Frisky Frolics: A Fever Dream on Ice

Is this worth your time?

Honestly, only if you have a soft spot for the absolute weirdness of early animation. If you want a cohesive story or characters that move like they have bones, stay far away.

But if you like seeing a rhino get bullied by three mice on skates, pull up a chair. It’s a short, bizarre trip that feels like it was put together by someone who had never actually seen a real animal in their life. 🧊

The Logic of the Lake

So, every animal on earth decided to meet at this one frozen pond. It’s a logistical nightmare that the directors, Mannie Davis and John Foster, clearly didn't lose a second of sleep over.

The pacing is basically just a series of things falling down. Everything ends up in the water. Every single time. It’s relentless.

There’s this one part where a monkey starts crooning to a hippo. It’s supposed to be romantic, I guess? But it just comes off as deeply uncomfortable.

The Animation Woes

Let's talk about those three mice. I’ve seen some bad animation in my day, but these guys? They’re barely holding it together. They look like they’re made of wet paper that’s trying to detach from the screen.

The rhino is honestly just a prop for them to slam into. There’s no weight to the impact, just a lot of flailing limbs and static drawings that jump around the frame.

• The hippo’s blush is somehow the most high-effort thing in the whole short.
• The hockey match has no rules, no goals, and definitely no puck.
• I’m pretty sure the background was drawn once and then reused until it fell apart.

It’s nowhere near as charming as something like A Rhapsody in Black and Blue, which at least had a sense of rhythm to its madness. Frisky Frolics just kind of happens at you.

Still, there’s a certain charm to the chaos. It’s not trying to be anything other than a silly distraction, and in that, it succeeds. Even if it is a bit of a mess.

Watching this reminded me of the frantic energy in His Concrete Dome, where the visual gags just keep piling up until you stop trying to make sense of them. Just don't ask me why the hippo was on ice skates. I really don't have an answer for that one.