For a start, I loved all the rich amber tones in the woodland backgrounds, and even more so later on with the the frozen scenery, all exceedingly beautiful to look at. Also the music was very nice and kept things moving at a good pace. The family of bears that is featured look a lot like the ones from the 1935 Iwerks short "The Three Bears." The momma bear sounds like a black women did the voicing. She may give Billy-Bear a spankin', but it probably hurts her more than it does him! For some strange reason a really crummy-looking picture that hangs above the little bear's bed made me laugh! I don't get the strange moment where there's an apparition hovering saw cutting a log above the sleeping bear parents... Maybe a visual pun on the saying "slept like a log"? The only thing I didn't like too much was the annoying little song the bear kid seemed to sing about every two minutes, I think it sounds a bit too childish and brings down the tone somewhat. I liked the slightly creepy character of the trickster sprite Jack Frost, who deems to teach young bratty-bear a lesson the hard way about respecting the cold. This short boasts several very impressive and spooky sight gags, like a hopping quartet of pumpkins whose collective "Whooo!" sound is genuinely eerie to listen to! And then there is my absolute favourite part of the whole short, an awesome scatting scarecrow whose wild movements and bluesy freewheeling sounds still sound extremely catchy and cool today! That scene felt to me very similar to the trio of Betty Boop Fleisher shorts to feature a dancing rotoscoped Cab Calloway! I loved the design and animation of the cackling wicked Old Man Winter who was quite scary as a monster once a vintage animation could only be. During the chase through the icy woods I love the snow-covered objects in the background that look very much like human figures frozen in agonised poses. Quite a dark and Gothic touch, I thought. I think Jack Frost was Old Man Winter, their faces and noses looked alike, and Jack's enigmatic wink to the audience at the "Finis" confirmed it for me. What a great little peril in winter wonderland animation this is, it's well worth anyone's time, and makes for an especially pleasant watch come Christmas time. Overall quite a charming rare old vintage show with an edge! X
