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7.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Hide and Seek remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have any patience for early animation that feels like it was drawn during a mild hallucination, you’ll probably dig Hide and Seek. It’s not for people who need a coherent plot or characters that act like living things. If you like your cartoons weird and slightly aggressive, you’re home.
Bimbo the Dog is a cop. I didn't know he was a cop, but apparently he is. He’s also got this motorcycle that just decides to have a personality. It’s less of a vehicle and more of a partner that breathes. The whole thing moves at a speed that feels slightly illegal.
The middle of the film is basically just a high-speed chase. It’s got that jittery, relentless energy you see in stuff like An Oil-Can Romeo. They don't waste time with dialogue. They just go.
Suddenly, we are in Hell’s Kitchen. It’s inside a volcano. Don’t ask me how the mechanics of that work. The background art is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. It’s scratchy and frantic.
It reminds me a bit of the frantic pacing in Fireman, Save My Child!, but with more lava. Everything is melting. The perspective shifts so much I got a little dizzy.
There is a moment where Bimbo just... keeps going. The background loops, the bike bounces, and the tension is just gone. It becomes hypnotic. It’s not a masterpiece. It’s a weird little artifact of a time when animators were just throwing things at the wall to see if they’d stick.
I’m still not sure why the bike needed a personality. It didn't actually help him solve the crime. It just made the whole rescue mission feel like a buddy-cop movie from hell. 🌋
If you want something that makes sense, go watch The Cavalier or something grounded. If you want to see a dog ride a motorcycle into a volcano, well, here you go.