Bimbo's Initiation

Bimbo's Initiation (1931)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Marginally entertaining short has Bimbo falling down a manhole where he ends up in a strange playhouse where some masked people keep asking him if he wants to be a member of their group. Each time he says no they put him through some form of abuse but soon Betty Boop shows up and asks him the same question. In terms of imagination this short has quite a bit of that but in terms of laughs there are very few. I think the film works best as some eye candy because the house is a pretty interesting one and at least keeps the movie going at a good speed. I thought all the tricks were rather clever and this includes the rolling floor and the sequence where Bimbo has to open one door after another. I think the highlight is without question the cameo by Boop and there's no doubt that this short was made before the Hayes Code. The level of pre-code sexuality is quite high as it's obvious Boop is having quite the effect on poor Bimbo who can't control himself. The scenes with Boop shaking her butt and slapping it are hard to forget and easy to see what's going on.

Anyone familiar with the history of animation knows the name of Grim Natwick, responsible for one of cinema's greatest short cartoons in the history of film, July 1931's "Bimbo's Initiation." Natwick's legendary career is most recognizable in Walt Disney's 1937 "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" where he was the lead animator in the first feature film cartoon. Earlier, he was responsible for designing Betty Boop, one of 1930s most popular on-screen animated characters. Max Fleischer, president of Fleischer Studio, said he wanted a girlfriend for his popular cartoon dog Bimbo, so Natwick came up with the flapper nightclub singer sporting a pug nose and dog ears. From Betty's introduction in August 1930 "Dizzy Dishes" to July 1931's "Bimbo's Initiation," Natwick was in charge of Betty's look in the ten cartoons she appeared with Bimbo.

The Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin-native had a knack for drawing at an early age. He specialized in sheet music cover art after graduating from New York City's National Academy of Design. Future film director Gregory La Cava (1936 "My Man Godfrey"), a school chum of Natwick's, first suggested the artist go into the film cartoon business at William Randolph Hearst's animation studios where La Cava was the supervisor. He did, launching a fifty-year career in the animation field. He worked for several cartoon studios, including Fleischer's, Ub Iwerks', where he animated a number of "Flip The Frog" cartoons and ran Ub's studio, and Walt Disney's, becoming the head animator for his "Snow White" production.

As he was was drawing "Bimbo's Initiation," Natwick knew it was the last cartoon he would sketch Betty Boop and her boyfriend dog. Fleischer Studio assigned him to other projects, so he wanted his final Bimbo effort to go out with a bang. It turned out "Bimbo's Initiation" has been acknowledged as one of cartoons' greatest works. The surreal-like short has the pup falling through a manhole into a secret society's underground clubhouse. Throughout his attempts to escape, he asked by its leader of its freaky-appearing membership club if he wants to join. After several minutes of heart-pounding sequences, including Betty's surprise appearance, the cartoon ends in a complete surprise as to whom belongs to this society. Voted #37 in the 'Fifty Greatest Cartoons' ranked by professional animators, "Bimbo's Initiation" had been credited by cartoonist Jim Woodring (the creator of "Jim" magazine) as "one of the things that laid the foundation for my life's philosophy."

Natwick's career reads like a "Who's Who" in drawing circles, not only originating Betty Boop, but also animating Mickey Mouse in 1940 Disney's "Fantasia," Mr. Magoo, Popeye, Felix the Cat, among a host of other characters. He lived to be 100, and is remembered by the South Wood County Historical Museum in his hometown of Wisconsin Rapids showcasing many of his works.

When I watch David Lynch movies, I sometimes think he is showing us his nightmares. I often feel that the Betty Boop canon may be David Fleischer's nightmares. In this one, Bimbo, her little dog is the star. He is walking down the street when he fall in a manhole. He finds himself in some weird meeting of some kind of clan. They keep asking him if he wants to join (they are holding boards with nails in them and other weapons). He says no and this leads to one horrible situation after another where he must try to survive. It's a terrifying world but that is the Fleischer way of doing things. There is also a kind of vibration, a kind of rhythmic dance that goes on in these cartoons. I am enjoying these cartoons, fifty years after I saw them as a kid.

As I watched "Bimbo's Initiation", I was surprised how good the cartoon was as well as how inappropriate it was for younger audiences! In a strangely surreal film, the Fleischer Studio managed to appeal and repel two different audiences! However, despite the title, Bimbo is a dog--Betty Boop's friend and companion--so the film is NOT adult in this regard!

The film begins with Bimbo walking down the street when he's tossed down a manhole by a BRIEF appearance of a character that looks exactly like Mickey Mouse! However, he comes and goes so fast--probably so that they wouldn't get sued for using this Disney character! But, since we are in the age of DVDs and computers, stop and look--it IS Mickey!

Bimbo falls down this tunnel into a fun-house like world where he is constantly being asked if he wanted to join some secret society or cult. When he says no, they appear to try to kill him in many weird and funny ways. None of it is cute--mostly it looks like a film directed by or inspired by Salvador Dali or a man on LSB (is there a difference?). You just have to see it to understand what I mean. However, if all Betty Boop cartoons were this bizarrely entertaining, I'd seek them out--but unfortunately they are not.

FYI--This movie was recently listed by Crack Online on their list of Five Cartoons Way Darker Than Most Horror Movies. And, based on what I saw, I would agree.

The Fleischer-produced-and-directed cartoons of the 1930's are tremendously trippy feats of classic animation. 'Bimbo's Initiation,' with its endless creativity and absurdist comedy, is emblematic of these free-spirited films, unafraid to be suggestive, violent, and, most excessively of all, balls-to-the-walls weird and wacky. It's practically unpredictable in its madness, one looney laugh after another assaulting the viewer. Its reputation as one of the most surreal cartoons of its time is well-earned, there is little sense to be had: a spark of fire can dance, a sharp blade can lick its lips, creepy cult members can tear off their skin revealing multiple clones of the stereotypically alluring Betty Boop, etc.