I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You

I'll Be Glad When You're Dead
You Rascal You
Betty Boop series
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Produced by Max Fleischer
Voices by Little Ann Little
Louis Armstrong
Music by Louis Armstrong and Orchestra
Animation by Willard Bowsky
Ralph Somerville
Studio Fleischer Studios
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)
  • November 25, 1932 (1932-11-25)
Color process Black-and-white
Colorized in 1972
Running time 7 minutes
Language English

I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You is a 1932 American Pre-Code Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop, and featuring Koko the Clown and Bimbo. The cartoon features music by and a special guest appearance from jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra playing "You Rascal You". The title of the film comes from the song, written by Sam Theard in 1931.[1] The film is now in the public domain .

Plot

After a live action introduction featuring Louis Armstrong and his orchestra, the short opens in the jungle, with Betty being carried on a litter by Bimbo and Koko. A horde of African savages descends on the trio, and runs off with Betty. Koko and Bimbo try to find the missing Betty, but end up in the cannibals' cooking pot. They climb a tree and escape, but are pursued by the enormous disembodied head of a savage (with the voice of Louis Armstrong). Koko and Bimbo eventually find Betty tied to a stake, surrounded by dancing natives. Koko and Bimbo help Betty escape by firing porcupine quills at the savages. The trio races off, hotly pursued by spear-tossing natives. The three finally reach safety after crossing a mountain, the erupting peak of which flings the savages into space.

Notes and comments

  • This is one of Louis Armstrong's earliest film appearances. Armstrong and his orchestra perform "High Society Rag" and the title song. The use of a currently popular musician represented competition with the contemporaneous music library accessibility greatly exploited by animators Hugh Harman and Carl Ising, when producing musically-synchronized shorts for the Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies series.
  • Inspired by the song title is the Spanish "Raska-yú", by P. Bonet de San Pedro and Bartolomé de Lete (performed by San Pedro and Los siete de Palma). It became a hit during the summer of 1943. It mixes the American "Rascal You" with Alberto Villalón's "Boda negra" lyrics. The Spanish "Raska-yú" remains a kitsch cult song.
  • A speedometer in Koko's tail at one point registers the Hebrew word כּשר (kosher).
  • Buck Woods, portraying a jazz singer in Reunion in France, a 1942 film starring John Wayne and Joan Crawford, sings this song in Paris nightclub during the Nazi occupation during World War II.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Shapiro, Nat. Popular Music: Volume 4 1930-39, Adrian Press, 1968. P. 64.
  2. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0940526/filmotype


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