Spooks (1930) User Reviews

The Phantom of the Repetory

[boblipton · 6/10 · 16 February 2010]

This early sound Oswald the Lucky Rabbbit is a mild send-up of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, which was enjoying a reissue at the time this came out -- a fine opportunity to do the cartoon.

At this point, Walter Lantz' unit was probably the best cartoon factory in the business and you can tell by the list of talent that later appeared elsewhere: Clyde Geronomi and Pinto Colvig both worked on the script and Colvig is credited with some voice work.

The net effect is a decent little cartoon, with the gags fairly mechanically paced, but well executed. If you have any fondness for any of the associations you should find it amusing.

okay and clever in the moment, but...

[Quinoa1984 · 6/10 · 24 November 2016]

1) Maybe if Milli Vanilli had watched this they would've been warned about the perils of lip-syncing.

2) This is a fairly shameless rip-off of what Disney/Iwerks were doing at the time (though I'm not sure if Pinto Colvig, who would go on to voice Goofy for most of his life, was working for them yet), down to this seeming more than a bit like that one short where Mickey Mouse gets told by the Grim Reaper to play the piano: "I c-c-c-can't play!" "PLAY!" "Y-y-y-yes, ma'am." There's even a side character that looks like Mickey. Not to mention Universal took Oswald away from Disney a couple years before this and kept at it anyway. I know that it might seem unfair to compare another short to Disney from the period as if he and Iwerks were the only ones making animated movies, but having gone through almost all of the early shorts Disney/Iwers were doing at the time, the similarities are uncanny (aside from that one specific example, the short with the Halloween theme in the graveyard has a similar tone). So I suspect it was a conscious attempt at doing what Disney was getting successful at, ironically after firing him.

3) As far as shameless rip-offs go, this had a good pace until the last minute so it's fun, though I wouldn't watch it again.

Phantom of the Hoppera

[gengar843 · 7/10 · 7 November 2021]

THE STORY & GENRE -- Oswald Rabbit meets the creepy Phantom. The only question is whether the Phantom is a ghost or not. I have it as a question mark. From Walter Lantz.

THE VERDICT -- Silly but engrossing.

FREE ONLINE -- Yes.

I'd hate to see the chicken that egg came out of!

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 7/10 · 26 December 2014]

This to me feels like it really should have been one of the early more surrealist Betty Boop cartoons as the more Gothic and weird parts of it are much more suited to the style of her freaky little world than the thoroughly lame Oswald Rabbit.. Some of the opening images are to me very familiar indeed by now, and look as though they're almost directly lifted from the Silly Symphonies' classic "The Skeleton Dance". But unlike that and many others of the joyously bizarre and twisted vintage cartoon shorts that I greatly loved getting into a while ago(I think I watched them all!), this'n isn't really about spooky frenetic strangeness, it's more a series of random nonsensical visual gag jokes that are accompanied by the constant incoherent shrill yammering of the characters. I freakin' swear, at points it's totally like this cartoon is deliberately trying to be as irritating and obnoxious as possible! Very poorly done voicing for the most part, and some rather noticeably stilted animation, but thankfully it picks up a lot and to me is saved by the last couple of minutes when a villain who is clearly a Phantom of the Opera parody appears, and I thought the best animation of the short was done with him. There's a great eye-catching charm to his simplistic design, and I loved the flowing effect of his cloak as he morphs and looks almost like a blob of ink as he chases down Oswald only to end up telling him one truly scary joke! It kinda came off like they forgot how to give it a real ending, but I loved how it concluded in such a crazy and unexpected way, it capped-off the short very nicely and made for a great little punchline. I guess some things may not be as scary as they seem.. It was definitely one of the more rough-around-the-edges old cartoon oddities that I've ever seen, and I think it could have done with being a little more scarier and mean-spirited, but it was still entertaining enough and was worth the time. Pretty decent for an Oswald show.. I do believe in Spooks, I do believe in Spooks, I do-I-do-I-do!!!

Okay, but too many weak gags, less than crisp pacing and consistent spooks

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 9 June 2017]

Despite Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and his cartoons being popular and well received at the time, they have been vastly overshadowed over time by succeeding animation characters. It is a shame as, while not cartoon masterpieces, they are fascinating for anybody wanting to see what very old animation looked like.

Not all the Walter Lantz Oswald cartoons are good representations of Oswald or Lantz, a few for historical interest only. Some are good however. 'Spooks' is really not either at their best, though they've certainly done far worse. It's an okay and slightly above average (but only just) cartoon but wildly uneven. Nowhere near close to the best of the Disney and Winkler era cartoons, the best of which are very good.

Sound quality for a cartoon so old and techniques still in its early days is not as primitive as it could have been. Oswald is very endearing and there are nice kooky characters.

It's music is as energetic as ever too, and Oswald is endearing. The animation is quite good, pretty detailed, not as crude as in some of the Lantz Oswald cartoons and Oswald's movements, expressions and gestures are well done. There are two good gags, one with a skeleton and one with a songstress.

Too many of the rest of the gags are not particularly funny and pretty weak, due to mechanical execution, going on for too long, hence what is meant by less than crisp pacing, and being short on wit and action. It does make what little of the story drag.

At times there is a spooky atmosphere but it doesn't come consistently, the cartoon needed sharper timing.

Overall, okay but uneven. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Last month's poll of the French Literature . . .

[pixrox1 · 8/10 · 21 February 2023]

. . . Instructors and Professors Society revealed that these experts consider SPOOKS still to be the most faithful film adaptation of Gas Bag Le R-o-u-x's celebrated 1909-10 tome. The FLIPS crowd laud SPOOKS for not only being True to PHANTOM's letters, but also to its Spirit. These FLIPS people particularly appreciate the genius of casting Oswald the Lucky Rabbit--voiced, of course, by Goofy--as Raoul, echoing the original author's optimistic prediction that the PHANTOM's mesmerized protege--and imminent opera soloist--Christine Day will ultimately be blessed with 17 children and countless grand descendants. The way that Christine--or Kitty, here--unmasks the PHANTOM, and subsequently falls down through the many sub-levels of the Paris Opera House to land on the giant spider comes in for particular praise from Gas Bag purists.