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. There is far better cartoons in the series than 'Ko-Ko's Kane', that still doesn't stop it from being good fun and a good way to spend six minutes to cheer one up. It has not always been easy for me so seeing any Ko-Ko cartoon (even the lesser ones) is always worth my while.
The cartoon can get a little erratic pace wise and very random in some gag execution (especially a couple of the transformation ones), and it can affect the coherence of the already slight storytelling and make it feel disjointed.
Maybe it could have been a minute or two longer.
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 live action interplay are just a few things to like.
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.
Pacing is generally lively, if not consistently, and the bizarre and wild nature of the humour is generally inventive, even if there are more imaginative Ko-Ko cartoons. The concept is a very interesting one, and one of the series' most inventive, handled nicely if not quite to full potential. Koko as ever is very likeable and amusing. Likewise with Fitz and Max.
In conclusion, good fun but not one of Ko-Ko's best by any stretch. 7/10 Bethany Cox