User Reviews

One of the many shorts - most if not all of them forgotten - from Terrytoons depicts bullfighting. Of course, "Bull-ero" is an excuse for a series of gags. Probably the most interesting one involves wrestling.

I think that we can agree that the best depiction of bullfighting was in Chuck Jones's "Bully for Bugs", especially with the line "Whenever you can spare time, toro!" It's less pleasant nowadays, with bullfighting widely seen as a cruel sport. It's probably worth noting that despite its common use as a representation of Spain - Francisco Franco championed it as a point of national pride - it's generally practiced in only one region.

Anyway, this is a routine cartoon from that era. Nothing special.

During the period when Paul Terry released through Educational Pictures, he produced some of his most sophisticated cartoons. He also produced works like this very late synchronized sound cartoon with lots of gags pulled out of his silent pictures to cut down on scripting costs and looping to keep down production costs. Since they were proved gags, they could be put together and produce an amusing work, full of mice heroes who ride jointed marionette horses. It's just that there's nothing superior about it.

Of course, that was Terry's saving grace as a producer: he came in on budget, met his contracts and amused his target audience, the small kiddies. Except for the pro-wrestling bulls in this one, there's nothing for anyone older.

The Terrytoons are oddly interesting, mainly for anybody wanting to see (generally) older cartoons made by lesser known and lower-budget studios. They are a mixed bag in quality, with some better than others, often with outstanding music and with some mild amusement and charm and variable in animation, characterisation and content.

'Bull-ero' for me is one of the worst 1932 Terrytoons and also down there with Terrytoons' worst. The previous 1932 cartoons were very much watchable if not exactly mind-blowing. 'Bull-ero' is the first lacklustre or less cartoon of the batch. Its main reason for viewing is mainly for anybody striving to see every Terrytoons available like me.

Its best asset is the music, which predictably is incredible. It is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and arranged, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action.

A couple of decent gags to be found here and there. Otherwise 'Bull-ero' has very little else to it.

The animation is not good here. Even for Terrytoons, while not doing as much cheating as some earlier cartoons, it is primitive at best and there is a lot of crudeness and over-simplicity going on in the backgrounds. There is also a good deal of repetition going on and it is not clever or inspired, it just looks cheap and lazy.

Story is non-existent and doesn't have any lively pacing (dull) or memorable and interesting characters to make that forgivable. It's full of stale fatigue and the unfunny, dull and derivative (repetitively used too) gags don't help.

Concluding, very weak. 3/10 Bethany Cox