DbcultAccessing Vault...
5.1/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.1/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Young and Healthy remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, only if you are a completionist for early animation or just want something light to watch while eating a sandwich. If you hate old cartoons that are heavy on the music and light on logic, skip it. It is not going to change your life.
King Louis is basically a giant, snoring marshmallow in a crown. He is so lazy it is almost impressive, really. Then he hears the kids outside and suddenly he is a sprinting, dancing monarch. The shift in his personality is so fast it gave me whiplash. 😅
The Queen is honestly the only one with any common sense here. She is trying to run a kingdom and her husband is out there playing tag in his velvet robes. I felt for her, even if she is written to be the ultimate buzzkill.
It has that rubbery, frantic energy that all these old shorts have. Everything bounces. *Everything.* Even the throne seems like it might start dancing if the music gets loud enough. It reminded me a bit of the frantic pacing in The Minstrel Show, though without the same level of weird baggage.
The music is... well, it is exactly what you expect. It is bouncy and happy and keeps the tempo up even when nothing is actually happening on screen. There is a moment where the King tries to act cool that is just deeply uncomfortable to watch. It felt a bit like watching a dad try to do a TikTok dance, just in 1933.
It is not as sharp as some of the other stuff from that era, like Edgar, the Detective, but it has a certain goofy charm. It feels like someone just threw a bunch of ideas into a blender and hit 'puree.' And you know what? It works well enough for seven minutes.
I left this feeling kind of baffled. Was it supposed to be a metaphor for aging? Or just a way to kill time? Who knows. It just is.