The Hot Cha Melody (1935) Online

The Charles Mintz 1930's Screen Gems version of Krazy Kat is rarely seen today. In the 1950's, it was all over the place. I recall the Krazy Kat logo with him in his "ta da" pose was the signal that the early morning cartoons had begun.

This is probably the best of the series. It has an easy to follow plot and that combination of off the wall gags and narrative shortcuts that gave it a Fleisher-style dreamlike quality, not to mention a catchy tune.

It opens with a scene at tin pan alley, song writing hopefuls coming in from everywhere, a pan across a series of windows where various writers are stealing each other's material and ending with Krazy Kat sitting in front of his piano stuck for an idea. A close up of his head reveals it pulsating and becoming inhabited by a devil. He wrings it out of his head only to have him appear full size in the room.

The devil steals a well-known Schuman composition and gives it a lively beat and modern lyrics. Krazy resists at first, but finds the song and the magnetic power of the devil's tail irresistible. He finishes the song as the devil literally walks out his window, down his building and to a statue of Schuman that conveniently has a radio in its base.

Even though there is no cut and the song was written less than a minute earlier, it is already a hit and playing on the radio. Schuman's upset ghost emerges and, using a strange stride with his arms waving in front of him, walks vertically up Krazy Kat's building into Krazy's room. The room is full of radios each playing a different artist's version of "The Hot Cha Melody", each of whom emerges from the speaker, Rudy Vallee, Kate Smith, etc.

Schuman wrecks all the radios until only a single radio tube remains with a face still signing the song. He smashes that and goes after Krazy saying, "You stole my melody, you stole my melody." Krazy ends up in the upright piano, buffeted by the strikers as Schuman plays another song. Krazy is bothered at first, but ultimately declares that this new song is a hit.

Bringing in Robert Schumann the Traumurai and having Krazy turn it into a hit is a wonderful idea. Of course, popular composers have been stealing from the public domain for decades. Even the classical composers stole from each other. Krazy is having trouble coming up with a song when he is visited by the devil. He resists but then falls for the evil one's taunting. But Schumann will have his revenge.

Just watched this Columbia/Charles Mintz cartoon starring Krazy Kat (who is very much different from the comic strip character created by fellow Louisianian from New Orleans, George Herriman) on Uncle John's Crazy Town blog. It tells of the cat in Tin Pan Alley trying to write a song. A devil appears from his brain and tells him to steal a Robert Schumann composition for "The Hot Cha Melody". While initially resisting, Krazy does take that piece and gives it a livelier melody to a resounding success as we see caricatures of Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee, The Boswell Sisters, and Kate Smith emerge from the radios Krazy has lined at his disposal. The devil then goes to Schumann's statue and summons his spirit who goes to the cat's room and says "You stole my melody!" over and over to him as he takes the piano himself, puts Krazy inside as the inner keys pound on the Kat, and as the tune plays, Krazy declares, "That's a hit!" as we iris out...As you've probably figured out from my synopsis, there's not too much plot and the short ends abruptly but the animation is good for the period and there's a few out there gags that one expects of this era like when the cat paces the floor, that floor makes a hole from the cat's smoke that results from the pacing as Krazy goes slowly down the room below or when after Schumann wrecks the last radio, that light bulb from inside still sings the title song until he too is destroyed! Pretty lively and amusing this cartoon is. So on that note, I'd recommend The Hot Cha Melody for anyone interesting in these obscure early talkie cartoons.