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6.1/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.1/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The World's Affair remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have about six minutes and want to see what people in the 1930s thought was funny, you should definitely watch this. It is great for people who love old, weird animation history. If you only like smooth, modern Disney stuff, you will probably hate it.
Scrappy is one of those characters who kind of got lost in the cracks of time. He isn't as cute as Mickey and he isn't as crazy as Bugs Bunny. He’s just a kid with a big head who gets into very specific situations.
This time, he and Oopie are at the Century of Progress. That was the big World’s Fair in Chicago. It’s basically just a bunch of gags about modern technology that isn't actually modern anymore.
One of the first things they show is this huge needle threader. It’s a giant machine just to put a piece of thread through a needle. It’s the kind of joke that feels like it belongs in a different era, honestly.
The pacing is a bit fast, but not in a way that feels exciting. It just feels like they had a list of things to show and they are checking them off. Boom, here is a robot. Boom, here is a celebrity.
Speaking of celebrities, the caricatures are the weirdest part of the whole thing. You get these drawings of people like Mussolini and Gandhi. Seeing Gandhi in a Scrappy cartoon is something I didn't expect to see today.
They also have the Prince of Wales and Von Hindenberg. It is such a strange mix of people. It’s like the animators just opened a newspaper and drew whoever was on the front page that week.
Laurel and Hardy show up too. They feel a bit more natural because they are actually comedians. But seeing them next to world dictators is… well, it’s a choice. It makes the movie feel like a fever dream you’d have after falling asleep with the history channel on.
The animation itself is handled by Sid Marcus. It’s got that bouncy, rubber-hose style that was popular back then. It’s not as polished as Tall Timber, but it has its own charm.
Some of the movements are a little jerky. There is a moment where a character turns around and it looks like their neck just disappears for a frame. I don't think they had the budget to fix every little mistake like that.
I found myself wondering who the audience was for this. Was it for kids? Most kids in 1934 probably didn't know who Von Hindenberg was. Or maybe they did? Maybe kids were just smarter back then.
There is a lot of noise. The sound design is very loud and very constant. It never really stops to let you breathe. It reminded me a bit of the chaos in The Piano Mover, where everything is just constantly moving and clanging.
The backgrounds are actually pretty cool though. They really captured that Art Deco look of the World's Fair buildings. It’s all very geometric and sleek, which contrasts with the blobby character designs.
One reaction shot of Oopie lasts a little too long. He just stares at the screen with these huge eyes. It starts to feel a bit creepy after about three seconds. It reminded me of the intense stares in The Man Who Laughs, but obviously way less scary.
It’s funny how they thought these inventions were the future. Now we just have smartphones that do everything. A giant needle threader seems so unnecessary now, but it’s a cute idea for a cartoon gag.
The ending is very abrupt. It doesn't really have a story arc. It just sort of stops once they run out of celebrities to show you. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a fun little time capsule.
If you're bored, give it a look. It’s weird enough to be worth the few minutes of your life.
Overall, it’s just okay. It’s better than some of the other Scrappy shorts, mostly because the setting is so specific. It’s not trying to be anything other than a quick laugh at the fair.
IMDb —
1916
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