Swing You Sinners!
| Swing You Sinners! | |
|---|---|
| Talkartoons series | |
| Directed by | Dave Fleischer |
| Produced by | Max Fleischer |
| Voices by | Billy Murray |
| Animation by |
Willard Bowsky Ted Sears |
| Studio | Fleischer Studios |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | September 24, 1930 |
| Color process | Black and white |
| Running time | 8 minutes |
| Language | English |
Swing You Sinners! is a 1930 animated cartoon short, directed by the Fleischer Brothers. The cartoon is notable for its surreal, dark and sometimes even abstract content.
Bimbo is seen late at night, trying to steal a chicken. After several attempts he accidentally grabs a policeman by the hand. As he tries to walk away as if nothing happened the chicken follows him anyway, as does the policeman. Eventually the chicken and its little chickens flee, while Bimbo enters a cemetery. To his fear he finds out that the place is haunted, complete with ghosts and monsters who tell him that he will be punished for his sin. Throughout the rest of the film Bimbo is threatened and chased by them until a huge skull devours him.
The cartoon was released on September 24, 1930 in the Talkartoons series and animated by Ted Sears and Willard Bowsky.George Cannata, Shamus Culhane,Al Eugster,William Henning, Seymour Kneitel and Grim Natwick also worked on it, but are uncredited in the title card. The cartoon was animated by a complete new staff who'd never worked in animation before because the studio had to replace some animators who quit. It is now in public domain. The man with the bowler hat, beard and Yiddish accent who appears in front of Bimbo at one point, shrugging and saying: "Ah, you needed it!" is a caricature of Jewish comedian Monroe Silver.
The soundtrack was composed by W. Franke Harling, with lyrics by Sam Coslow.
John Kricfalusi named it one of his favorite cartoons and played during a retrospective of his personal favorite animated shorts. He also compared it to Walt Disney's The Skeleton Dance (which was also set on a cemetery) and felt Swing You Sinners was superior.
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