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Maxcraft Projector Story – More! By David Kilderry

I have been meaning to write for some time on the Maxcraft Projector Story by John Fleming.
As a child my father would often give me some of his old toys that he’d kept. It was always a thrill
to see what tin toys he’d dig out of an old box stored under our home or at our grandparents house.
One day he gave me his old Maxcraft Roama film strip projector and a few film cans of film. Not
only were there over a dozen film strips, some animated including Clive Ace Pilot, but also many
of various B&W scenes of Australia. The main items of interest however were two B&W
animated cartoons called Sammy Goes Fishing and Space Patrol. These were meant for toy
hand-crank 35mm projectors. My father had a few of these that did not survive the years, but
luckily my friend down the street was able to borrow one from his dad, a Lion in its original box.
These cartoons were full frame and made to be projected at around 12 – 16 frames per second.
They were made in Australia for the local toy projector market, possibly by Eric Porter
Productions. These cartoons were far more interesting and better suited to the toy projectors than
the often boring silent film nitrate extracts that were often sold for them. Apparently there was a
stall at the former Eastern Market in Bourke St, Melbourne that sold them amongst many other
places including toy shops.
Also in the cans of film were some newsreels, cartoon segments and various silent extracts. The
discovery of the film in these cans and the images on the film started my life-long interest in
motion picture film.

Examples of Maxcraft films in the Author’s collection

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