Jack Frost

Jack Frost (1934)

*** (out of 4)

Ub Iwerks' directed this animated short about a young grizzly bear who decides to go outside even though his mother warned him that a cold winter was about to hit. I always enjoy watching the work of Iwerks because even today his images are quite striking and they're certainly unlike anything else that was out at the time or even today. This film isn't among his greatest works but I think there are enough unique touches that make the thing worth watching. I really liked the images but this here should go without being said. I especially liked the winter landscape as the bear wonders out of his house thinking that his fur is going to protect him. The scene showing the snowman being created was terrific and the imagination in it was excellent. Earlier there's a very good sequence with some dancing trees and the scenes with the pumpkins was also very good. The bear cub himself was a good and memorable character and his little journey has many cute moments as well as some darker ones.

Just watched this Ub Iwerks ComiColor cartoon on YouTube. It concerns a kid bear who defies his parents and decides to go out during Winter because of his big fur. The title character gently warns him but he keeps singing of how he'll survive because of his skin. Being from the '30s, this short shouldn't surprise when some inanimate objects come to life like some pumpkins or a scarecrow who in this case channels Cab Calloway! There are some touches of humor but this seems mostly to teach kids in the audience a lesson about staying inside when a snow storm comes. That's okay in this instance so on that note, I recommend Jack Frost.

. . . by leading seminarian End Times Instructors as an actual horseman of the Apocalypse. JACK FROST, aka the onset of Winter, is so fearsome that some quailing traditions substituted Famine for Frost so that the kids could sleep at night. However, on six of the Globe's seven continents more people freeze to death than expire from starvation in a given year. Furthermore, a consensus of pain experts rank a frigid demise a fate worse than buying the farm with an empty tummy. As their capillaries explode one by one, many victims turning into literal pop-sickles have been heard to bargain that they'd swear off food for a year for one mug of hot chocolate. JACK FROST does NOT give this scourge of glacial glazing his just desserts.

This cartoon is from Ub Iwerks--the guy who did most of the animating in the early Disney Company cartoons, such as "Steamboat Willie". After a few years with Disney, Ub decided to go out on his own--and less than a decade later, he was back with Disney. Although he was very talented, and you can see some of it in "Jack Frost", you can also see why he failed. On the plus side, the cartoon's animation is very nice. Not as nice as the Silly Symphonies and Mickey cartoons coming from Disney, but still very nice. The cartoon also had color. While it wasn't the Technicolor that Disney was using (they had exclusive rights to it for several years), the Cinecolor looks very nice and has a wider color spectrum than many Cinecolor films--with some actual blues. BUT, despite looking good, the cartoon itself is insipid mush! It consists of lots of happy singing animals in the forest, Jack Frost and Old Man Winter singing and cavorting--and not a single trace of humor!! All in all, this is like torture to have to watch today, as the cartoons were amazingly dull (aside from Disney's) during this era. Cute characters and singing...YECCH!!!

Ub Iwerks was a technical genius, but often plots and story were afterthoughts. Exceptionally visual cartoons not needing much plotting work splendidly, while those needing strong characterization, story or plot fare less well as a rule.

This one is an exception to that. Visually excellent and technically superb, this is also engaging and has fascinating characters and a good plot. Iwerks was creative in his own area of expertise and one of the reasons that Iwerks and Walt Disney worked so well together was that their strengths were complementary to one another. This is Iwerks Studios near their best. Absolutely beautiful short, it's good to see this in print. Well worth getting. Recommended.