Shinbone Alley

The animation is certainly different. Early- and pre-cinema enthusiasts will recognise some of the psychedelic effects as magic lantern chromotropes, and there are shades of Georges Melies in some of the sequences. Carol Channing is brilliant as Mehitabel! Good jazz-like sound track.

SHINBONE ALLEY is a fascinating mess. Given the discussions of sexual morality and that one musical number with the prostitute ladybugs, I'm going to assume this was not meant for children. It's a musical, but the songs are mostly forgettable. I only watched this movie last night and aside from Carol Channing's jazzy rendition of Shakespeare, I cannot hum any of it.

The story is very loose, more a character piece than a full-bodied narrative. The cockroach poet Archy is in love with the seductive alley cat Mehitabel, and in a Pygmalion impulse, seeks to tame her freewheeling ways in the guise of protecting her from predatory men. The film is also a member of that MOST 60s/70s of film genres-- the "New York City is an urban hell" film best exemplified by TAXI DRIVER.

On the whole, this is all interesting, but it can be a chore to watch. A lot of the characters just shout and screech their lines, and the story's meandering becomes tiresome.

Marquis wrote a daily column on "archy and mehitabel" for the New York Post in the nineteen-twenties, as a defence against the bottle and a job as a sports reporter.I read the Penguin collection of his "a and m" stories in the fifties,as an animator at the Disney studio. I tried to get the studio interested, but they were not ready for the earthy humor, and the scandalous goings on of mehitabel. Later when I had started up my own studio, Fine Arts Films,I saw the Broadway production,with Eartha Kitt,which was brilliant.I had met Carol Channing,(who I saw as mehitabel,--perfect gravel voice),and she agreed to do it.With that start,I could not fail.I found a sympathetic ear of a friend,Preston(Sandy) Fleet,who was willing to invest in the production of SHINBONE ALLEY by my studio,Fine Arts Films.By 1969,we had a talented group of storymen,designers and artists,some ex Disney and Warners.Joe Darion and George Kleinsinger,(who had done the stage musical version),did the final script and music.Eddie Bracken and Alan Reed came aboard,and that was it,except we found John Carradine,a great actor,was willing to play the part of that old roue' actor-cat, Tyrone.T.Tattersall.We stuck faithfully to Marquis,and a stunning sequence,"archy declares war", in the middle of the film,we animated in George Herriman's cartoon style,(he illustrated Marquis' poems),creating a world that Marquis lived in. Our film "SHINBONE ALLEY" has been honored as one of the all-time great animated movies by The Museum of the Moving Image in New York,as well as winning the Golden Phoenix Grand Prize at the Atlanta Film Festival of 1971.

Shinbone Alley is not like every other animated film. It brings a unique approach to animation. It is almost like viewing an animated jazz opera in some respects. The characters are well defined and quite good, and some of the backgrounds are almost works of art on the New York scene. It is true that some very small children might not understand it, but a vast majority of people who view the film will find aspects of it that they will love; like the George Herriman sequence when archy declares war on humans. Carol Channing is wonderful as mehitabel, especially when she sings Shakespeare. Eddie Bracken is great as archy. This is the type of film that can be viewed again and again, and you find something new and interesting each time you see it. It was definitely a style setter in 2D animation, and should be applauded for its unconventional approach. Throughout the years, there have been a handful of animated films that could truly be called one-off, style setting, animation treasures -- Fantasia, Yellow Submarine, Toy Story, for example. I feel that Shinbone Alley easily fits into this select group of animated films.

It's a shame this film has been buried from the start. It has some really superb music, written by George Kleinsinger, a couple of fantastic performances by Carol Channing & Eddie Bracken, - & best of all, it's based on the great Don Marquis series from (I believe) the old New York World - Archy & Mehitabel. The compilation book was illustrated by the peerless George Herriman (Krazy Kat - & Mehitabel really was Krazy Kat!) & some of the scenes in this film are Herriman-inspired, another reason to treasure it.

Pity the poor wimps who are traumatized by any animation that isn't filled with fluffy bunnies.