Scrappy In “Showing Off” (1931)

Scrappy In “Showing Off” (1931)
Scrappy cartoons are clearly some of my favorites. Showing Off (1931) is a simple and sweet cartoon in some ways, except for Scrappy setting Margie on fire. Oh, yeah, and spending about half the film smoking. It’s one of my favorites of the series and reminds me of the live action ‘kid comedies’ like Our Gang and the Mickey McGuire shorts from the same period. Like those early sound live action shorts, Scrappy and Margie have a little world of their own, with Scrappy trying to impress Margie with his worldly adult ways of smoking and dancing. It’s an especially well animated short – and like the other Scrappys from this period it has a series of pre-code surreal little gags. When Scrappy calls for a fireman in the audience, one shows up without another word, promptly ending the cartoon. I’m left to wonder if there’s a scene missing from the end of the film since that seems likely.