View source for Out of the Inkwell (1938 film)

{{Infobox film
| name = Out of the Inkwell
| image =
| caption =
| director = [[Dave Fleischer]]<br> '''Animated Sequences:'''<br>Thomas Johnson
| cinematography = Sid Glenar
| story =
| animator = Thomas Johnson<br>Otto Feuer
| starring = [[Bonnie Poe]] as Betty Boop (voice - uncredited)<br>[[Oscar Polk]] as a black janitor (uncredited)
| music = 
| producer = [[Max Fleischer]]<br>[[S. Roy Luby]] (associate)
| studio = [[Fleischer Studios]]
| distributor = [[Paramount Pictures]]
| released = {{Film date|1938|04|22}}
| country = United States
| color_process = [[Black and white]]
| runtime = 7 minutes
| language = English
}}
'''''Out of the Inkwell''''' is a 1938 [[Max Fleischer]]/[[Betty Boop]] [[Live action|live-action]] and [[Animation|animated short]] film.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/56/mode/2up |pages=54–56}}</ref> The title and concept for the film were a tribute to the ''[[Out of the Inkwell]]'' series of films that [[Max Fleischer]] had produced during the 1920s.

==Synopsis==
A live-action black janitor, played by [[Oscar Polk]], best known for his portrayal as the servant "Pork" in the 1939 film ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'', studies hypnotism from a book while cleaning Max Fleischer's desk at the Fleischer studio. He manages to conjure Max's pen into drawing Betty Boop. In a sequence of animation mixed with live-action, he uses his new powers to control the white animated Boop.  She in turn is able to control a small dog. After waking from the spell, Betty manages to work a few more spells. Fraught with racial innuendo, one of her tricks includes turning the black man white for a split-second, after which he begins cleaning in overdrive.  Before that, he was sleeping on his broom and sweeping dirt under the carpet.  At the end, Betty Boop leaps into a bottle of black ink.

==Reception==
''[[Boxoffice Pro|Boxoffice]]'' (March 24, 1938): "Mostly juvenile appeal. That popular Max Fleischer animated stunt is used here, but their results are far from effective. There is a colored porter, who picks up hypnotism from a book lying on a cartoonist's desk. He brings the pen to life with an unaided drawing of Betty Boop. Betty watches the porter tire at his work and then hypnotized him into doing the work at a speedy clip."<ref name=Enough>{{cite book |last1=Sampson |first1=Henry T. |title=That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900-1960 |date=1998 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0810832503 |url=https://archive.org/details/thatsenoughfolks0000samp/page/196/mode/2up |page=196}}</ref>

''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' (May 1, 1938): "The Boops will not be distributed by Paramount next year. This entrant will do nothing to make any exhibitor regret the company's decision. It has novelty, true, but of the old days."<ref name=Enough/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*''Out of the Inkwell'' on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2BZtvSJ5v8 Youtube]
* {{IMDb title|0030536}}
* ''Out of the Inkwell'' at [https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/1523-Out-Of-The-Inkwell The Big Cartoon Database]{{dead link|date=January 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}.

{{Betty Boop films}}

[[Category:1938 films]]
[[Category:1930s American animated films]]
[[Category:Betty Boop cartoons]]
[[Category:1938 animated short films]]
[[Category:American animated black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures short films]]
[[Category:Fleischer Studios short films]]
[[Category:Short films directed by Dave Fleischer]]
[[Category:Short films with live action and animation]]
[[Category:Films about hypnosis]]


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