Bottles (1936)

hyped garbage

Great Film overall

Good movie but grossly overrated

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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.

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.

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!

"We don't feel like safe and tidy/No one here will change our di-di/That's the reason why/All we do is cry...." These 1930's MGM Harman-Ising cartoons, with their lush Technicolor hues, are still waiting to be discovered by cartoon fans. Many have but the thinnest of story lines to hang onto, but the musical numbers in this one--to say nothing of the innumerable puns (the "baby bottles," the sleeping powder," the "smelling salts," etc.) take the prize for sheer invention. (Or, perhaps, sheer audacity.) Genuine suspense, too, in the climax. So when's Time/Warner going to put out the "Happy Harmonies" shorts into a complete DVD collection??