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Better Late Then Never

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

After seeing 'Hoppity Goes to Town' for the first time a couple of days ago, it really stuck with me. Fleischer has done a lot of fantastic stuff, and 'Hoppity Goes to Town' is among their better and most under-appreciated efforts. Anybody who loves 'Gulliver's Travels' (count me as one) will love this.It is a shame that it was relatively forgotten, but very fondly remembered by those who loved it as a child. 'Hoppity Goes to Town', to a young adult who saw it for the first time on recommendation, has been one of my biggest pleasures recently and one of my best first time viewings in a long time. The animation is really wonderful, with lots of luscious colour, haunting but also dream-like atmosphere, imaginative and incredibly detailed backgrounds and beautiful drawing. The three-dimensional visuals are put to inventive and jaw-dropping effect.The music score is delightfully whimsical and rousing, while the songs are truly lovely and just as memorable as the ones in 'Gulliver's Travels'. The script has humour and pathos, without overdoing the comedy or dissolving into cheesiness and it is often very sweet, moving and heart-warming without falling into maudlin sentiment. Somewhat agree that the breaking into verse was not always necessary but it didn't really bother me.With the story, it is simple but incredibly charming and really warms the heart and uplifts and touches the viewer. The pacing is deliberate, especially in the first part, but never to interminable dullness, and the final act was pretty exciting. The characters are nicely done, with a very likable protagonist and a main villain that both intimidates and entertains. The voice acting is good too, with the always dependable Jack Mercer enjoying himself in particular.Overall, an animated classic that despite being fondly remembered is unjustly neglected. 10/10 Bethany Cox

The box office failure of the Fleischer brothers' second (and last) feature length animated movie has been blamed to the fact that the movie was released at the time when the United States entered World War Two. However, I think it wouldn't have done much better had it been released at another time. I will give kudos to the movie for being the first animated movie to be based on an original story. However, the story and the characters are extremely weak. The story is weak, very padded out despite its short running time. The main character of Hoppity is thin, like there being no explanation as to why Hoppity was away from town for a long time.However, despite the weak script, I do think there are some people who will enjoy the movie. Obviously, kids with their love of animation will gobble this up. And adults who have an interest in animation will find the movie has some amazing animation, particularly the excitingly executed climatic sequence. One has to wonder what the Fleischers could have accomplished had they spent as much time polishing the script as Disney did with the scripts for his animated movies.

Long before A Bug's Life or Antz there was Mr. Bug Goes to Town, a charming but flawed animated film from Dave and Max Fleischer. I'm a big fan of the Fleischers' work. Their Superman, Popeye, and Betty Boop cartoons are some of my favorites. Their first foray into full-length animation was 1939's Gulliver's Travels, which has its share of detractors but I like it a lot. I don't like Mr. Bug quite as much but it is worth a look. The story follows a community of bugs that live in a vacant lot. One bug in particular, Hoppity the grasshopper, is at the heart of most of the goings-on in this somewhat rambling story that eventually becomes about the bugs trying to save their home and Hoppity's girlfriend being forced to marry a villainous beetle.The animation is beautiful and charming but I found something off with this one. The voicework and music score are pedestrian and the general tone of the movie is a little flat. I'm not really sure if I can put my finger on it but the first forty-five minutes or so feels slow and aimless. It's lovely to look at throughout but the last half hour is the most exciting. Despite its flaws this is an enjoyable animated film that plays well to little kids, as well as adults who appreciate the craftsmanship that went into making quality animation back in the day. Unfortunately Mr. Bug was a financial disaster for the Fleischers and led to the brothers being ousted from their own studio, which was renamed Famous Studios by Paramount. Part of the reason for it flopping was undoubtedly its bad luck of being released two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. It's an interesting movie, especially for animation buffs, and I do believe it will entertain the right audience. See it for the lovely animation if nothing else.

Wow. I saw this movie and "Up" on the same day within an hour of each other at different theaters. I saw "Mr Bug" first, and was then totally disappointed in "Up"'s follow-up. What a beautiful and touching film! Movies of the 1930s and 40s to us nowadays can be irking with their melodramatic acting and dialog, but as animation the same melodrama and groaning humor can be wonderful. And the soft "organic" lines of 30s drawing AND the music just puts you in a nice comfortable mood and you can enjoy the show with all its little characters: ladybugs, grasshoppers, bees, snails, stinkbugs, flies, mosquitoes, beetles, crickets, and more each with all their own cute little (but not overbearing) idiosyncrasies. The interaction with the human world, from nemesis (cigar smokers, high-heel wearers, innocent kick-the-can playing kids) to the kind-hearted, and to the unknown destroyers, is realistic and fascinating. You care for the bugs, AND Dick and Mary. The protagonist Hoppity is not some perfect superman who comes to "set things right" but a starry-eyed optimist who leads everyone down the garden path (literally!), and every time you think it's going to end happily in 1930s style, along comes another roadblock...! I was on the edge of my seat much more than with "Up." I walked out of the movie theater grinning and chuckling: something that hasn't happened in a long long long long time!