Clara Cleans Her Teeth (1926) Online

CLARA CLEANS HER TEETH can be found, as I write this, on Youtube. It is, I suppose, a necessity for Disney fanatics. It is not a good movie.

Disney made a couple of promotional films for dentists in the silent era, TOMMY TUCKER'S TOOTH, and this one, starring his niece, who also filled in on the ALICE series for a couple of episodes. It is a very earnest short subject on the necessity of cleaning your teeth, and you see people brushing their teeth a lot.

This being a Disney movie, Clara, whose teeth hurt, but who refuses to go see the dentist, has a dream in which animated toothbrushes appear to her and scare her into going. Her teeth are filled, she joins the horde of obsessively-compulsively brushing children and the movie ends at that point.

In short, this is a lot like all those earnest Public Service announcements you got in the 1950s, which told you to duck and cover to protect yourself from an atomic bomb or to always signal when you made a turn, which would stop your blood from ever covering the highway: bizarre from a modern viewpoint, as will much of our concerns seem in eighty years. I would give it a 1, but its historical interest saves it from that dread fate.

Before he became world famous, Walt Disney was responsible for making such films as the Oswald, Alice and other assorted cartoons that are mostly forgotten today. Many times, Walt and his staff were close to insolvency during this time and they hadn't yet hit it big. In light of this, a rather dull little film called "Clara Cleans Her Teeth" is certainly understandable. They just hadn't hit their stride and did what they could for a few bucks...and it's pretty obvious when you see this instructional film.

"Clara" is a surprising film because it only contains about 20-30 seconds of animation. Otherwise, it's a dull little thing about the dangers of neglecting your dental hygiene. It's also a bit surprising because IMDb lists it at 10 minutes but the version shown on the George Eastman House website is 14.

The film begins with Clara spending time with some kids at a playground and they end naturally end up doing what all kids do--compare each others' dental hygiene. Clara never brushes her teeth and they hurt, but she refuses to clean them. However, later her father announces he's taking her to the dentist--and Clara is horrified. That night, she has a really lame nightmare with really lame animation (by Disney)--in it she loses her teeth. So, the next day she's thrilled about going to the dentist. Then, after many visits to the dentist (that they never show), Clara is now on the playground--with LOTS of new friends--all thanks to proper dental care.

The film is clearly intended as propaganda to get kids to brush. However, it is done in a rather lame fashion and I can't imagine it doing much to change children's habits. Poor animation and a listless story, this one is easy to skip and is only of interest to weirdos like me who will watch anything!