The Clan of the Ice Bear

Guess I just can't bear to write about this one, I like it so much.  We're back to the "Out of the Inkwell" series, and it's called Modeling.  Sure, they reuse some of the animation too much, and sure, Koko's looking far too slick for his own good (and in this sequence, he can't even maintain a consistent button size!!!) but for those who have been following the evolution of this "Out of the Inkwell" series just might appreciate how Max and company are trying to push the bounds of the possible in this one.  For instance, as usual a hand draws backgrounds and what not, but in a couple of shots, the hand is incorporated with some animation in the same shot!  Gotta give them a little credit, as they're working harder than they thought they'd have to!
Now, there always needs to be a new wrinkle in one of these things.  This time, the "modeling" implied in the title comes in the form of a... um... rather unique-looking fellow.  He must've been a boxer or something, as his nose is rather unusual-looking.  Is that Dave Fleischer as the sculptor?  Alas, the IMDb apparently doesn't know.  I'd try Wikipedia, but I'm too afraid to be disappointed a second time.  Anyway, the subject complains about the bust that Dave is making; I'll let you find out that one for yourself.  Sure, his response is clichéd, but what do you expect?  He's just balancing out the unfairness of an unjust universe in the only way he can.  Meanwhile, Max puts some "energy" into Koko by giving him a pair of ice skates, and then drawing Koko a frozen lake to skate around upon.  Poor Koko, he damn near cuts his own hands off trying to keep his balance on his skates, but soon he becomes a master of ice skating.  The way Koko incorporates the world just outside his field of vision is damn near Spielbergian genius.  ...oh, right.  This is the one that the guy actually notices.
Soon after, Koko creates a proto-Gumby when he climbs out of his two dimensional world and climbs up onto and into the sculpture of the ugly guy.  Is it too much of a stretch to claim that the Fleischers invented the exit in Pac-Man with this sequence?  Probably, but let's face it!  Hyperbole is what blogging's all about.  Anyway, all three humans can't believe what they're seeing!  The ugly guy's so miffed that he storms out of that crazy ol' Fleischer studio.  But before he goes, he grabs a big handful of the clay sculpture and chucks it at Dave for good measure.  Ever the little brother, Dave ducks out of the clay's path, allowing Max to get hit in the face instead... ah, they just edited the film.  Phooey.  I want pain, damn it!  Pain.
And so, since it's near the end of this one-reeler, Koko jumps back into the drawing, then tries to make his escape into the inkwell.  Koko uses a pair of tongs to grab the top of the inkwell, thereby closing it shut behind himself, but this time Max is not in the mood to let bygones be bygones.  For some reason, I'm thinking of that time that some goofball introduced Gloria Allred and a woman who had an affair with Herman Cain.  And yet, Cain goes on to do bits with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.  Where's the justice?  Anyway, Max opens up the inkwell and pours out all the ink, thereby... destroying this current instantiation of Koko?  Okay, so even the Fleischers didn't know how to end it.  What can me say?  Me ungrateful audience member.  But again, it's the end of the picture, so Koko's apparently not picking himself up, dusting himself off and wreaking more havoc just now.

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-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan