Molly Moo-Cow and Rip Van Winkle: A weird, boozy cartoon trip

Wait, what did I just watch?

If you have any patience for surreal golden-age animation, you might get a kick out of Molly Moo-Cow and Rip Van Winkle. If you want a straightforward bedtime story, keep scrolling, because this thing takes a sharp left turn into a frat party in the mountains.

It’s honestly worth watching just for the sheer audacity of having a cow participate in a woodland kegger. Seriously, who comes up with this stuff?

The cow at the party

Molly finds these dwarfs bowling and drinking beer, which is already a pretty high-concept premise for a short. Watching her try to navigate the revelry is like watching a stranger try to fit in at a party where everyone else already knows the lyrics to every song. She just starts drinking, and suddenly the tone shifts from 'sweet forest fable' to 'cow blackout'.

It is definitely a different vibe than something like The Stolen Jools, which is way more grounded in actual human stakes. This is just pure, unadulterated nonsense.

Oddly specific details

• The way the dwarfs move while bowling looks like they’ve had about six pints too many.
• Rip Van Winkle looks remarkably peaceful for a guy who is about to be woken up by a tipsy cow.
• The animation has that bouncy, rubber-hose feel that makes everything look slightly unstable.

There is this moment where Molly is clearly feeling the effects of the beer, and it is weirdly uncomfortable to watch. It’s not profound, it’s just… odd. It reminded me a bit of the random chaotic energy in Billy the Janitor, though in a totally different setting.

Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it the most memorable thing I've watched all week? Maybe. It’s short, it’s loose, and it doesn’t care if you think it’s a bit unhinged. Sometimes you just need to see a cow knock over some pins and cause a scene.