With the triumph of the sound cartoon, thanks to Mickey Mouse, the Fleischer Brothers ramped up production of their Screen Songs in 1929 and 1930 -- they had been producing them since 1924. They had not, however, gotten the hang of making them quite yet, with little stories filled with lots of the sight gags that Dave Fleischer enjoyed putting into the cartoons.
Instead, in this one, we get simple variations of people heading off to a May Day celebration, carrying a Maypole and a hippopotamus to serve as the Queen of the May. After that, the audience sings the verse on its own and a voice-over leads the chorus. The effect is amusing, but the Fleischers would get better at this.
Instead, in this one, we get simple variations of people heading off to a May Day celebration, carrying a Maypole and a hippopotamus to serve as the Queen of the May. After that, the audience sings the verse on its own and a voice-over leads the chorus. The effect is amusing, but the Fleischers would get better at this.