Just so...so bad

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

"Skeleton Frolics" is a 7-minute cartoon from 1937 and a remake of Disney's pretty famous "Skeleton Dance" from 8 years ago. I don't really remember the original, but all I can think of that is different here is the inclusion of colors. Basically all we see during this one is a bunch of skeletons having a great time, making music, having a party etc. until day breaks and they all get back to where they came from. But don't worry. They will return the next day, or I should maybe say night. I do not find animation legend Ub Iwerks' film really memorable here. The only thing interesting to me is the way horror is portrayed here in cartoon, not a too frequent subject back then and today it isn't either, although there are of course exceptions. Still, 7 fairly forgettable minutes. Not recommended.

I really wanted to love this short, because it's by Ub Iwerks and it revisits one of his greatest projects from his first stint at Disney. It was enjoyable, but nothing special. There will be mild spoilers:This short is a poor man's Skeleton Dance. It is good, but has a few flaws which keep it from being anything more than an amusing variation on a theme, forever in the long shadow cast by its predecessor. The greatest of these flaws is the decision to do the short in color as opposed to black and white. Color robs this short of an atmosphere more appropriate for skeletons engaging in a frolic in and around a graveyard in the dead of night. The visuals are nice, but the situations are almost pedestrian given the tone created by the colors, which are too bright at times. Some bits are nice, if predictable because they were hardly novel even 76 years ago. Images of skeletons dancing or playing instruments are not exactly new and they really weren't new in 1937, You can be predictable and still be entertaining or even remarkable if there's enough there to grab the audience's attention. That really isn't the case here. It's fun to watch at least once, but doesn't really grab the viewer's attention steadily. Worth seeing, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Skeleton Frolics (1937) *** (out of 4) Columbia's Technicolor remake of Disney's The Skeleton Dance once against has Iwerks directing. This time out a group of skeletons come back to life just in time to do some dancing and scaring. While this isn't as fun as the original film it's still worth watching for several reasons. The biggest reason is the use of Technicolor, which really makes the skeletons jump off the screen. Iwerks uses the color to his benefit to make for some great visuals including his use of the orange colors. There are some very funny scenes including one, borrowed from the original film, where the skeletons come across a black cat. What happens is slightly different in this version but it still works well.

Walt Disney had vision and a grand horizon, but no one ever credited him with genius in the drawing and animation department. His early successes were due to this guy. Ub Iwerks. His 1929 "Skeleton Dance" was probably the first great animated film — clever in so many ways.Creative differences drove him away from Disney where he had his own shop for a while. But lacking the promotion skills of Disney, he floundered. Eventually he was to come back to Disney, Inc.But in the last throes of his independence, he remade "Skeleton Dance" in color and with some new effects he had invented. You need to see the two together, especially if you are a student of special effects in films.This seemed a bit sad: it referenced a work of art so original for its time it seemed pale by comparison and taking into account all the progress made since by others.Yet, it is nice and clever and important.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.