The Dave Fleischer papers span the years 1933-1975 (bulk 1941-1975) and encompass 0.5 linear feet. The collection consists of storyboards, scripts, and subject files. The storyboards and scripts are for projects that were unproduced, most notably EAGER BEAVER. In the subject files is a small amount of correspondence and miscellaneous drawings and storyboards. There is no material on Fleischer's silent film career and almost nothing related to his work at any studio, including his own.

David Fleischer (1894-1979) was born in New York City and was working as a film editor for Pathé by 1913. In 1915 he began work with his brother, Max, on an animated cartoon that took more than a year to complete. The brothers were hired by Bray Studios in 1917 to animate OUT OF THE INKWELL, featuring their first character creation, Ko-Ko the Clown. In 1921 the Fleischers formed their own company, Out of the Inkwell Films, Inc., and opened a studio in Manhattan. They formed a distribution company, Red Seal Pictures, in 1924, but it failed after a couple of years and in 1927 they began a long association with Paramount. During the 1930s the company had major success with the characters Betty Boop and Popeye, but their features GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (1939) and MR. BUG GOES TO TOWN (1941) were less successful, and Paramount took over the studio in 1942. Dave Fleischer then went to Columbia to head up its cartoon unit. Fleischer was nominated for an Academy Award for the animated short subject IMAGINATION (1943). After several years, he left Columbia and eventually ended up at Universal, where he remained until the 1960s.