Molly Moo Cow and Robinson Crusoe (1936) Online

Molly the cow is on raft and winds up being washed ashore on some island. A final wave transforms into a fist, picks up Molly and punches her inland. After reviving, the cow chows down on some bananas and now feels better.

Along comes a singing Robinson Crusoe, "all alone and free from terror." The lyrics stress how happy is is to be all alone on the island, free from any responsibilities. Then he spots Molly's footprints and freaks out.

After they meet, Molly couldn't be sweeter, licking his face over and over but Crusoe wants none of it. This trigger-happy crabby old man keeps chasing her away and she keeps coming back to give more affection. "This island isn't big enough for the both of us," he screams, and keeps shooting his gun at the poor cow.

The final minute or so was predictable. When Crusoe gets in trouble after cannibals invade the island put him in a big pot to make stew, Molly comes to the rescue. At the very end is a racist bit when Molly puts on black-face and Crusoe proclaims, "Friday!" and now everything is cool.

"Molly" cartoons were cute more than they were funny. She is such a good-hearted "person" that she's endearing.

This short was one of a series of shorts starring Molly Moo Cow. They were done toward the end of the Van Beuren studios existence and are uneven, ranging from just okay to awful. But Van Beuren's output was generally in those ranges. It was probably the weakest studio regularly producing short animation in what is commonly considered "the Golden Age" for the animated short. Only the Iwerks studio comes close to them in the race for last place (actually, that's not very fair to Iwerks). I want to discuss some details, so this is a spoiler warning:

Molly Moo Cow washes to shore on an island, the one occupied by Robinson Crusoe. Much of the short is Crusoe extolling the virtues of the solitary life, Molly trying to ingratiate herself to Crusoe and Crusoe trying to get rid of her. He finally succeeds-just before cannibals come ashore, capture Crusoe and dump him in a pot. From the time they grab him Crusoe is yelling for help (from whom is unclear, given that he wants the island to himself). Molly hears his cries for help and turns around to try and save him (given the fact that he repeatedly shot at her earlier, she has a most generous nature).

She manages to drive the cannibals off before Crusoe becomes the main course and Crusoe reluctantly agrees to let her stay (such gratitude!) but asks Molly what they can do to make things work. Molly dons black-face and Crusoe immediately exclaims, "Friday!". Thus all ends well-at least until Crusoe decides the fare on the island is bland and decides a hamburger would hit the spot. For Van Beuren completeists or cartoon collectors like me!

Molly Moo-Cow lands on an island that also has Robinson Crusoe on. Crusoe sings how he likes to be alone. He sees footprints that his thinks is some kind of trouble so he chases the tracks before he and Molly bump into each other. Molly licks his face indicating she likes him but Robinson will have none of it and chases her off the island. As Molly gets back on her raft, Crusoe encounters some natives who attempt to boil him. He calls for help so Molly rows back to shore and scares the natives out. Robinson lets her stay then asks, "But what will I do with you?" Molly puts some mud on her face which causes Robinson to say, "Friday!" as we iris out. Other than the singing of Crusoe and the natives, this short is pretty ordinary and that racist ending pretty much mars whatever other enjoyment you may have of this late Van Beuren cartoon short. Only worth seeing for Van Beuren enthusiasts.

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.

Of the twenty seven "Rainbow Parade" cartoons (a very hit and miss series, the best cartoons being decent and the worst being very weak), 'Molly Moo-Cow and Robinson Crusoe' is among the low middle ones. From the title, the summary and if one is familiar with the previous Molly Moo-Cow and "Rainbow Parade" cartoons, it is impossible to not know what to expect. Not unwatchable or without redeeming qualities, it just didn't do anything for me. Saw it really as somebody who is trying to see as many Van Beuren cartoons as possible, so that is pretty much the main reason to see it.

There are strengths as aforementioned. Quite liked the animation, which has come on a lot since (human) Tom and Jerry and Cubby the Bear. Despite the character drawing lacking refinement and some garishness which does give off a primitive feel, the colours appeal generally 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. Robinson Crusoe is a fun character and the one with the most personality, in fact the only character really with any kind of personality.

'Molly Moo-Cow and Robinson Crusoe' has a lot of things wrong and pretty much all the flaws are apparent in other "Rainbow Parade" cartoons as well. The content is very thin, not much to it, and not only are there not enough gags as such but any absurdist humour or surrealism present in some of Van Beuren's earlier work is completely absent. The cartoon is too saccharine and very cutesy in characterisation, some of the sugar excessive. The first part of the cartoon goes on for too long.

Tension and urgency is not much at all, but at least the more conflict-like moments are not too bizarre or jarring tonally. It's just pretty ordinary in a bland way. Molly herself is just not a strong enough lead character, even her playfulness doesn't compel here, while the rest of the characters are insipid. Only Robinson Crusoe makes an impression in a good way.

Story is flimsy, non-existent actually (what there is of any is very predictable that surprises are nil), and things really drag and badly. The ending leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

At the end of the day, it was very difficult to remember anything from 'Molly Moo-Cow and Rip Van Winkle' other than the animation, Crusoe and music and also that it is just pretty dull, bland and excessively cutesy with a distasteful ending. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Molly Moo Cow and Robinson Crusoe (1936)

** (out of 4)

Molly Moo Cow winds up on an island where she believes she's alone but soon she bumps into Robinson Crusoe and the two just can't get along.

This is the third film I've seen of Molly Moo and it's easy to see why she never became a star and has pretty much been forgotten today. Once again we've got an animated short that has some nice drawings and a great use of color but there's very little of anything else. Once again the Molly Moo character just isn't very interesting and you know you're in trouble when you don't like or care for the lead.

The whole premise after Molly washes ashore, is that she has somehow invaded Robinson Crusoe's island, getting in his way. He has murder on his mind for no reason at all. She treats him kindly and is there during a life and death event. Of course, all I can think of is the black face bit at the end. Let's face it. The Robinson Crusoe character deserved one of those bullets he meant for the inimitable cow.

Does anyone remember this cartoon at all?

I had it on an old tape years ago, I couldn't have been any older than five or six, and I watched it so much that I wore the tape out. It was sooo cute, even though it's well over 60 years old, I loved it, especially the bit with the tiny Cannibals!