Dancing on the Moon

Last updated
Dancing on the Moon
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Produced by Max Fleischer
Starring Mae Questel
Music by Charlie Tobias
Murray Mencher
Animation by Seymour Kneitel
Roland Crandall
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • 12 July 1935 (1935-07-12) [1]
Running time
7:38
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Dancing on the Moon is a 1935 animated film directed by Dave Fleischer and part of the Color Classics series of animated short films produced by Fleischer Studios. [1]

Contents

According to animation historian Jerry Beck, this film probably contains the first example of the dance move "moonwalk". [2]

Plot summary

"Honeymoon Express to the Moon" offers a ride for one dollar per couple. Passengers embark on the spaceship: cattle, penguins, elephants, bears and giraffes. A cat couple arriving late is split up at the takeoff and the female is left behind. On the ship, the cat plays solitaire with cards.

While on the Moon, the eight couples find private places to smooch. While at the base of the female giraffe's neck, the male comments "This is a great place for necking" to which the female (in a Mae West impression) retorts "Why don't you come up and see me sometime?" [nb 1] The cat plays cat's cradle. When the other couples dance, the cat dances a moonwalk.

When arriving back on Earth, the couples get deliveries from the stork [ broken anchor ] but the cat does not. He is reunited with his bride who then physically abuses him.

Notes

  1. The line resembles the lines "Why don't you come up some time and see me?" from She Done Him Wrong (1933) and "Come up and see me sometime!" from I'm No Angel (1933), both starring Mae West.

Related Research Articles

<i>She Done Him Wrong</i> 1933 American crime/comedy film by Lowell Sherman

She Done Him Wrong is a 1933 pre-Code American crime/comedy film starring Mae West and Cary Grant, directed by Lowell Sherman. The plot includes melodramatic and musical elements, with a supporting cast featuring Owen Moore, Gilbert Roland, Noah Beery Sr., Rochelle Hudson, and Louise Beavers. The film was adapted from the successful 1928 Broadway play Diamond Lil by Mae West. The film is famous for West's many double entendres and quips, including her best-known "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?". She Done Him Wrong was a box-office success and the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

<i>Snow-White</i> (1933 film) 1933 film

Snow-White is a 1933 American animated short in the Betty Boop series from Max Fleischer's Fleischer Studios. Dave Fleischer was credited as director, although virtually all the animation was done by Roland Crandall, who received the opportunity to make Snow-White on his own as a reward for his several years of devotion to the Fleischer studio. The resulting film, which took six months to complete, is considered both Crandall's masterwork and an important milestone of the Golden age of American animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fleischer Studios</span> American animation studio

Fleischer Studios was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of its films. In its prime, Fleischer Studios was a premier producer of animated cartoons for theaters, with Walt Disney Productions being its chief competitor in the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betty Boop</span> Animated cartoon character

Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character designed by Grim Natwick at the request of Dave Fleischer. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She was featured in 90 theatrical cartoons between 1930 and 1939. She has also been featured in comic strips and mass merchandising.

<i>Cats Dont Dance</i> 1997 film by Mark Dindal

Cats Don't Dance is a 1997 American animated musical comedy film directed by Mark Dindal. The film features the voices of Scott Bakula, Jasmine Guy, Matthew Herried, Ashley Peldon, John Rhys-Davies, Kathy Najimy, Don Knotts, Hal Holbrook, Betty Lou Gerson, René Auberjonois, Dindal, and George Kennedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mae Questel</span> American actress (1908–1998)

Mae Questel was an American actress. She was best known for providing the voices for the animated characters Betty Boop, Olive Oyl and numerous others.

Beans (<i>Looney Tunes</i>) Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Beans the Cat is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Cartoons series of cartoons from 1935–1936. Beans was the third Warner Bros cartoon character star after Bosko and Buddy. He was voiced by Billy Bletcher. He was created by director Friz Freleng. The character was featured in nine cartoons made in 1935 and 1936.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grim Natwick</span> American artist, animator and film director (1890–1990)

Myron "Grim" Natwick was an American artist, animator, and film director. Natwick is best known for drawing the Fleischer Studios' most popular character, Betty Boop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moonwalk (dance)</span> Dance figure popularised by Michael Jackson

The moonwalk, or backslide, is a popping dance move in which the performer glides backwards but their body actions suggest forward motion. It became popular around the world when Michael Jackson performed the move during the performance of "Billie Jean" on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, which was broadcast in 1983. He included the moonwalk in tours and live performances. Jackson has been credited as renaming the "backslide" to the moonwalk and it became his signature move.

Part of the American Film Institute's 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes is a list of the top 100 quotations in American cinema. The American Film Institute revealed the list on June 21, 2005, in a three-hour television program on CBS. The program was hosted by Pierce Brosnan and had commentary from many Hollywood actors and filmmakers. A jury consisting of 1,500 film artists, critics, and historians selected "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn", spoken by Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in the 1939 American Civil War epic Gone with the Wind, as the most memorable American movie quotation of all time.

<i>The Old Man of the Mountain</i> (film) 1933 film by Dave Fleischer

The Old Man of the Mountain is a 1933 American pre-Code live-action/animated short in the Betty Boop series, produced by Fleischer Studios. Featuring music by Cab Calloway and his Orchestra, the short was originally released to theaters on August 4, 1933 by Paramount Pictures. Calloway voices all of the characters in the cartoon save for Betty herself. Calloway and his orchestra also perform all of the music in the cartoon, including two songs Calloway co-wrote.

A Song a Day is a 1936 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop and featuring Grampy.

Betty Boop's Penthouse is a 1933 Fleischer Studios animated short film featuring Betty Boop assisted by Koko the Clown and Bimbo.

Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party is a 1933 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop.

<i>Mickeys Gala Premier</i> 1933 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Mickey's Gala Premier is a Walt Disney cartoon produced in 1933, directed by Burt Gillett, and featuring parodies of several famous Hollywood film actors from the 1930s. It was the 58th Mickey Mouse short film, and the eighth of that year.

Clito "Clyde" Geronimi, known as Gerry, was an American animation director. He is best known for his work at Walt Disney Productions.

<i>Popeye the Sailor</i> (film series) 1933 American film

Popeye the Sailor is an American animated series of short films based on the Popeye comic strip character created by E. C. Segar. In 1933, Max and Dave Fleischer's Fleischer Studios, based in New York City, adapted Segar's characters into a series of theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. The plotlines in the animated cartoons tended to be simpler than those presented in the comic strips, and the characters slightly different. A villain, usually Bluto, makes a move on Popeye's "sweetie", Olive Oyl. The villain clobbers Popeye until he eats spinach, giving him superhuman strength. Thus empowered, Popeye makes short work of the villain.

<i>Minnie the Moocher</i> (film) 1932 Betty Boop cartoon

Minnie the Moocher is a 1932 Betty Boop cartoon produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures.

The Kids in the Shoe is a 1935 short animated film produced by Max Fleischer. It is a humorous retelling of the classic nursery rhyme. This short film was released on May 19, 1935, as part of the Color Classics collection.

References

  1. 1 2 Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 66–67. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. Rik Tod Johnson, "Dancing on the Moon (1935)", 20 April 2006.