Fiddlesticks (film)
5.8 /10 1 Votes
Director Ub Iwerks Film series Flip the Frog Producer Pat Powers Language English | 5.6/10 IMDb Genre Animation, Short, Comedy Music director Carl Stalling Duration | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date August 16, 1930 Genres Animation, Short Film, Comedy, Family film Similar movies Related Ub Iwerks movies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fiddlesticks 1930
Fiddlesticks is a ground-breaking 1930 animated cartoon film. It was the first complete sound cartoon to be photographed in two-strip Technicolor, and was also Ub Iwerks's first cartoon since he departed from Walt Disney's studio.
Contents
The film was simultaneously released with King of Jazz, a musical revue, and was released with a cartoon depicting how Paul Whiteman, the music director of the film, "became the King of Jazz".
Plot synopsis
Flip is seen dancing on lilypads until he reaches land and dries himself off. He walks to a party, where he performs a dance for the audience, accidentally climbing to a spider web. He also performs a duet, playing piano alongside a mouse (who bears a striking resemblance to Mickey Mouse, which Iwerks co-created with Walt Disney during his days at Disney's company) playing the violin. They perform two songs. In the first song, the mouse starts crying, and so do Flip and the piano. The second song makes Flip start hugging the piano, which then kicks Flip. The cartoon ends with Flip beating on the piano; he kicks all the piano keys into the air, and they drop onto him.
Significance
Fiddlesticks was the first film in the Flip the Frog series. The sound system was Powers Cinephone, the same system used for Disney's Steamboat Willie (1928).
The unnamed mouse in the cartoon bears a striking resemblance to Mortimer Mouse, the original concept behind Mickey Mouse, both of whom were first animated by Ub Iwerks.
In popular culture
The cartoon appeared in the music video for Eminem's song "The Real Slim Shady".
References
Fiddlesticks (film) WikipediaFiddlesticks (film) IMDb Fiddlesticks (film) themoviedb.org