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5.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. I Like Mountain Music remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you're a fan of early, slightly unhinged animation, absolutely. If you prefer stories that actually make sense from start to finish, you will probably hate it. It’s a very specific kind of 1930s weirdness that doesn't really care if you're keeping up.
The whole thing starts in a drugstore, which is basically the ultimate stage for a cartoon in 1933. Once the clerk leaves, the magazines start popping off the racks. It’s got that jittery, manic energy you see in early stuff, like Julius Sees Her, where everyone is just vibrating with excitement for no clear reason.
Suddenly, we’re watching celebrities sing. It’s surreal. Seeing a cartoon version of Will Rogers pop up is the kind of thing that makes you pause the video just to make sure you're seeing it right. 🤨
Then, the movie just decides to become a crime drama. Because why not?
Some thugs break into the cash register, and honestly, the tension is weirdly high for a bunch of singing magazines. Sherlock Holmes shows up to solve the case, and it feels like the writers got bored halfway through and just shoved another genre into the blender.
It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in Walrus Hunters, where the plot is mostly just an excuse for things to move around the screen really fast. There’s no point in looking for a deeper meaning here.
It’s not as polished as later studio work, and you can tell they were just figuring out what worked. It feels a lot less calculated than a modern blockbuster. It’s messy, it’s loud, and it ends before you can really get annoyed by the plot holes. 🎶
If you enjoy this kind of vintage oddity, it sits somewhere between the experimental feel of L'Étoile de mer and your standard Saturday morning fare. Just don't go in expecting a coherent narrative. Just enjoy the singing books.