Buddy's Pony Express: A frantic, dusty race to nowhere

Is it worth your time?

Honestly? If you have six minutes and a weird craving for 1930s animation tropes, sure. It’s light, frantic, and doesn’t ask much of your brain. If you’re the type of person who needs a coherent plot or, you know, logic, you’ll probably find this thing frustratingly thin.

It feels like one of those Saturday morning cartoons that was actually made on a Friday afternoon by someone who really wanted to go home. The pacing is absolutely unhinged.

The Race for the Mail

The whole premise is just a big excuse for slapstick. Buddy wants the job, but everyone else wants it too. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in The Battle of the Sexes, only with more horses and less actual conflict.

There’s this one moment where the characters are just flying over the terrain, and the background art is just… there. It’s not trying to convince you it’s the real Wild West. It’s just trying to keep the frames moving.

• The horses move like they’re made of rubber.
• The sound effects are louder than the actual story.
• Buddy’s facial expressions change faster than I can track.

There is a real, weird charm to how cheaply it’s put together. You can tell they were just trying to hit a quota. It makes me think of Mutts in how it relies so heavily on character antics rather than, you know, having a point.

I found myself staring at a fence post in the background for a solid ten seconds because the animation looped in such a distracting way. It’s those tiny, broken details that make these old shorts actually worth watching today.

It’s not trying to be The Home Maker or anything high-concept. It’s just a race. A loud, silly, dust-filled race. Sometimes that’s enough. Or maybe I just needed a break from modern movies that take themselves way too seriously.

Seriously, watch it for the weird gait of the horses alone. It's disturbingly floppy. 🐴