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5.1/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.1/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Salt Water Taffy remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have six minutes and a high tolerance for repetitive tuba music, Salt Water Taffy is worth a quick look today. It is perfect for people who like to see how animation used to work before Disney made everything look too perfect. People who hate things that make no sense will probably find it annoying. 🌊
The whole thing starts with Salty McGuire. He is this sailor guy who sings his own introduction while sailing his boat.
The boat doesn't even move like a boat. It just sort of vibrates across the water in time with the music.
I noticed that the water looks like it is made of black jelly. It’s honestly kind of soothing to watch in a weird way.
Salty gets to the beach and it is just chaos. There are all these anthropomorphic animals everywhere.
Paul Terry and Frank Moser clearly just wanted to draw things bouncing. Every single character is doing this little squat-dance. Up and down, up and down, forever.
There is a dog in the background that is just shaking his ears. He doesn't have any other job in the movie. I spent like thirty seconds just watching him and ignoring the main characters.
It reminds me of the energy in Uncle Tom's Uncle where the plot feels like it was made up five minutes before they started filming.
The the music is the most important part here. It never stops. Not even for a second.
Everything in the world of this cartoon has to happen on the beat. If Salty takes a step, it’s a beat. If a fish jumps, it’s a beat.
The damsel in distress shows up pretty late. She is screaming for help because she's in the water, I think?
The way she screams is very high-pitched. It sounds like a whistle more than a person or an animal.
Salty jumps in to save her, but the physics are just broken. He basically runs on top of the water. 🏃♂️
I feel like Paul Terry didn't care about logic at all. He just wanted the audience to tap their feet.
This film doesn't have the heavy drama of something like Die ewige Nacht. It’s much lighter. Maybe too light.
There is a scene where a hippo is wearing a bikini. It is one of those things you can't unsee once you notice it.
Why is a hippo at a beach for small animals? Nobody knows. The hippo is just there, vibing.
I love how the characters have no bones. Their arms stretch out like rubber bands when they reach for things.
It’s very different from the stiff acting you see in Lucretia Lombard. Here, everyone is made of soup.
The ending is very abrupt. Salty saves the girl, they celebrate, and then the screen just fades out.
It feels like they ran out of paper or time. Or maybe they just got bored of the song.
One thing that bothered me was how the background repeats. If you look closely, the same umbrella passes by three times in the same direction.
It’s a cheap trick, but hey, it was 1930. They were busy trying to figure out how to make the sound sync up.
If you compare this to Filibus, you can see how much more movement they were trying to cram into every frame by this point.
Even if it is just silly dancing. 💃
The whole experience is like eating a handful of actual taffy. It’s sweet, it’s a bit sticky, and it’s over before you can really complain about the lack of substance.
It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s honest. It just wants to be a cartoon.
Sometimes I miss when movies were just nonsense set to a loud orchestra. 🎷
You can tell the animators were having a laugh. Especially with the way the waves have tiny little hands that push Salty's boat along.
The the small details like that make it feel human. Even if the drawing is a bit messy around the edges.
Anyway, go watch it if you want to see a hippo dance. If not, maybe stick to Speeding Through for your fast-paced fix.
IMDb 6.9
1924
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