The King of Bugs (1930) Review: A Weirdly Creepy Cartoon Antique

If you have six minutes to spare and a soft spot for the janky charm of the early 1930s, give this one a look. It is basically a fever dream about insects with jobs.

You’ll enjoy it if you find old black-and-white drawings *charming* and slightly broken. If you hate scratchy audio or cartoons where characters bounce for no reason, you should probably stay away.

The movie starts with a parade. It’s very loud.

Our main guy is this little bugler who is just too excited to be there. He keeps blowing his trumpet right in the King’s ear, which is honestly relatable if you’ve ever been around a toddler with a plastic whistle.

The King looks less like a majestic beetle and more like a guy who is tired of his mortgage. He’s got this very grumpy face that doesn't change much even when things get exciting. 😠

I noticed the background characters just kind of vibrate. It’s like the animators weren't sure if they should be walking or just existing, so they just made them shake.

Then we get to the tournament. It feels a bit like a medieval fair but with more antennae and less logic.

The whole thing shifts gears when the spider shows up. This spider is legitimately horrid.

He’s got these spindly, uneven arms and a face that looks like it was drawn by someone who actually had a nightmare the night before. He just snatches the Princess—who is basically a ladybug in a dress—and runs off.

The rescue happens so fast you might blink and miss it. Our bugler friend goes from 'annoying kid' to 'war hero' in about thirty seconds flat.

There isn't a lot of story logic here. The bugler just sort of wins because the script says it is time to go home and have a happy ending.

The sound is that classic 1930s tinny buzz. It’s almost like listening to a movie through a soup can tied to a string.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The King of Bugs (1930) through its definitive frames.

It isn’t quite as polished as something like The Breath of a Nation, but it has more heart. Or maybe just more legs. 🕷️

I liked the weird little dance the bugs do. It serves no purpose at all, but they look like they're having a great time.

Some of the gags don't really land because the timing is so weird. A character will fall, and then two seconds later, there’s a 'bonk' sound that doesn't quite match the movement.

It makes the whole experience feel a bit disjointed. Like the sound guy and the drawing guy weren't in the same room, or even in the same building.

But that’s why these old shorts are fun. They feel unsupervised.

The Princess is fine, I guess. She doesn’t do much besides get kidnapped and look worried with those big cartoon eyes.

I wish the spider had more screen time. He was the most interesting thing in the whole six minutes, even if he was a bit scary for a 'kids' cartoon.

The way he moves is actually pretty fluid compared to the King. Someone put some real work into those creepy, crawling legs.

It’s a fun little artifact. You can see the bits and pieces of ideas that would eventually become better cartoons later on.

If you’ve seen The Ballyhoo Buster, you know the vibe. It’s frantic, slightly confusing, and over before you can really process it.

Worth a watch if you're bored or if you really like bugs. 🐜

Random Notes from the Notepad:

• The King’s crown seems to be held on by pure willpower.
• The trumpet sound effect is the same one used for literally everything.
• Why is the spider wearing shoes? I count at least four shoes.
• The background art is actually surprisingly detailed for a budget short.

The ending is very abrupt. They just win and the movie stops. No lessons learned, just bug vibes.