Koko Nuts (1925)
9/10
Wonderfully nuts
18 February 2018
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. Fleischer may not be at his very finest and there are other cartoons of his that fit the word gem more. 'Ko-Ko Nuts' is nonetheless a wonderfully nuts cartoon and a great representation as to why early Fleischer is well worth watching and why Ko-Ko is one of the better recurring characters of theirs deserving of more recognition.

Like all Ko-Ko cartoons, there is not much special or anything much for that matter to the story, which is generally best to be forgotten.

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 the ever entertaining and brilliantly used inclusion of Max are just a few of the great things about 'Ko-Ko Nuts'.

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.

'Ko-Ko Nuts' 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, Fitz is just a fun supporting character and what else can be said about Max?

In summation, great, wonderfully nuts Ko-Ko cartoon. 9/10 Bethany Cox
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