Fiddlesticks (1930) User Reviews

All Singing And Dancing.....And Color, Too, As Flip Makes Debut

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 30 March 2008]

This is an historic "Flip The Frog" cartoon in that it was his first. Flip and his insect and animal friends just dance and sing all day. This might bore the heck out of many people today, but I didn't mind it because I like tap dancing and Flip did two innovative tap numbers.

The only laugh I got was when Flip and the piano went at it. After singing a sad song, the piano started crying and Flip blew its nose. (Hey, it's a cartoon, where anything can happen!). Then the two get mad at each other and duke it out.

At the end of the cartoon, it mentions this is a "sound and color" cartoon. That was a big deal back in 1930, on both counts.

This was the first cartoon in a series of old ones in a DVD called "Cartoons That Time Forget: The UB Iwerks Collection Vol. 1."

Fiddle-Dee-Dee

[scorseseisgod-1 · 6/10 · 12 November 2005]

After breaking with Walt Disney, Ub Iwerks opened his own studio and introduced the world to his first solo cartoon creation, Flip the Frog. Flip would go on to appear in 38 cartoons, over half the output of Iwerks' studio. From the opening pan left we are introduced to a horizontal universe with nothing to offer in the way of depth construction. Our hero begins by hopping lily pads, a realistic trait that is quickly eliminated as Flip spends the rest of the short walking (and dancing) upright. A couple of buttons and a red bow-tie further undermine Flip's resemblance to a real frog. Without a plot to speak of, this Paleozoic venture into sound and color had only its star to rely on. Flip's sole raison d'etre in this short is to entertain two audiences: the one in the theater and an animated woodland gathering of insects, skunks and rodents. Credit Iwerks with completely avoiding repetition. Flip may cavort a bit too long, but he never makes the same move twice. At the piano, Flip is accompanied on the violin by a Mickey lookalike while interrupted by the spit from a tobacco-chewing robin. This is about as funny as the short gets, but as with the pioneer efforts of the Lumieres, Iwerks was more interested in movement (and characterization) than narrative storytelling. Besides, there are few things more charming at this point in cartoon history than the joyful dance that Flip, the mouse, the piano and its stool put on. Flip and his piano carry on a rather perverse relationship. Initially Flip offers a handkerchief to blow its keys on during a sad interlude. This compassion goes one step further as the frog begins to rub one out on the piano's leg. This causes the baby grand to give Flip a well-placed boot, only to have the frog finish by punching out a crescendo and ultimately kicking its teeth out. Long on seamless execution but lacking in character personality and development. A Disney cartoon void of Uncle Walt's flair for personification and storytelling.

The first cartoon released from the Ub Iwerks studio, as well as the introduction of Flip the Frog

[llltdesq · 7/10 · 25 June 2003]

This is the first cartoon produced by the studio Ub Iwerks started after he departed Disney. This short also features Flip the Frog, who would "star" in roughly half of the theatrical releases done under the Iwerks imprint in its lifetime as an independent studio (there was at least one short produced that was never released to theaters), there being 38 Flips and about 75 or 76 total shorts altogether.

This first short (oddly, in color, when most of the Flips were black and white) points up the strengths and weaknesses of the series as a whole-technically it is excellent, but the character is drab and void of personality and there is no plot to speak of here. It's a good cartoon and enjoyable to watch, but not truly memorable or special. Ub Iwerks was interested in visuals for the most part and I don't think he had Disney's touch with character or story. When the visuals were paramount and depth of character or plot was irrelevant or even possibly undesirable, you have a masterpiece, such as The Skeleton Dance. When they would be of some benefit, but are somewhat lacking, you get the average Flip the Frog. Given the personnel Iwerks employed-a veritable Who's Who of future talents-and the quality of some of the individual bits and pieces, it's a bit sad when you realize that, with a bit more flair, the output of the studio could have gone from average to good and instead could have been good to outstanding. Still worth seeing and I'm glad that the bulk of it is in print. The animation alone makes it worth seeing. Carl W. Stallings' music doesn't hurt. Worth the effort to see at least once. Recommended for fans of animation and (with a few exceptions) good fun for children.

Iwerks made this to challenge Disney?!

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 24 May 2009]

Considering that Ub Iwerks made the early Mickey Mouse cartoons, you'd think that once he went out on his own that he'd have something a lot better than this insipid Flip the Frog cartoon as his debut film. But, time has shown us that his Celebrity Productions was only short-lived and eventually he'd return to work for Disney Studios.

So what didn't I like about the cartoon? Well, it was incredibly dull and Flip had the charisma of a can of floor wax. Instead of a Mickey-like character, all Flip did was dance about like a character from a Disney Silly Symphony short--but it was not as good as the Disney offering. This, unfortunately, was a portent of things to come, as Iwerks and the rest of the newer studios spent most of the 1930s making cutesy cartoons with too much singing and dancing and not enough humor.

What was there to like? Well, it was in color and that was something for 1930. It was obvious that Iwerks wanted the cartoon to look good--too bad it just wasn't funny or entertaining.

Oh, by the way, I agree with the other reviewer who expressed surprise that Disney didn't sue over this cartoon. In addition to Flip, there is a mouse who is surprisingly Mickey-like and the rest of the mice sure looked familiar!

Very entertaining

[hegartd · 7/10 · 5 March 2009]

As most of you know, this was Ub Iwerks first Flip the Frog cartoon. Besides that, it's most notable for being the first sound cartoon short released in color (that same year, 1930, Universal released the feature film "The King of Jazz" with a color cartoon segment featuring Oswald Rabbit , by Walter Lantz). Prior to this a few cartoons from the silent era were released, starting with J. R. Bray's "Debut of Thomas Katt" in 1920, in the color process "Brewster Color". This one was released in two-strip Technicolor.

The cartoon's plot involves Flip arriving at, and then performing in a musical revue of some sort in the swamp that he lives in. There are actually few sight gags, most of the entertainment comes from the music and how tightly the animation is synchronized to it. Iwerks continued this trend for the rest of the 1930 Flip the Frog series, and the results were pretty weak, the cartoons coming off as dull, but it works here. It almost feels like a parody of all of the clichés of the early talkie cartoons. The cartoons is, on a technical level, great for its' era. The synchronization is nearly perfect, and the animation (mostly by Iwerks, but I think that Ben Clopton might have also done some animation for this short) is very smooth, excellent for this era. There are some relatively funny moments, for example; a brown liquid falls from the sky (presumably bird droppings.) The camera pans up, and it turns out to be a bird chewing tobacco.

The color work was decent in this cartoon. Only the red and green part of the spectrum could be utilized in two-strip Technicolor, so this is a major limitation Cinecolor, another two-strip color process was much more flexible, Iwerks would use this process for his Cinecolor cartoons, as well as a few Willie Whopper's, and possibly the Flip cartoon Techno-cracked. The music by former Mickey Mouse and Silly Sympphonies, and future Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies composer Carl Stalling is very good, which is important for the success of this cartoon. All in all, "Fiddlesticks" is a pleasant diversion.

Flip's Debut

[Coolguy-7 · 18 August 2003]

Here it is! The very first appearance of Flip the Frog. Flip, however, instead of being a more anthropomorphic frog, is a frog-like frog (who can do human things like play piano). He entertains some pond residents with a musical number on a piano accompanied by a Mickey Mouse look-alike on the violin. Although this cartoon does not have too much humor or excitement in it, I still feel that it is beautiful to view. This cartoon and TECHNOCRACKED were the only two Flip the Frog cartoons produced in color (although I have yet to see the original color version of TECHNOCRACKED)using the two-strip Cinecolor process.

Hey diddle fiddle

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 21 May 2018]

Ub Iwerks's Flip the Frog series of cartoons was short-lived, only lasting from 1930 to 1933. On the most part the Flip the Frog cartoons are not great or cartoon/animated masterpieces and it is sort of understandable as to why Flip didn't make it bigger. However they are far from terrible ones either and do hold some interest.

1930's 'Fiddlesticks' is the first cartoon in the Flip the Frog series. It is also a historically interesting cartoon in more than one way, being the first Iwerks cartoon after leaving Disney and the first complete sound cartoon to be photographed in two-strip Technicolor. On those front, 'Fiddlesticks' has historical significance and that is the main reason to see the cartoon, because in quality overall it's not particularly great.

Not bad at all by all means. The animation is remarkably good, with beautifully detailed backgrounds, rich use of colour and nicely drawn characters with mostly smooth movement for early on. Carl Stalling's music makes even more of an impact, it is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, full of lively energy and not only adds brilliantly to the action it enhances it.

There are a few nice music-themed little things and some charming supporting characters, like the tobacco-chewing robin (providing the cartoon's funniest moment easily) and just as memorably the Mickey/Mortimer Mouse-like mouse. The setting is colourfully immersive.

However, Flip doesn't really have a very interesting or compelling personality which is a very big problem in general in the series, 'Fiddlesticks' is a case that even in his debut the supporting characters are more memorable. Willie Whopper who came later was an even more short-lived character and to me while also limited he was a much better character. Pacing wise, the cartoon is a bit dull and the general lack of gags/humour (what little there is is not very funny), lack of charm and at times an over-cutesiness contribute to why that is.

As well as the very thinly plotted story, which actually is not much of one at all.

Overall, historically interesting but very average character/cartoon debut for Flip the Frog. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Not a great character, Flip is only slightly engaging

[didi-5 · 6/10 · 19 November 2008]

The first Flip the Frog cartoon - an Ub Iwerks production shortly after leaving Disney and Mickey Mouse behind - sets up the tone for the whole series. Flip (a frog without a great personality) dances and cavorts about with his animal friends, including a suspiciously Mickey-lookalike violinist.

The main plus point in favour of 'Fiddlesticks' is the fact it is in colour. That, and its use of sound, mark it out as more interesting than some of the B&W Flips which were to follow. Unsurprisingly, this character wasn't a long-stayer - after three years he was more or less replaced by the more jaunty Willie Whopper.

One Froggy Day

[richardchatten · 5/10 · 6 June 2019]

Disney animator Ub Iwerks' rival creation Flip the Frog gets the star treatment in his screen debut with the blandishment of two-colour Technicolor which enables us to see that he really was green on his first appearance (with a red bow tie) before he morphed into a less overtly frog-like character in his later films.

Swarms of brightly coloured insects gather round to enjoy Flip tickling the ivories on an obstreperous anthropomorphic piano (from which all the black keys disappear about halfway through his performance). And that's about it. The End.

Cinema's First Audio Color Animated Cartoon

[springfieldrental · 7/10 · 13 August 2022]

Ub Iwerks had ambitions to run his own cartoon studio. Either through a falling out from Walt Disney, who was rumored to have treated him rudely at a party, or having an offer come his way to finance his own studio by a former Disney distributor, Iwerks left in January 1930 to form his own Iwerks Studio under Pat Powers. Iwerks needed to design an entirely new set of characters from the ones he introduced while working with Walt. His debut was cinema's first audio animated cartoon in color, August 1930's "Fiddlesticks."

The cartoon, containing mostly music, features features Flip the Frog, who's seen tickling the piano keys. On the fiddle was a Mortimer The Mouse lookalike, a cross between the original Mickey Mouse and Disney's earlier Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. "Fiddlesticks'" color process used Harriscolor, one of many two-strip bipack color treatments emerging at the time. MGM handled the distribution of Frog the Flip after Iwerks produced four of them. But the cartoon series reverted back to inexpensive black and white because of the high cost of color. MGM stuck with Flip for three years before audiences got tired of the frog. With his creative mind cranking, Iwerks then came up in 1933 with Willie Whopper, about a young boy who tells the hugest lies known to mankind.

Businessman and innovator Pat Powers had a previous working relationship with Disney when he provided Walt with a sound processing system that made possible his 1928 "Steamboat Willie," cinema's second cartoon with sound. Powers had been an investor in the DeForest Phonofilm Company, which was sliding into insolvency from a series of lawsuits to enforce his sound-on-film patents. De Forest had been selling his equipment to second-tier movie houses who wanted to show sound movies on the cheap. Powers copied De Forest's technology and Disney contracted with Powers' Celebrity Pictures for his sound-on-film. A year into the partnership, Disney noticed he was being short-changed by Powers and cut him loose. Powers then stole Iwerks from Disney, only to see the artist return to Walt in 1937.

1st Iwerks Studios' cartoon; while not outstanding, was good as Walt's. There could have been legal battle over the Mickey look-alike in it!

[redryan64 · 6/10 · 26 July 2005]

FIDDLESTICKS was the first release from the studio of Ub Iwerks, the once and future associate of Mr. Walt Disney. We found it to be pleasant and amusing, but nothing to make it stand out from the many releases from other studios of the day.

The action takes place out in nature's own wilds. A lily pad and frog pond,to be exact. There we are treated to the main character, Flip, performing on a seemingly living piano. Several well known tunes are used, all in public domain,no doubt But besides being the first of the Flip series, this is the only one of the series to be filmed in color.Later, other of Iwerks Stdio's cartoons would use color, almost exclusively, except Flip, who remained in B& W.

Flip also was given a distinctive theme song,which used the croaking tone of a frog combined with traditional musical instruments.

However trivial and insignificant the previously stated information may be, there is one fact that seems to have escaped notice. Toward the end of Flip's recital, he is joined by an unnamed mouse character. The mouse plays the violin, accompanying the piano music. The melancholy tune even leads to the grand finale of the short.

Well, if this was not damn close to Disney's MICKEY! He even wore red shorts, with over-sized shoes. Why would Iwerks use a character of such strong resemblance? Well, there are always disputes about just who is responsible for any sort of joint creative endeavour. Disney said he was his creation, but his then associate, Ub Iwerks contributed some ideas, and was the animator to first bring Mickey to life.

In referring back to a law suit of about 40 years or so prior to this , a court ruling in the case of the KATZENJAMMER KIDS/CAPTAIN and the KIDS Comic strips, that a drawn cartoon character was the property of the artist, no matter where or for whom he is later employed.It was considered to be like his signature.** Well, there never was any litigation over this matter. The new mouse was given the ax by Iwerks and FLIP went into B & W. Eventually, Iwerks closed his studio and joined Walt again.

Sure is a lot of writing, especially for one little, virtually forgotten cartoon.

**You can read of the Court Case involving Hearst, Pulitzer, and THE KATZENJAMMER KIDS vs. THE CAPTAIN AND THE KIDS elsewhere in cyber space.