The Cookie Carnival (1935)
The Cookie Carnival Review
The Cookie Carnival is a 1935 Silly Symphony animated short that is solid in some areas, but weak in plot.
This short sounds very interesting on paper, but in execution, it is actually not as great and is mostly just serviceable. I guess that the story is an homage to beauty contests of the time, but that only makes it even more archaic than usual. The dialogue through singing is typical, the characters are forgettable and the overall storyline is never particularly inspired besides the idea in the first place which is solid. And I also liked the somewhat more progressive portrayal of women here in that the girl herself chose her husband which was a nice change in pace for its era.
What else is solid here? Well, the animation of course which is more than solid. It is pretty inspired at times with the character design particularly being superb and the colors being exciting and pleasing to the eye. The film is polished and very well made plus the score is solid. I only wish that it was stronger in substance.
The Cookie Carnival is exceptionally well animated, but weak in terms of storytelling and characterization.
