Bobby Bumps Starts for School (1917) User Reviews

Early Animation Takes Form

[Calaboss · 7/10 · 22 October 2012]

This early animation effort from J.R. Bray Studios, New York, is a tight little five minute cartoon about a boy and his eventful day at school. Nothing really fantastic going on here, except that there were essentially no rules 95 years ago (as of this writing), and these guys were structuring what animation would become.

It's just black and white, pen and ink drawings with character words spoken in little bubbles, which is a method taken from print comics, where it is still used today. As simple as these early cartoons were, the animation is far better than the crude style of today's South Park cartoons.

Thank you TCM, for bringing these little known wonders to our TV screens.

A Landmark Animation Series

[springfieldrental · 7/10 · 24 July 2021]

Even though cel animation was invented in 1913 by cartoonists Earl Hurd and J. R. Bray, the innovation that cut a tremendous amount of time for constructing an animated cartoon really didn't take off until the introduction of Hurd's "Bobby Bump" series.

Previously to the pair's genius idea (they collaborated with the invention, took out the patent and became richly rewarded for their efforts), animation was a laborious project of drawing a multitude of panels, each one showing a slight movement of whomever or whatever moved. There had been slight modifications to that chore, but it wasn't until Bray and Hurd undertook the novel idea of drawing on translucent material, and stacking them up, that animated cartoons began to take off. Those panels showing movement would be replaced with the remainder continued to be pegged stationary to the table. For instance, if one person is moving in the animation, than just that one cel of the person had to be redrawn--and maybe just a portion, like an arm or leg, of that person had to be worked on. The innovation saved many hours for the artists as well as created more detailed backgrounds that didn't have to redrawn for every frame of film.

Walt Disney, as well as other animators at that time, paid Bray and Hurd for the use of their labor-saving technology until the patent expired in 1932.

Hurd, working with Bray Productions, gathered a team of artists to make his inspiration of a rascally boy causing all sorts of havoc come true. Rambunctious Bobby Bumps was partly influenced by the comic strip character Buster Brown, first drawn in 1902 by Richard Outcault.

One of the standouts in the series is 1917's "Bobby Bumps Starts For School." The seven-minute cartoon exhibits a day in the life of Bobby as he--really his mother--prepares (him) for school, Bobby's boredom sitting at a school desk, the teacher flipping over his grammatically and historically incorrect paper, and the adventures of both Bobby and his teacher over the school bell. We think today's kids have it tough carrying overloaded schoolbook backpacks, but Hurd shows us nothing has changed since 1917 when he draws poor Bobby carrying a pile of huge books belted onto his back.

Hurd eventually left Bray Productions to work his Bobby Bump character into the Paramount Pictures team before he gave up the adorable boy for good in 1925. He later worked for Disney, drawing up the Snow White design and Mickey Mouse animation.

Bobby is evil.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 21 May 2019]

While very, very few folks today have heard of the Bobby Bumps cartoons, back in the day (from 1915-1925) they were popular and pretty well animated for the time. Sure, the animation is a bit jerky when you watch it, but the shading and animation quality is good....and the films hold up pretty well despite being silents. A few days ago, Turner Classic Movies showed a bunch of them...including "Bobby Bumps Starts for School".

Bobby goes to school...and not surprisingly he's a bit of a daydreamer and pest. He's pretty much a pest in most of the shorts! And, not surprisingly, his teacher is NOT thrilled with him and his shoddy work. Well, Bobby isn't particularly thrilled with school as well and he does his best to avoid learning anything....and makes his teacher's day pretty awful....and he ends up in the hospital thanks to Bobby.

I liked that the doctor at the end of the short looked like Freud...though that alone is not the reason to watch this one. Instead, it's because Bobby was a jerk and was NOT a nice kid...which make them enjoyable. Worth seeing.

Fun and Imaginative

[Michael_Elliott · 8 November 2012]

Bobby Bumps Starts for School (1917)

*** (out of 4)

This animated short from the Bray Studios certainly isn't a masterpiece or anything magical but I think fans of the genre should enjoy it. The story is pretty simple as Bobby and his dog get ready for school and then we see what happens while they are there. I was really impressed with the animation here and especially during a beautiful sequence where we get a long view of the kids playing on the playground. There's so much action and so many characters during this scene that I really couldn't help but be impressed with the artists trying to do so much considering the technology of the time. The main character of Bobby was charming enough as he got into one mess after another and the stuff dealing with the teacher was quite funny as well.

Poor Teacher!

[boblipton · 6/10 · 20 May 2019]

Bobby Bumps undergoes the indignity of preparing for and attending school in this very amusing cartoon.

Making hand-animated cartoons is just about the most expensive form of movie-making. Every second of film requires twenty-four hand drawn images. There are ways of reducing costs; limited animation is the best-known one. That was the standard of animation in this period. Another is looping, in which a repetitive set of movements is repeated. Earl Hurd uses looping in this one, in the scenes set in the schoolyard during recess. Look at it carefully, and you will see the children doing the same thing, over and again.

The main gags are quite amusing, in the era's context.