This one has a spook motif. A dog in a bowler hat leaves a house and needs to get home. But there are fearful things out there, including a couple of predatory owls who watch him. The cleverest thing of all is a battle with his shadow. The song is again one of those sing alongs. Still the two or three minutes at the beginning has some sophistication to it. I've had a chance to watch quite a few of these things now. They are all about the same.
4 Reviews
I'm Afraid to Come Home in the Dark was another of these entertainingly surreal Max Fleischer Screen Song cartoons
tavm30 September 2010
Just watched this early Max Fleischer Screen Song talkie cartoon on YouTube. This one has a humanized dog coming from a bar and fighting with his shadow in the dark just before that famous bouncing ball comes on and has the singer warbling the title song. Lots of highly amusing scare gags that seemed par for the course of these Dave Fleischer-"directed" cartoons. I put the "D"-word in quotes since Dave was the only credited person of such position on every cartoon his brother Max was associated with until their split in the early '40s. Still, the gag structure seemed to be mainly the influence of Dave's love of whatever sight jokes he could think of whether they really fit in or not. So on that note, I'm Afraid to Come Home in the Dark is well worth seeing for anyone curious about these early Fleischer sound cartoons.
One of the better Screen Songs with a nice match between the animation and the singalong portion
llltdesq28 May 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This is a cartoon in the Screen Song series produced by the Fleischer Studio. There will be spoilers ahead:
The Screen Songs series was part cartoon, part singalong, complete with the "bouncing ball" cuing the lyrics for the audience. This one is extremely good on both counts.
The short opens atmospherically, with a clock chiming and a bird crowing three times and two owls hooting mournfully in a tree. A dog wearing a hat leaves a bar and heads home, just a bit scared because of the hour. His biggest trouble comes from his own shadow. There's a great series of sight gags in this early animation. Most of them center on the dog and his struggle with his shadow, but there are some nice bits with the clock and the owls.
Eventually, the dog's nose becomes the "bouncing ball" and an inebriated-sounding voice begins singing "I'm Afraid To Come Home In the Dark", which holds up well, even after 80 years. After the first verse and chorus, the "bouncing ball" is replaced by animated characters and the lyric portion is animated to some degree. There's a tail end on the short that is animated and ties into the first part of the short nicely.
This short deserves to be more widely known. Most recommended.
The Screen Songs series was part cartoon, part singalong, complete with the "bouncing ball" cuing the lyrics for the audience. This one is extremely good on both counts.
The short opens atmospherically, with a clock chiming and a bird crowing three times and two owls hooting mournfully in a tree. A dog wearing a hat leaves a bar and heads home, just a bit scared because of the hour. His biggest trouble comes from his own shadow. There's a great series of sight gags in this early animation. Most of them center on the dog and his struggle with his shadow, but there are some nice bits with the clock and the owls.
Eventually, the dog's nose becomes the "bouncing ball" and an inebriated-sounding voice begins singing "I'm Afraid To Come Home In the Dark", which holds up well, even after 80 years. After the first verse and chorus, the "bouncing ball" is replaced by animated characters and the lyric portion is animated to some degree. There's a tail end on the short that is animated and ties into the first part of the short nicely.
This short deserves to be more widely known. Most recommended.
I'm Afraid to Go Home in the Dark (1930)
Michael_Elliott26 September 2017
I'm Afraid to Go Home in the Dark (1930)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
The Fleischer Studio produced a number of these animated short films where the "bouncing ball" would have audience members singing together. If you're familiar with this "bouncing ball" series then you already know there's really not too much plot to any of them. You're given a little animation piece leading up to the bouncing ball where the crowd would obviously sing along. There's nothing ground-breaking here but I must say that I enjoyed the song for what it was and the animation was good as well. If you're a fan of these types of films then you'll enjoy this one.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
The Fleischer Studio produced a number of these animated short films where the "bouncing ball" would have audience members singing together. If you're familiar with this "bouncing ball" series then you already know there's really not too much plot to any of them. You're given a little animation piece leading up to the bouncing ball where the crowd would obviously sing along. There's nothing ground-breaking here but I must say that I enjoyed the song for what it was and the animation was good as well. If you're a fan of these types of films then you'll enjoy this one.
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