The Rasslin' Match

The Rasslin' Match (1934)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

The first of two animated shorts that took radio characters Amos 'n' Andy and tried to aim their humor at kids. In this film Andy is told that he must get into the ring with a wrestling champion so it's up to Amos and the trainer to get him into shape. That's pretty much the only plot to this film, which at just 10-minutes feels as if it runs longer than GONE WITH THE WIND. I really can't remember another animated short from this era that felt so long. There are all sorts of problems with this film but we can start with the actual animation, which just looks extremely cheap and overall it just has a poor quality to it. There really wasn't anything impressive with the drawings and it really did seem that someone was just trying to save money with its cheapness. Another major problem is the fact that the humor here is just downright bad. There wasn't a single second where I actually laughed at anything and this includes the various bits of Andy trying to train and even the wrestling match offers up no laughs. This here will appeal to history buffs who want to see the original Amos 'n' Andy "gang" but there's not much here for any viewer.

The Rasslin' Match was the first of two Van Beuren cartoons based on the "Amos 'n' Andy" radio series using that show's stars Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. In this one, the Kingfish has Andy fighting the wrestling champ for money. On seeing this on YouTube, the print was not good, in fact it seemed partly blurry. Creative wise, the black caricatures border on the offensive with the white lips and, except for the end when Andy keeps hitting the champ when he gets knocked to and fro on the ring, I didn't find any of this cartoon funny. I'd only recommend this for anyone interested in all things "Amos 'n' Andy". Otherwise, stay away.

This is one of the few Amos & Andy cartoons, so you definitely won't see this around much! I have the two cartoons, and they are both hilarious, this one being my favorite. Kingfish somehow manages to get Andy to fight the champ, and of course Andy doesn't do too well, but he does make a few great jokes of course! It's also hilarious how during the big match, Amos and Andy's voices were done seperately than the crowd's cheers but on the same vocal track, so every time they spoke a line, the crowd was silent all of a sudden, then cheered again when they were finished speaking!. But this is serious old-school stuff here, no computer crap, real elbow-grease animation.

Van Beuren cartoons are extremely variable, especially in the number of gags and whether the absurdist humour shines through enough (sometimes it does, other times it doesn't), but are strangely interesting. Although they are often poorly animated with barely existent stories and less than compelling lead characters, they are also often outstandingly scored, there can be some fun support characters and some are well-timed and amusing.

1934 saw Van Beuren make two cartoons with Amos and Andy, the other being 'The Lion Tamer'. Neither were successful and are pretty much forgotten today, and it is not hard to see why and why more Amos and Andy cartoons weren't made. Van Beuren have certainly done far worse but it is not a good representation of them or one of their watchable or more efforts.

It does contain pretty much all of the faults of Van Beuren's worst, or all the faults of many Van Beuren cartoons, while having a few good points. Van Beuren have actually done quite a number of watchable or more cartoons, a few pretty good even though imperfect. So it's not as if they are all being hated on.

Best asset is the music score from the ever consistently great Winston Sharples, pretty much the best thing consistently of Van Beuren's output. It is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action.

Charles Correll and Freeman Gosden attack their voice acting as Amos and Andy with enthusiasm.

Synchronisation can be sloppy however and the energy just isn't there.

The animation is not good, in fact it is downright bad most of the time with erratically sloppy character designs in particular while the simplistic background detail and lack of fluidity and crispness are just as difficult to ignore.

None of the characters are that interesting or fun, being either forgettable or annoying, even Amos and Andy struggle to carry the cartoon. On top of being poorly drawn and for some stereotypical. Story is very slight to the point of non-existence and suffers from a lack of energy, so much so it makes the reasonably short (though longer than the usual Van Beuren cartoons). It feels aimless and also random and disjointed. If you are looking for sense too, look elsewhere. It is very successful in taking the excitement and danger out of wrestling in one of the dullest wrestling matches in animation or anywhere.

Basically 'The Rasslin Match' is a stringing along of gags structured in a way that's disorganised and random. It is very low on laughs, actually none of it is remotely amusing, and many are likely to find some of the material offensive (even when judging it for back then). Nothing is inventive or imaginative, never rising above the forgettable and bland at best and there is not much absurdist about them.

Overall, weak. 3/10 Bethany Cox

This cartoon is really excellent, a real nugget centered on the hilarious duo "Amos 'n' Andy".

If someone had told me that the duo had been adapted into an animated film, I would never have believed it and yet they did it!

A real treat especially for fans of the duo!.