Laughing Gas (1931) User Reviews

At the dentist

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 25 May 2018]

Ub Iwerks's Flip the Frog series of cartoons was short-lived, only lasting from 1930 to 1933. On the most part the Flip the Frog cartoons are not great or cartoon/animated masterpieces and it is sort of understandable as to why Flip didn't make it bigger. However they are far from terrible ones either and do hold some interest.

Despite not being historically significant like 'Fiddlesticks' was, 'Laughing Gas' for me is among the best Flip the Frog cartoons alongside up to this point 'The Village Barber' and particularly 'Cuckoo Murder Case'. It is not a great cartoon and has faults but there are things here that improve quite a bit and done much better than many other Flip the Frog cartoons.

A lot of good things in 'Laughing Gas'. The animation is decent enough, with beautifully detailed backgrounds, nice shading and characters that aren't drawn too crudely. The music makes even more of an impact, it is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, full of lively energy and not only adds brilliantly to the action it enhances it.

There are more sight gags than the previous Flip the Frog cartoons, and they are surprisingly funny. There is a nice natural charm, some zest and it does a better job than most Flip the Frog cartoons in not falling into sentimentality or cutesiness. Really liked the lively and surprisingly and wonderfully strange support.

However, 'Laughing Gas' has faults. Flip is still not a particularly compelling character personality-wise, a general fault with his cartoons. The story is very thin, there are signs of one at the start but it is completely neglected for the rest of the cartoon.

Occasionally the pace drags and while there is a lot to like 'Laughing Gas' is not a cartoon that has long-lasting staying power in one's mind.

In conclusion, decent and one of the better cartoons in the Flip the Frog series. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Laughing Gas was an amusing Flip the Frog cartoon from Ub Iwerks

[tavm · 7/10 · 6 May 2008]

This Ub Iwerks cartoon starring Flip the Frog is typical of many early '30s cartoons that provides a thin plot line and goes in several directions at once though that's part of many of these shorts' charm. In this one, Flip is a dentist who spends most of the cartoon trying to extract some teeth from a frightened walrus. Plenty of funny gags abound like the frog using a skunk for an anesthetic and an animated cash register grabbing another customer back because he forgot to pay! While Flip, like other cartoon characters created so soon after Mickey Mouse's debut, doesn't have much of a personality, the animation and gags were usually enough to provide these now obscure icons some days in the sun. This was another short I found on Federator.

If you dread going to the dentist, Flip's "skills" will only reinforce your current attitude!

[llltdesq · 7/10 · 3 November 2003]

This is a fairly nice cartoon visually, with some very funny sight gags, but Flip's talents do not extend themselves to the science of dentistry. While he doesn't come close to the dentist in Little Shop of Horrors (either version), Flip is about as effective here as he is in most of his other endeavors. Not terribly exciting, but watchable and you'll get a laugh or two along the way. Not the best Flip the Frog and not the worst. Worth watching and good to have in print. Recommended.

A Painfully Hilarious Dentist Cartoon

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 20 May 2008]

This was one of the best "Flip The Frog" cartoons I've seen, although you might wince a few times watching it. If you're squeamish about going to the dentist, you may find this cartoon b-r-u-t-a-l, but it had some hilarious takes on dentistry and the practice back in 1930. Wow, be glad you didn't have to see that kind of doctor way back then, although the cartoon is exaggerated, of course, for laughs.

Right from the opening scene, you'll be wincing at Flip has a huge set of pliers on the first patient we see. The doctor knows what he's doing, though, and the patient goes away happy. The cash register stops him on the way out and reminds him to pay! Almost inanimate objects come to life in these cartoons. When the next patient gets cold fee, the doc and his chair both escort him into the room. The trembling walrus - that patient - then gets a dose of Flip's gas to knock him out, and you'll never guess what that is....but it's pretty humorous.

What Flip finds in the Walrus while trying to fix his tooth is also incredible and will make you laugh out loud. That, and the insane ending (which provides justice to the patient!) is all great stuff.

This is simply very, very entertaining if you can handle "dentist humor!"

Pull That Tooth

[Michael_Elliott · 25 March 2016]

Laughing Gas (1931)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Flip the Frog is working as a dentist and he gets a walrus who is scared to have his teeth worked on. Flip must do everything he can to keep the walrus calm and this here leads to the gas.

LAUGHING GAS is a decent entry in the series from Ub Iwerks but it's not overly funny. If you're a fan of Flip then you'll obviously want to watch it but if you're new then it would certainly be best that you start somewhere else. This one does feature a few clever moments including one sequence where the x-ray shows what is actually causing the tooth to ache. There's some good action scattered throughout but overall there's really nothing too memorable here.