Honeymoon Hotel

I first stumbled upon this short on the Blu-Ray of the film Footlight Parade. I think I'm pretty well-versed in old-school animation, so it's always a happy surprise to see cartoon characters and shorts from that era that I haven't seen before. This is a part of the Warner Bros cartoon series Merry Melodies, which isn't obscure by any means, so the fact that there are shorts that aren't well known is crazy to think about.

The premise of the short is quite simple: a male and a female bug get married, check into a honeymoon hotel, and it catches on fire. That's it, how it all plays out, I won't spoil, but it's pretty simple. Some moments that happen in the short add nothing to the overall story. Again, I won't spoil, but a few times I said to myself, "What was the point of that?". While the story and characters aren't especially interesting, the short makes up for it in its music and overall charm.

The character designs across the board are all simple and endearing. They might not be interesting, but they are very cute to look at. And while certain moments don't add anything to the overall plot, the short has plenty of gags with the characters that are an absolute delight. And considering for a short during the 1930s, there are some nudge-nudge wink-wink gags in the short that I think modern audiences might be surprised and amused by. The world that the bugs live in is very well realized, the backgrounds and the settings the bugs are in show me that the people who made this had a ton of fun coming up with this world and how it functions, and the artistry is just straight up beautiful. I think it's a shame we never saw this world again after this. It reminds me of the Disney short The Cookie Carnival, which also had a great world in it, that never appeared again after that short. That's such a shame!

And being a short attached to Footlight Parade, the music is taken from that film and revised to suit this short, so if you've seen Footlight Parade and heard and enjoyed the song Honeymoon Hotel, then it'll be very interesting for you to see what this short did with it. As someone who really enjoyed that song from that movie, I thought what this short did with it was great!

Overall, while the short lacked in terms of plot and interesting characters, it made up for it in sheer charm of it's characters and music. What the short did with the Honeymoon Hotel song was very enjoyable and interesting. The characters are just plain cute and delightful to watch. I would just like to say that the main characters that we follow, the male bug and the female bug, are clearly inspired by Mickey and Minnie Mouse, from their designs, demeanors, and voices. Not putting it down, just saying, as that's what was going through my mind when I was watching them. I think it's a very delightful short, and while I understand why it faded into obscurity, I think more people should give it a watch, as it's a very cute short. Well worth watching for anyone who loves animation, both new and old.

"So long, folks!" :)

"Honeymoon Hotel" (1934) cartoon available free as an "add on" with "Footlight Parade" (1933) VHS and also DVD videos.

This longer than average, very well done color 1934 cartoon is now (2012) available with both VHS and DVD editions of "Footlight Parade" (1933), a famous Warner Brothers musical which contains the "Honeymoon Hotel" song sung by Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler.

"Honeymoon Hotel" is a big production number in "Footlight Parade" (1933), one of three presented at the end of the movie. It is very witty, and very adult in ways later not permitted when the MPAA "Code" went into effect censoring major studio movies for most of the 1930's through the 1960's.

The "bugtown" cartoon version is a spoof with bugs singing the song, and is much longer (and in ways better) than the song sung by live people in "Footlight Parade" (1933). Used VHS copies of "Footlight Parade" (1933) can be purchased cheap from Amazon.Com and worth getting. Both "Footlight Parade" (1933) and the "Honeymoon Hotel" (1934) cartoon are true classics.

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Written by Tex Allen, SAG Actor.

Email Tex Allen at TexAllen@Rocketmail.Com

Visit WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen for movie actor credits and biography information.

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera, Studio Ghibli and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons. With significantly broader knowledge of different directors, animation styles and studios, actually appreciate and love it even more now.

'Honeymoon Hotel' may not one of my favourite cartoons or an amazing one, there are funnier, more inventive and livelier cartoons about. Not that 'Honeymoon Hotel' is devoid of any of those things, just that other cartoons do it better. It is a lot of fun still and is very charming with a lot to like. Deserving to be more widely known, having come from a period with stiff and more well known competition from major pioneers in animation.

It is very flimsy in story sure and is fairly familiar, it is not hard to figure out how the cartoon was going to end.

Did feel that the cartoon was slightly too long as well.

On the other hand, the animation is great. Full of beautiful vibrant colour, meticulously detailed backgrounds, smooth movement and crisply drawn character designs, one is convincingly immersed in the bugtown world. The music is lush and full of energy, with an infectious song. The choreography in how it synchronises with the music and animated dazzles and amazes in its surprisingly grand spectacle.

Much of 'Honeymoon Hotel' is amusing, with some wit, and despite the bug characters it never tries too hard to be cute. The charm factor is high and while the bug characters are not the most distinctive they are appealing all the same.

All in all, charming and enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox