Trolley Ahoy (1936) User Reviews

Trolley conflict on the line

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 1 May 2018]

Van Beuren cartoons are extremely variable, especially in the number of gags and whether the absurdist humour shines through enough (sometimes it does, other times it doesn't), but are strangely interesting. Although they are often poorly animated with barely existent stories and less than compelling lead characters, they are also often outstandingly scored, there can be some fun support characters and some are well-timed and amusing.

On the most part, 'Trolley Ahoy' is among the best of the "Rainbow Parade" series, a hit and miss series of twenty seven cartoons made between 1934 and 1936. It's not great, but it's more than watchable as long as one knows what to expect before watching if familiar with the other "Rainbow Parade" cartoons. Knew exactly what to expect myself, being familiar with the rest of the series, and there are most of the same strengths and flaws, though with a few improvements, that one sees in the other cartoons.

There are strengths as aforementioned. Loved the animation, which has come on a lot since (human) Tom and Jerry and Cubby the Bear. One of the best-looking of the "Rainbow Parade" cartons. There is more drawing refinement to usual, there are some truly inventive shots and the colours appeal hugely to the eye while the backgrounds are elaborate and meticulous. Even better is the music score, it is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action.

Some of the synchronisation is sharp enough. There is a good deal of charm, a zesty liveliness and there are more gags than can be found usually in the series and they are generally (although a few don't hold up) amusing and suitably wild. The leads are great fun and their chemistry carries 'Trolley Ahoy'. It also benefits from not being as saccharine as most other "Rainbow Parade" cartoons.

Conversely, there are things done wrong too. Expectedly (somewhat), the content is very thin, not much to it in a pretty much plot-less cartoon, and any absurdist humour or surrealism present in some of Van Beuren's earlier work is generally present elsewhere. While not as excessively sugary as other "Rainbow Parade" cartoons and it doesn't leave a bad taste in the mouth, it's still a bit too cutesy occasionally.

Story is flimsy, non-existent actually (what there is of any is very predictable that surprises are none). It takes a little too long to get going too.

Overall, decent fun. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Pre-Familiarity Would Help

[redryan64 · 6/10 · 27 July 2014]

HAVING BEEN AN Aficianado of the Comic Strip & Comic Book as an Art Form, as well as a mechanism of mass communication, Fontaine Fox's TOONERVILLE FOLKS was known to us. Although commonly referred to as just THE TOONERVILLE TROLLEY, the proper title takes in so any other characters; whose mishaps, foibles and various idiosyncrasies provided the Cartoonist/Author with plenty of fodder for generating both Daily and Sunday laughs.

ONE SUCH CHARACTER was Mickey "Himself" McGuire, the tough little Irish street urchin, who was the toughest kid in town. We all may remember that there was a series of both silent and sound shorts of THE MICKEY McGUIRE Series that was both long-lived and a sort of rival to Hal Roach's OUR GANG Series.

THIS SERIES STARRED a young kid actor, one Joe Yule, Jr., who would later take the name of Mickey Rooney. Most know about the McGuire/Rooney connection, but most don't know that it sprang from the comic strip section of their newspapers.* AS FAR AS this cartoon, TROLLEY AHOY, is concerned, it is the middle installment of the troika of animation shorts that the Van Beruen Studios did for release by RKO Radio Pictures. As far as appearance goes, its use of Technicolor is outstanding. Bright and uplifting visuals are the order of the day, here.

AS FAR AS the laugh meter is concerned, it probably falls short in today's viewers way of thinking. The difference is probably not due to the time factor of 1930s vs. this 2nd Decade of the 21st Century; but rather that we are far more likely to be unfamiliar with the characters, the comic strip and indeed, the Crreator himself.

FROM WHAT WE can tell, Mr. Fox and his creations were almost as big as Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse were later. Although they were contemporaries, the TOONERVILLE Strip dated to the years prior to World War I and lasted up until the mid 1950s.

LIKE THE OTHER two titles (THE TOONERVILLE TROLLEY & TOONERVILLE PICNIC) the number of characters from the print medium were limited to the Skipper (the Trolley Pilot), his wife-"The Powerful Katrinks" and "The Terrible Tempered Mr. Bang", who was absent from the first production.

Humor May Be Dated, But The Animation Is Excellent

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 15 July 2007]

This was my first look at a cartoon "featuring The Terrible Tempered Mr. Bang, Powerful Katrinka and The Skipper."

Most of the humor was a little too dated to be funny but the artwork and the direction are superb, especially for a cartoon so old. I marveled just looking at some of these wild scenes as an old conductor tries to get the crabby Mr. Bang to his destination on time in this old trolley. Some of the action is pretty amazing, especially when a typhoon comes along. They had a lot of overhead shots and other good "camera angles" to show what was happening, which is why I mention the excellent "direction."

The trolley operator, known only as The Skipper, was a cool old guy but his big wife "Katrinka" was the star of the show.

The humor was pretty basic and corny but the rest of it was well thought out, meaning this cartoon has more going for it than meets the eye. Don't let the weak humor stop you from appreciating this effort. For something done 70 years ago, this is pretty sharp stuff, animation-wise.

Betting An Obnoxious Jerk

[Michael_Elliott · 17 March 2016]

Trolley Ahoy (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Mr. Bang, an obnoxious jerk, is upset that the trolley isn't on time so he goes to the conductor's home and begins to throw a fit. He then bets the old man $10 that he can't get to the station on time.

TROLLEY AHOY is the second film I've seen to feature the old conductor and it's certainly a minor step up in regards to entertainment. What really stands out about this movie is the quality of the animation, which looks extremely good. As with other films from Van Beuren Studios, this film looks terrific with some wonderful shots of the trolley in action and I loved the way the color is used. With that said, stories were never a strong point with Beuren but this one here manages to be entertaining thanks to the two leads as well as the wife.