Bobby Bumps Starts a Lodge (1916) User Reviews

rather clever, entertaining little cartoon

[Mary-18 · 7/10 · 7 April 2005]

I'm not sure why the ratings for this cartoon are so low. Sure, it starts out pretty blandly--Bobby has trouble pushing his goat into a barn. Surely even in 1916, an intransigent farm animal as humor was a little old hat. But I thought the exchanges between Bobby and his neighbor were delightful. Yes, Bobby's neighbor is drawn as a stereotypical black boy with poor grammar, but he's also a worthy adversary for Bobby and ends up saving him from a bear in the end. The animation is nothing fancy, but it runs smoothly, and the cartoon's plot twists took me off guard and made me chuckle, which is about the best that you can hope for in a mere 5-minute cartoon that's almost 90 years old!

Bobby Bumps Starts a Lodge starts cruel then becomes amusing

[tavm · 7/10 · 11 June 2007]

During much of the cartoon, I thought Bobby was pretty cruel to both the goat (I didn't like it when he jacked him up like that) and the black boy who is supposed to be his friend (when he blindfolded him and was going to have the goat butt him). But by the time the black boy was stuck on the tree with the bear between cliffs with Bobby on the other side and then Bobby was then stuck on a rope hanging on that same tree with the bear on top of him with each making truces, I forgave Bobby and was amused by the rest of the cartoon and the ending where they both get initiated into a lodge. You'll have to watch the cartoon on YouTube to see how it all ends. Worth a look for any silent animation buffs out there.

Exquisitely animated and I'm sure it will offend many as well.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 30 March 2014]

Compared to other animated cartoons of the day, "Bobby Bumps Starts a Lodge" is exquisitely done. The quality of the animation is tops for 1916 and features both shading and nice backgrounds--something you usually wouldn't see until a decade later. The story itself, however, might just offend.

Bobby is a little brat. When he sees a black child nearby, he offers to have him join his lodge--which really means he wants to torment the kid. Whether it's because he's black, I have no idea but I assume this will ruffle a lot of feathers today. However, by the end of the film, the other kid gets revenge on Bobby and they BOTH end up going through the painful initiation together.

While the message might be perceived as politically incorrect, saving such films is very important for your history. And, since this Bray Studio production is made so well, it's a nice example of what nice looking cartoons they could make way back when.