User Reviews

Cartoonist Max Fleischer draws KoKo, the Inkwell Clown. An energetic KoKo wants a job. Max sends Koko down the telephone line to Dave Fleischer, the Projectionist. KoKo draws a mechanical lady doll. KoKo leads a band. The lady doll starts dancing. Dave oils the projector and all is lost.

This is also known as Mechanical Doll. I'm not sure why they call this, the Dresden Doll. I don't know the origins of that name. Anyways, it's a good KoKo short. I like the fun cartoon romance. I don't know if old projectors actually need any oil. Dave could trip and pour water on the screen. That would be funnier.

During the 1919-1930 period, the Fleischer brothers' biggest film star was Koko the Clown. Sadly, he's mostly forgotten and it's a shame as the Koko cartoons are charming and clever...and hold up well. Part of the appeal is the fluidity of movement of Koko and this was achieved using their invention, the Rotoscope. First, they would film Dave Fleischer doing all sorts of nonsense. Then the animator, Dave, would use the Rotoscope to project the images and then he'd trace them....which was a fast and efficient system. Disney and other animators later used this same process.

This copy of "Koko's Doll" (also called "The Dresden Doll") was included in one of the DVD collections from the "Accidentally Preserved" series...and I've really enjoyed these DVD sets.

When the film begins, Max is drawing Koko but runs out of ink. Koko helps out and finishes inking himself! Soon, Koko has left the paper (which is NOT unusual) and is climbing about phone lines listening in on phone calls and making a nuisance of himself.

Apart from the print being a bit scratchy, this is a fun and enjoyable film. Not among Koko's best...but still worth seeing.

Dave Fleischer was responsible for many gems. Ones that were amusing and charming, though over-cuteness did come through in some efforts and the stories were always pretty thin, with appealing characters, outstanding music and visuals that were inventive and with innovative animation techniques.

Ko-Ko similarly was an always amiable character to watch and among the better recurring characters in Fleischer's early work. Likewise, his series of Out of the Inkwell cartoons were among the best early efforts of Fleischer and silent cartoons in general. It is a shame that 'The Dresden Doll' is one of the rarest Koko cartoons (though not obscure, it can be seen on Youtube as of now under the title 'Mechanical Doll'), because to me it is also one of the best.

Sure, there is not much special or anything much for that matter to the story, apart from with the doll which is very sweet and heartfelt.

Everything else though is done so brilliantly that any issues had with the story don't stay for long. The delight of the character interplay and how well the animation and live action is handled so seamlessly for so early on, the wild fun and surprising pathos are only a few of the reasons as to why 'The Dresden Doll' works so well.

One expects the animation to be primitive and very low quality, judging by that it's the early 20s when animation techniques were not as many, as refined, as ambitious and in their infancy. While Fleischer became more refined and inventive later certainly, the animation is surprisingly good with some nice visual wackiness and wit.

'The Dresden Doll' is lively in pace and the bizarre and wild nature of the humour is done very imaginatively and never less than fun to watch. Koko as ever is very likeable and amusing.

Overall, great and doesn't deserve its relatively rare status. 9/10 Bethany Cox