Voices of Carol Channing, Eddie Bracken, Alan Reed, and John Carradine
Directed by John David Wilson
Music by George Kleinsinger; Lyrics by Joe Darion
Cockroach poet Archy and his alley cat girlfriend Mehitabel go back to 1916, as comics by Don Francks in the New York Tribune spoofing city life in the 1910's and 20's. The comics remained popular in the 1950's, enough for a concept album based around the characters featuring Bracken, Channing, and David Wayne to be released in 1954. It was expanded for the stage in 1957, retaining Bracken as Archy and with Eartha Kitt replacing Channing as Mehitabel. Despite featuring some of the first stage work of Mel Brooks and the use of animal characters and an integrated cast, it was not a success, but the songs and the original stories retained enough fans for British animator Wilson to try them as an animated film. How well does he do bringing the trials and tribulations of two very different animal friends to life? Let's begin with a splash, and the voice of Archy (Bracken) as he jumps off a bridge, and find out...
The Story: Archy's suicide attempt ends with him being reincarnated as a cockroach. He's horrified by this at first, until he figures out how to write poetry by jumping on the keys of a reporter's (Byron Kane) typewriter and finds a muse in alley cat Mehitabel (Channing). He and Mehitabel become friends, despite her going off with tough tomcat Big Bill (Reed). Archy tries to convince her to get a better job after Bill drops her, but she just goes off with shady producer cat Tyrone T. Tattersall (Carradine) instead.
Tattersall finally kicks her out when he's angry over her upstaging him by singing Romeo and Juliet. Mehitabel briefly ends up back with Big Bill, inspiring heartbroken Archy to lead the other bugs to a near-revolution. He eventually learns that Mehitabel has been abandoned with kittens and finally convinces her to take a respectable job as a house cat. Her children have a home, but she's bored, and Archy isn't allowed in the house. He takes up with decidedly unladylike ladybugs before he finally realizes that being a real friend means accepting your friends for what they are, bad choices and all.
The Animation: The sketchy style is pretty common for animated films from this era. The characters move very well, and the backgrounds in particular are quite detailed, with its depictions of down-and-dirty New York in the 1910's from an animal's point of view. The animation is bumped up for the musical numbers. Archy's attempt to incite his fellow bugs to revolt against humankind is drawn in the sparer style of the original George Herriman artwork, indeed looking like a hand-drawn strip literally come to life.
The Song and Dance: Terrific performances anchor this odd adult animated musical. Bracken comes off better (and a lot less annoying) here than he ever did in live-action, especially screaming for bugs to riot in that revolution number! Channing more than matches him as the wild and fickle kitty who follows her heart - and her libido - first and her best friend a distance second. Alan Freed is so good as self-centered Bill, you'd barely recognize him as the long-time voice of Fred Flintstone. The animation is limited but occasionally gets fairly creative, as in that revolution sequence. And honestly, just the unique subject matter of a poetry-writing cockroach falling for a wild-living alley cat makes this more interesting than most animated films from this era.
The Songs: We open with "I Am Only a Poor Cockroach" as Archy explains his situation and how he ended up in a roach's body. Mehibital and her ladies sing "Come to Meeoww" as their introductory and the introduction to life as an alley cat. Big Bill and his buddies have more positive feelings about their home in the jaunty ragtime title song. "Archy's Philosophies" covers everything from the human race to poetry, which segways in to "The Moth Song" as he describes what happens to a moth when they do "the conventional thing" and play with fire.
Mehitabel comes back after Bill drops her, determined as ever to say "Cheerio My Deario" and sing and dance her trouble away. Reunited, the two claim "Who Cares If We're Down and Out?" "Ah the Theater, the Theater" introduces Tyrone and shows him to be the fake we and Archy know him to be and Mehitabel doesn't want to believe he is. Her version of "Romeo and Juliet" is hilarious, singing her idea of the words and annoying Tyrone more and more.
The background cat girl singers croon a "Lullaby for Mehitiabel's Kittens," even as the mother herself laments constantly having to sacrifice her career for children. "Blow Wind Out of the North" finally convinces her to take a real job and seek shelter for herself and her children. "The Lightning Bug Song" is another bittersweet Archy story, this one about a flashy lightning bug who got above his station. Mehitabel is used to the wild life and gets very tired of the constant "Here Pretty Pussy" from her new owners. Archy ends up dancing with "Ladybugs of the Evening" when he gets drunk after his best friend throws him out, reminding him that roaches aren't allowed in the house. Mehitabel reprises "Cheerio My Deerio" when she returns to Shinbone Alley with her buddy Archy, then goes into the finale reprise of the title song.
Trivia: As mentioned, the stage Shinbone Alley was even less of a success than the film, barely lasting three weeks. It was filmed for TV in 1960 under the Shinbone Alley title with Bracken and Tammy Grimes, but only audio survives.
Director John David Wilson mostly did shorts in England. This would be his only feature.
What I Don't Like: No wonder this never seems to have worked as anything but a concept album. What audience did they intend this for again? The semi-cute animated bugs and their antics are for kids, but the subject matter - including two attempted suicides and kittens born out of wedlock to parents who don't want them - is decidedly adult. They couldn't figure it out in 1957 onstage or on film in 1970, and I doubt anyone could now. The songs are ok, not horrible, but nothing that memorable, and the animation leans heavily on the barely-moving sketchiness that was common in this time period. Not only that, but frankly, neither Archy nor Mehtiabel - or anyone they meet - are all that pleasant to begin with.
The Big Finale: If you can talk your young teens into an animated film with singing animals or are intrigued by the cast or are familiar with the comics this is based on, the performances here are good enough to make this worth checking out at least once.
Home Media: The DVD is in print, but is currently expensive. You might be better off looking for copies on YouTube or elsewhere.
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