Bottles

Agree with previous poster, this cartoon is fantastic on so many levels.

I find it very warming, a treat for the eyes and ears, the only shame is it's over so soon.

Remember watching this over 30 years ago when I was a kid, that skeleton-bottle, it scared the life out of me but I loved those singing baby-bottles. Watching it again is a real trip.

I also agree, it's long time overdue for a DVD release of these gems. Those geniuses who created these deserve no less.

Brilliant.

Harman and Ising largely developed the midnight in the store trope during their WB years. Disney also utilized it, but not to the extent that Harman and Ising, and by extension WB, did.

BOTTLES continues this idea; this time in a chemist's laboratory. This short strongly benefited from the use of three-strip Technicolor, which was recently unleashed to Hollywood after Disney's trial period ended. Much like Disney's earlier short THE CHINA SHOP, the glass/ceramic characters are convincingly animated as such.

The mood goes from sinister to light hearted, much like what Disney would achieve in the features.

One of the best Happy Harmonies and most polished of the inanimate objects come to life cartoons.

I saw this when I was about 10 years old, but it has only seemed to be available on laser disc up until its recent release as one of the extras on the DVD release of 'San Francisco'. It's exactly as surreal and fun as I remember! With the 'death walks tonight!' croaks of the animated poison bottle, it seems to convey a sense of foreboding, as if people at the time could sense the war that was coming only three years later. Some fantastic ideas, like the Spirits Of Ammonia, the Baby Bottles and the Cuban rum bottles. Some nice rotoscoping as well, in the Cuban sequence. They really did make them better back then. Contrast this or Max Fleischer's Superman series with the half-hour toy ads like He-Man that were cranked out in the 80's. My 3-year old gets to watch as many of these, and Betty Boop and old Popeye as he likes, so that he knows the good stuff!

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons. While Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising didn't go into daring, controversial subject territory very often, when they did the results were often quite surprising in a good way. Their output was inconsistent, some very good and more cartoons but also some rather mediocre ones, which was apparent in the Happy Harmonies series.

One of the best Happy Harmonies cartoons is one of the most daring and imaginative ones 'Bottles'. It did remind me a little of 'Pipe Dreams', which also tackled a bold subject where one really thinks of the consequences of doing what is being addressed even at a time where attitudes were different at the time. Except to me, 'Bottles' is the superior cartoon, it is not as ahead of the time or racy in content but it is more inventive and there is more of a "know what approach to take to the material" sense.

Sure, 'Bottles' is slight in story and the times where it goes into cute territory does go too far on the cutesiness and felt out of place (the baby bottle song could easily have been left out.

The animation however is great, have not seen surrealism done this imaginatively, colourfully and uncompromisingly in animation for some while. It disturbs but also intoxicates. The music is outstanding, lush, characterful with the odd haunting moment.

'Bottles' never fails to be entertaining and the surrealistic creepiness while very, very strong is not overdone or too traumatising. Loved it when the poisons came to life and the duet sequence is memorable. While the story is best forgotten, the cartoon is always very energetic and highly atmospheric. The objects/characters have a lot of personality.

In conclusion, very well done and surprisingly so. 8/10.

It seems that one major theology of animation concerns the animating (meaning coming to life) of normally inanimate objects.

Its one strain worth tracing, because with today's film technologies, animals can easily be seen to talk and even wear clothes and such. Its the power to make objects and environments have agency that gives great animation its power. And if you trace the evolution of the idea, you'll come through this. Its an unimaginative idea: a chemist/druggist mixes a poison, then dreams that it comes alive and evilly threatens him, together with all the other objects in the lab.

As with all early attempts with object life, some of the objects must be juvenile, and the centerpiece here are three baby bottle who whine because their diapers are dirty.

This was made toward the end of prohibition when use of opiates and marijuana became its great rise in popularity in the US, and that's the not so subtle subtext here.

Unfortunately the animation itself isn't any great advance.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.