fleischer Studies was founded by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer and located in NYC until 1938 until it moved to Miami because of a series of conflicts with the unions. The Miami space housed a state-of-the-art animation studio including a screening room, recording studio, and space for over 700 employees. The building is notable as it was the first fully air-condition commercial building in Florida.
The Miami Fleischer Studio closed in 1942 because of financial pressures and creative friction that ousted the Fleischer brothers. It was reorganized as Famous Studios. The building at 701 NW 30th Ave. in Grapeland Heights near the airport had after lives as a gym and a police department.
The Fleischers made two feature-length films: Gulliver’s Travels (1939) and Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941). They had achieved international success for their blend of surrealism, expressionism, and adult themes with their best known characters Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, and Popeye the Sailor. Fleischers also created the first Superman shorts. According to their grandson, Superman first flew in their films and used his recognizable phrase, “Up, up, and away.”
Thanks to a group of residents who lobbied for a Florida Historical Marker recognizing “The Fleischer Studios in Miami” the building might get a new life. This influential animation studio is the first acknowledged in Florida’s film history, which holds other film stories.
