'Bimbo's Initiation' (1931) is generally considered one of the very best cartoons from the Fleischer studio. Here we have 'Skulls and Sculls', a Felix the Cat cartoon made a year earlier at a different studio, yet using exactly the same premise. Felix the Cat is walking along when he is abruptly blindfolded and subjected to an elaborate ordeal which turns out to be (as the title hints) a fraternal initiation.
The whole premise of this cartoon makes it a period piece. The peak years of fraternal organisations in the United States coincided exactly with the years of Prohibition. That's no fluke. During Prohibition, an American couldn't (legally) walk into a bar and sup some booze, but fraternal organisations were permitted to serve alcohol to their members at no charge ... so, naturally, a lot of thirsty men joined one secret order or another. Contrary to popular belief, it was not illegal to drink alcohol during Prohibition: what was illegal was the manufacture, transport and sale of spirits, not their consumption.
In 'Skulls and Sculls', as in the later 'Bimbo's Initiation', most of Felix's ordeal is somewhat spooky. I was very impressed by one sequence in which Felix is menaced by a dangling blade which is clearly inspired by Poe's story 'The Pit and the Pendulum'. Here we have solid proof that a cartoon gag-writer has actually read Poe! Eventually, Felix is accepted into the feline fraternity (a cat house?) by two cats wearing letterman sweaters bearing the letter C ... but we're never told what this initial stands for. Cartoon Cat College, maybe.
Like the other Felix cartoons from the Messmer period, 'Skulls and Sculls' was made on a very low budget. The Felix toons were post-dubbed with unsynchronised sound effects and music. I was very intrigued that the soundtrack here included a few bars of a song (very popular at the time, now obscure) called 'Collegiate'. This song was introduced by the Ritz Brothers during their vaudeville days; it's now best known -- if it's remembered at all -- as the tune Chico Marx played during his piano routine in 'Horse Feathers': the one and only occasion when the Marx Brothers paid tribute to the Ritz Brothers. I wish that a few of the Ritz Brothers' jokes had made their way into this cartoon. I'll rate 'Skulls and Sculls' just 6 out of 10. Try again, Felix.
The whole premise of this cartoon makes it a period piece. The peak years of fraternal organisations in the United States coincided exactly with the years of Prohibition. That's no fluke. During Prohibition, an American couldn't (legally) walk into a bar and sup some booze, but fraternal organisations were permitted to serve alcohol to their members at no charge ... so, naturally, a lot of thirsty men joined one secret order or another. Contrary to popular belief, it was not illegal to drink alcohol during Prohibition: what was illegal was the manufacture, transport and sale of spirits, not their consumption.
In 'Skulls and Sculls', as in the later 'Bimbo's Initiation', most of Felix's ordeal is somewhat spooky. I was very impressed by one sequence in which Felix is menaced by a dangling blade which is clearly inspired by Poe's story 'The Pit and the Pendulum'. Here we have solid proof that a cartoon gag-writer has actually read Poe! Eventually, Felix is accepted into the feline fraternity (a cat house?) by two cats wearing letterman sweaters bearing the letter C ... but we're never told what this initial stands for. Cartoon Cat College, maybe.
Like the other Felix cartoons from the Messmer period, 'Skulls and Sculls' was made on a very low budget. The Felix toons were post-dubbed with unsynchronised sound effects and music. I was very intrigued that the soundtrack here included a few bars of a song (very popular at the time, now obscure) called 'Collegiate'. This song was introduced by the Ritz Brothers during their vaudeville days; it's now best known -- if it's remembered at all -- as the tune Chico Marx played during his piano routine in 'Horse Feathers': the one and only occasion when the Marx Brothers paid tribute to the Ritz Brothers. I wish that a few of the Ritz Brothers' jokes had made their way into this cartoon. I'll rate 'Skulls and Sculls' just 6 out of 10. Try again, Felix.