Founded by Margaret J. Winkler in 1921 when her boss Harry Warner encouraged her to take on a states-rights distribution deal with the fledgeling Fleischer Studios
series. She soon became one of the key figures in silent animation history, and stood alone as the only woman in a field completely dominated by men.
In 1922, she signed on Pat Sullivan and his
Felix the Cat series, making her the biggest distributor of animated films at the time. Later that same year, the Fleischer Brothers fell away to begin distributing their own films with their company Red Seal Pictures. By 1925 she had a falling out with Sullivan, but had picked up a new hot property in the
Alice Comedies of Walt Disney the prior year. Winkler herself insisted on editing all of the "Alice Comedies" episodes.
Winkler married Charles B. Mintz in 1924. Soon after she had her first child and slowly ceded her company to Mintz as she fell into retirement. By 1927, the Alice Comedies had run their course, and Mintz suggested that Disney develop an all animated series.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was born, and was soon sold to Universal (who desperately wanted an animation component to their studio).
Within a year, Disney was dropped from the series because he wanted too much money to continue, and the series was given over to Walter Lantz. But Mintz' power play against Disney backfired in two ways- the fired Disney went on to develop Mickey Mouse, and Universal president Carl Laemmle became dissatisfied with the Mintz-Winkler product and fired them, deciding instead to produce the Oswald shorts directly on the Universal lot. Laemmle backed Walter Lantz into forming his own studio at Universal. Left alone and with no clients, M. J. Winkler Productions withered, and was eventually swallowed up by Universal.
