Cloaked Critic Reviews Shinbone Alley

!!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!!

After having reviewed a couple of utterly craptastic movies recently, I decided to feed my nostalgic sweet-tooth, and so I tracked down this timeless pearl from the glory days of animation. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you..."Shinbone Alley"!

"Shinbone Alley" is an animated musical released in 1971 starring the vocal talents of such seasoned actors as Carol Channing, John Carradine, Eddie Bracken, and Alan Reed (who most of you might remember best as Fred Flintsone). This movie is an interesting one as it's an animated musical based on a Broadway musical based on a collection of short stories and humorous verses written by Don Marquis, a columnist for The Evening Sun newspaper in New York City starting all the way back in 1916. The columns were later compiled into a book entitled, "Archy and Mehitabel" which was published in 1927. These stories were later adapted into a musical through the combined talents of Joe Darion, George Kleinsinger, and Mel Brooks over two decades later. The musical this film is based on having predated "CATS" by a couple of decades this is also perhaps the closest thing we'll ever actually get to an animated "CATS" movie...it's just such a shame this charming old gem is so little known.

The story of the film tells the tale of a man named Archy who starts off the movie right from get-go by committing suicide; hurling himself off a bridge into the cold waters below (great start to an animated movie about singing animals), but his stay in oblivion is short-lived however as he is instantly reincarnated as a cockroach with a passionate love for poetry. He takes to expressing himself and his views using the typewriter of a local columnist, and thus he begins relating to him the tales of his life on the streets and his ordeals with a loosey-goosey singing alley cat named Mehitabel.

Now one thing I gotta tell ya right off the bat is that "Shinbone Alley" is not for everyone. If you've never seen a Broadway musical or if you don't like musicals then "Shinbone Alley" is not for you...and this ain't like no Disney musical either; where there's a significant bit of story and plot progression before the characters spontaneously break out into song, No! Nearly every other scene in this movie is either a song or a segue into a song. This movie's got an extreme case of musical ADHD (and mind you, they don't even use all the songs from the actual play). Additionally the performances of the leading man and lady have a certain "acquired taste", and as such I can't see too many people nowadays deriving too much enjoyment from their distinct talents; this perhaps being especially true in the case of Carol Channing who provides the voice for Mehitabel in this film. Ms. Channing doesn't really do a whole lot nowadays (given that she's 96 years old), but if you were a 90's kid (like me) then you very likely heard her voice growing up as she provided vocal talent for several characters in multiple productions, and her voice is definitely the type to stand out in a crowd. In addition to playing Mehitabel here, she was also the fieldmouse in Don Bluth's 1994 flop, "Thumbelina" and she was Canina LaFur from "Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers". I can see where some people nowadays might not take a shine to her voice and singing, but speaking personally, I was always quite fond of her voice. Her distinct mannerisms remind me a lot of another treasured female actress I like...Phyllis Diller. What a couple wacky ladies they are! Funny and classy with their special brand of indispensable wit...but enough about that.

I also wouldn't necessarily recommend this movie for kids. I mean nothing too graphic actually happens during the film, but it does nevertheless address some rather MATURE themes; such as  suicide, sexuality, politics, philosophy, a brief snippet of alcoholism, and the fact that Mehitabel is a lady of..."easy virtue" (in other words, she's a damn slut)...and of course to say nothing of that scene later in the film where she straight-up tries to euthanize her own kittens. Yeah...probably best not to let your kids watch this; especially if they're a tad oversensitive.

One thing I noticed the second time watching this flick is that Archy and Mehitabel have an interesting sort of Pinocchio/Jiminy Cricket-type relationship between them where Archy typically acts as Mehitabel's conscience, but his advice generally goes unheeded by the unruly she-cat. In fact, their friendship has all the telltale signs of a toxically abusive one. Though Archy only wants what's best for Mehitabel and frequently worries himself sick over her, her general response to his chastising and nagging is to verbally threaten him or sometimes she literally just tries to squash him flat...so I guess this makes them closer to the book version of Pinocchio and Jiminy as opposed to the Disney equivalent. After awhile you even start getting the impression that Archy might actually be romantically drawn to Mehitabel; which wouldn't be so odd except for the tiny little detail that he's cockroach and she's cat! CORRECTION: she's a cat and he's a human being who's been reincarnated as a cockroach. Surprisingly, that somehow makes it even weirder.

The movie has a very dated art style with certain scenes that definitely remind you that it was made in the 70's...because it looks like you're having an acid trip. I kid, of course! Animation enthusiasts might recognize the art style as being very similar to some of those produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (DFE), and indeed you'd be at least half right as Freleng's partner DePatie was an associate producer and animation director on the project. Although the art style and abstract aesthetic is certainly not for everyone I, for one, like it quite a bit. I have always been a huge fan of abstract surrealism, and adore the older variety of cartoons that put the boundless capacity of animation to good use; pushing the limits of human comprehension and exploring the versatile nature of the imagination and the many ways  it may be expressed through the visual arts. I first watched this production several years prior to watching it again for the sake of writing this review, and while I'll admit that the story didn't originally resonate with me back then, I do remember falling very much in love with all the abstract sequences used to liven up most of this film's many songs and musical segments. My favorite, above all, is the scene where Archy starts to stir all the bugs in town up into a fanatical fury with talk of revolution against mankind, and the art style suddenly shift to the style of George Herriman, who some might remember as the creator of Krazy Kat (he also did most of the original illustrations for the Archy & Mehitabel stories; making this homage both touching and appropriate)...this, of course, all being before he finds out Mehitabel has kittens and runs off to see her abandoning the whole idea entirely.

For me, the story of Shinbone Alley is kind of a drop in the bucket. It has it's appeal, but it's not something I'd remember fondly enough to talk intimately about. The abstract visuals entwine with the music on the other hand are a thing of ecstasy for me, and as such it ranks high on my list of favorite surreal cinema; right up there with "Yellow Submarine", "Twice Upon A Time", "The Phantom Tollbooth", and "F.R.O.7". I only regret that more modern films today don't make better use of the surreal appeal that animation has to offer.