Fleischer Friday: The Old Man of the Mountain
I’ve been putting off the last of the Cab Calloway shorts, because it’s one of what I think of as the Problem Cartoons. That is, it’s one of several Boop cartoons in which humor is derived from a threat of sexual violence. Despite that rather large stumbling block, though, there’s some other great stuff going on in it, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Unlike in Minnie the Moocher and Snow White, Calloway and his orchestra perform throughout this entire cartoon, and Calloway voices the owl at the beginning in addition to the title character. This transforms the whole short into a kind of rhythmic jazz opera, which would be even more delightful if its subject matter wasn’t a mountain village being menaced by a scat-singing hillbilly rapist.
Betty’s decision to go see the Old Man isn’t well justified (and the Owl is definitely baffled), but it seems to be her habit of eliminating problems for her animal friends. Meanwhile everyone else is running away. I love all the little bits of pure Fleischer animal business in this: the lion skating on two rabbits, the spider enlisting his trapped flies to carry his web, and the caterpillar moving out with all its furniture. The hippo lady and her unfortunate hybrid progeny are rather less funny, and become even less so the more you think about all the implications.
The music is comprised of two slightly rewritten Calloway numbers, the title tune and “You’ve Got to Hi-De-Hi.” The latter is actually my favorite, because it’s a duet between Calloway and Mae Questel as Betty (the only time this happens in the three Calloway/Boop cartoons). It also features the trademark rotoscoped Cab Calloway dance, which looks even stranger as performed by a giant white cave man than it does when essayed by Koko the Clown or a walrus. Then of course there’s the standard chase scene, and the quick defeat of the Old Man by Betty and all the animals, who, judging from the clues given earlier, decided to give up on running away and come help Betty because she’s just that hot.
I’m curious to get some reader opinions on this one: Does the undercurrent of sexual assault ruin the whole cartoon, or is it just an unfortunate product of its time that’s balanced out by spectacular music and delightful animation?
Also, would having bugs in your beard be worth it if they fed you a beer whenever you needed one?
I don’t think the cartoon is ruined by the undercurrent of sexual assault. I mean, really, this isn’t far from being the cartoonified, slightly allegorized (“he’ll eat you up” being the stated threat) version of Law & Order SVU. I don’t think it’s a secret that we enjoy watching sexual menace unfold, as long as it is criminalized so that we can assuage our guilt by telling ourselves that what we really enjoy is not the menace itself, but the punishment of the molester/rapist.
If part of your question is “Is it ruined for child viewers?” I’d say not anymore than “Little Red Riding Hood” is ruined for kids by the sexual allegory there, meaning kids will probably just take the cartoon for its word and believe the threat is cannibalism, not rape.
I don’t think the undercurrent ruins the cartoon. I would feel differently if the would-be rapist weren’t painted from the very beginning as the bad guy. There’s a kind of empowerment in all the animals attacking the guy– and Betty’s dress smacks the old man all by itself, which is kind of awesome.
What’s more unsettling to me is that Betty doesn’t seem particularly frightened of him until he actually starts to run after her. The way she’s dancing and singing with him, it almost looks like there’s going to be a consensual seduction.
[...] Okay With Me regularly analyzes older cartoons. Here’s a great review of a Betty Boop [...]
It was not until I watch this cartoon again did I take in the ending in context of the events leading up to it…
Betty Boop’s radiant sexuality and the Old Man’s disheveled look and perverse behavior make this cartoon seem very strait forward. Beautiful women put her self in a precarious position gets sexually assaulted then is rescued but…As Jill points out Betty is never really afraid of the man and she saunters up the Hill with an intent. This is after all the “animals” are frighten off the mountain.
I defiantly now believe this short is an empowerment to Betty’s Sexuality, she distracts the Old Man long enough for the animals to rally and stand up for themselves, Cheers to Betty!
Betty Boops voice was by Bonnie poe in this cartoons
but the singing part sounds like mae questel…… weird isnt it…