Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Dave Fleischer was responsible for many gems. Ones that were amusing and charming, though over-cuteness did come through in some efforts and the stories were always pretty thin, with appealing characters, outstanding music and visuals that were inventive and with innovative animation techniques.Ko-Ko similarly was an always amiable character to watch and among the better recurring characters in Fleischer's early work. Likewise, his series of Out of the Inkwell cartoons were among the best early efforts of Fleischer and silent cartoons in general. Fleischer may not be at his very finest and there are far better Ko-Ko cartoons than 'Tramp, Tramp, Tramp the Boys are Marching'. It is still pretty good though as long as not too much is demanded.The story is as thin as ice, not really one at all. Sometimes it's a bit pat and with little surprises. Ko-Ko could have had more to do.However, there is a good deal to like. The animated sing-along portion is fun and charming and the character interplay likewise. One expects the animation to be primitive and very low quality, judging by that it's the 20s when animation techniques were not as many, as refined, as ambitious and in their infancy. While Fleischer became more refined and inventive later certainly, the animation is surprisingly good with some nice visual wackiness and wit.Everything is bright and breezy and there are amusing moments, though never particularly imaginative. The characters are likeable. In summation, pretty good. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Looking around for titles to view for a poll being held on IMDb's Classic Film board for the best movies of 1926,I noticed a fellow IMDb'er mention a fun sounding animation film in a posting,which led to me getting ready to pay 'the boys' a visit.The plot:Noticing a black board,a clown stops by the board and draws a marching band which comes alive.Marching out of the black board room,the band head to a cinema where they perform a special song for the surprised audience.View on the film:Whilst the online version that I viewed sadly did not contain the films soundtrack,director Dave Fleischer was impressively able to make the lack of a soundtrack something that was pretty easy to overlook, thanks to Fleischer giving each of the band members a warm,rough sketch appearance which shines as the band hits their first note.

Just watched this silent Max Fleischer cartoon on the Internet Archive. In this one Ko-Ko the Clown is drawn in white chalk outline on a black board. He then takes that chalk and draws a band that marches through the city to a theater where he then takes out a board which has written on it an invitation to sing the title song of this short while following the Bouncing Ball. Near the end of the song, a cartoon of a prisoner then appears and replaces the Ball as it walks on the remaining lyrics. There was no sound so part of me was a little bored. Still, this was another fascinating find to me as an old-time animation buff. Oh, and there was a dog in the band. He looked like he could've been Ko-Ko's eventual pet, Fitz.

Always the innovators, the Fleisher brothers were making synchronized sound cartoons two years before Disney. The first portion of this cartoon is a primitive (and somewhat naughty) bit of animation. A soldier dog is visiting his girl friend. After playing some bed springs like a harp and dancing for her, he climbs in her window. When the bugle calls him back to camp he jumps out the window, his girl friend leans out to say good-bye and then his pants jump out the window to join him. The sergeant catches him and marches him to jail - apparently he is guilty of desertion. While working on the rock pile he discovers that he can play tunes by banging on different rocks. He then fashions a ball out of one of the rocks and it becomes our bouncing ball for the sing-along portion of the film where we are invited to sing the American Civil War song, "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the boys are marching." The animation in the sing-along portion is typical Fleisher - drawn well and very clever.