Shinbone Alley is not like every other animated film. It brings a unique approach to animation. It is almost like viewing an animated jazz opera in some respects. The characters are well defined and quite good, and some of the backgrounds are almost works of art on the New York scene. It is true that some very small children might not understand it, but a vast majority of people who view the film will find aspects of it that they will love; like the George Herriman sequence when archy declares war on humans. Carol Channing is wonderful as mehitabel, especially when she sings Shakespeare. Eddie Bracken is great as archy. This is the type of film that can be viewed again and again, and you find something new and interesting each time you see it. It was definitely a style setter in 2D animation, and should be applauded for its unconventional approach. Throughout the years, there have been a handful of animated films that could truly be called one-off, style setting, animation treasures -- Fantasia, Yellow Submarine, Toy Story, for example. I feel that Shinbone Alley easily fits into this select group of animated films.

It's a shame this film has been buried from the start. It has some really superb music, written by George Kleinsinger, a couple of fantastic performances by Carol Channing & Eddie Bracken, - & best of all, it's based on the great Don Marquis series from (I believe) the old New York World - Archy & Mehitabel. The compilation book was illustrated by the peerless George Herriman (Krazy Kat - & Mehitabel really was Krazy Kat!) & some of the scenes in this film are Herriman-inspired, another reason to treasure it.Pity the poor wimps who are traumatized by any animation that isn't filled with fluffy bunnies.

A story I heard, that filmmakers once considered doing an animated version of the musical Cats, has just reminded me of that disappointing 1971 cartoon of Shinbone Alley, based on the Joe Darion/George Kleinsinger stage musical. Eddie Bracken and Carol Channing recreate their roles from the still-earlier "concept album" archy and mehitabel. Where these two had been cute and intimate, and, above all, musical, cockroach and cat were now rasping, whining and screeching -- characteristics that could have worked fine for those particular actors, but in sufficiently small quantities.One of the most disappointing characters was Bill, the big blackhearted tomcat originally sung by Percival Dove (best known for the singing voice of Brock Peters as Crown in Porgy and Bess). The prospect of an apparently offensive ethnic stereotype inspired filmmakers, as far as I can observe, to eliminate black performers from the piece altogether -- the part is done by Alan Reed, aka Fred Flintstone!Yes I know: Carol is "black" now.Aside from singing cats, it parallelled the Lloyd-Webber musical Cats in the deployment of a flying manhole cover, during the song Flotsam and Jetsam: "Only Mehitabel could get that high on a 'lid'" is the tag (penned by Mel Brooks, incidentally).Compared to George Pal's classic 1946 treatment of an earlier Kleinsinger work, Tubby the Tuba, the limited animation here was flat and ugly. Adult content of story is not of interest to children I suppose (although probably not harmful either), so the problems of marketing this picture probably helped bury it. I'll say this though: it just may be better than Fritz the Cat!

"shinbone alley" is one of the most powerful and interesting animated features I've ever seen. It is also one of the most mismarketed animated features as well. The distributor, Allied Artists, states in this add that it is "SOPHISTICATED ENOUGH FOR KIDS".It is not. Kids simply won't understand the dark humor of the Don Marquis stories and the Mel Brooks-Joe Darion musical on which this is based. They'll also be brought down by the bleak tone of the film, which opens with what I'll simply describe as suicide, to spare your feelings. However, I highly recommend this film to older teenagers and adults. "shinbone alley" is a visionary wonder; kind of like "Yellow Submarine" combined with "Dark City". The story involves archy (voiced by Eddie Bracken), a lovesick roach who is the reincarnation of the suicide victim in the opening moments. (The title of the film and names of characters are written in lower case on purpose; one of the plot strands is that archy writes essays and poems on a typewriter by jumping on the keys; in his human form, archy was a lovesick poet) The object of his affections is mehitabel (Carol Channing), a cat who I'll simply describe as the town floozy. Basically, the film is about their friendship and various trials and tribulations."shinbone alley" is bleak, but what visuals! New York is used as a backdrop for various psychodelic musical numbers lifted from the musical. The songs are very good here. As in all great musicals, they enhance the story instead of being set pieces. The vocal performances are excellent as well, especially Carol Channing as mehitabel. I don't understand why most people are down on Channing's vocals. I think she's perfectly cast as mehitabel and is an asset to the success of the film. Eddie Bracken is also well cast as archy and I think he is responsible for much of the humor infused in the character. And Flintstones fans will recognize Alan Reed as the boss cat in the gang mehitabel hangs around."shinbone alley" is a wonderful movie, but I urge all parents to take my advice and not to let their kids see this film. It has parts in it that made me break down and I'm sure kids will take it even harder. But is a rewarding experience for teens and adults. **** out of 4 stars