Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Jack Frost" is an American 8.5-minute cartoon from 1934, so this one is already over 80 years old, actually closing in on 85. The director here is Ub Iwerks and that's not from his very early days of filmmaking, but also for example a long time before his work was acknowledged greatly (even if without a competitive win) at the Oscars. Here in his 30s still he gives us a little tale of a young bear who may be slightly too much of an adventurous rascal for his age. But luckily somebody is out there to protect and help him from the likes of a Jack Frost who is at least as creepy as the ones with the same name in the horror films, even if he is just a supporting character. I am truly surprised this film was named after him as he really doesn't have too much screen time. But he is probably more memorable than the bear, I'll give them that. Anyway, this little movie is getting more attention these days again with Christmas coming up or I should maybe better make a reference to winter as the Christmas component is not existent in here. Overall, I was neither impressed by the story, the animation or the characters (except J.F.) and that includes the little bear especially. The film also came really short on the cuteness scale. I mean come on, the have a young furry animal and that's all the impact they make there? Not good enough. Watch something else instead.

Foreverisacastironmess For a start, I loved all the rich amber tones in the woodland backgrounds, and even more so later on with the the frozen scenery, all exceedingly beautiful to look at. Also the music was very nice and kept things moving at a good pace. The family of bears that is featured look a lot like the ones from the 1935 Iwerks short "The Three Bears." The momma bear sounds like a black women did the voicing. She may give Billy-Bear a spankin', but it probably hurts her more than it does him! Ha, now that's the good old-fashioned 1930s parenting right there folks! For some strange reason a really crummy-looking picture that hangs above the little bear's bed really made me laugh! I don't get the strange moment where there's an apparition hovering saw cutting a log above the sleeping bear parents... A visual pun on the saying "slept like a log"? The only thing that I dislike was the annoying little song the bear kid seemed to sing about every two minutes! I just think it sounds completely childish and brings down the tone. I liked the slightly creepy character of the trickster sprite Jack Frost, who deems to teach young bratty-bear a lesson the hard way about respecting the cold. This short boasts several very impressive and spooky sight gags, like a hopping quartet of pumpkins whose collective "Whooo!" sound is genuinely eerie to listen to! And then there is my absolute favourite part of the whole short, an awesome scatting scarecrow whose wild movements and bluesy freewheeling sounds still sound extremely catchy and cool today! Not to mention totally hilarious. That scene reminded me very much of the trio of dark and fantastical Betty Boop Fleisher shorts to feature a dancing, rotoscoped Cab Calloway! Specifically 1933's "The Old Man of the Mountain." I also thought the design of the cackling wicked Old Man Winter was similar to the old man of the Fleisher short. I thought the animation of the striking character was more polished than in his earlier appearance in "Summertime." During the chase through the icy woods I love the snow-covered objects in the background that look very much like human figures frozen in agonised poses. Quite a dark and Gothic touch, I thought. I think Jack Frost was Old Man Winter, their faces and noses looked alike, and Jack's enigmatic wink to the audience at the "Finis" confirmed it for me. What a great little peril in winter wonderland animation this is. It's well worth anyone's time, and makes for an especially pleasant watch come Christmas time. Overall quite a charming rare old vintage show!

ccthemovieman-1 This is another of those moralistic cartoons in which kids are given the message to listen to their elders, or they'll be sorry. In this case, it is the warning from "Jack Frost" that winter is fast approaching and you better prepare for it.A little grizzly bear thinks because he's fuzzy and warm and a bear, the cold won't bother him, so he disobeys his parents, tries to sneak off, gets caught and gets spanked and then, after wiping away his tears decides to run away from home. (Hey, we've all been there, at least in thought!) Of course, the bear doesn't find he's as strong and insulated as he thinks he is and gets chased all over by Old Man Winter, who is blue and looks like The Grim Reaper. That character was seen in a couple of these old Celebrity Productions color cartoons of the day.The songs in here were very good. Most of the dialog is sung and the little bear's tune and voice sounded reminiscent of Shirley Temple. In all, a cartoon and message mainly for kids but one that adult can be mildly entertained.

Robert Reynolds Ub Iwerks was a technical genius, but often plots and story were afterthoughts. Exceptionally visual cartoons not needing much plotting work splendidly, while those needing strong characterization, story or plot fare less well as a rule.This one is an exception to that. Visually excellent and technically superb, this is also engaging and has fascinating characters and a good plot. Iwerks was creative in his own area of expertise and one of the reasons that Iwerks and Walt Disney worked so well together was that their strengths were complementary to one another. This is Iwerks Studios near their best. Absolutely beautiful short, it's good to see this in print. Well worth getting. Recommended.