- Animated Short Film
- Directed by: Ub Iwerks
- Story by: Ben Hardaway, Ub Iwerks, Grim Natwick
- Production Companies:
- Distributed by: Iwerks Studio.
- Release Date: August 13, 1932
- Run Time: 7 Min
- Produced by: Ub Iwerks
How Was It Made?
As with most animated shorts during this time, “Room Runners” was created using cell animation—also known as traditional hand-drawn animation.
Materials: Animators sketch each frame on animation paper. Once the drawings were finalized, they were traced in ink onto transparent celluloid sheets (cels) and painted by hand.
Film Stock: The final product was captured on 35mm black-and-white film, which was the standard at the time.
Camera Work: Rostrum (animation stand) with 35mm motion picture camera
All in all we have inbetweeners, inkers, painters, and camera operators working as a team to generate thousands of images for this 7-minute short. After all the photos were taken and sequenced, the film was edited into a completed reel—ready for projection and public viewing.
What’s the Short About? Who does it depict?
Flip the Frog is portrayed as a down-on-his-luck character who, unable to pay his hotel bill, tries to sneak past the landlady and a police officer during the night. Unfortunately, he is spotted, leading to a slapstick, cat-and-mouse chase through the hotel filled with risqué situations. While animated shorts of this era often relied on gags, the humor in Flip the Frog cartoons was notably more adult-oriented, featuring numerous scenes with scantily clad women. One memorable moment involves the landlady’s head bursting through a picture frame depicting a nude woman, while another shows Flip and the police officer peering through a keyhole to spy on a woman undressing. Rather than presenting a series of disconnected jokes, the short weaves these suggestive gags into a continuous narrative, giving the viewer a sense of direction and cohesion that sets it apart from the more random structure of other cartoons of the time.
An interesting aspect of this film is how Iwerks incorporated music, synchronizing the animation with the score. This was an innovation at the time, as both animation and synchronized sound in film were still emerging technologies.
How Was It Shown?
Like other Flip the Frog cartoons from that time, “Room Runners” was shown in movie theaters as part of a collection of short films that played before the main feature. MGM distributed these cartoons, taking over the release of most Flip the Frog shorts after acquiring the series from Celebrity Productions.
How Was It Received?
There is little documentation on how the cartoon was received at the time, but it is clear that after the introduction of the Hays Code in 1934—which established strict guidelines for acceptable content in motion pictures—Flip the Frog cartoons like “Room Runners” would not have been permitted. During its original release, audiences were likely entertained by the cartoon’s risqué humor and inventive gags, finding it a bold and refreshing short that pushed the boundaries of what had previously been shown on screen.
Todays Reviews from IMDb Views say
- This has to be the raunchiest pre Hay’s Code cartoon I’ve ever seen. I don’t even think Betty Boop showed actual boobs
- Oh Flip, you peeping Tom, you.
- Just adorable :3 I love the rubber hose animation style.
- I like how all these gags were connected to each other. I’ve never seen an early black-and-white cartoon do that before
- Flip the Frog trying to skip out on his hotel bill. When you see Flip, at one point utter “Damn!”, you realize that these cartoons were made in a time before ratings committees, and political correctness.
How Did I See It?
I watched it on YouTube and really enjoyed this short. Many times I thought, “OMG, they were showing this in 1932!” I really liked the pacing of the gags and how everything flowed from top to bottom. I stopped many times to look frame by frame at the landlady’s facial expression as she burst through the picture frame. Watching her go from extremely mortified to resolved and then covering up was a great example of exaggeration.
The next best moment was when the copper flew down the stairs feet first, crashing into the woman and hitting her breast, giving her a “boob job.” Instead of being angry, she was happy.
