Policy and Pie

I don't know why I dislike the Katzenjammer kids so much, but I just don't find them appealing. They play mild pranks, but the only result is the almost-a-thrill of seeing the big fat dad scratch his head in puzzlement and then open his mouth and eyes really wide. That's not much of a pay off. While I'll sound like I have the shortest attention span in the world, even at a mere 7 minutes, I thought this cartoon was much too long. Very little actually happens, and it seems that several times footage was repeated. The only sequence that I found amusing was when the mom is baffled that her ball of dough has come to life (it's actually the much-abused kitty covered in dough!).

Policy and Pie (1918)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A man takes out an insurance policy on himself so his wife, out of pure joy, decides to bake him a pie. While that is going on the man plays with his cat and a couple kids play outside. Plot wise there's really not too much here. If you're looking for some great laughs then you're going to be disappointed because there's really none here. There's no suspense, drama or action either. What makes this film entertaining is the animation itself, which is extremely good for 1918. One wishes that the story would have been a little better but the main reason people are going to watch this is for the animation and that makes it worth sitting through.