The Lady in Red: A fever dream involving bugs and a bird

If you have about seven minutes and a high tolerance for vintage weirdness, The Lady in Red is worth a look. It is basically a fever dream captured on film. If you hate old-school animation or get squeamish around bugs, stay far, far away.

The premise is wild: a parrot just decides to ruin a perfectly good cockroach nightclub. It’s not often you see a bird as the villain in a world populated by insects. The nightclub scenes are honestly the best part. The cockroaches are dancing with this frantic energy that felt like a night out at Barber Shop Blues, only with more legs.

There is this moment where the parrot swoops in, and the animation gets all jerky. It’s not smooth, but that’s the charm. It feels like someone drew it in a rush, but they were having a blast doing it. The way the parrot snatches the dancer—it’s so sudden. No buildup. Just *yoink* and she’s gone.

The pacing is all over the place, which is fine. It doesn't drag. You don't have time to overthink the plot because there isn't really one. It reminded me a bit of the frantic spirit in Big-Hearted Bosko, just with less singing and more panic.

I found myself staring at the background details. Some of these cockroaches are doing some really complex jazz hands. Who thought of that? It’s bizarre. The whole thing feels like a relic from a time when cartoons were just trying to see what would stick to the wall.

Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it something I’ll remember tomorrow? Probably. It’s got that raw, unfinished energy that makes a lot of modern animation feel a bit sterile. Sometimes it’s nice to just watch a parrot cause absolute chaos in a bug club. 🦜🪳