Review of Minnie the Moocher

As this short opens one could be forgiven for thinking it wasn't a cartoon at all as it begins with live action footage of Cab Callaway and his band performing the opening to 'Minnie the Moocher'. When the cartoon proper begins we see Betty's parents remonstrating with her for not eating her dinner. Her father clearly sounds like a broken record, stuck in the groove, to her as his head literally turns into an old fashioned gramophone player. She soon has enough and retreats to her room; here she write a note informing her parent that she is leaving then goes off with her boyfriend Bimbo. The two of them take shelter in a cave and things become very surreal; they see an apparition of a walrus like creature that is dancing and singing 'Minnie the Moocher'. As the song progresses they see a number of disturbing images including dancing skeletons and ghosts going to the electric chair! Understandably by the end of the song they are terrified and run back home as fast as their legs will carry them.

While this short is hardly a laugh-riot, it isn't meant to be, it does have some amusing moments and the animation is very creative; far more surreal than most more recent cartoons. This provides a good illustration of the fact that animation wasn't always considered to be a medium primarily aimed at children with the numerous creepy images and drug references in the song. The combination of imaginative animation with Cab Callaway's classic song work brilliantly; any fan of classic animation is sure to love this.