Pretty Good

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

"Jack Frost" is an American 8.5-minute cartoon from 1934, so this one is already over 80 years old, actually closing in on 85. The director here is Ub Iwerks and that's not from his very early days of filmmaking, but also for example a long time before his work was acknowledged greatly (even if without a competitive win) at the Oscars. Here in his 30s still he gives us a little tale of a young bear who may be slightly too much of an adventurous rascal for his age. But luckily somebody is out there to protect and help him from the likes of a Jack Frost who is at least as creepy as the ones with the same name in the horror films, even if he is just a supporting character. I am truly surprised this film was named after him as he really doesn't have too much screen time. But he is probably more memorable than the bear, I'll give them that. Anyway, this little movie is getting more attention these days again with Christmas coming up or I should maybe better make a reference to winter as the Christmas component is not existent in here. Overall, I was neither impressed by the story, the animation or the characters (except J.F.) and that includes the little bear especially. The film also came really short on the cuteness scale. I mean come on, the have a young furry animal and that's all the impact they make there? Not good enough. Watch something else instead.

Just watched this Ub Iwerks ComiColor cartoon on YouTube. It concerns a kid bear who defies his parents and decides to go out during Winter because of his big fur. The title character gently warns him but he keeps singing of how he'll survive because of his skin. Being from the '30s, this short shouldn't surprise when some inanimate objects come to life like some pumpkins or a scarecrow who in this case channels Cab Calloway! There are some touches of humor but this seems mostly to teach kids in the audience a lesson about staying inside when a snow storm comes. That's okay in this instance so on that note, I recommend Jack Frost.

Jack Frost is not quite one of my favourite cartoons of all time, but it is a beautiful and hugely enjoyable cartoon that's deserving of more praise. It's also one of those cartoons that I love and appreciate even more as a 23-year old adult than as a child.The animation in Jack Frost is absolutely wonderful. Not just the beautifully drawn wintry landscape, that sets up the entire atmosphere of the cartoon and its story so well, and the animation on the autumn leaves and at the end, but also some truly imaginative work in the creation of the snowman and the spooky sight gags. Regarding the latter, the pumpkins/Jack O-Lanterns part stood out. The colours are a lovely mix of brightly colourful and dark, the characters are drawn well with little roughness and no obvious over-cutesiness and the backgrounds are truly beautiful on the eyes.Music is a component that is very important to me when judging animation, or any film and such for that matter. The music in Jack Frost in no way disappoints, the little bear's song is adorable without being sickly sweet. In fact all the songs are lovely, with the standout being the irresistibly catchy one of the scarecrow, that song is also a lot of fun and the sequence itself is hilarious. The incidental scoring has a lot of haunting depth, rhythmic energy and lush orchestration, no surprise as it is from Carl Stalling whose work on cartoons was always consistently great, often elevating them to a higher level.Often, 1930s cartoons or very visual/technical cartoons are not so strong in the story department, which can have an afterthought feel(but when so many components for that cartoon are so good and when the story still has appeal that's easy to ignore). The story in Jack Frost doesn't come over quite as strikingly as the animation and music, but it does fare stronger than the stories of most cartoons made around the time. It moves swiftly, sustains the running time just right with little obvious padding, and is just a charming, hugely entertaining and poignant story in general. One where you can identify every step of the way with the little bear without being manipulated into doing so. The cartoon has some sweet humour, like with the scarecrow, and the darker parts with Old Man Winter and the spooky sight gags are very imaginatively handled, and in a way that didn't feel too much or out of place. There's even room for morals on obedience and respect, and while it could have been so easy to hammer the morals in a heavy-handed manner Jack Frost manages to avoid this trap, it also couldn't have ended more perfectly either.Characters in Jack Frost do a great job moving the story forward and making it as succinct as possible(children will be able to follow it with no problem and it shouldn't be too demanding for adults either). The bear is an adorable leading character without over-sentimentalising the story, as can happen with cute characters, while Jack Frost is similarly engaging and Old Man Winter in his brief appearance is a suitably sinister 'antagonist' without being too scary, in fact he's also fun in a very twisted sort of way. The characters are solidly voiced too.All in all, a beautiful classic cartoon and should be seen more often. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Jack Frost (1934) *** (out of 4)Ub Iwerks' directed this animated short about a young grizzly bear who decides to go outside even though his mother warned him that a cold winter was about to hit. I always enjoy watching the work of Iwerks because even today his images are quite striking and they're certainly unlike anything else that was out at the time or even today. This film isn't among his greatest works but I think there are enough unique touches that make the thing worth watching. I really liked the images but this here should go without being said. I especially liked the winter landscape as the bear wonders out of his house thinking that his fur is going to protect him. The scene showing the snowman being created was terrific and the imagination in it was excellent. Earlier there's a very good sequence with some dancing trees and the scenes with the pumpkins was also very good. The bear cub himself was a good and memorable character and his little journey has many cute moments as well as some darker ones.