Some of the information is Boop-Oop-a-Dooping full of SPOILERS. Boop-Oop-a-Doop!
Michael Dobbs
| Gordon Mike Dobbs: The Original Biographer of Max Fleischer |
|---|
| M. Dobbs | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Name |
Gordon Michael Dobbs |
Michael Dobbs[1] from Springfield, Massachusetts is a historian, write, talk show host, editor and collector. Dobbs stated that he had been working on his Fleischer Studios book Made of Pen & Ink: Fleischer Studios, The New York Years [2]since 1975,[3] a year before Leslie Cabarga's book The Fleischer Story.
During the 1980s, Dobbs was given the title "The Original Biographer of Max Fleischer". From 1992 to 1997, he worked on a magazine called "Escape!".
Over the years, Dobbs had been criticized for not releasing his book. When he was working on his book in the 1970s and 1980s, no publishers were interested. But since then, the Internet now has libraries, making it easier for him to study, research and self-publish.
Dobbs contacted Richard Fleischer, and told him about his plan to write a book, after sending letters back and forth, he obtained Richard and Ruth Fleischer's blessings and was introduced, and able to meet and interview ex-Fleischer staff.
He learned from Myron Waldman that Dave Fleischer was credited as a "director" but it bothered everyone who worked for the studio. Dobbs indicates that Dave was more a line producer.
During their regular meetings, Grim Natwick would occasionally offer unique anecdotes about his time spent working for Walt Disney and the Fleischer Studios. Angry, Natwick claimed that his Fleischer animation staff had ruined his lip-sync animation sequence for Betty Boop's debut back in 1930 when he and Dobbs went to the "LA County Museum of Art" to watch Dizzy Dishes.
After Natwick's death, Dobbs was asked to review Natwick's artwork that was stored.
Dobbs was aware that Natwick was the originator of Betty Boop. As evidence that Natwick was the original creator of Betty Boop, American animation producer Stephen Worth of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive "owned" the original concept artworks created by Natwick, refuting Richard Fleischer's assertions that Natwick just "drew" Betty Boop.
Dobbs stated that Disney was a rival to the Fleischers, and that the Alice Comedies took elements from the Out of the Inkwell series, but flipped it. And that Disney and Fleischer were poaching animators from one another.
As of Summer 2023, he was working on "volume two" of his book. In his semi-retirement, he hoped to finish creating the book that he began working on for 45 years, and launching his book's official website. His second book Made of Pen & Ink: Fleischer Studios, The Florida Years was released on the 31st of March, 2024.
He has gone on to other works after realizing his lifetime dream of finishing his Fleischer Studios books and all those years of research.
Quotes
- Mike Dobbs: "Sammy Timberg was a vaudeville veteran who provided many of the songs and scores for the Fleischer Studios output throughout the 1930s." (1988)
- Mike Dobbs: "I was familiar with the Betty Boop cartoons." (2023)
- Mike Dobbs: "Growing up my absolute favorite cartoons were the Fleischer Popeyes." (2023)
- Mike Dobbs: "People like Mae Questel, she was the predominant voice for Betty Boop, and then she did Olive Oyl, she was working at the school until 1938." (2023)
- Mike Dobbs: "Cuphead is a Max Fleischer cartoon, they do everything to reference Fleischer. I watch it, you can see references, even character design. It's a video game, it's all about Fleischer." (2023)
Trivia
- He wanted to make his book as accessible as possible, so he sells his books at a fair price.
- Dobbs is one of the most knowledgeable Fleischer Studios historians.[4] over the years, most of his vital research has been recycled by other historians, and he was not given any credit.
- Pauline Comanor's daughter Linda handed Michael Dobbs a copy of "The Fleischer Story" in which he responded by challenging Leslie Cabarga.
- He hosted a book signing at Comics N' More n Easthampton.
- Dobbs was born in 1954.
- His specialty is film animation.