Happy Harmonies "Bottles" episode is a true classic

Children growing up in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s probably never thought about the origin of the cartoons they enjoyed or how long they had been around. I caught an episode of TOM and JERRY recently on MeTV Saturday morning cartoons. One animated short that came on brought back fond memories for me, It was a Happy Harmony short titled BOTTLES and I was stunned to find out it was created in 1936. It's hard to believe that 2021 year marks 85 years of this classic short.

There is something mystical and magical to these old school classics that have not been replicated or duplicated with today's offerings for cartoons. BOTTLES was created by Hugh Harman for which the cartoons were named and Rudolph Ising for METRO GOLDWIN MAYER. The animated short begins on a dark and stormy night, outside a Pharmacy. This animated feature mixes humor, fantasy, and darkness in a manner that is not overwhelming for young children although everyone will not agree.

When the scene goes inside the pharmacy dark creepy music is playing and there is an elderly pharmacist seated on a stool. He is mixing chemicals and pouring them into a glass bottle that has a skeleton head for a top. This represents a skull and crossbones which serves as a warning label that the contents are poisonous. Once the pharmacist falls asleep, the bottle comes to life and turns into an actual skeleton who cackles and screams "Death walks tonight!".

The skeleton removes his head which is the stopper and using it like an eyedropper pours the mixture on the sleeping man who begins to shrink. The pharmacist wakes up and is alarmed that he has shrunk and begins to look around his setting. Every bottle in the pharmacy is now living and moving and this is where the magic begins. Three baby bottles wearing diapers are crying that nobody will change them and a bottle of Scotch becomes a jolly Scotsman who is married to the bottle of rum sitting next to him on the shelf. As he sings and dances he takes his wife by the hand.

There is a bottle of Absorbine and another of Absorbine Jr. who represents a father and son. A jar of vanishing cream playfully disappears and reappears, a bottle of smelling salts sniffs everyone who is nearby and a bottle of India ink turns into an Indian snake charmer who begins charming a tube of "Cobra Toothpaste" that turns into a live snake. A bottle of Listerine begins to gargle. and a jar of cold creme warms itself by fire.

A container of sleeping powders remains asleep as smaller bottles around it jump and play like willful children. it is all done to music and song that are pretty entertaining. This was all fascinating to me as a child and even today I found myself enthralled by the artistry, the creativity, and the tongue in cheek humor of this Happy Harmony creation. Throughout the 10 minute cartoon at various intervals, the baby bottles break out in their song of needing to be changed and the skeleton wickedly reiterates: " Death walks tonight"!

The pharmacist who is now the size of the items he used to concoct his potions joins the bottles in their merriment. Three bottles of Cuban rum sing a Spanish song, a pair of rubber gloves come to life and begin a tap-dance, and a bottle of Carmencita-brand powder along with a bottle of toilet water dance the flamenco. A pair of salt shakers become Dutch children who go ice-skating on a mirror while a bottle of talcum powder sprinkles onto them what is supposed to represent snow.

The pharmacist picks up a smoking pipe and begins playing it like a tuba and a bottle of shaving cream joyfully picks up a razor as it sways to the tune. In the midst of the fun, the malevolent skeleton has enlisted help from a small group of evil bottles that reside in the darker corners of the pharmacy shelves. A bottle of witch hazel naturally springs to life as an old crone looking witch, who echoes the sKeleton when she cackles, "Death walks tonight!"

Several bottles of spirits of ammonia open up to release a trio of singing ghostly spirits. The skeleton and the witch mix a poisonous brew in the pharmacist's test tubes and beakers as the ghosts fly across the room, stalking and then grabbing the pharmacist and take him to the skeleton. As the walking, talking, bones cackle triumphantly, the ghosts toss the pharmacist into a glass distiller that bubbles with chemicals. Powerless the frightened elderly man is sent hurtling through the twisting tubes of his distiller.

He is ground up in a mincer into tiny duplicates and split into tiny multiple replicas of himself, only to be sucked up in a syringe by the skeleton and sent twice through the distiller twice. The skeleton is cackling with an evil laugh throughout and eventually traps the pharmacist inside of a glass beaker. The pharmacist becomes tied up with rubber tubing as a pair of scissors, inside the beaker tries to snip him in two.

Finally, just when it seems that death will indeed have a victim, the pharmacist wakes up, normal-sized and still seated on his stool. He looks at the bottle with the skeleton top and snickers as he realizes it was all a bad dream and declares "Well Bless my soul." This cartoon classic is filled with charm, quick wit, and satire that will entertain adults as well as children. Please click on the above video and enjoy it for yourself. Baby boomers should enjoy this trip back down memory lane.