The Old Man of the Mountain (1933) User Reviews

Quite good

[rbverhoef · 7/10 · 21 June 2004]

'The Old Man of the Mountain' is a pretty nice Betty Boop cartoon. The cartoon starts with a small live action part. We see Cab Calloway and his orchestra as they are introduced on the screen. The old man of the mountain is voiced by Calloway. From that moment the cartoon is one musical number about the old man. We see people coming down the mountain as Betty Boop, with the voice of Mae Questel, goes up to confront the old man. Of course every one she meets falls for her charms and helps her getting higher and higher.

With the usual surrealistic way of animation this is another nice Betty Boop cartoon. Although there are no real hard laughs the animation can be admired the entire time. The music adds a lot to the animation and these two things make 'The Old Man of the Mountain' worth watching.

Weird stuff...

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 8/10 · 21 December 2012]

Freaking weird!!! Which is a very good thing when you're on another perfectly impossible adventure in the delightfully warped world of 1930's Betty Boop! At the start they actually show Cab Calloway himself for a few minutes in his mad white suit, and we are once again treated to that big belting soulful voice he had. Like it did with me, this may take you aback for a moment and make you wonder if you're on the right short! The late great Calloway does the voice for the Old Man of the title, who is actually a grotesque slobbering letch of a giant with a long beard, two huge feet, a vaguely obscene nose, oh, and he also likes to scat a lot,(least I, think that's the right name for it...) which is pretty hilarious but also great fun as it is extremely catchy and bluesy-swing it! Some of this cartoon's themes are so twisted and verging on disturbing that it made me wonder if it was ever intended for kids at all. If not them, then who? Whatever it is, it definitely leans toward the dark and nightmarish. It ain't scary or nothing, but there's just something about all those dancing figures, objects and demonic background faces that gets under the skin-it's creepy! Just imagine being trapped forever in a cartoon like this...brrr! Uh, and yes, I have seen Twilight Zone the Movie! I thought the pacing in this was a little faster and more fun than in the Snow White Calloway short, and also the music is much better. For me, about 60 percent of the enjoyment of these ancient crazy toons is musical, so that's a big part of it. There is absolutely nothing like these particular cartoons. It's such a uniquely weird zone of creepiness, the feel and tones are so alien. The story sort of takes a backseat to the singing and the mesmerisingly bizarre imagery and the frolics of all the relics make for a surreal dark ride of wanton mischief and sinister whimsy! So endlessly strange and off- the-wall, but also all the more perfect and distinct for it. Cheers!

THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN {Short} (Dave Fleischer, 1933) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 11 January 2014]

Like the previous year's MINNIE THE MOOCHER (a viewing of which preceded this one), this "Talkartoon" has its genesis in the current Cab Calloway hit; however, it also seems to take a leaf out of Dr. Seuss' Grinch stories as here we have the titular character whose coming terrorizes a rural town. In fact, his advance is made public by the lion town crier – who, hilariously, jumps atop two white rabbits, straps their ears around his feet and uses them to roller-skate down the mountain into town. This level of inventiveness is kept at a steady pace throughout its standard 7-minute running time.

Almost needless to say is the fact that, like its predecessor, it features Betty Boop and her faithful dog companion Bimbo and they are the ones who finally confront the notorious ancient bully but they get more than they bargained for – Betty ends up in her underwear and has to hide herself behind a tree (a scene which caused controversy at the time with the short's distributors Paramount being asked to tone these cartoons down)! Eventually, it is the angered animal population of the town who give the dirty old man his long-in-coming comeuppance.

This cartoon ROCKS!

[wmorrow59 · 10/10 · 15 April 2002]

From the word Go, this cartoon will rock you: it's got a hot score by Cab Calloway's band that kicks in the second the credits are over and never lets up, and sounds better each time you hear it. Many of these Betty Boop cartoons from the early '30s featured top jazz artists, but this one has the absolute best music --the horn solo heard when the vulture's eggs are hatching is fantastic-- along with some bizarre, naughty gags that flash past before you can get a handle on them.

Our stylishly-attired heroine finds herself in an Alpine village that is being terrorized by the titular character, a fearsome ogre who has apparently been plundering the town and having his way with the local women. The supporting characters are humanoid animals (an owl, a bear, a pair of fish, etc.) but nonetheless it's startling when we're given to understand that The Old Man actually despoiled a lady hippo. Clearly, he is one baaaaaaad dude. But Betty is nothing if not spunky, and she charges up the mountain with a determined stride to confront the villain and challenge him in a musical duel.

The Old Man's Hi-De-Ho singing voice was supplied by Cab Calloway, whose dancing was "Rotoscoped" (filmed live and then traced, basically) by the Fleischer Studio animators, which pretty much gives Cab a co-starring role. Betty, meanwhile, is at her sexiest and sauciest here, not at all fazed at the raunchy goings-on in the Old Man's cave. Dig that eerie Food of the Gods ending, too, when the woodland creatures rise up against human corruption and restore order. Cartoons don't get any better than this!

Cab Calloway Makes This One Of Betty's All-Time Best Cartoons

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 25 March 2007]

Cab Calloway and his "hi-dee hi-dee ho" jazzy music begins this cartoon.

Through an animated owl figure, the famous jazz crooner sings "The Old Man And The Moutain" during the first half of 'toon as we see everyone in the forest fleeing when word gets out that he's coming. "He" is the old man. The lyrics of the song are good and so are the animated antics of the critters as they gather their stuff and run. The owl, through the song, is explaining to Betty why everyone is panicking.

Betty says she's going up to the mountain "to see this old man for myself." Betty dances her way up the mountain as we continue to hear the jazz music. En route she sees some strange sights.

When she meets him, they do a duet - some fabulous music! The old man even tap dances. Then we have the usual chase scene, this time with the old man after Betty, even squeezing the dress off her!

Mostly this is a showcase for Calloway's singing and his orchestra and it is so up-tempo that it's a real hoot to listen to. This is one of the few cartoons where the music is better than the visuals. And, the latter is good, too. Overall: one of the best Boop cartoons ever made.

Spooky Black Magic

[tedg · 12 November 2004]

Spoilers herein.

All music videos derive from this little masterpiece. It had an earlier incarnation in 'Minnie the Moocher' where Betty goes to a subterranean hell, enticed by the devil's music. While there, she encounters demons with whom she 'dances.'

In both of these, the music comes from Cab Calloway as do the dance moves (courtesy of rotoscope). In both we see Cab in 'real life' beforehand. In both, jazz is black jungle devilry, Betty is amazingly (precode) sexy and clearly promiscuous.

Where 'Moocher' simply had a journey to a sensual hell, this one is much more explicit. The devil is embodied in a man (thankfully not a black man) who boogies, drinks and tries to rape her. He gets as close as pulling her dress off.

The Betty of this era moves with a bodily sense that is unusual.

Ted's Evaluation -- 4 of 3: Every cine-literate person should experience this.

A bit thin on plot.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 21 September 2013]

This cartoon is really more of a music video than anything else. Like many of these such shorts, it begins with a brief look at the band performing--in this case Cab Calloway and His Orchestra. Now I like Calloway, though this song is not exactly "Minnie the Moocher".

As far as the cartoon goes, there really is not much in the way of plot. Betty Boop goes into the wilderness and meets the Old Man of the Mountain. This guy is about ten feet tall and is voiced by Calloway. She and this odd creature sing together a bit, then the guy gets very grabby and chases poor Betty. Ultimately the forest creatures come to her rescue.

The animation, like all the Fleischer Brothers cartoons, is wonderful. The song, not bad at all. But together there still isn't enough--there needed to be more humor and, above all, more plot. Interesting but not much more.

Music was a big part of cartoons in general and Betty Boop in particular.

[llltdesq · 10/10 · 2 July 2002]

Animation and music have gone hand in glove since the sound era and probably beforehand. While Warner Brothers and MGM featured music prominently, Lantz and Fliescher went a step or two further, by creating series built around music (mostly jazz) and the Betty Boop shorts featured music frequently. This short is one of the best they did. The mix of the animation and the Cab Calloway song is fantastic! All the studios used music in the creative process for their animation, with varying success. Warner Brothers did so because they saw a way to utilize the large catalog of songs from their film library, while Disney saw the potential revenue streams music would afford them. Whatever the reason, some great cartoons were made, including quite few Betty Boops. This is a must see. Most highly recommended.

Slightly superior than the usual Betty

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 29 August 2016]

"The Old Man of the Mountain" is a black-and-white cartoon from 1933, so still from way before World war II and this one is almost 85 years old. It features Betty Boop in these 7 minutes, but she somehow only plays second fiddle to the title character here. And with that I am also referring to singer Cab Calloway who is really the heart and soul of this little movie mix between live action (very early on) and animation (the majority of the film. Yes there are certain problems with the plot such as why Betty sometimes dances with the title character and then one second later runs away, or why she goes to see him at all, but people who know Betty Boop also know that it is usually more about the animation, the characters, the absurdity and of course the music in her films. You should not watch her works if you expect good story-telling. I think this was a good watch and an even better listen. Worth checking out.

This one certainly ain't for the kids

[MissSimonetta · 9/10 · 6 April 2014]

In the early 1930s, the Betty Boop cartoons were among the most surrealistic and racy you could find. If pre-code animation had a picture next to it in the encyclopedia, then the most appropriate one would be of Betty herself. Though not the greatest Betty Boop cartoon, The Old Man of the Mountain (1933) is one of the greats, with fluid animation, trippy gags, and Cab Calloway scat-singing over the whole thing.

The cartoon is full of adult subject matter. The song Calloway sings over the action references drug use and the Old Man's plans for Betty are explicitly sexual, with him coming close to tearing off her clothes at one point. There's even a bit of implied rape when Betty meets one of the Old Man's former victims going down the mountain, a female hippo with three babies with whiskers in tow! It just goes to show, animation was not always stuck in the infamous "age ghetto." This stuff was for unashamedly adult viewing and unlike stuff like Family Guy, it didn't need to be infantile to entertain.

Humorous, Entertaining!

[mirosuionitsaki2 · 7/10 · 23 January 2008]

What a very great cartoon! I love the jazz and everything.

An old man on the mountain terrorizes a nearby town, and Betty Boop thinks she can stop him and do him wrong. But the man seems to be too much for Betty Boop, until the whole town and animals come in and stop him and hurt him.

This is a weird cartoon of those times, as an old man was beaten in the end, but I can forgive that and enjoy the film. This was entertaining, and humorous. I loved the scat singing by the old man and Betty Boop who joins in and sings with him while also trying to stop the old man from being so mean.

I recommend this for everyone. Not young children because the end may encourage violence.

The Old Man of the Mountain is a great Calloway/Fleischer cartoon

[tavm · 10/10 · 8 February 2008]

This was another awesome collaboration between the Fleischers and Cab Calloway. During the live-action credits sequence, dig the drummer who throws his drumstick up in the air twice and catches it both times! Then hear Cab sing the title song with the orchestra playing throughout as Betty goes up to meet this bizarre old man who has designs on her. Both the music and the animation go together perfectly and I was feeling such a high watching this that I never wanted it to end but I was very relieved when it did so I could catch my breath! In fact, rewatching this on my old VHS of "Betty Boop-Special Collector's Edition, Vol 1.", I have a new appreciation for the animators at the Max Fleischer studio. So on that note, The Old Man of the Mountain is highly recommended. P.S. Absolutely love the duet between the old man (Calloway) and Betty (Mae Questel).

Cab and Betty

[Michael_Elliott · 10 June 2016]

The Old Man of the Mountain (1933)

*** (out of 4)

The title character is someone everyone is afraid of. Of course, Betty Boop isn't afraid of him so she decides to climb up the mountain to confront the old man. Story wise there's certainly nothing great or even good with this short but it's another one of the Paramount films where the animators brought in a musician to really jazz things up. Cab Calloway is on hand here and provides the music score, which is excellent and a lot of the action in the film is played against the music. The music alone is reason enough to watch this short as Calloway was one of the greatest from this period and there's no question that the fast score really adds a lot of fun to the action. Betty is her typical cute self and for the most part this is an entertaining entry in the series.

Just about perfect.

[GiraffeDoor · 9/10 · 25 November 2019]

I have watched this short again and again. Nothing can quite match its effortless blend of rhythm, the bizarre and pseudo-innocent sexuality.

Its seamless patchwork of musical fragments into a coherent narrative supplements and its quaint mix of fairy tale and blues/jazz make for a funny but oddly disturbing little short.

Betty is of course adorable as always and there is never a second not filled with visual wit and fascinating movement.

Betty Boop & Cab Calloway at their Prime

[elicopperman · 10/10 · 14 August 2023]

What happens when you put together the magic of two hot jazz symbols of their time into one cartoon? You get a special Betty Boop cartoon featuring the musical and performing contributions of Cab Calloway. The Old Man of the Mountain is a phenomenal showcase of the two legends at their prime and a reminder of how much they were willing to go above and beyond in the art of animation timed to music.

This whole cartoon can best be described as a precursor to music videos albeit with less flash and a more concrete story filled with bizarre gags. Never once does the cartoon run out of energy as the character animation bounces along to the beat of Cab's soundtrack. Speaking of Cab, he practically steals the show as the actual old man of the mountain himself. Next to Mae Questel doing a fine job as Betty, Calloway's range as a improvisational scat singing musician lends itself wonders to the musical and visual timing.

Admittedly, this cartoon does reflect a reminder as to where Betty Boop was in her precode era. Prior to the toned down conservative nature of the Hays Code years, these cartoons were far more progressive in content due to how bold and out there Betty was as a strong woman of music and spunk. Next to the raunchy humor and off the wall cartoon logic, the cartoon is clearly against its darker subject matter by letting the old man of the mountain get his just desserts. When people wonder if Betty Boop can ever get woke, these cartoons remind us that they were already woke to begin with.

As a staple of early 30s jazz through comedic animation, The Old Man of the Mountain packs one heck of a rad time. It's no wonder the Fleischers have been deemed the original bad boys of animation, as Betty Boop's strong persona proves so perfectly. If you're ever in need of shouting, advertise it just this way, and enjoy the ride.

Fantastic old cartoon

[aleksandersochan · 8/10 · 14 December 2018]

This short was SUPER well done.

It was visually a joy to watch, the animation was seriously amazing. These cartoonists were so talented. I was really impressed by how creative and beautiful the art was.

In addition to that, this is a certified bop on a musical level. The way it's incorporated with the animation is awesomely done and the lead male singer is a pleasure to listen to. The entire soundtrack for this short should be applauded.

I had a great experience watching it and it nailed that classic cartoon vibe. I felt like I was captured in the same way I would have been when I was younger.

Don't come to this cartoon for a narrative experience though. Your much better off just watching in a more present mindset with the events on screen.

This was an awesome watch that definitely stood the test of time.

Perhaps Her Best

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 8 December 2018]

This is based on a Cab Calloway tune which we get to see at the beginning. When all the denizens of the town at the foot of the mountain hear that the old man is coming, they set sail. Betty is not intimidated and goes to see what all the angst is about. Of course, she is dressed in her signature sexy costume and when she meets the guy, he begins to drool over her. They do a cartoon version of the song and then he gets down to business, chasing her, grabbing her. This must have raised a couple eyebrows in the day. I understand it was actually banned for quite some time after its original release because the Code came in. The music really makes the thing and Betty is at her sassy best.

One of Betty Boop's best cartoons

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 5 January 2017]

The Betty Boop cartoons are mostly a lot of fun to watch and good for historical value. Of which 'The Old Man of the Mountain' is one of the best.

Fleischer were responsible for some brilliant cartoons, some of them still among my favourites. Their visual style was often stunning and some of the most imaginative and ahead of its time in animation. The character of Betty Boop, one of their most famous and prolific characters, may not be for all tastes and sadly not as popular now, but her sex appeal was quite daring for the time and to me there is an adorable sensual charm about her. The charm, sensuality and adorability factors are here and she's fun to watch.

Here the black and white animation is extremely good, smooth, meticulously detailed and well drawn with the black and white not looking too primitive. A lot of it is actually very imaginative as well and some of the visuals some of the most surreal of the earlier Betty Boop cartoons. The best element of 'The Old Man of the Mountain' is the music, which is rousing, catchy and unquestionably accessible to anybody who loves or is familiar with the composition style, not just adding so much to the cartoon but actually IS the cartoon.

While light on story, 'The Old Man of the Mountain' is never less than enormously entertaining, with some very inventively timed, very ahead of the time pre-code material and very funny humour. Betty is a lot of fun to watch as aforementioned, and the voice work is fine.

Overall, a great cartoon and one of Betty Boop's best. 10/10 Bethany Cox