This cartoon is part of the Color Classics series that Fleischer Studios did when they decided to try and out-Disney Disney, with varied degrees of success. This one owes as much to the lush musicals of the early 1930s as it does to any animated studios and has the typically grand visual effects that were one of the Fleischers best assets. Here, even when trying to be sweet and sugary, there's a little dart or two just to keep things from getting too saccharine. Good effort and one of the better Color Classics. I just wish they'd been more inclined to stick to their own strengths-the odd and wonderfully idiosyncratic shorts they did so well. In print on the Somewhere In Dreamland DVD set. Well worth watching. Recommended.
10 Reviews
One trip to the moon worth taking
TheLittleSongbird6 January 2015
Not one of Fleischer's masterpieces, but it's one of his most imaginative and towards the top end of his output. There's no fault to be had with the animation, which with the spectacular lunar landscapes and the lavish colours are a treat for the eyes and perhaps the most notable asset with Dancing on the Moon. It's also technically innovative, with the animated characters amidst the live backgrounds, it's evident that the model work for the landscapes was extensive and the rocketship is very cool indeed.
The music is very 30s, which certainly was not a problem because I adore 30s music. The score is whimsical and energetic while the title song is catchy(every time when viewing Dancing on the Moon, the song is in my head for days after) and plain irresistible. The choreography is highly imaginative and agreed somewhat reminiscent of Busby Berkeley but smaller in scale. Dancing on the Moon is never laugh-out-loud hilarious, but the gags are still entertaining and the visuals in the gags are quite witty. The story is cute, if less sentimental than a lot of other Fleischer cartoons, and charming and the animal characters have endearing personalities, always did feel a little sorry for the feline groom. The voice acting is good. In fact, Dancing on the Moon's only caveat(personal opinion, but it is also an opinion that is shared by others) is the ending, it is rather cruel and doesn't fit really with the tone of the rest of the cartoon.
All in all, not one of the best Fleischer efforts but highly imaginative(especially the visuals) and it is certainly one trip to the moon worth taking. 8/10 Bethany Cox
The music is very 30s, which certainly was not a problem because I adore 30s music. The score is whimsical and energetic while the title song is catchy(every time when viewing Dancing on the Moon, the song is in my head for days after) and plain irresistible. The choreography is highly imaginative and agreed somewhat reminiscent of Busby Berkeley but smaller in scale. Dancing on the Moon is never laugh-out-loud hilarious, but the gags are still entertaining and the visuals in the gags are quite witty. The story is cute, if less sentimental than a lot of other Fleischer cartoons, and charming and the animal characters have endearing personalities, always did feel a little sorry for the feline groom. The voice acting is good. In fact, Dancing on the Moon's only caveat(personal opinion, but it is also an opinion that is shared by others) is the ending, it is rather cruel and doesn't fit really with the tone of the rest of the cartoon.
All in all, not one of the best Fleischer efforts but highly imaginative(especially the visuals) and it is certainly one trip to the moon worth taking. 8/10 Bethany Cox
Ah, symbolism!
boblipton28 November 2002
Strange little animated fantasy about newlywed animals who take a rocketship to go "dancing on the moon", using all the Fleischer special effects. Doubtless the symbolism renders this full of Hidden Sexual Meaning, but that symbolism lifts it well above the level of typical, puerile animation of the era between Betty Boop and Pepe Le Pew.
One Dollar For A Trip To The Moon & Back!
ccthemovieman-123 September 2007
This must have looked pretty spectacular to audiences at the theater in 1935. The color animation is pretty good and it just has a lavish appearance to it and, as far as I know, most material on screen was in black-and-white, including cartoons.
We begin by spotting a big heart-shaped sign which advertises "Honeymoon Express To The Moon." It is next to a big rocket ship, which looked, by the way, very cool. This was the era of Flash Gordon, wasn't it? It reminded me of his old ship.
Hey, you can't beat the price for the trip: $1 to go dancing on the moon. Such a deal!
Cows, elephants, insects, giraffes, etc., are all on the ship, ready for a night of dancing. They are still in the wedding gowns and tuxes. The male giraffe tells his bride that this is a good place for necking and then she, with her longer neck, gives her Mae West impression with "Come up and see me some time." Other than that, there wasn't a lot of humor in here. One of the brides - a cat - was left at the gate, so to speak, so the husband pines away on the moon.
The music, which plays a large part of this, is right out of the early '30s Busby Berkeley musicals, except we had about eight couples dancing instead of hundreds.
In all, a curiosity piece but not funny and only mildly entertaining. The ending was awful and unsatisfying.
We begin by spotting a big heart-shaped sign which advertises "Honeymoon Express To The Moon." It is next to a big rocket ship, which looked, by the way, very cool. This was the era of Flash Gordon, wasn't it? It reminded me of his old ship.
Hey, you can't beat the price for the trip: $1 to go dancing on the moon. Such a deal!
Cows, elephants, insects, giraffes, etc., are all on the ship, ready for a night of dancing. They are still in the wedding gowns and tuxes. The male giraffe tells his bride that this is a good place for necking and then she, with her longer neck, gives her Mae West impression with "Come up and see me some time." Other than that, there wasn't a lot of humor in here. One of the brides - a cat - was left at the gate, so to speak, so the husband pines away on the moon.
The music, which plays a large part of this, is right out of the early '30s Busby Berkeley musicals, except we had about eight couples dancing instead of hundreds.
In all, a curiosity piece but not funny and only mildly entertaining. The ending was awful and unsatisfying.
like the rocket
SnoopyStyle3 October 2021
Various animal couples board a rocket ship to go to the moon on their honeymoons. It's one dollar per couple. The male cat gets on at the last second but the female cat gets left behind. The male cat gets very lonely as the other couples enjoy their trip. They return to storks bringing their babies except the cats.
It's a Dave Fleischer cartoon in color. It's a mix of animation and some real backgrounds with some shots of the miniature rocket. The mix is fine but it may work better as fully animated. The cat has to be the main character but he's not that compelling. He's crying in most of this. I do like the look of the rocket.
It's a Dave Fleischer cartoon in color. It's a mix of animation and some real backgrounds with some shots of the miniature rocket. The mix is fine but it may work better as fully animated. The cat has to be the main character but he's not that compelling. He's crying in most of this. I do like the look of the rocket.
Love this!
keatsy926421 August 2009
I saw this cartoon before work many years ago on a classic movie channel. The music and lyrics stayed in my head for years as I desperately searched for it. I didn't know what it was or who Max Fleischer was. I now own his whole collection. For early cartoon buffs, this is a delight! What an artist Fleischer was! I would recommend the entire collection to anyone who enjoys this cartoon. So much better than the technologically advanced but flat, boring cartoons of today! These do indeed take you to "Dreamland." On a warm night, when the moon is full, you can still see the little rocket taking off, for a night of fun and frolic way up there. Go ahead... buy your ticket.
A sad cat groom and a downer ending
waynel-597656 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The short goes like this, it revolves around various animal couples who seem to have recently wed and they all get into a rocket ship and fly away to dance on the moon. A cat couple arrive late and when they reach the rocket, the cat bride is left behind leaving the cat groom all alone.
Now the premise itself is perfectly fine, the song they sing is a lovely little ditty that I like to sing to my self on occasion. I feel with a lot of these shorts, they don't really have a plot, as a plot has a goal that the characters are trying to achieve, without a plot then the story is boring. Now for old shorts with lovely music, lovely animation and endless charm, this can be forgiven and can be taken for the nothing that it is. Just 7 minutes of joyful nothing and that's it. Nothing to hang onto just something nice to watch and nothing more. But this short is bit short on joy.
You see, the cat groom is sad to leave his bride behind, the other couples happily sing the title song and dance together on the moon, but the poor cat groom is so sad the whole time. It's like we're having fun only for it to go sad at like an instant. It makes for a very bittersweet viewing experience as I feel for the poor cat groom but I'm enjoying the happy animal couples and the song. But seeing that cat so sad and seeing him get beat up by his bride after the other couples got their babies from the storks just made the whole short not super pleasant and ending on a bad note.
I heard that if you look at it like the groom knows he's about to get beat up and when he does it's funny, but they play his sadness out all depressing like, and so seeing him without a happy ending is just makes me leave the short disappointed. Which is really too bad because if the ending was happy, then this would've been a great short, but as it stands, the ending makes the short rather depressing than joyful.
There is enjoyment to be had with this short thanks to the song and the animation, but unfortunately the sad cat groom and the downer ending just made the whole short just so hard to really like.
It's definitely worth a watch for old cartoon fans but don't expect the whole short to be super nice and don't expect a happy ending either. And that's what ruined this otherwise lovely cartoon.
"Dancing on the moon, with you in my arms"
If only the cat groom did...
Now the premise itself is perfectly fine, the song they sing is a lovely little ditty that I like to sing to my self on occasion. I feel with a lot of these shorts, they don't really have a plot, as a plot has a goal that the characters are trying to achieve, without a plot then the story is boring. Now for old shorts with lovely music, lovely animation and endless charm, this can be forgiven and can be taken for the nothing that it is. Just 7 minutes of joyful nothing and that's it. Nothing to hang onto just something nice to watch and nothing more. But this short is bit short on joy.
You see, the cat groom is sad to leave his bride behind, the other couples happily sing the title song and dance together on the moon, but the poor cat groom is so sad the whole time. It's like we're having fun only for it to go sad at like an instant. It makes for a very bittersweet viewing experience as I feel for the poor cat groom but I'm enjoying the happy animal couples and the song. But seeing that cat so sad and seeing him get beat up by his bride after the other couples got their babies from the storks just made the whole short not super pleasant and ending on a bad note.
I heard that if you look at it like the groom knows he's about to get beat up and when he does it's funny, but they play his sadness out all depressing like, and so seeing him without a happy ending is just makes me leave the short disappointed. Which is really too bad because if the ending was happy, then this would've been a great short, but as it stands, the ending makes the short rather depressing than joyful.
There is enjoyment to be had with this short thanks to the song and the animation, but unfortunately the sad cat groom and the downer ending just made the whole short just so hard to really like.
It's definitely worth a watch for old cartoon fans but don't expect the whole short to be super nice and don't expect a happy ending either. And that's what ruined this otherwise lovely cartoon.
"Dancing on the moon, with you in my arms"
If only the cat groom did...
Dancing on the Moon was an interesting Max Fleischer Color Classic
tavm20 March 2009
Just watched this Max Fleischer Color Classics cartoon on the Classic Cartoons blog. Like many of Fleischer's Technicolor cartoons of this era, this one has backgrounds of models done on a tabletop that achieves that 3-D effect of an animated character appearing in live-action. Here, those backgrounds are of moon craters. Various newlywed animal couples are singing the title song as well as, well, dancing on the moon (obviously, this was way before the historic moon landing of 1969 since everyone here is breathing healthy in space). Actually, a feline groom is missing his bride since she narrowly missed her ride. That's all I'll say except that while the musical number is pretty entertaining and there are some amusing gags, the final punchline isn't funny and in fact may be a bit too cruel for the young 'uns. If you're a Fleischer completist, however, I do recommend Dancing on the Moon for one look.
Apart from the unusual use of Cinecolor, it's pretty much crap.
planktonrules3 November 2012
I realize that my summary is VERY judgmental, but most of the cartoons of the 30s were, compared to those of the 40s and 50s, really crappy. Most tended to have lots of singing and dancing as well as cutesy characters. Edgy, they were not! "Dancing on the Moon" is just such a cartoon--full of cutesy characters and jam-packed with LOTS of singing from start to finish. Folks of the 30s might have enjoyed this, but you'd be hard-pressed today to find any kids who would sit still for this boring stuff! And, if you showed it to prisoners, Amnesty International would raise a fuss!
The cartoon begins with a god-awful song ("Dancing on the Moon") and it continues throughout the film. There isn't a lot of plot--just lots of animal couples taking a Buck Rogers-style ship to the moon where they cavort about and smooch. That is, all but a sad cat whose girlfriend is left behind. That's all there is to it--cutesy animals singing and singing and singing. Yuck. The only reason I even gave this one a 3 is because the Cinecolor (another form of Two-Color Technicolor) was innovative and interesting and, as usual, the Fleischer studio did nice quality animation--even if it did make most things look orangy and greenish and the plot was pure torture.
The cartoon begins with a god-awful song ("Dancing on the Moon") and it continues throughout the film. There isn't a lot of plot--just lots of animal couples taking a Buck Rogers-style ship to the moon where they cavort about and smooch. That is, all but a sad cat whose girlfriend is left behind. That's all there is to it--cutesy animals singing and singing and singing. Yuck. The only reason I even gave this one a 3 is because the Cinecolor (another form of Two-Color Technicolor) was innovative and interesting and, as usual, the Fleischer studio did nice quality animation--even if it did make most things look orangy and greenish and the plot was pure torture.
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