''Shinbone Alley'' is a 1970 American animated

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

based on the

Joe Darion Joe Darion (30 January 1917 — 16 June 2001) was an American musical theatre lyricist, most famous for ''Man of La Mancha'', which is considered, by some critics, as a precursor to 1980s sung-through musicals such as '' Les Miserables''. Dario ...

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...

, and George Kleinsinger musical of the same name as well as the original ''

Archy and Mehitabel Archy and Mehitabel (styled as archy and mehitabel) are fictional characters created in 1916 by Don Marquis, a columnist for ''The Evening Sun'' newspaper in New York City. Archy, a cockroach, and Mehitabel, an alley cat, appeared in hundreds of ...

'' stories by

Don Marquis Donald Robert Perry Marquis ( ; July 29, 1878 – December 29, 1937) was an American humorist, journalist, and author. He was variously a novelist, poet, newspaper columnist, and playwright. He is remembered best for creating the characters Ar ...

. It was directed by

John David Wilson John David Wilson (8 August 1919 – 20 June 2013) was an English artist, animator and producer. He owned his own production studio, Fine Arts Films Fine Arts Films was a production studio based in Northern England and Hollywood. It was found ...

Eddie Bracken Edward Vincent Bracken (February 7, 1915 – November 14, 2002) was an American actor. Bracken became a Hollywood comedy legend with lead performances in the films '' Hail the Conquering Hero'' and '' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' both from ...

reprised his role from the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical;

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, ...

played the starring role originally performed by Eartha Kitt.

Plot

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

poet named Archy (

) attempts suicide only to come back as a

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are a paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known as ...

. As he learns how to write poetry by hopping on typewriter keys, he grows used to his new life and becomes infatuated with Mehitabel (

), the singing alley cat. She instead goes out with the tomcat Big Bill (

Alan Reed Alan Reed (born Herbert Theodore Bergman; August 20, 1907 – June 14, 1977) was an American actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on ''The Flintstones'' and various spinoff series. He also appeared in many films, includin ...

). When Big Bill dumps Mehitabel, Archy confronts her about her wild ways in general and her affinity for bad boy tomcats in particular. She momentarily agrees; however, self-appointed

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

maestro cat Tyrone T. Tattersall (

John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later ...

) promises to make her a star and becomes her next lover. Archy attempts and fails suicide again. In the theatre, Mehitabel holds up her end of the deal in getting food for Tyrone, but he kicks her off the stage. Archy and Big Bill watch her, and Mehitabel gets back together with Big Bill. Back to his typewriter, Archy channels his frustration in calling the other insects and spiders to

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. He immediately drops the scheme when he hears the news that Mehitabel has kittens, and Big Bill has left the scene again. It's a rainy evening, and Archy points out to Mehitabel, that her kittens, who are inside a cover less trashcan, are floating away from her, and the two of them rescue the kittens, however, a moody Mehitabel, chases Archy away for interfering with her private business. Archy persuades Mehitabel to give up her life as an alley cat and support the kittens with a "job" as a house cat. Later, however, when Archy comes to visit her in the upscale house, with her visibly changed by the experience, she reminds him that social class now separates them from being friends and kicks him out—regretting it later. Archy gets drunk and meets several

ladybug Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles ranging in size from . They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in Great Britain. Some entomologists prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as they ...

street walkers who find his love poems about Mehitabel. Big Bill makes fun of him. One day, Mehitabel returns to Shinbone Alley and sings and dances again like her old self. After having tried to reform her, Archy realizes he liked Mehitabel for her wild ways all along and accepts her for "being what she has to be," content to be just friends.

Voice cast

... Mehitabel *

... Archy *

... Big Bill *

... Tyrone T. Tattersall * Hal Smith ... Freddie the Rat / Prissy Cat *

Joan Gerber Joan Gerber (July 29, 1935 – August 22, 2011) was an American voice actress who provided voices for a variety of cartoons. Her most challenging voice role was "all the children in a Japanese train wreck" for a ''Godzilla'' television episode ...

... Penelope the Fat Cat / Ladybugs of the Evening *

Ken Sansom Frank Kenneth Sansom (April 2, 1927 – October 8, 2012) was an American actor. Among his best known roles, Sansom voiced Rabbit in animated television series, television specials, and films for Disney's ''Winnie the Pooh'' franchise from 1988 t ...

... Rosie the Cat *

Julie Dawn Cole Julie Dawn Cole (born 26 October 1957) is an English actress. She began her career as a child performer in the 1971 film ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'', playing Veruca Salt. Career ''Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'' Raised in ...

... Sally the Cat *Sal Delano... Beatnik Spider *Byron Kane ... Newspaperman

Production

In 1968, the film began pre-production, with meetings between the producers (Preston Fleet & John Wilson) and the writers (Dick Kinney, Marty Murphy, & David Detiege), they decided to take heavy inspiration from the writing and illustrations of ''Archy and Mehitabel'', to set up a "visual

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

experience". But them, this presented a problem, and midway into pre-production the thought occurred to modernize the

George Herriman George Joseph Herriman III (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip '' Krazy Kat'' (1913–1944). More influential than popular, ''Krazy Kat'' had an appreciative audience ...

illustrations in a contemporary style. Storyboards were drawn by Richard Kinney and Marty Murphy. In 1969, the designs of the characters were finalized, and animation and voice acting soon began. In 1970, a year before the film's theatrical release, it was screened at the Atlanta Georgia International Film Festival and won a Golden Phoenix Award.

Reception

''Shinbone Alley'' did not fare well at the box office. However, '' New York'' magazine critic

Judith Crist Judith Crist (; May 22, 1922 – August 7, 2012) was an American film critic and academic. She appeared regularly on the ''Today'' show from 1964 to 1973 Martin, Douglas (August 8, 2012)"Judith Crist, Zinging and Influential Film Critic, ...

called it "a blend of literature, musical comedy and fine arts... pure sophisticated entertainment for all, and a refreshment for moviegoers."

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

, in his ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' review, wrote: "'Shinbone Alley' is a little like the old mehitabel. It suffers from split personality being based, as it is, on works that must go over the heads of 8-year-olds .. but it's executed in a mostly juvenile style that's not too far removed from what the children see on television. It's a very mixed bag and this, in case you hadn't guessed, is a very mixed review."

References

External links

''Shinbone Alley''
on

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''Shinbone Alley''
at

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''Shinbone Alley''
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinbone Alley (Film) 1970 films 1970 animated films 1970s American animated films 1970s musical comedy films Adaptations of works by Don Marquis Adaptations of works by Mel Brooks Allied Artists films American animated comedy films Animated films about cats Animated films about insects Animated musical films American musical comedy films Films about reincarnation Films based on adaptations Films based on musicals Films set in New York City Films directed by John David Wilson 1970 comedy films 1970s English-language films Alternative versions of films