Scrappy’s Side Show (1939)
Article 5983 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-16-2021
Directed by Arthur Davis
Voice cast unknown
Country: USA
What it is: Scrappy cartoon

Scrappy tries to make some money by putting on a homemade side show, but a mischievous little girl interferes with his acts.

I wasn’t sure whether to give this one a review or not, but I decided to for two reasons. The side show was one of the sources of horror content in the early days of cinema (consider FREAKS and some other Tod Browning movies), and this one has a couple of non-existent exotic (albeit faked) animals, such as a turtle dog (a real dog wearing an umbrella top). Scrappy was a regular cartoon character at Columbia during the thirties who at least didn’t come across like a Mickey Mouse imitation, though he really doesn’t have much of a character (though the picture of him in the opening segment of the cartoon makes him resemble Peter Lorre a bit). The cartoon is fitfully amusing, with my favorite moment coming early on when the little girl digs herself into the side show only to find herself on exhibit as an animal. This one is okay, but nothing special.