User Reviews

In the beginning of 1933, Paul Terry took aim at the competition. In this case, he was going after the market of the Fleischer's Betty Boop. He did not, like Van Beuren, do a knock off. His answer was Fanny Zilch, a tall drink of water who sang soprano operetta. Fanny appeared in several funny cartoons in this period, always with a melodrama setting, always fighting off Oil Can Harry (who, in one guise or another, would wind up fighting Mighty Mouse), and rescued by the rustic tenor.

Given the limited number of melodramatic tropes to make fun of and the rise within a year of the newly-enforced Production Code, there were only a certain number of stories that Miss Zilch could appear in -- not that this ever stopped him with, say, Mighty Mouse -- but Miss Zilch did not last long enough to remain fresh in memory -- she was one of the characters not exhibited on kiddy shows in the late 1940s.

Still, this one, in which the danger she escapes from is being trapped with lions and alligators, is a lot of fun.

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.

1933 was again a hit and miss year for Terrytoons. 'Fanny in the Lion's Den', part of the short-lived and generally not too bad Fanny Zilch cartoons, may not be great but it is one of the best of the batch. It's mainly to be seen as part of a Terrytoons completest quest, which is happening with me at the moment, but has a little more to it than that (something that one doesn't say about a fair share of Terrytoons) if not warranting of repeat viewings.

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. For Terrytoons, 'Fanny in the Lion's Den' is generally one of their best-looking cartoons, the backgrounds have nearly always been well done at this point and they show signs of detail and ambition here, among their most elaborate ever in fact.

'Fanny in the Lion's Den' never feels forced in its charm, there are some amusing gags (though other Fanny Zilch cartoons were surprising more adult and more ahead-of-their-time) and fun peril and ways to escape it, pacing is energetic and the characters are pretty colourful and entertaining to watch.

On the other hand, the character designs are crude and simplistic, not unusual for Terrytoons having never been a strength of theirs.

Story is flimsy at best, at times stale and is pretty predictable due to doing nothing novel to a very purposefully melodramatic premise well worn before this cartoon was made. To give less of a choppy feel to some of the structure, a minute longer or so would have helped even if only by a little.

All in all, pretty decent. 6/10 Bethany Cox