Buddy's Circus (1934) User Reviews

Circus time with Buddy

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 8 September 2017]

Now a fairly obscure character, Buddy was the second Warner Brothers Looney Tunes character, after Bosko and followed by Beans the Cat. Buddy didn't last long, being retired in 1935 after 23 cartoons starting in 1933.

Although Buddy's filmography is a mixed bag (the best cartoons tend to be decent but not great and the worst mediocre) and he tends to not be the most interesting or compelling of characters (while there are cartoons that see a heroic side to him, he tends to be quite bland), 'Buddy's Circus' is one of his decent efforts. It is not a great cartoon and there are better circus-themed cartoons around.

'Buddy's Circus' does have a good deal to like. The animation is nicely drawn and detailed. Music played a big part in the Buddy cartoons and it was essential for it to work. Luckily it has the liveliness and energy, as well as the lush and vibrant orchestration.

The supporting characters are quite fun, while there are amusing moments, there is more energy than seen previously and the gags are generally well timed. The voice acting is good.

However, Buddy is still a bit bland. 'Buddy's Circus' is amusing but never hilarious, with too many of the gags feeling derivative that outcomes are easy to predict.

As always, the story is mostly thin to the extent that one would be forgiven for thinking it to be plot-less. The second half does inject a bit of plot and it's done well. The first half could have had more excitement.

In summation, decent. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Same Old Gags...

[boblipton · 5/10 · 5 August 2008]

This example of the 'Buddy' series -- the dismal white kid invented to replace 'Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid', which was also pretty dismal -- looks pretty much like most of the early Merrie Melodies. They even use a lot of the same gags as the others, including the turning octopus gag that turned up in at least three of the Bosko cartoons. There is also a brief plot as a child turns up missing at the circus.

But this one, although no world beater by any means, seems to me to be better than any of the other 'Buddy' cartoons I have seen. There is an energy and push to the movement that most of the others lack. The gags also seem to be slightly better paced. The whole thing is watchable.

For fans of Racism and of watching Babies-in-Peril . . .

[oscaralbert · 5/10 · 13 October 2016]

. . . BUDDY'S CIRCUS certainly will tickle your fancy. Members of the self-proclaimed Pachydermic P - - - y-Poking Party will get a big kick out of the first four grossly Racist Black human sideshow acts (since they fit in so well with their Antebellum World View), highlighted by the "Ubangiphone" guy (slogan, "He plays a mouthful," that is, a full-sized .78 vinyl record fits flat over his tongue with plenty of room to spare). Donald J. Duck's campaign surrogates already are touting polls claiming that a majority of Black Americans believe that their ancestors were "happier" and "better off" picking cotton on Plantations during Slavery Days than they themselves are in Today's America, hinting that the Trumpster's "What do you have to lose?" challenge will produce an urban landslide for the chance to return to the "Good Ol' Days" of the 1850s. But BUDDY'S CIRCUS is an Equal Opportunity abuser, as the last half of it centers upon "Junior," a White-looking toddler-in-diapers who nearly gets inhaled, then stomped upon by an elephant herd before becoming monkey-in-the-middle for a pack of trapeze and high-wire performers, then ending up inside a hippo's mouth! From its promotion of cigar smoking to its encouragement of cannibalism, BUDDY'S CIRCUS just feels plain wrong in every way imaginable.