Cracked Ice Review

Cracked Ice is a 1938 animated short film from the Merry Melodies series. It is a pretty amusing short.

We follow some animals ice skating but when the bird falls into ice, it is up to the dog helper to save it. The dog carries gin with him and a pig is very jealous and wants the gin for himself. I loved that pig. Mr. Squeal is so funny. His voice is very much a typical 30s tough voice and it was funny watching him try to get the alcohol from the dog who is very cool and also quite amusing.

The problem I’ve had with the film is that the entire fish and trophy storyline in the second half is nowhere near as compelling as the dog and pig story in the first half which I wanted much more of. That was unfortunate. The animation is excellent and the character design is admittedly very strong. The film is not hilarious, but quite funny in its own right.

Cracked Ice is weaker in its second half, but very amusing in its characters and interactions, very well animated and also quite positively crazy.