Pumpkin-bot Attacks
Y’know how there’s always that thing? The blip that suddenly appears on popular culture radar — something that has nothing to do with YOUR everyday life, but seems boundlessly fascinating to professional comedy writers? Pretty soon the damn thing is shoehorned into every skit, monologue or movie, and before you can say “that’s so day before yesterday” it’s gone again. Last year it was ’speed dating’ (and I’ve seen the 32 sitcom episodes to prove it.) In 1933 it was ‘technocracy.’
Whatever the real definition was, technocracy quickly became the buzzword for anything futuristic and a little nutty. In today’s cartoon, “Techno-Cracked,” that means building your own robot with a jack o’ lantern head. This gets my vote as one of the best Flip the Frog films, full of goofy ideas and great, chunky, Ub Iwerks style animation. The mechanical man starts off being kinda funny, but he’s got those spooky hollow eyes, and pretty soon he’s creeping us out bigtime. Iwerks’ favorite reoccurring character, the ubiquitous spinster-old maid (she appears in many of the Flip, Willie Whopper and ComiColor cartoons) pops up here as Flip’s employer. At least that’s what I think she is. Could be some sort of maiden aunt, his step mom, or school marm. Not sure. Anyway, Flip’s mowing her lawn when all the brouhaha begins, and is doing the same after everything blows over.
Science Friction Week on ReFrederator, movin’ at warp speed. Beam up tomorrow.
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