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, enough of them even being good.
Despite not being historically significant like 'Fiddlesticks', which other than that was actually to me a lesser Flip the Frog cartoon, was, 'Nurse Maid' is still pretty good. Not one of the best of the series, but far from one of the worst. It is not perfect but there are things here that improve quite a bit and done much better than many other Flip the Frog cartoons.
A lot of good things in 'Nurse Maid'. The animation is very good, with beautifully detailed backgrounds, nice shading and characters that aren't drawn too crudely. There is some nice character animation here. The 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. Definitely the best thing about 'Nurse Maid'.
There are plentiful sight gags in a gag-rich cartoon, and they are mostly beautifully timed, though there are a few sloppy ones, and very amusing, even when unoriginal. Maybe not always hilarious but they hardly fall flat. There is a nice natural charm and a good deal of zest.
Characters are lively, with a baby that is not as overly cute as feared. There is a lot of mischievous fun. The pacing is generally secure and there is a good sense of what it was like in the Great Depression, especially at the attention-grabbing start.
Flip is a bit bland still though despite showing more personality and mischief than usual, he never was one of animation's most compelling, most interesting or personality-filled lead characters.
'Nurse Maid' does get a little sentimental in places and a little repetitive in a couple of others in his adventures with the baby.
In conclusion though, pretty good. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Despite not being historically significant like 'Fiddlesticks', which other than that was actually to me a lesser Flip the Frog cartoon, was, 'Nurse Maid' is still pretty good. Not one of the best of the series, but far from one of the worst. It is not perfect but there are things here that improve quite a bit and done much better than many other Flip the Frog cartoons.
A lot of good things in 'Nurse Maid'. The animation is very good, with beautifully detailed backgrounds, nice shading and characters that aren't drawn too crudely. There is some nice character animation here. The 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. Definitely the best thing about 'Nurse Maid'.
There are plentiful sight gags in a gag-rich cartoon, and they are mostly beautifully timed, though there are a few sloppy ones, and very amusing, even when unoriginal. Maybe not always hilarious but they hardly fall flat. There is a nice natural charm and a good deal of zest.
Characters are lively, with a baby that is not as overly cute as feared. There is a lot of mischievous fun. The pacing is generally secure and there is a good sense of what it was like in the Great Depression, especially at the attention-grabbing start.
Flip is a bit bland still though despite showing more personality and mischief than usual, he never was one of animation's most compelling, most interesting or personality-filled lead characters.
'Nurse Maid' does get a little sentimental in places and a little repetitive in a couple of others in his adventures with the baby.
In conclusion though, pretty good. 7/10 Bethany Cox
