Cinderella Blues (1931) Review - Pure 1930s Cartoon Weirdness

If you have seven minutes to spare and love weird, rubbery 1930s cartoons where inanimate objects have faces for absolutely no reason, yes, Cinderella Blues is worth your time.

Anyone who wants a logical story or hates scratchy, blown-out jazz soundtracks will probably turn this off after thirty seconds. 📻

This is one of those old Aesop’s Fables cartoons from the Van Beuren studio, back when animators were clearly just making stuff up as they went along. There is almost no plot here, even though it claims to be based on the classic Charles Perrault story.

Mostly, it is just animals and objects bouncing up and down to a very loud jazz beat.

The whole thing starts with Cinderella scrubbing the floor, but the brush she is using has a face and seems to be enjoying itself way too much. Then these two mice show up playing trumpets, and the music just... never stops.

I swear, the soundtrack sounds like it was recorded in a tin can during a heavy thunderstorm.

Honestly, I love this era of animation because of how deeply creepy it can get without meaning to. The stepmother looks like a giant, angry potato wearing a wig, and she does this weird wiggling dance whenever she is mad.

It reminded me a bit of the silent-era oddness in Die Gespensteruhr, where you just have to accept the bizarre logic of the screen.

My favorite part has to be the carriage scene.

Instead of a beautiful coach, the fairy godfather—yes, a godfather, who is a weird little guy with a beard—turns a pumpkin into this jalopy that looks like it is about to fall apart. The wheels are literally spinning plates that wobble back and forth.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Cinderella Blues (1931) through its definitive frames.

The prince at the ball is also hilarious because he has absolutely zero personality.

He just stands there with this blank stare, bouncing his knees to the music while Cinderella dances around him. You can tell the animators got tired here because they just loop the same four frames of them dancing for what feels like a solid minute. 🕺

It is lazy, but also kind of hypnotic?

I found myself tapping my foot even though the song is just the same five notes played over and over on a screechy clarinet.

I actually ended up watching this late at night after a failed attempt to sit through The Shoes That Danced, and this was the perfect palate cleanser.

It doesn't ask anything of you.

The ending is incredibly abrupt, too.

Cinderella loses her shoe, the prince finds it, and then boom—they are suddenly in a car driving away while a dog plays a trombone in the backseat. No explanation, no romantic buildup, just immediate jazz chaos. 🎺

If you like historical animation curio cabinets, give it a go.

Just don't expect Disney. This is much grubbier, weirder, and way more fun if you are in the right mood.