Bring 'Em Back Half Shot is a weird, rubbery safari fever dream

If you have seven minutes and a high tolerance for 1930s nonsense, this is definitely worth a look. It is for anyone who likes those old cartoons where the laws of physics are just... suggestions. If you need a plot that actually goes somewhere or characters with personalities, you will probably hate it.

I found this one while digging through some old Van Beuren shorts. It features the human Tom and Jerry. They are not as famous as the later cat and mouse duo, and honestly, after watching this, I can see why. They are kind of just two guys who look like they were drawn in a hurry.

They are out in the jungle trying to be big game hunters. It does not go well. The title is a play on those old Frank Buck 'Bring 'Em Back Alive' movies, but here, 'half shot' probably refers to them being a bit tipsy or just really bad at aiming.

The first thing you notice is the way they walk. They have these noodle legs that bounce up and down with every step. It is that classic rubber-hose style where bones do not exist. It is actually kind of mesmerizing to watch the background characters just vibrate in place.

There is this one scene with a lion that is just... strange. The lion does not look scary at all. It looks like a grumpy old man in a rug suit. When it tries to roar, it looks like it is having a coughing fit instead.

It reminds me a bit of You Tell 'Em, Lions, I Roar because of the whole 'clumsy people vs. wild animals' vibe. But this cartoon is much more frantic. It feels like the animators were drinking way too much coffee while they worked.

The guns they use are hilarious in a dumb way. They do not really fire bullets. They just sort of pop and then the barrel bends into a pretzel shape. One of the guys tries to shoot a bird and the gun just turns into a telescope? I think?

I love the music in these old shorts. It is always slightly out of sync with the action. It creates this weirdly nervous energy. Like the orchestra was playing in a different room and could only see the screen through a tiny hole in the wall.

There is a bit with a hippo that I think was supposed to be a gag, but it just goes on for a few seconds too long. The hippo just blinks at the camera. It is one of those moments where the silence starts to feel awkward rather than funny.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Bring 'Em Back Half Shot (1932) through its definitive frames.

I actually laughed when the lion started dancing. Why is he dancing? Nobody knows. There is no reason for it. He just starts doing a little jig while the 'hunters' run away. It is completely random.

This felt a bit more energetic than Beach Babies, which I watched last week. That one was okay, but this safari trip is way more chaotic. It is messy and the drawing is loose, but it has spirit. 🦁

The ending is incredibly abrupt. It just... stops. No real resolution, no big final joke. It is like they ran out of paper or the studio lights blew out and they just said, 'Good enough, send it to the theaters.'

If you have seen Pointed Heels, you know how different live-action stuff was back then compared to this. This cartoon feels like it was made on another planet where gravity is optional and everyone is made of balloons.

The sound effects are very tinny. It sounds like they recorded a guy hitting a frying pan in a bathtub. But that is part of the charm for me. It is not polished. It is not 'prestige' animation. It is just a weird little relic from a time when cartoons were trying to figure out what they were supposed to be.

The middle part drags a little, even for a seven-minute short. You can tell they were just trying to fill time with repetitive gags. Like, how many times can a guy trip over a rock? Apparently, the answer is four times in a row.

The black and white look is actually pretty sharp on some of the restored versions. You can see all the little mistakes the artists made. There is a frame where Tom's hat just disappears and then pops back on. I love stuff like that.

It makes it feel like a real person actually sat at a desk and struggled with this. It is imperfect and that is why it is better than a lot of the clean, boring stuff we get now. Anyway, it is a fun trip if you have nothing better to do. Just do not expect it to make any sense. 🐘

I also noticed the trees in the background seem to be swaying even when there is no wind. Everything is alive in this world. It is a bit creepy if you think about it too much. So, don't think about it. Just watch the noodle legs move.