Fleischer Studios was an animation company that was headed by brothers, Max and Dave Fleischer who were both East Coast American animators. The company opened in 1921 and at the time was Disney's biggest competitor. Originally from Vienna, Max and Dave Fleischer immigrated to New York in the 1880's along with their Jewish family that included another brother Joe who would later contribute to the Fleischer's success.
Max Fleischer studied art at Cooper Union and the Art Students League and began his commercial career as an artist and cartoonist but an interest in mechanics led him to animation. While trying to find an easier and more economical way of producing animations Max and his brothers Dave and Joe invented the Rotoscope, a mechanism used to trace movement from live-action film. This process was used in the Fleischer's first film Experiment No.1 (1915) in which Dave portrayed the character of a clown who would later become the famous Koko The Clown.
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