Billboard Frolics

Billboard Frolics (1935)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Charming Merrie Melodies short has the characters on billboards coming to life in musical form. Rub-Him-Off jumps off a billboards and breaks into a song and this sets off the other characters including penguins in Smoke Old Cold cigarettes, Russian Rye, Sink-O drain cleaner and then we get to the action as a baby chick tries to catch a worm only to them be chased by a bad cat. Fans of these animated shorts should certainly have a great time with this one. Not only is the music very lively and entertaining, we're also treated to some very memorable comedy bits and there's no question that you'll be amazed at how good the characters are. Each of them are memorable and add their own charm to the film but the real entertainment comes in the final act. The banter between the chick and the worm is priceless but when the cat enters the picture we get a classic villain. Just check out the scene where the cat is sneaking along and it crosses with the moon, which gives it an X-ray look.

"Billboard Frolics" was one of the many Warner Bros. cartoons in which inanimate objects come to life; others included "Have You Got Any Castles?", "You're an Education" and "Book Revue". The title identifies what comes to life here. There's Eddie Camphor and his why-oh-lean (violin) player Rub-Him-Off playing "Merrily We Roll Along", which of course became the theme song for the Merrie Melodies cartoons. Another poster advertises Cuba (I wonder whether or not they were allowed to show this cartoon after the Cuban Revolution). Yet another poster shows Russian rye dancing to a different version of "MWRA", while also mentioning the Five Year Plan.

If you've never studied Soviet history, you probably won't catch that reference. The Five Year Plan was Joseph Stalin's goal of turning the USSR's economy into one of the world powerhouses; not surprisingly, it didn't work out quite like he proposed.

But I digress. There are some pretty neat tricks in this cartoon. The last section has a bird chasing a worm, then a cat chases the bird, then a dog chases the cat. There's even an appearance by Ham & Armor baking soda. Pretty cool.

This cartoon gives Eddie Cantor a plug, making into "Eddie Camphor" who jumps out of a billboard and sings "Merrily We Roll Along." The caricature emphasizes Cantor's big, rolling eyes.

Soon nearby posters promoting certain products of the day begin to come alive with song and dance. Old Maid Cleaners are singing, Russian rye bread loafs start dancing, penguins from "Old Cold" cigarettes (Old Gold, if I remember correctly), etc. There are a lot of them throughout the cartoon, many of them familiar and still around (Arm & Hammer baking soda, Wrigley's Gum, Pall Mall cigarettes, etc.). They aren't the actual product names, just as Eddie's name is changed, but many are recognizable.

Anyway, it's very dated but it's in color which is pretty good for 1935 and its looks decent. It's not really but it's "cute" and interesting. The first 60 percent of this is strictly a musical, and then it changes into a worm, bird, cat and dog cartoon, each one being pursued by the other, in that order.

This animated short is part of the features on the "Captain Blood" DVD.

BILLBOARD FROLICS is an early two-strip color cartoon in which billboards advertising '30s products come to life with uneven results, some funny, some mystifying and others just falling short of being really humorous. Toward the end, it turns into a cat chases bird sequence that becomes tiresomely familiar to all devotees of cartoon shorts.

The animation is on the rough side, without the finesse we expect to see but didn't happen until the '40s, and the overall result is a bit disappointing. Best moment comes at the start, with the EDDIE CANTOR billboard coming to life with a jaunty "Merrily We Roll Along" song number. Other billboards become animated with results varying according to one's familiarity with the products. Cutest one: The Little Dutch Cleanser girls who step off the advertisements and do a Dutch dance.

The kiddies will be amused even if the ads are for products that no longer exist.

One of a standard series of cartoons for Termite Terrace over the next decade, in which the gags are set up by puns on the titles in a bookstore or magazine shop (Clampett's BOOK REVIEW (1946) for example). Here, it's advertising posters for popular commercial products. About two-thirds of them are no longer sold, so it becomes an exercise in popular culture archeology. Nonetheless, I expect the modern audience to be familiar enough with, say, Bon Ami cleanser, its baby chick mascot and motto "Hasn't Scratched Yet" to catch the drift. And the gags, as one can expect in a Friz Frleeng cartoon, are amusing.

That being the case, it should be noted that this cartoon saw the introduction of the song "Merrily We Roll Along" to Termite Terrace's files. Along with "The Merry-go-round Broke Down" it was their theme. Enjoy.