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5.8/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.8/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Popcorn remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have five minutes to kill and a soft spot for 1920s animation, sure. If you’re looking for a plot that actually goes somewhere, you might want to look at The Road to Ruin instead. This isn't exactly high art, but it's not trying to be.
Popcorn is one of those tiny, blink-and-you-miss-it shorts. It’s basically two mice trying to have a nice night out. The carnival setting is perfect for this kind of thing, mostly because everything is drawn a little bit wobbly. You know, like the lines are trying to escape the frame.
The animation is just… busy. There’s a lot of movement for the sake of movement. At one point, one of the mice does something with a popcorn machine that makes absolutely zero sense physics-wise. It just kind of explodes into a pile of snacks, and the character keeps moving like nothing happened. It’s funny in a way that feels unintentional.
It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in Lions' Jaws and Kittens' Paws, where the animals are just constantly doing things without much explanation. There’s no dialogue, obviously. Just a lot of squashing and stretching.
It’s not as polished as some of the later stuff, but it has a soul. You can tell they were having fun drawing these little guys getting into trouble. It feels like a doodle that got turned into a movie. If you’ve seen Back Stage, you’ll recognize the same kind of loose, rubber-hose style that makes everything feel like it’s made of wet spaghetti.
I don’t know. It’s cute. It’s short. It doesn't overstay its welcome. Sometimes that's really all you need on a Tuesday night when your brain feels like mush. 🍿