Scrappy's Theme Song: A strange little relic

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, only if you have a weird obsession with 1930s animation or you’re researching the history of Columbia’s shorts. If you’re looking for a fun time with the family, skip it. The humor hasn't aged well and the animation feels a bit like it’s vibrating in your skull. 😵‍💫

Scrappy is a character that really tests your patience. He’s got that high-pitched, manic energy that was all the rage back then, but it gets grating after about thirty seconds. He’s putting on a show, and he’s convinced he needs a theme song to make it professional.

The whole thing is essentially one long song-and-dance sequence that spirals into nonsense. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy found in Bosko's Knight-Mare, though without the slightly more coherent visual gags.

The weird stuff

• The way Scrappy’s limbs just sort of... stretch like taffy. It’s a bit unsettling.
• The background characters look like they wandered in from a completely different drawing session.
• There’s a moment where he’s writing the music where the paper just stays perfectly still while he moves around it. Physics, who cares?

I found myself zoning out during the middle section. The song he’s writing isn't exactly catchy, which makes the whole premise feel like a slog. It lacks the charm of other contemporary shorts like Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning, which at least had a clear sense of identity.

Bernice Hansen provides the voice work, and she really leans into that nasal, squeaky register. It’s impressive, sure, but it sounds like a kazoo being held under water. 🎷

The pacing is all over the place. It stops, starts, and pivots to weird musical interludes that feel like filler. It’s the kind of short that was probably meant to play before a feature film just to fill a time slot. It feels disposable. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't leave much of a mark.

I’m still not entirely sure what the point of the ending was. Scrappy finishes the song, everyone cheers, and then... it just ends. No punchline, no real payoff. Just a fade to black.

It’s a curious artifact, I suppose. Not great art, but a window into what people were watching when they wanted a quick laugh on a Saturday afternoon. Just don't go in expecting a masterpiece.