Animal firefighters put out a fire to the song "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight".Animal firefighters put out a fire to the song "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight".Animal firefighters put out a fire to the song "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight".
- Directors
- Writer
- Star
Photos
Jack Mercer
- Fire Flame
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Directors
- Izzy Sparber
- Dave Tendlar(uncredited)
- Writer
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Featured review
The almost big flame up
Have said more than once about being very mixed on this particular series of cartoons, from the interesting but uneven filmography of Famous Studios, and about not caring for a handful of the cartoons (like 'Spring Song' and 'The Stork Market'). There are others though that are above average and the best of them (such as 'Little Brown Jug' and 'Toys Will Be Toys'). 'The Big Flame Up' as a child on first watch was one of the ones that grabbed me most and charmed and entertained me.
On rewatch as a young adult, 'The Big Flame Up' still comes over as immensely charming and immensely entertaining and is definitely one of the best Screen Songs (top 5?). As well as one of the funniest and most energetic. One third of 'The Big Flame Up' is a bit of a disappointment, something that was the case with me as a child (even for somebody raised on the Disney Singalong videos and am still fond of them), but two thirds of it is brilliant.
'The Big Flame Up' has so many great things that vastly outweigh the not so good. As ever with the Screen Song series, the animation and the music are the best things. 'The Big Flame Up' is beautifully animated. The colours are vibrant and there is meticulous attention to detail in the backgrounds, there is some creative animation on the flames. If there was one aspect that was consistently good in Famous Studios' 1940s and 1950s output, it was the music scoring.
And it is outstanding here in 'The Big Flame Up'. The orchestration has a lot of energy and there are some truly luscious sounds throughout. The series has been very variable when it has come to its songs, but the one here is very infectious and characterful. 'The Big Flame Up' has one of the series' highest gag counts, the first two thirds are full of them, and it is one of the few Screen Songs cartoons where all of them range from very funny to hilarious, also wonderfully wild. The energy is as lively and wonderfully frenetic as they come and the tension increases to fever pitch in the middle. The characters are engaging. The story is nearly always very slight in the series, but the first two thirds sees more plot than usual and it's a very charming and fun one.
It is a shame though that the final third with the singalong is nowhere near as good. It is neither interesting or funny, with a lack of energy, too few gags and overload of sugar, and the action hasn't held up.
Similarly found the ending too abrupt.
Concluding, very good and great for two thirds. 8/10.
On rewatch as a young adult, 'The Big Flame Up' still comes over as immensely charming and immensely entertaining and is definitely one of the best Screen Songs (top 5?). As well as one of the funniest and most energetic. One third of 'The Big Flame Up' is a bit of a disappointment, something that was the case with me as a child (even for somebody raised on the Disney Singalong videos and am still fond of them), but two thirds of it is brilliant.
'The Big Flame Up' has so many great things that vastly outweigh the not so good. As ever with the Screen Song series, the animation and the music are the best things. 'The Big Flame Up' is beautifully animated. The colours are vibrant and there is meticulous attention to detail in the backgrounds, there is some creative animation on the flames. If there was one aspect that was consistently good in Famous Studios' 1940s and 1950s output, it was the music scoring.
And it is outstanding here in 'The Big Flame Up'. The orchestration has a lot of energy and there are some truly luscious sounds throughout. The series has been very variable when it has come to its songs, but the one here is very infectious and characterful. 'The Big Flame Up' has one of the series' highest gag counts, the first two thirds are full of them, and it is one of the few Screen Songs cartoons where all of them range from very funny to hilarious, also wonderfully wild. The energy is as lively and wonderfully frenetic as they come and the tension increases to fever pitch in the middle. The characters are engaging. The story is nearly always very slight in the series, but the first two thirds sees more plot than usual and it's a very charming and fun one.
It is a shame though that the final third with the singalong is nowhere near as good. It is neither interesting or funny, with a lack of energy, too few gags and overload of sugar, and the action hasn't held up.
Similarly found the ending too abrupt.
Concluding, very good and great for two thirds. 8/10.
helpful•60
- TheLittleSongbird
- Sep 24, 2021
Details
- Runtime7 minutes
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