Synopsis
Bimbo's Initiation (1931) is a surreal animated short you can watch online on iFILM. In seven black-and-white minutes, Bimbo the dog drops through a manhole into an underground lair, where a crowd of hooded figures keeps demanding he join their secret society.
He refuses, so they hurl him through one nightmarish contraption after another — trapdoors, blades, torture machines, each more absurd than the last. Every time the masked mob asks "Wanna be a member?", Bimbo shakes his head, and the ordeal starts over. The ending flips the whole thing on its head.
Directed by Dave Fleischer in the pre-Code era, with Mae Questel voicing a very early Betty Boop, this is a small landmark of rubber-hose animation: dark, musical, and gleefully unhinged. Well worth a look for fans of cartoon history and vintage horror. Stream Bimbo's Initiation online on iFILM.
Starring
Recommendations
Comments 0