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5.9/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.9/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Light House Keeping remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Is this worth watching today? Honestly, yeah, but only if you have six minutes to spare and you don't mind things getting a little weird. If you're a fan of those old-school cartoons where characters don't seem to have any bones, you'll love it. If you need a plot that actually follows the laws of physics, you're going to hate every second of this.
It's a Krazy Kat short from 1934. Back then, they didn't really care about 'story arcs' or 'character development.' They just wanted to see things bounce to the beat of some catchy jazz music. 🎶
The whole thing starts with Krazy manning a lighthouse. But he's not really manning it in the traditional sense. He's mostly just vibing. He's dancing with a seal, playing with some fish, and generally ignoring his actual job responsibilities. 🦭
I noticed the way the seal moves is just so... wiggly. It’s like the animators were just seeing how far they could stretch a drawing before it stopped looking like an animal. It reminds me of the strange energy in The Awful Spook, where everything feels just a bit off-kilter.
Then Krazy sees Kitty on a passing ship. He gets all heart-eyed, which is standard for him. But then the weather turns nasty. And I mean really nasty.
The storm clouds in this are great. They aren't just clouds; they're like these big, angry, black blobs that fill the screen. It gets surprisingly dark for a cartoon that started with a dancing seal. ⛈️
The ship doesn't just sink, either. A wave literally swallows it. Like, the wave has a mouth and it just gulps the whole boat down. It's so literal that it made me laugh out loud. I think I rewatched that specific three-second clip twice because it’s just so blunt.
Krazy jumps into a lifeboat to save Kitty, who is floating on a piece of wood. But his boat sinks too, because of course it does. This part feels a bit like the frantic energy you see in The Night Bird, just with more ink and less dialogue.
And then things get really strange. Jonah shows up. Yes, that Jonah. From the Bible. He pops up in a whale that has been converted into a ferry boat. It’s got a little door and everything. 🐳
The transition is so fast you might miss it if you blink. One second they are drowning, the next they are safe inside a whale-taxi. It’s the kind of logic-defying moment that makes these old cartoons so much better than the polished stuff we get now.
I liked the music a lot. It’s got this driving rhythm that never stops, even when things are supposed to be scary. It keeps the whole thing feeling light, even when the ship is being eaten by the ocean.
It’s not a masterpiece or anything. It’s just a weird little artifact from a time when animators were basically just making it up as they went along. It’s got more personality in six minutes than some full-length movies like The Girl of Gold have in an hour.
The drawing style is a bit scratchy in places. You can see the dust on the film print if you look closely. I kind of like that, though. It makes it feel real. Like someone actually sat at a desk and drew every single one of those frames by hand.
There’s a moment where Krazy’s arms just sort of stretch across the entire screen. It doesn't make sense, but it looks cool. That’s basically the whole movie in a nutshell.
If you're looking for something deep, go watch Spite Marriage. But if you want to see a cat, a girl, and a biblical figure in a whale-ferry, this is your best bet. ✌️
It’s short. It’s sweet. It’s a little bit insane. Probably wouldn't watch it twice in one day, but I'm glad I saw it once. It’s a good reminder that movies used to be allowed to be completely nonsensical just for the sake of a joke.
IMDb —
1922
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