A Cartoonist's Nightmare
An animator dreams his cartoon characters turn against him.
A Cartoonist's Nightmare is a 1935 American animated comedy short directed by Jack King. Released on September 14, 1935, it is the 61st Looney Tunes entry and the first to feature Beans, marking the first time a Looney Tunes short did not have a human lead like Bosko or Buddy. The plot follows a weary animator (a caricature of Paul Smith) working late at a rundown studio implied to be Leon Schlesinger Productions. After drawing a dungeon scene with Beans and a goblin separated by a steel barricade, he falls asleep. The goblin comes to life, pulls him into the drawing, and drags him through a chamber of villainous portraits that come alive for revenge. Forced to draw a pit, the animator is thrown in, but Beans escapes the barricade using a saw hidden in a lunchbox, rescues him, and together they defeat the villains—the animator erasing the pit. The ordeal is revealed to be a dream; the animator wakes, erases the goblin and barricade, and draws Beans a plate of gelatin.
Animation historian Michael Samerdyke considers the short one of several 1930s cartoons "too scary for children," praising it as inventive. He notes Beans first appeared as a tough kitten in *I Haven't Got a Hat* (1935), and here plays a hero, giving a "nice heroic moment" for a character with a brief Warner Bros. career. Samerdyke describes the main villain as more gorilla-like than a goblin, with other villains from a "Villain Department" singing "The tables are turned" to the tune of "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" (1907). The cartoonist is rescued by his own creation, who saves him from the villains' clutches. The film's setting—a dilapidated studio resembling a prison—may reflect real working conditions at Schlesinger's. Samerdyke notes the interaction between a live cartoonist and a sentient character foreshadows *Duck Amuck* (1953) and *Who Framed Roger Rabbit* (1988).
Terry Lindvall and Matthew Melton analyze the film as a reflexive cartoon revealing animators' feelings about their craft. The opening shows staff leaving like "crazy people leaving an asylum," with the cartoonist obsessively working until he falls asleep at his board. Being pulled into his own drawing by a "hairy monster" resembles a segment of *Twilight Zone: The Movie* (1983) directed by Joe Dante, where a live-action character is trapped in a cartoon.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Jack King
- Animator
- Don Williams / Paul Smith
- Starring
- Billy Bletcher / Tommy Bond
- Music
- Bernard Brown
- Producer
- Leon Schlesinger
- Studio
- Leon Schlesinger Productions
- Distributor
- Warner Bros. Productions / The Vitaphone Corporation
- Released
- 14 September 1935
- Color Process
- Black and white
- Runtime
- 7 min
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The plot follows an animator, a caricature of animator Paul Smith, working late at a run-down animation studio implied to be Leon Schlesinger Productions. After falling asleep at his desk, a goblin he drew comes to life and pulls him into the drawing. The animator is tormented by a gallery of villainous characters he and his colleagues created, who force him to draw a pit and toss him in. Beans, the cat protagonist of the cartoon within the cartoon, escapes his own barricade using a saw hidden in a lunchbox and rescues the animator by helping him draw a ladder and greasing the floor so the villains fall into the pit. The animator erases the hole, and the ordeal is revealed to be a dream.
Reader's Guide
A Cartoonist's Nightmare is significant as an early example of a reflexive cartoon, one that reveals something about the art of animation and filmmaking. Animation historians Terry Lindvall and Matthew Melton note that the film draws a portrait of what animators feel about their craft, with opening scenes showing staff leaving like inmates from an asylum and a cartoonist obsessively devoted to his work. The film foreshadows later works such as Duck Amuck (1953) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) in its depiction of interactions between a live-action cartoonist and a sentient cartoon character. Michael Samerdyke observes that the film is 'very inventive' and 'too scary for children,' and that it gives a heroic moment to Beans, a character with a brief film career. The villains' song, sung to the tune of 'The Teddy Bears' Picnic,' expresses resentment that their creator made them sin, a sentiment echoed in later films.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is A Cartoonist's Nightmare?
It is a 1935 American animated comedy short released on September 14, 1935, serving as the 61st installment in the Looney Tunes series. Jack King directed the piece, which centers on a tired animator whose own drawings turn against him.
Who directed A Cartoonist's Nightmare?
Jack King helmed the short. He was a key animator and director working within the Leon Schlesinger Productions studio at the time.
What happens in the plot of A Cartoonist's Nightmare?
A weary animator working late in a shabby studio sketches a dungeon scene featuring Beans and a goblin behind a steel barricade, then dozes off at his desk. The goblin springs to life, yanks the sleeping man into the illustration, and drags him through a chaotic sequence of the drawn environment.
Why is A Cartoonist's Nightmare considered important in Looney Tunes history?
It is recognized as the first Looney Tunes short to introduce the character Beans. It also stands out for placing a human protagonist at the center of the story rather than relying on the usual cartoon leads like Bosko or Buddy.
Who is the animator character based on?
The tired studio artist is a caricature of Paul Smith, a real animator associated with the production. His rundown workplace is implied to be the Leon Schlesinger Productions studio itself.
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