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6.4/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.4/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Spider and the Fly remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
So, is a cartoon from 1931 worth your time today? For most folks, probably not, honestly. Unless you're really into old animation, or just curious how things looked way back when. If you're hoping for deep themes or flashy visuals, you'll probably just scratch your head. But for a quick, quirky peek into early animation, especially if you appreciate the craft of it, The Spider and the Fly has this strange charm. It’s for the patient viewer, for sure.
This little short kicks off in a kitchen that’s just absolutely swarming with houseflies. You know, just living their best, buzzing lives. Then, a spider wakes up. And this isn't just any spider; it's a bit of a musician, playing its web like a harp to lure some poor, unsuspecting flies. 🎶
The animation here, for 1931, is actually quite clever. The way the web vibrates, or the flies just kind of… *drift* towards it, it sets a surprisingly eerie tone. One female fly gets caught, and her male companion, bless his little fly heart, doesn't just leave her. He goes for help. Big help.
And this is where things get truly wild. The male fly summons the cavalry, and I mean *cavalry*. They arrive riding what look like horseflies. Some are even riding dragonflies! Like tiny, aerial bombardiers. It's a genuinely funny visual, seeing these flies with purpose, mounted up.
Their weapons? Not what you'd expect. These tiny warriors start dropping pepper bombs. Yes, pepper. Then, they’re firing off what appear to be champagne bottles! 🍾 It’s absurd, but it fits the whole whimsical, slightly chaotic vibe of these early cartoons. You can almost hear the animators giggling.
The fight itself is pretty inventive. The flies really go at it, trying to rescue their friend. They're determined little things. The spider, for its part, is a bit of a menace, but also seems kind of… caught off guard by the sheer audacity of this fly army. It's a bug battle royale, but tiny.
The climax of this whole insect war is pretty memorable. They actually manage to set the spider’s web on fire! 🔥 Which, again, for a 1931 cartoon, feels surprisingly dramatic. The spider eventually falls, and you’d think that’s it, right? Nope. It lands on flypaper. Talk about ironic.
What I really liked about this short is how much personality it packed into just a few minutes. You don't get dialogue, of course, but the expressions and movements of these little bugs tell the whole story. The sheer inventiveness of the fly army's tactics is the real star here. It’s charming, if a little dated.
It’s definitely not for everyone. If you need modern pacing or crisp animation, you'll probably find it a bit slow. But if you’re curious about animation history, or just want a quick, oddly imaginative peek into what captivated audiences almost a century ago, it’s worth a watch. You won't see anything else quite like it.
IMDb —
1922
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