Like virtually all the animation departments and/or studios of the classic era, Iwerks incorporated caricatures of film stars easily recognizable to the audiences of the day. For the grand opening of Flip's new soda shop, various celebrities come out to wish him well (while visually quite good, the voices on several leave much to be desired) in his new endeavor. Before too long, however, a new party is heard from: a gentleman who would have made Liberace look like Sylvester Stallone strolls in. GLAAD would not care for this characterization overmuch. The fellow orders a drink and said drink causes a Jekyll and Hyde type of transformation in him and Flip's day is pretty much ruined. Flip's method of restoring the fellow to his original appearance and behavior is probably going to cause the more hypersensitive to cry, "Foul!" and call for burning the whole thing (or at least editing the offending scenes), but cartoons shouldn't be sanitized-any more than life can be. There are more important things to worry about than a 70 year old cartoon. Granted, it isn't my dog in this hunt, but I assure you, if the disabled were so parodied (and they have been elsewhere), I wouldn't think differently. Decent short, worth watching. Recommended.
7 Reviews
Several celebrity caricatures and a transformation are the highlights here. Very politically incorrect. Spoiler.
llltdesq1 November 2003
Warning: Spoilers
Soda Squirt was a pretty entertaining final Flip the Frog cartoon
tavm13 April 2017
As with the previous cartoon I just reviewed-the Krazy Kat one called Seeing Stars-this one is filled with caricatures of Movie Stars, in fact, many of the same ones that were in that one: The Four Marx Brothers (yes, Zeppo is among them), Laurel & Hardy, Jimmy Durante, and Joe E. Brown. One that wasn't in the Kat one but is in this Flip the Frog one is Mae West. Flip has a Grand Opening of his soda shop welcoming all these celebs (also including Buster Keaton) as his customers. One other customer is not a celeb but gets turned into a Mr. Hyde, the one played by Frederic March in the movie version from a year before this cartoon. His non-Hyde personality is a "pansy" which would probably not go well today though I was a little amused by it. Anyway, I thought this was pretty entertaining. So on that note, Soda Squirt is worth a look for any animation buffs out there. P.S. This was Flip's final cartoon.
Less laughs than you'd expect and a bit of a cheap shot, but still well worth seeing.
planktonrules23 September 2013
The cartoon begins with a grand opening. You think it's for a movie but it turns out to be for Flip the Frog's soda fountain. Tons of comedians arrive but ultimately the place is destroyed when Flip creates a concoction that turns one of the patrons into a monster....literally.
I really think "Soda Squirt" is a film that would not appeal to most folks today. First, there are tons of cameos by the best screen comics of the day--all folks who most people today would not recognize (such as Laurel & Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Joe E. Brown, Jimmy Durante, Buster Keaton and and Mae West) as well as Mr. Hyde from the Frederic March version of the Stevenson novel. Second, I am pretty sure the bit about the 'pansy' (code word at the time for a homosexual) is bound to offend. However, if you can look past this and you are familiar with these old personalities, "Soda Squirt" is a cute little cartoon--though I will admit, it is a bit short on laughs.
I really think "Soda Squirt" is a film that would not appeal to most folks today. First, there are tons of cameos by the best screen comics of the day--all folks who most people today would not recognize (such as Laurel & Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Joe E. Brown, Jimmy Durante, Buster Keaton and and Mae West) as well as Mr. Hyde from the Frederic March version of the Stevenson novel. Second, I am pretty sure the bit about the 'pansy' (code word at the time for a homosexual) is bound to offend. However, if you can look past this and you are familiar with these old personalities, "Soda Squirt" is a cute little cartoon--though I will admit, it is a bit short on laughs.
Hollywood Comes to Flip's
Michael_Elliott25 March 2016
Soda Squirt (1933)
*** (out of 4)
Flip the Frog opens a new soda joint and all the top stars in Hollywood come out to enjoy it.
This entry in the Flip series from Ub Iwerks isn't the funniest or best but it remains entertaining thanks in large part to the various celebrities who appear. These include Laurel and Hardy, Jimmy Durante, Buster Keaton, the Marx Brothers and Mae West. Film buffs should have a good time with this animated short since some very familiar faces appear. I wouldn't say any of the characterizations are great but they're at least entertaining. There's some fun creative stuff that happens when the restaurant gets torn apart that helps to keep it moving along.
*** (out of 4)
Flip the Frog opens a new soda joint and all the top stars in Hollywood come out to enjoy it.
This entry in the Flip series from Ub Iwerks isn't the funniest or best but it remains entertaining thanks in large part to the various celebrities who appear. These include Laurel and Hardy, Jimmy Durante, Buster Keaton, the Marx Brothers and Mae West. Film buffs should have a good time with this animated short since some very familiar faces appear. I wouldn't say any of the characterizations are great but they're at least entertaining. There's some fun creative stuff that happens when the restaurant gets torn apart that helps to keep it moving along.
Soda and movie stars
TheLittleSongbird7 June 2018
Ub Iwerks's Flip the Frog series of cartoons was short lived, only lasting from 1930 to 1933. On the most part the Flip the Frog cartoons are not great or cartoon/animated masterpieces and it is sort of understandable as to why Flip didn't make it bigger. However they are far from terrible ones either and do hold some interest, enough of them even being good.
Despite not being historically significant like 'Fiddlesticks', which other than that was actually to me a lesser Flip the Frog cartoon, was, Flip's swansong 'Soda Squirt' is still pretty good. Not one of the best of the series, but far from one of the worst. It is not perfect but there are things here that improve quite a bit and done much better than many other Flip the Frog cartoons.
A lot of good things in 'Soda Squirt'. The animation is very good, with beautifully detailed backgrounds, nice shading and characters that aren't drawn too crudely. There is some nice character animation here. The music makes even more of an impact, it is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, full of lively energy and not only adds brilliantly to the action it enhances it. Definitely the best thing about 'Soda Squirt'.
There are plentiful sight gags although the cartoon isn't necessarily gag-rich, and they are mostly beautifully timed and very amusing, even when unoriginal. Maybe not always hilarious but they hardly fall flat. There is a nice natural charm and a good deal of zest.
Characters are lively and there is a lot of mischievous fun. The pacing is generally secure and the film star setting helps hugely and used to full advantage.
There are a fair share of inventive and fun moments with some fun to spot and inspired caricatures. Familiarity with them is in order perhaps, but one is persuaded enough to know more about those caricatures and see their work.
Flip however is quite bland, although there were laudable attempts of making him interesting his personality generally wasn't compelling enough.
Furthermore, many of the voices are quite poorly done, particularly for the Marx Brothers. The ending is fun and suitably wild but tonally it jars a bit, the effeminate stereotype was not an issue for me.
On the whole, definitely worth a look and somewhere in the middle ranking it with the rest of the series. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Despite not being historically significant like 'Fiddlesticks', which other than that was actually to me a lesser Flip the Frog cartoon, was, Flip's swansong 'Soda Squirt' is still pretty good. Not one of the best of the series, but far from one of the worst. It is not perfect but there are things here that improve quite a bit and done much better than many other Flip the Frog cartoons.
A lot of good things in 'Soda Squirt'. The animation is very good, with beautifully detailed backgrounds, nice shading and characters that aren't drawn too crudely. There is some nice character animation here. The music makes even more of an impact, it is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, full of lively energy and not only adds brilliantly to the action it enhances it. Definitely the best thing about 'Soda Squirt'.
There are plentiful sight gags although the cartoon isn't necessarily gag-rich, and they are mostly beautifully timed and very amusing, even when unoriginal. Maybe not always hilarious but they hardly fall flat. There is a nice natural charm and a good deal of zest.
Characters are lively and there is a lot of mischievous fun. The pacing is generally secure and the film star setting helps hugely and used to full advantage.
There are a fair share of inventive and fun moments with some fun to spot and inspired caricatures. Familiarity with them is in order perhaps, but one is persuaded enough to know more about those caricatures and see their work.
Flip however is quite bland, although there were laudable attempts of making him interesting his personality generally wasn't compelling enough.
Furthermore, many of the voices are quite poorly done, particularly for the Marx Brothers. The ending is fun and suitably wild but tonally it jars a bit, the effeminate stereotype was not an issue for me.
On the whole, definitely worth a look and somewhere in the middle ranking it with the rest of the series. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Flip's Drug Store, Where The Celebrities Hang Out
ccthemovieman-120 May 2008
Flip is the owner of a brand new drug store, and you'd think it was the Academy Awards night. There is a spotlight, a red carpet and a list of celebrities that all show up for this momentous occasion.
We get the normal ones you'd see in a Flip The Frog cartoon, namely Laurel & Hardy, Jimmy Durante, Charlie Chaplin (or Eddie Cantor, I couldn't tell), The Marx Brothers (all four of them!), Mae West and a few I didn't recognize. Who knew that drug stores were that big a deal? Anyway, we see some clever ways Flip serves these famous people at the counter. The frog makes a total fool of himself over Mae.
Also inserted in this story is a flaming homosexual type. UB Iwerks often made fun of gays and had them look like the guy in here, so this cartoon will definite and justifiably offend members of that group. The gay guy drinks a strange potion and suddenly turns into a "Mr. Hyde" and demolishes the place before being squirted a "pansy spray" and returning to normal.
There weren't many laughs in here but it was a fast-moving, entertaining cartoon and it's always fun to see these old movie stars parodied. The Marx Brothers all trying to drink - with four straws - a soda, was one example of the topical humor.
We get the normal ones you'd see in a Flip The Frog cartoon, namely Laurel & Hardy, Jimmy Durante, Charlie Chaplin (or Eddie Cantor, I couldn't tell), The Marx Brothers (all four of them!), Mae West and a few I didn't recognize. Who knew that drug stores were that big a deal? Anyway, we see some clever ways Flip serves these famous people at the counter. The frog makes a total fool of himself over Mae.
Also inserted in this story is a flaming homosexual type. UB Iwerks often made fun of gays and had them look like the guy in here, so this cartoon will definite and justifiably offend members of that group. The gay guy drinks a strange potion and suddenly turns into a "Mr. Hyde" and demolishes the place before being squirted a "pansy spray" and returning to normal.
There weren't many laughs in here but it was a fast-moving, entertaining cartoon and it's always fun to see these old movie stars parodied. The Marx Brothers all trying to drink - with four straws - a soda, was one example of the topical humor.
I'm Gay and I thought this was hilarious!
mgconlan-123 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I'm a Gay man and I thought the final gag of this weird (in a nice way) cartoon — an effeminate man drinks a particularly noxious concoction from Flip the Frog as a soda jerk, turns into Mr. Hyde (as played by Fredric March in the 1932 version of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," though his pre-transformation incarnation looks nothing like March's as Jekyll), then gets sprayed with something labeled "Pansy" to turn him back (more or less) to "normal" — was screamingly funny. The whole cartoon was an example of the demented creativity of Ub Iwerks, one of the most unjustly neglected people in movie history, an early assistant to Walt Disney and the actual designer of Mickey Mouse. Iwerks got lured away from the Disney fold by one of Disney's early backers, Pat Powers (one of the slimiest characters in the history of American film), and set up in his own studio, where for four years he turned out some marvelously subversive and creative cartoons. Then the Powers enterprise went under and he came crawling back to Disney, where he remained for the rest of his career, never forgiven for his earlier departure but still important as the inventor of the Multiplane animation camera (which gave the illusion of 3-D to animation) and also as the principal special-effects person on Hitchcock's "The Birds" (Disney loaned him to Hitchcock for the production). And BTW, the person whose identity baffled one of the earlier reviewers is neither Charlie Chaplin nor Eddie Cantor: it's Buster Keaton, who at the time this was made was being teamed (much to his disgust) with Jimmy Durante (also caricatured in this film) by MGM.
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