Bimbo's Initiation (1931)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

"Bimbo's Initiation" is a black-and-white sound cartoon from almost 85 years ago done by the legendary Dave Fleischer / Fleischer Studios. In this one, Bimbo is the star and Betty only plays a supporting part. Bimbo gets invited by a bunch of mysterious men to join their even more mysterious group. Wanne be a member? Wanna be a member? And even if he refuses to, it seems like he has to go through a great ordeal, many dangerous and scary challenges in order to be accepted. however, in the end he quickly changes his mind when we see that all the mysterious men were actually all Betty Boop in disguise. Really strange cartoon, and unfortunately not too funny except one or two occasions. Not recommended.

Well, for starters it gets points for originality, that's for damn sure! It certainly seems there was once a time when cartoons were made for adults too. I love the way the jolly old-timey opening suggests a short that's going to be all rosy and sweetness-no way, Jose! This is one of those special and awesome Betty Boop shows that gives strong credence to the notion that all animators of the 1930s were on substances of a, oh shall we say, questionable nature! Like the best kinds of old toons it is dark, even spooky. And it's got that vital 'lil dash of the macabre-perhaps more than just a little this time! Everything is alive and 'kickin, and the sinister sight gags soon abound with swiftness. Mere moments in we get creepy morlock clans, scary anthropomorphic pointy things,(one just somehow knows it's a bad thing when the knife licks its own blade!) startlingly twisted and warped perceptions, inescapable rooms and a dog-eared slutty woman. Apparently at one point they were considering Betty being some kind of poodle-like creature. Must not have panned out. It's almost as if most of the gags were done by the animators just to show that they could. There's all the wonderfully random nightmarish nonsense that I do so love! ::: Horror show frat: see the brutal recruitment methods of the good 'ol days! When Bimbo says he doesn't wanna be a member, they make his life a living hell-literally! "Wanna be a member, wanna be a member!!?" I love that, it's so absurd and surreal. I mean, a member of what exactly? This is crazy cooky 1930s Fleischer cartoon land-who the hell cares! Anything can happen there...WHY NOT?! I love the cool revolving room with the many doors of mystery where every room has some gimmicky trap. And now behind door number one... And the show really takes off beautifully when it gets to Bimbo's final run through the tunnel of doom. It's like a ghost train. And I would like to point out that the brilliant door-within-a-door-within-a-door scene is the part of the cartoon that can be briefly glimpsed on a TV screen in Twilight Zone: The Movie! ::: Very well worth seeing for any fan of vintage animation or just for anyone who likes a little dark wanton with their toons.

"Bimbo's Initiation" is a hilariously surreal cartoon about Betty Boop's boyfriend, Bimbo the Dog. While the cartoon may not be suitable for children (but then again Betty Boop was- and still is- an adult cartoon, really), "Bimbo's Initiation" is one of those old crazy cartoons you just gotta watch.OK, the synopsis for "Bimbo's Initiation": The cartoon opens with Bimbo walking down the street, harmlessly enough walking over a series of manholes, when an evil Micky Mouse traps him in an open sewer! Bimbo slides down a tunnel and lands in front of a secret society of candle-headed weirdos. The leader asks Bimbo "Wanna be a member? Wanna be a member?". Bimbo of course replies "No!". The secret society weirdos then send Bimbo on his way (or so he thinks), but he really ends up in a sadistic fun house, with the secret society popping up every now and then asking Bimbo "Wanna be a member? Wanna be a member?" What I find as one of the strangest things about "Bimbo's Initiation" is Betty Boops design. In this cartoon she has floppy dog ears, but is still human (apparently Betty Boop was originally meant to be a sexy anthro dog. Anyway, the surrealness of "Bimbo's Initiation" is very well done, combining comedy with some scary elements, ultimately creating a beautiful nightmare very well worth watching.In short, watch "Bimbo's Initiation".

Bimbo's Initiation (1931): An early Max Fleischer cartoon starring the studio's pre-Betty Boop star, Bimbo. A strange, cocky, decidedly urban character, Bimbo went through many character designs and voices during his early films. By this film the little dog had settled into the design he would keep until he was eclipsed by Betty Boop's popularity in the mid-thirties . Like many of the Fleischer's Depression era cartoons, "Bimbo's Initiation" is filled with desperate characters dealing with an unstable, even hostile universe. After being swallowed by a manhole and locked in by a demonic Mickey Mouse (evil Mickey Mouses were rampant in the early Fleischer cartoons) Bimbo finds himself in a dungeon inhabited by a psuedo-Masonic group with chamberpots on their heads who chant,"Wanna be a member, Wanna be a member?" When Bimbo refuses, he is thrown into a labyrinth filled with surrealistic tortures while the Lodge brothers continue to chant, "Wanna be a member...?" Does Bimbo relent? Watch the cartoon and find out! No spoilers here!