Clobbered By a Star

Attractive characters with heads and bodies based on circles? Maybe at Disney, or Harman-Ising, or Lantz. But not at the Paul Terry-Frank Moser studio in 1930.

In Jumping Beans (1930), a mouse rides a horse. Even in this low-resolution version, we can see the odd, impossible contortions of the valiant steed.



We interrupt what plot there is for a gag. The horse bucks off the mouse, and is quite pleased as he gallops out of the scene. The usual stars develop over the unconscious mouse’s head.



A crow flies into the scene from a distance.



Being a cartoon crow, he whips out some mallets and starts playing the stars like a xylophone.



One of the stars doesn’t like being bashed, so it flies up and rams the crow in the butt and out of the scene. It develops an angry face.



You can count on the 1930 Audio-Cinema versions of Terry cartoons to include:

● Lots of cats and mice. And we mean lots.
● Characters riding or marching.
● An elephant in a gag.
● Characters running into the distance.
● Lots of cycle animation. And we mean lots.
● A song.

The lyrics at the start of this one:

Male Mouse: Hello, hot tamale, how are you today?
Female House: I’m okay, sweetie, in my hot tamale way.
Male Mouse: I’m your boy-friend, lover, and it’s you I’d like to see.
Female Mouse: So, make it snappy, honey, and before we (something or other).

Well, I think they’re the lyrics. The guy in falsetto is singing for the woman, and the soundtrack is about 100 years old. They are wearing sombreros but neither has a Mexican accent.

Motion Picture News of Oct. 25, 1930 grumbled:

Jumping Beans
(Terry-Toon—Educational)
Weak Cartoon
THIS is pretty shy on laughs or funny gags. As the title indicates it is a Mexican border affair, built around the effects of eating jumping beans. Terry has turned out so much better stuff that this one suffers plenty by comparison. Can’t handle it much. Running time, 11 minutes.
Use with good support

The Film Daily had a different opinion. Its review from Oct. 26:

“Jumping Beans”
Educational. Time, 9 mins.
Neat Cartoon
A Paul Terry-Toon exploiting a cowboy hero who feeds the villain jellybeans with disastrous but hilarious consequences. The incidental music by Philip Scheib is real harmony, and enhances the funny cartoon antics and increases the laugh voltage. Clever animation, up to the standard of this series.

Harrison’s Report of Nov. 8, 1930 says it was 5½ minutes and released Nov. 2.