Yelp Wanted Review: A weirdly fun 1930s cartoon about a sick dog

If you like those old cartoons where the world feels like it’s made of rubber, you should watch this. It is weirdly charming even if the logic is totally broken.

It's for people who enjoy 1930s nonsense. If you need a story that actually makes sense, you'll probably hate it.

The whole thing starts because Scrappy's dog, Yippy, is feeling sick. Scrappy sees an ad for Dr. Woof's Dog Tonic and decides he has to get it.

He goes through this place called Rough House Alley. It’s exactly as sketchy as it sounds.

To keep his coin safe from bullies, Scrappy puts it in his mouth. Then he swallows it. Classic Scrappy.

There is a scene where the coin rolls under a lady's skirt. It feels like a joke that wouldn't be in a kid's cartoon today.

The most insane part is when he whistles and the eagle on the coin flies out of a beggar's cup. It literally carries the coin back to him. I had to rewind that bit just to make sure I saw it right.

The animation is by Dick Huemer and it has that specific bouncy feel. It reminds me a bit of the style in It's a Bird, but maybe a little less creepy.

Scrappy eventually buys the tonic but then he runs into these bullies. Some of them are even dressed like cops. It’s a trap!

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Yelp Wanted (1931) through its definitive frames.

The medicine bottle falls into a pond and a duck eats it. This is where the movie gets really trippy.

The duck lays an egg. Inside the egg is the bottle of tonic. There is even a tiny little egg for the cork. I love how these old cartoons just didn't care about biology.

The ending is kind of a bummer at first. Scrappy gets all the way home and then breaks the bottle right on the doorstep.

But it turns out the dog is fine. She wasn't sick, she was just having puppies. 🐶

It's a sweet ending even if the journey there was totally chaotic. Most of these Scrappy shorts feel like someone was drawing whatever came into their head after three cups of coffee.

The way the eagle looks when it’s flying out of the coin is so specific. It’s better than some of the stuff you see in other shorts like Polly.

I noticed the background art in the alley looks a bit rushed. Some of the windows don't even have frames.

But the character movements are smooth enough. Scrappy has that weirdly aggressive walk that makes him look like a tiny adult.

The gag with the cop suit is pretty funny. It’s just two bullies standing on each others shoulders. Oldest trick in the book.

Anyway, it’s only a few minutes long. Give it a watch if you want to see a duck lay a medicine bottle. 🥚