''Swing You Sinners!'' is a 1930 animated cartoon short, produced by

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

as part of the ''

Talkartoons ''Talkartoons'' is a series of 42 animated cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1932. History For the Fleischer brothers, the transition to sound was relatively easy. With the new contrac ...

'' series. The cartoon is notable for its

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

, dark, and abstract content.

Plot

Bimbo Bimbo is slang for a conventionally attractive, sexualized, naive, and unintelligent woman. The term was originally used in the United States as early as 1919 for an unintelligent or brutish man. As of the early 21st century, the "stereotypic ...

is seen late at night, trying to steal a chicken. After several attempts, he accidentally grabs a policeman by the hand. As he tries to walk away as if nothing happened the chicken follows him in spite of this, as does the policeman. Eventually, the chicken and its chicks flee, while Bimbo enters a cemetery. To his horror, he finds out that it is haunted, complete with a host of ghosts and other supernatural beings who tell him that he will be punished for his sin, regardless of him begging for mercy and assurance that he has made efforts to become a better person. Throughout the rest of the film, Bimbo is reprimanded and pursued by them until he enters a large cave, whereupon the monsters sing about Bimbo's demise, and a huge skull devours him, ending the cartoon.

Background

The cartoon was released on September 24, 1930 in the ''

'' series and animated by

Ted Sears Edward Robert Sears (March 13, 1900August 22, 1958) was an American animator during The Golden Age of American animation. Sears worked for the Fleischer Studios in the late-1920s and early-1930s, and was hired away from Max Fleischer to work at ...

and

Willard Bowsky Willard Gustav Bowsky (September 26, 1907 – November 27, 1944) was an American animator best known for his work at Fleischer Studios in New York City and Miami, Florida, where he worked on cartoons featuring Betty Boop, Popeye the Sailor, ...

. George Cannata,

Shamus Culhane James H. "Shamus" Culhane (November 12, 1908 – February 2, 1996) was an American animator, film director, and film producer. He is best known for his work in the Golden age of American animation. Career Shamus Culhane worked for a number of ...

Al Eugster Alfred Julius Eugster (February 11, 1909 – January 1, 1997) was an American animator, writer, and film director. He worked for a number of American animation studios, including Fleischer Studios, the Iwerks Studio, Walt Disney Productions, an ...

, William Henning, Seymour Kneitel and

Grim Natwick Myron "Grim" Natwick (' Nordveig; August 16, 1890 – October 7, 1990) was an American artist, animator, and film director. Natwick is best known for drawing the Fleischer Studios' most popular character, Betty Boop. Background Born in Wis ...

also worked on it, but are uncredited in the title card. The cartoon was animated by a completely new staff who had never worked in animation before, because the studio had to replace some animators who quit. Animator Culhane states in his memoirs that though he created and animated what might be construed a racist caricature of "a Jew with a black beard, huge nose, and a derby," the studio's atmosphere and its mixed ethnic crew made the depiction completely acceptable to all the Jews in the studio. The caricature in question is a reference to Jewish-American comedian

Monroe Silver Monroe Silver (December 21, 1875 – May 3, 1947) was an American actor and singer who was also a comedian and monologist using a Jewish dialect-accent in his performances. Career For various record labels, he recorded 78rpm discs of parodies ...

Reception

Motion Picture News The ''Motion Picture News'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1913 to 1930. History The publication was created through the 1913 merger of the ''Moving Picture News'' founded in 1908 and ''The Exhibitors' Times'', founded ...

'' wrote on October 11, 1930, "The clever cartoon pen of

Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became ...

again demonstrates itself in this Talkartoon. An off-stage chorus sings the lyrics to the rhythm of the action and the result is usually diverting. The cartoon hero is this time taken into a grave-yard with the absurd results that you might well imagine. Worth a watch."

Music

The soundtrack was composed by

W. Franke Harling W. Franke Harling (January 18, 1887 – November 22, 1958) was a composer of film scores, operas, and popular music. Life and career Born William Franke Harling in London, he was educated at the Grace Choir Church School in New York City. After w ...

, with lyrics by

Sam Coslow Sam Coslow (December 27, 1902 – April 2, 1982) was an American songwriter, singer, film producer, publisher and market analyst. Coslow was born in New York City. He began writing songs as a teenager. He contributed songs to Broadway revues, ...

. The title song was based on “ Sing, You Sinners!”, some of which is played in the titles of the cartoon.

Legacy

John Kricfalusi Michael John Kricfalusi ( ; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, voice actor and former animator. He is the creator of the animated television series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', which was ...

named it one of his favorite cartoons and played during a retrospective of his personal favorite animated shorts. He also compared it to

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

's ''

The Skeleton Dance ''The Skeleton Dance'' is a 1929 ''Silly Symphony'' animated short subject produced and directed by Walt Disney and animated by Ub Iwerks. In the film, four human skeletons dance and make music around a spooky graveyard—a modern film example o ...

'' (which was also set on a cemetery) and felt ''Swing You Sinners!'' was superior. In 2012 ''

Cracked Cracked may refer to: Television * ''Cracked'' (British TV series), a 2008 British comedy-drama television series that aired on STV * ''Cracked'' (Canadian TV series), a 2013 Canadian crime drama series that aired on CBC * "Cracked", a Season 8 ( ...

'' hosted an article describing "5 Old Children's Cartoons Way Darker Than Most Horror Movies" and listed ''Swing You Sinners!'' at No. 1. In 2014, LA-based indie band

Caught A Ghost Caught A Ghost is an indie electro soul band based in Los Angeles, California. The band is a project from Los Angeles singer, songwriter and producer Jesse Nolan and kindergarten classmate Stephen Edelstein. Their debut album, ''Human Nature'', ...

released a music video to their track "Time Go" which consisted entirely of footage from ''Swing You Sinners!''. Serbian alternative rock band

Brigand Brigandage is the life and practice of highway robbery and plunder. It is practiced by a brigand, a person who usually lives in a gang and lives by pillage and robbery.Oxford English Dictionary second edition, 1989. "Brigand.2" first recorded us ...

named their debut album ''Zaplešimo Grešnici'' (literally ''Swing You Sinners'' in Serbian) after the cartoon. Video game developers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer based the atmosphere of their game ''

Cuphead ''Cuphead'' is a run-and-gun video game developed and published by Studio MDHR. The game follows the titular Cuphead who, in a deal with the Devil after losing a game at the Devil's casino, is sent on a quest to repossess the souls of runaway ...

'' on several Fleischer cartoons, including this one. Chad called

"the

magnetic north The north magnetic pole, also known as the magnetic north pole, is a point on the surface of Earth's Northern Hemisphere at which the planet's magnetic field points vertically downward (in other words, if a magnetic compass needle is allowed t ...

of his art style". ''

Kill Screen ''Kill Screen'' (stylized as ''KILL SCREEN'') was a print and online magazine founded in 2009 by Jamin Warren and Chris Dahlen and owned by Kill Screen Media, Inc. It focused on video games and culture, but also included articles based on ent ...

'' described Fleischer Studios as having "transportive, transformative, and massively f**ked up" short films, such as ''Swing You Sinners!''. The in-game achievement for defeating the game's final boss is even named "Swing You Sinner". Additionally, boss Cagney Carnation's idle animation resembles the hand dance done by one of the ghosts in the cartoon.

References

{{Reflist

External links

IMDB page
1930s English-language films 1930s ghost films 1930s American animated films 1930 animated films 1930 short films 1930s animated short films American black-and-white films Short films directed by Dave Fleischer Fleischer Studios short films Paramount Pictures short films Films set in cemeteries Films set in hell American animated short films Animated films about dogs American ghost films