Spooks

Spooks (1931)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Flip the Frog and his horse are caught in a thunderstorm when he sees an abandoned house and decides to go in for shelter. Once inside he runs across countless living skeletons including one who has plans for the frog. I was really surprised at how well thought out and creative this animation film is. I'm still new to Iwerks work but so far this one here is certainly the best. There are countless funny gags involving the skeletons, although none of them are hilarious but they are so creative that you can't help but be charmed by what's going on. The highlights include a scene where the skeleton tries to get Flip to eat a skeleton turkey. The end result of a skeleton eating a skeleton is also very well done.

This is one long series of gags revolving around skeletons. It is consistently entertaining; not hilarious but fun to watch at all times. As you view this, you wonder what form of skeleton was coming next, and with what gags.

In other words, after the first one, then we see a skeleton-butler, a female skeleton (who Flip dances with), a three-piece band of bones, followed by a skeleton dog and a little cuckoo bird skeleton.

The main skeleton, meanwhile, measures Skip. He wants to add our beloved to his collection of "remains." So, with the humor you also get some horror-suspense as this weirdo goes after Flip, trying to kill him, chasing him all over the house with a big knife.

The ending is clever and different from what you might expect.

This is a very good cartoon in many respects, but it's virtually impossible to avoid comparing it to Skeleton Dance, which is a shame, because this cartoon is lessened in the comparison (almost anything would be-Skeleton Dance was the first Silly Symphonies and is one of the great animated works of all time). Part of the problem is the "star" of the short-all too often, Flip the Frog has all the charm and personality of wet mulch. Here, he's principally a prop, a target for sight gags. The short would have been better served with no Flip, no dialog and more sight gags, but then the similarities to Skeleton Dance would be even more pronounced. Besides, Iwerks was trying to develop a recurring character, like Disney had with Mickey. Without Flip, the cartoon wouldn't exist. Still, making Flip more interesting (as they were able to do in other shorts) would have differentiated it from Skeleton Dance more and thus made it an even better short. Visually a treat in any case, even with Flip's blandness as the trick here. Well worth watching, glad it's in print and most recommended. Happy Hallowe'en!

Lasting from 1930 to 1933. On the most part the Flip the Frog cartoons are not great or cartoon/animated masterpieces and it is sort of understandable as to why Flip didn't make it bigger. However they are far from terrible ones either and do hold some interest.

Despite not being historically significant like 'Fiddlesticks' was, 'Spooks' for me is among the best Flip the Frog cartoons, as well as being one of the original and easily the series at its creepiest. It is a very good cartoon, it is not perfect but there are things here that improve quite a bit and done much better than many other Flip the Frog cartoons.

A lot of good things in 'Spooks'. The animation is good, with beautifully detailed backgrounds, nice shading and characters that aren't drawn too crudely. The opening sequence in fact is outstanding. The music makes even more of an impact, it is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, full of lively energy and not only adds brilliantly to the action it enhances it.

There are more sight gags than a lot of the previous Flip the Frog cartoons, and they are very creative, beautifully timed and can be quite scary . Maybe not hilarious but they are some of the best gags of the series easily. There is a nice natural charm, a good deal of zest and it is certainly among the least sentimental Flip the Frog cartoons, which is a good thing.

Characters are lively and suitably kooky, the homicidal skeleton is quite terrifying and Flip's interaction with him shows a real sense of peril. The atmosphere is what sets 'Spooks' apart from the rest of the series, there is a claustrophobic feel and a sense of surprising peril and such a great job is done evoking genuine horror and creepiness. The pacing is never dull.

Flip is a bit bland still though, he never was one of animation's most compelling, most interesting or personality-filled lead characters. The atmosphere and supporting characters more than make up for the slightness of the story.

Otherwise, this is very good and one of Flip's best. 8/10 Bethany Cox