In the first part of the scene below, there’s movement in every frame. Gravity (follow-through action) moves Miss X’s clothes in one frame, then her drawing holds in the next frame while Abou’s eyes combine and enlarge. The action alternates like that.
You’ll notice the eyes throb in a way; they pull back in a bit, then extend.
Miss X is on a held cel as Abou looks up and down, blinks twice, and his eyes pull back in. That part is animated on ones and twos.
Pat Matthews animates the dance scenes and they’re truly well done. Director Shamus Culhane uses only solid colour in the background in a number of places and, for whatever reason, has cycle animation of Miss X strutting, but you can only see the upper third of her body.
There are dopey, cross-eyed characters as well, so you know Bugs Hardaway had to be involved in the story.
Unfortunately, Abou Ben Boogie was the second and final of the Miss X cartoons. She was too much for the censors.
Those crops are part of the original film; I assumed those were done for the Castle Fils reissue. I’m sure those were motivated by notes from Joe Breen or one of his goons in the censorship office.
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