Shadows! (1928) is a weird, scratchy little fever dream

If you have about five minutes and a weird obsession with how people used to draw movement in the 1920s, Shadows! is worth a look. It is basically a fever dream that someone decided to ink onto celluloid.

You’ll probably dig this if you like the kind of animation that feels like it was made in a basement by a guy who hasn't slept in three days. You will definitely hate it if you want things like 'fluidity' or 'logic' or 'pixels'.

Joe Noble has this very specific, clunky style. The character Sam moves like his joints are made of old hinges that need a lot of oil.

The whole thing starts with Sam and his musket, which looks more like a twig than a weapon. The way he carries it is so stiff it’s almost funny.

There is this one scene where the shadows start doing their own thing. It’s not smooth at all, and that’s why I kind of like it.

The shadow doesn't just mimic him; it feels like it’s trying to escape the bottom of the screen. At one point, the shadow’s arm gets uncomfortably long for just a few frames.

I don't think it was a deliberate choice to be scary. It just feels like a drawing mistake that they didn't have the time or money to fix back in 1928.

It’s a bit like The Sawmill in terms of the raw, physical gags, but way more abstract. There is no real 'set' here, just the white void and the black ink.

The background is mostly non-existent. It makes the whole experience feel very lonely, which is an odd vibe for a cartoon from this era.

Sometimes the musket just disappears for a second. Or maybe it just blends into the background lines? I had to rewind it twice to check.

It has that same 'trying too hard to be energetic' feel you see in Puppy Love. But Shadows! is darker, literally and figuratively.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Shadows! (1928) through its definitive frames.

The frame rate is so low that you can practically see the individual pieces of paper being swapped out. I think that adds a layer of honesty to it that we don't get anymore.

There’s a bit where a ghost-like figure appears, and it’s just a blob of white. It’s so simple it’s actually kind of effective at being creepy.

I noticed that Sam’s hat changes shape slightly between shots. It goes from being a flat cap to almost a helmet depending on how much Noble was rushing the drawing, I guess.

It’s definitely not as polished as The Man on the Box. But then again, a cartoon shouldn't really be compared to a feature film, right?

The ending doesn't really 'end'. It just sort of stops because the reel ran out or they ran out of ideas for shadow jokes.

I found myself thinking about The Unexpected Shot while watching the gunplay here. Even in animation, the way people handled guns back then was so theatrical and weirdly stiff.

The musket smoke is just these little circles that float away. They look like bubbles, which really undercuts the 'soldier' theme Sam has going on.

Is it a masterpiece? Absolutely not.

But it has more personality in its shaky lines than most of the stuff that came out of the big studios later on. It feels personal, like you’re looking at Noble’s actual handwriting.

I watched it on a small monitor and I think that’s the way to go. If you blew this up to a theater screen, the flickering would probably give you a massive headache.

There is a sequence where Sam tries to hide, and his legs just sort of telescope into his body. It’s pure nightmare fuel if you think about it too much.

Anyway, it’s a quick hit of history. It’s messy, it’s jerky, and it’s got a weird soul to it. 🎥