73. Honeymoon Hotel (1934)

Release date: February 17th, 1934

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Earl Duvall

Starring: The Rhythmettes, The Varsity Three (Chorus), Bernard Brown (Bug)

Notice anything different? That’s right, our first color cartoon! Until 1936, the Merrie Melodies would be in Cinecolor, a two strip color method consisting of reds and greens. For comparison, technicolor was a three strip color process, and thus a whole array of colors were able to use. With that comes prices: Cinecolor was cheaper and faster, and Disney also had the rights to technicolor at the time. Cinecolor went out in the '50s, whereas technicolor isn’t commonly used today, but is sometimes used in films set in the mid century to convey the aesthetics of midcentury movies.

Enough history! The song “Honeymoon Hotel” would be a frequent score in Warner Bros. cartoons. Two doting bugs room in the honeymoon hotel, but never seem to find some privacy.

Look at those gorgeous colors! The cartoon opens with some bugs singing the titular “Honeymoon Hotel”, advertising folks to come to their very own home of Bugtown. The vocals are rich and beautiful and inviting as always! 

While the painters sing, we’re shown the bustling streets of Bugtown. Cars amuck, happy bugs frolicking, living in their teapot houses, eating in their toolbox lunch rooms, exiting a chamber of commerce pot, riding a trolley, even getting locked up in the city jail bug trap.

Elsewhere, we view our happy couple, skipping hand in hand. The man snags a spare pea pod and dumps the peas out, fashioning a canoe for him and his sweetie to lounge in on the river. The musical underscore is sweepingly romantic and gorgeous, like the climax of a Hollywood romance film in the '30s. The atmosphere is also heightened and appreciated more with the freshness of the Cinecolor and excitement of change and progress in the cartoons.

The happy couple go from smooching in a pea pod to exiting a church as a married couple, riding along in their car advertising their vow exchanges, the gag reused in Porky’s Romance.

We have a lovely moody shot of the honeymoon hotel at night as the ladybugs prepare to make their stay. Their car is anthropomorphized (like all cars), bidding them goodnight with an envious sigh. They check into the lobby, greeted with more happy verses of “Honeymoon Hotel” as the hotel advertises its facilities.

A birdcage elevator takes the newlyweds to their room, and they enter so happily, tipping the caterpillar bellhop graciously. But what’s a hotel without a serial peeping tom? The peeping tom peers into the keyhole, which is moved up to the top of the door with a hook from the inside. Discouraged, the tom sneaks around to other rooms, getting the same harsh treatment. A spit in the face via keyhole and a punch in the face via keyhole. Two hands from the adjacent doors reach out from their keyholes and shake at their handiwork as the peeping tom lies unconscious on the ground.

Back to the ladybugs, some attempts at flirting occur, interrupted by knocking. A few bugs sing some more of the eponymous tune, bringing in refreshments. A parade of housekeepers also bring in some bedding. The male ladybug finds the disruptions disturbing, asking merely for a goodnight. The staff bid them goodnight as they finally make their exit. Side note, I love the detail of the thermometer on the wall! (it’ll come into play later.) that’s such a vintage thing—actual mercury thermometers, or those like it, are rarely on anyone’s wall anymore, obviously replaced by the practical electronic thermometers. 

Finally alone, the bugs return to their business in private... or so they think. After a gag of all of the staff peeping in on the couple, the moon outside their window bursts into their love life, and unsuccessfully they pull the curtain down, it rising back up each time. The moon might just be a regular moon character, but his voice reminds me of the Jack Benny caricatures that would soon frequent the WB library. Anyway, look at that beautiful shot! The magic of the color certainly enhances this cartoon and adds to the excitement.

With much needed privacy, the bugs kiss. A heart pops up and rises into the thermometer above, breaking the glass and starting the fire alarm. I love the explosion of the heart, the experimentation with color is evident. However, and I know it’s a cartoon, the heart sparks an ACTUAL fire, a fleet of fire trucks racing to the hotel, which is now ablaze. I know it’s a metaphor for their red hot blazing love, but it lacks coherence, especially since there was no prior indication of any fire. Not even stray sparks to light things on fire. Nevertheless, suspension of disbelief! 

Gags galore as various patrons jump to safety on a water pack trampoline. One bug loses his pants, who jump right after him. A screwdriver serves as a slide for others to whirl down and get to ground.

Our main couple isn’t so fortunate. Fire blocks their every path, smoke filling the room and serving more as an imminent hazard with each second. With all the doors blocked, they run into the bedroom and seek refuge in the bed, that conveniently flips upward like a door.

The firefighters are no match for the blaze. The hotel explodes, a charred shell of its former self. All is gone...

...except for the ladybugs’ bedroom. The husband runs to the doorway, blocked by rubble, and slings a DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door. Privacy at last! He dives back in bed, the two winking as the bed flips back up. There’s a calendar on the bed turned door with a baby on it, which winks knowingly as we iris out. Innuendos! 

I know for a fact this is because of the newfound use of color, but I really enjoyed this cartoon! It was very cutesy and cozy, yet promiscuous at the same time. The colors were beautiful and a delight to see, the music was phenomenal and moody, animation good—nothing too impressive, but good, and the happy couple were likable and believable on their quest for some gosh darned peace and quiet. The whole love turning into a physical fire element is still slightly unclear and vague, but it’s a cartoon and the metaphor gets across regardless. It’s worthy of a watch! 

Link!