Film Antics (1954) User Reviews

Kids & Animals

[boblipton · 6/10 · 2 September 2019]

A Smith called Pete produces and narrates this short subject in which we get to see children and baby animals doing very cute things, particularly bear cubs and baby chimpanzees.

Smith had been doing this sort of short for more than twenty years at this point, lending his trademarked snark, corny humor and weird voice to more than two hundred shorts. Most of them were comedies, a few were serious subjects. However, the economics of the movie industry had changed a lot in that time, and the corporate structure of MGM too. This is a cheap effort that makes use of mostly stock footage, and a brief black&white excerpt of a Tom & Jerry cartoon, produced by the studio's animation division. Smith's series of shorts would shut down the year after this short.

Kids 'n' Kritters

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 30 October 2004]

An MGM PETE SMITH SPECIALITY Short Subject.

The humorous FILM ANTICS of infants & young animals are screened.

This brief film, narrated by the wacky Pete Smith delivers some genuine laughs for the viewer. It's always fun to watch tiny tykes and here we get to see them parade, box, get diapered and become involved in a few daredevil stunts which today would get their parents quickly arrested. The small animals are cute, too, especially the baby bruins.

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Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.

Nice Short with the Exception of One Scene

[Michael_Elliott · 17 November 2011]

Film Antics (1954)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This is a fairly entertaining but 100% bizarre short from MGM and Pete Smith. Smith, as usual, does the narration as the subject is about animals and babies. The film starts off showing how babies "act" during certain things. We see images of children in a parade, in a boxing ring where one's shorts keep falling off and we see children looking at animals. For the animals we see how a bear drinks milk from a bottle and a monkey as he gets a diaper on just like if he were human. That's pretty much everything that happens in this 7-minute short and for the most part it's cute enough to make it worth viewing. There's a funny bit in the boxing ring where one of the kid's shorts keep falling down and exposing his butt each time he throws a punch. There's a funny scene where a little kid keeps falling asleep during a parade. There are even a few cute moments with the animals doing all sorts of tricks. Now there are some bizarre or strange moments as well. Towards the end of the film we see a group of kids in a theater watching a Tom and Jerry short. This scene is meant to show their "reaction" to the events going on in the film and you can tell by their faces that they're quite scared at what's happening (Tom is about to cook Jerry). It's also worth noting that the cartoon is shown in B&W here. However, there's one quick sequence that is perhaps the most horrifying thing I've seen from any movie. At the starts of the film we see a "trick" where a father is standing on the edge of a skyscraper and tossing his infant son in the air. At first I thought perhaps there was a back-screen with the fake image of them being in the air but it's quite clear that this is real. I'm guessing nothing bad happened but it's still quite shocking and sickening to see something like this.

Watching Watchers

[tedg · 8 January 2006]

This little "one reeler" is pretty transparent. It has one excellent thing in it and the rest filler, filler from cute kids and a few baby animals.

That one thing is pretty interesting. It films three year olds watching a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon. (MGM owns both T&J and this thing.)

As the segment of the cartoon places Jerry in peril, the kids are truly concerned. Aghast. They want to do something. They care.

We are meant to be charmed by their openness and innocence. But what it prompts is a whole series of rich and disturbing questions. Why should be charmed by watching terror? Will this be among the last time these humans will care? Why do we make torture cartoons in the first place? And what is MGM's agenda here?

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.