Even though Paramount Pictures started life in 1912 as Famous Players and made many famous movies over the last century, the 1941 animated gem "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" from Dave Fleischer was not very successful when first released, and in my opinion has been sorely overlooked and under appreciated ever since.
With songs by such luminaries as Hoagy Carmichael and the great Frank Loesser, and charming character design and animation, this tale of a garden of small insects uprooted by the construction of a modern skyscraper is a distant precursor of contemporary classics like A Bug's Life and even Up.
The story is a love triangle involving the screw-up grasshopper Hoppity, who gets in hot water when he convinces the group to move to a new site and is accidentally responsible for a fire which almost burns down their insect village; his love interest Honey, the ingenue bee; and the mayor and money bags of this micro-society, C. Bagley Beetle, who also wants to marry Honey and will stop at nothing to get rid of his romantic rival.
Known variously as Mr. Bug Goes to Town and Hoppity Goes to Town, it was out of release as a mainstream title for some time, and only last year surfaced as a dvd put out under the title of "Bugville".
There is an amazing night club sequence with electric colors and jazzed up drawing techniques that feel very modern.
And you'll leave humming tunes like "We're the Couple in the Castle," "Katy Did, Katy Didn't" and "I'll Dance at Your Wedding (Honey Dear)," music and lyrics by Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser.
Enjoy!
william
Two of the voices of Betty Boop Lent their voices for the Fleischer Studios Movie Mr Bug goes to town
Margie Hines Did the voice of Mrs LadyBug
where as Mae Questel Did the vocals for the Bee scout.
Posted by: Roeknows | July 04, 2010 at 06:02 PM