Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2009

The Fleischer Brothers, New York City’s answer to that pesky West Coast Disney gang, had already created Popeye and Betty Boop when they came out with this feature-length story told from a bug’s perspective. This, mind you, was 60 years before A Bug’s Life or Antz. It’s reputed to be the first animated feature based on an original story. The plot has to do with a community of anthropomorphic insects whose habitat is threatened by a planned skyscraper. It’s also known as Hoppity Goes to Town, after the Capra-esque hero, unsurprisingly a grasshopper, who is given to outbursts of cartoon cussing like “Jumpin’ johnny jumpups!” and “Jee weeds!” Dig the names: his girlfriend is Honey Bee, her dad’s Mr. Bumble, and the rich capitalist lusting after her is C. Bagley Beetle, abetted by henchmen Smack the Mosquito and Swat the Fly. You gotta love it. Not quite a classic, but at least something you can take your kids to. It’s colorful and kinetic, and a musical to boot, with plenty of Tin Pan Alley bump, especially in one delightful nightclub scene. But the film failed because it was released just three days before Pearl Harbor.