Load of rubbish!!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

I got curious about this movie after seeing pictures for it. Then I ordered the movie online, watched it , and I thought it is another great animated movie. Based on a musical that went on Broadway, this film is also based on the short stories by a fellow named Don Marquis about a newspaperman who jumped in the river to drown himself. He reappears as a cockroach, who finds out he can still type by jumping up and down on the keys of a typewriter. He then falls secretly in love with Mehitabel, the cat; an unlikely romance huh? He writes poetry to her and tries to keep her on the straight and narrow; kind of like Jiminy Cricket don't you think? But Mehitabel has a heart-throb, Big Bill the Alley's tom-cat (voiced by The Flintstones' Alan Reed), and is now Archy's nemesis.Of course, Mehitabel's romance with Bill ended badly and she promise Archy to change her wild ways. That is until she meet a theater cat known as Tyrone T. Tattersall. Archy then decides to commit suicide - again, until he came across Big Bill and told him everything. Meanwhile, at a theater, Mehitabel was being used by Tattersall to steal food for him, and thus ending her relationship with him. Then seeing Bill and Archy, Bill reconcile with Mehitabel to dismay of little Archy. Angry Archy decides to declare war in a George Herriman sequence; that is until he heard that Mehitabel had kittens of course, and "needs him." Oh! you folks will have to see it for yourself how it ends.So what can I say about this film is that it's truly a colorful animated Broadway musical with foot-tapping music and a top-notch cast. Carol was great as the seductive feline Mehitabel, I remember her vocals from "Happily Ever After" and "Thumbelina." I love it when she goes "Toujours Gai,Toujours Gai." I also love it when Mehitabel does a "Romeo & Juliet" monologue in such a jazzy zest, that I couldn't help but go along with Tattersall's aghast expressions; just for the fun of it. So overall I think this film is a colorful, comical, musical work of art.

Marquis wrote a daily column on "archy and mehitabel" for the New York Post in the nineteen-twenties, as a defence against the bottle and a job as a sports reporter.I read the Penguin collection of his "a and m" stories in the fifties,as an animator at the Disney studio. I tried to get the studio interested, but they were not ready for the earthy humor, and the scandalous goings on of mehitabel. Later when I had started up my own studio, Fine Arts Films,I saw the Broadway production,with Eartha Kitt,which was brilliant.I had met Carol Channing,(who I saw as mehitabel,--perfect gravel voice),and she agreed to do it.With that start,I could not fail.I found a sympathetic ear of a friend,Preston(Sandy) Fleet,who was willing to invest in the production of SHINBONE ALLEY by my studio,Fine Arts Films.By 1969,we had a talented group of storymen,designers and artists,some ex Disney and Warners.Joe Darion and George Kleinsinger,(who had done the stage musical version),did the final script and music.Eddie Bracken and Alan Reed came aboard,and that was it,except we found John Carradine,a great actor,was willing to play the part of that old roue' actor-cat, Tyrone.T.Tattersall.We stuck faithfully to Marquis,and a stunning sequence,"archy declares war", in the middle of the film,we animated in George Herriman's cartoon style,(he illustrated Marquis' poems),creating a world that Marquis lived in. Our film "SHINBONE ALLEY" has been honored as one of the all-time great animated movies by The Museum of the Moving Image in New York,as well as winning the Golden Phoenix Grand Prize at the Atlanta Film Festival of 1971.

Okay, so there's better (far better!) animation out there. And the music is to kill for. (Not 'die for;' kill for.) Not even Carol Channing can save it. But 'Shinbone Alley' is special in its tributes to a great writer, Don Marquis, and an even greater cartoonist, George Herriman. The story is true to Marquis's "Archy" poems; the depiction of the footloose Mehitabel is right on target. The newcomer to Archy and Mehitabel would do well to read some of Marquis's newspaper columns and poetry before tackling the film. The effort won't be wasted. The real surprise to me, though, was the cartooning style of Herriman, eminently featured in mid-film. It's a treat no Krazy Kat fan should miss.

"shinbone alley" is one of the most powerful and interesting animated features I've ever seen. It is also one of the most mismarketed animated features as well. The distributor, Allied Artists, states in this add that it is "SOPHISTICATED ENOUGH FOR KIDS".It is not. Kids simply won't understand the dark humor of the Don Marquis stories and the Mel Brooks-Joe Darion musical on which this is based. They'll also be brought down by the bleak tone of the film, which opens with what I'll simply describe as suicide, to spare your feelings. However, I highly recommend this film to older teenagers and adults. "shinbone alley" is a visionary wonder; kind of like "Yellow Submarine" combined with "Dark City". The story involves archy (voiced by Eddie Bracken), a lovesick roach who is the reincarnation of the suicide victim in the opening moments. (The title of the film and names of characters are written in lower case on purpose; one of the plot strands is that archy writes essays and poems on a typewriter by jumping on the keys; in his human form, archy was a lovesick poet) The object of his affections is mehitabel (Carol Channing), a cat who I'll simply describe as the town floozy. Basically, the film is about their friendship and various trials and tribulations."shinbone alley" is bleak, but what visuals! New York is used as a backdrop for various psychodelic musical numbers lifted from the musical. The songs are very good here. As in all great musicals, they enhance the story instead of being set pieces. The vocal performances are excellent as well, especially Carol Channing as mehitabel. I don't understand why most people are down on Channing's vocals. I think she's perfectly cast as mehitabel and is an asset to the success of the film. Eddie Bracken is also well cast as archy and I think he is responsible for much of the humor infused in the character. And Flintstones fans will recognize Alan Reed as the boss cat in the gang mehitabel hangs around."shinbone alley" is a wonderful movie, but I urge all parents to take my advice and not to let their kids see this film. It has parts in it that made me break down and I'm sure kids will take it even harder. But is a rewarding experience for teens and adults. **** out of 4 stars