Simple Simon

I first saw this 1935 animated short when I was very, very young. I watched it on a video tape, one of several that I watched regularly for a while, each featuring cartoon shorts from the 1930s and '40s. Like many of those shorts, if not all of them, I watched this one many times. Probably over a decade after last seeing "Simple Simon", I finally watched the obscure cartoon again, and I certainly didn't find it as enjoyable as I did way back, but I still laughed, so I can't complain too much.

Based on the nursery rhyme of the same name, Simple Simon is a goofy airhead with a silly laugh. He learns that a fair is happening in town, and decides that he wants to go. On his way, he meets a pieman, who asks him to try a sample of his pie. After Simon does so, the pieman expects him to buy one of his pies, but unfortunately, Simon doesn't have any money on him, so he can't. This makes the pieman furious! In fact, it makes him violent, so Simon has to run from him, as he chases him around the fair! Simon tries hard to avoid getting caught by the pieman, and due to his stupidity, he's bound to get into farther trouble on his adventure!

It has been over seventy years since this "Simple Simon" cartoon short was released, and it may not quite do the same for audiences today as it did back then. However, in my opinion (this is coming from someone who was born in the 1980s), it's not an absolute classic, but it's still reasonably funny. This short may be more entertaining for a lot of kids, but it's not strictly for them. You could still enjoy it if you're not a kid, but are still a fan of these old cartoons, and/or generally into slapstick. This clearly isn't a very popular piece today, but for those who are interested, it's probably worth watching if you can find it.

One of many of Iwerks fairy tale cartoons in which varying portions of the original tale are used. Of the 6 stanza's of Simple Simon, only the 1st two are used for this 1935 film, and they are sung as well as shown. There is a line, "went a-fishing for to catch a whale" but in the movie Simon instead goes a fishing with a duck as bait, and the catch is a home baked pie. And he really isn't as simple as his name would suggest. Overall the story is OK, but you may not agree with how the pieman is treated at the end. What makes this cartoon unique is the parade of all star fairy tale characters early in the story. They include Little Bo Peep, Jack & Jill(these 3 seem to be a little unrepresented in the golden age of animation),Little Boy Blue, Humpty Dumpty(who has a solo in the song they sing), and Andersen's Steadfast Tin Soldier and Ballerina. These last 4 characters also starred in films by Iwerks as well.

While not one of my favourites, Ub Iwerks was responsible for a lot of interesting work. Especially when working with Walt Disney, his oldest friend and one of his best, and co-creating one of animation's most famous characters in Mickey Mouse. His career since opening his own studio had interest value but the quality was variable, often being successful in the animation and music but wanting in the story and variable in gags, lead characters and tone.

1933 to 1936 saw twenty five cartoons, mostly based on famous fairytales and familiar stories, as part of Iwerks's "ComiColor" series. The "ComiColor" series is very much worth watching and interesting, as is the case with many series some cartoons are better than others but there are no real animation nadirs. 1935's 'Simple Simon' is decent enough but compared to the previous cartoons in the series it is a little disappointing.

'Simple Simon', while at times faithfully adhering to the basic details of the nursery rhyme while putting its own spin, is slight and is at times too saccharine, like at the beginning.

Its characters should have been more interesting, their personalities are bland and this is including the title character who is also not very likeable. The secondary characters are too come and go to make much impression. The wit and imagination has been more frequent and stronger in other cartoons in the series before and since, it did feel bland somewhat.

However, 'Simple Simon' in no way disgraces the nursery rhyme and has enough freshness to stop it from being completely stale. It isn't too dull.

There are a few amusing moments that aren't too corny and never repetitive, and there is a genuine likeability and charm. The best and most interesting character by far is the pieman, who is well designed, fun and menacing which helps the conflict interesting enough.

Furthermore, the animation is great. Meticulously detailed, fluid in drawing, vibrant in colour and often rich in imagination and visual wit. The music is cleverly and lushly orchestrated, is infectiously catchy and adds a lot to the cartoon.

In summary, decent. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Simple Simon (1935)

** (out of 4)

Ub Iwerks directed this animated short, which is based around the famous fairy tale of a simple man who gets involved with a pie man. To say this cartoon is politically incorrect would be an understatement because the Simon character is basically made to look retarded. I'm going to guess that quite a few people aren't going to be thrilled with the way Simon is played and that would be understandable. As with the other films in this series, this one here really doesn't feature too many good things. There are certainly no laughs to be had and the characters are all rather lame. The one saving grace is the animation, which looks very good but it's not enough to save the picture from being a complete bore.

"Simple Simon" is a cartoon from Van Beuren Studios--a cartoon producer for less than a decade during the late 1920s and into the 30s. While their cartoons were of decent quality compared to most companies of the time, the quality of their work never came close to rivaling Disney. Part of this was due to the deficiencies of the art and writing of the cartoons but part wasn't really Van Beuren's fault. Disney had an exclusive contract with Technicolor for full-color film stock for several years. Tinier studios like Van Beuren either had to make black & white cartoons of use the less advanced (and uglier) two- color film-- such as with the Cinecolor you see in this particular short. Because it was not true color, the film is made up mostly of oranges and blues and comes off as a bit garish.

The hero of this cartoon is a guy named Simple Simon and he's clearly inspired by the nursery rhyme. However, I felt very uncomfortable about this guy, as times have certainly changed and the Van Beuren folks thought it would be a laugh riot to make SIMPLE Simon mentally retarded/developmentally delayed. Laughing at someone like this and their exploits seemed pretty cruel. To make things worse, it's not an especially funny or entertaining film. There was too much schmaltzy singing and the laughs were few and far between.