Review of Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941) by Kelly B — 03 Apr 2012

I'm a softie, I truly am.

The film, Mr. Bug Goes to Town is very cute, and doesn't quite prove captivating until about half way through. This is due to a simple story, about a community of bugs having trouble with humans. The humans walk through the no trespassing zone, onto their homes, litter lit matches, and cigarette buds (remember this was the 40's). Simple, effective, but is underplayed for the first half. One could say it was all build up, but it still doesn't quite mesh with the rest of the story following it.

The characters are pretty decent. You have your hero Hoppity, a grasshopper who means well and is destined to marry Honey. This does not please our villain C Bagley Beetle, who wishes to marry Honey instead.

Now, I'm not going to go into any more detail than I already have (too late). However, the characters don't really have any character development. Even the motives, roles, and otherwise intentions are again not set in stone until later on in the film. Regardless of this, they still manage to play along to the circumstances that happen upon them.

So, lets get this straight. I say its good, then I say it's isn't that great. I go back an' forth, yet give it a four star rating? Well why is that?

To be honest, regardless how wishy washy this film may be. It still was enjoyable, there was some connection one could make to the story. Even though it hasn't aged well, the message is one any could understand. What's the message? Well, it's all a matter of perspective. Hope that'll help.

Considering this was released the same year as Dumbo, and the Reluctant Dragon. I'd say it did pretty well, for what it's worth.