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. 'Trip to Mars' is still great though and for me one of the best Ko-Ko cartoons.
Sure, 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 brilliant opening scene and the wonderfully weird creatures alone make 'Trip to Mars' well worth the viewing.
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 pretty good with some nice visual wackiness and wit.
'Trip to Mars' is lively in pace and the bizarre and wild nature of the humour is done very imaginatively and never less than fun to watch. The interplay with Max is a delight, the crew were clearly having a ball doing this, and Ko-Ko as always is amiable and amusing.
Concluding, very well made, hugely entertaining and a great cartoon. Another one of Ko-Ko's best. 9/10 Bethany Cox
