Dreamy Dud. He Resolves Not to Smoke (1915)
Article 5803 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-3-2020
Directed by Wallace A. Carlson
No cast
Country: USA
What it is: Cartoon of the silent era

A young boy steals a pipe and tries smoking it, but there are repercussions…

Most of the early silent animated films I’ve covered have been from relatively well-known names, such as Winsor McCay and Emile Cohl. But there was a wealth of other stuff as well, though most of it is lost. Some of them are only barely animated; they’re more like movie comic strips than cartoons. This is one of these obscurities, and it tells the story of a boy who learns not to smoke when the spirit of smoke raises him to the heavens and leaves him stranded on the (crescent) moon. Actually, this is one of the more satisfying of these little obscurities, as it is amusing and feels complete, unlike some of the others I’ve seen. Given the title, I don’t think I’m giving too much away to say this is all happening in a dream. At any rate, it’s worth catching if you’ve got about five minutes to kill.