Broadway Folly

Broadway Folly is a 1930 animated cartoon by Walter Lantz which stars Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.^[1]

Plot[]

Oswald drives his uncovered car, heading towards a night club. After parking his car at a sidewalk by the place, he was immediately flagged down by the bellhop who tells him that parking there is not permitted. As a solution, Oswald compresses his car with his hands until it is hand-sized. The rabbit drops the tiny vehicle in his shorts and gives the bellhop a raspberry before proceeding to the club's entrance.

Coming to the night club also was Pete. Holding onto his long-johns is his cub son who refuses to separate from him. Frustrated by the persistent holding, Pete puts his offspring inside long-johns and hangs it on a light post.

The cub was able to come out of the long-johns but was saddened upon losing sight of his father. He came to the night club's entrance and asked "Is my father in there?" A voice from inside tells him not to stay by the doors. The cub would ask the same question to a number of people but would never get the answer he wanted.

Inside the night club, the patrons are dancing as a band plays the tune Alexander's Ragtime Band. Everyone appears to be having a pleasant time, especially Oswald who stands on a chair, rocking it back and forth. The next event features four dogs in tuxedos who sing part of the song Sweet Adeline on stage. However, their performance wasn't well received by the guests.

Still enjoying the atmosphere nonetheless, Oswald dances on his table. Sitting by and sharing his table is Pete. As he dances, the rabbit accidentally kicks Pete in the nose, much to the latter's disturbance. Pete then grabs Oswald's head and rips it off his body. Miraculously, Oswald survives and is able to put himself back together. As retribution, Oswald throws a jar on Pete head.

While Pete tries to take the jar off his head, a cow laughs at him. As a response, Pete kicks the cow, who in turn, gets laughed at by a mouse. The cow spits at the mouse who then gets laughed at by an elephant. The mouse pulls the elephant's trunk and lets go, causing that animal to trample on the other guests. As a result, everyone gets into a fist fight. Some patrons were able to flee but the rest remained in the trouble. A police car arrives at the scene and takes the whole night club building away.

Knowing his father is still inside, the cub tries to follow the moving building but cannot keep up. As he stops, he comes across an opaque telephone booth at a park. The cub asks his question but only receives silence. Desperate, he rips open the booth only to find a Tibetan dog making a phone call inside.

"Is my father in there?"[]

The cub's quote "Is my father in there?" would be reused in two later cartoons produced by Lantz. It was a parody of pro-temperance works published several years earlier (Father, Dear Father being the most common example) which used similar words.

See also[]

• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit filmography

References[]

External links[]

• Broadway Folly at the Big Cartoon Database
• Broadway Folly on YouTube