Flapjacks | 1920 | Animation, Comedy

Title: Flapjacks | 1920 | Animation, Comedy Director: Raoul Barre, Charles Bowers Studio: Bud Fisher Film Corporation; Fox Film Corporation Based on: Mutt and Jeff by Bud Fisher Runtime: 7 Format: Silent, Black-and-white Country: United States Language: Silent (English intertitles) Genres: Animation, Comedy, Short --- Summary: In this silent animated short, Mutt and Jeff run a bustling lunch counter where a request for flapjacks sets off a string of gags. Improvised solutions and visual trickery escalate into a musical set piece in which a pancake is spun on a phonograph, sending the duo—and their patron—into an impromptu dance. The film showcases the pair’s contrasting personalities and timing-driven slapstick, relying on sight gags and intertitles typical of the era to lampoon everyday service mishaps and public decorum. --- Background: Flapjacks is a Mutt and Jeff theatrical cartoon produced by the Bud Fisher Film Corporation and released through Fox Film Corporation. Directed by Raoul Barre and Charles Bowers, it belongs to the long-running series adapting Bud Fisher’s popular newspaper strip for cinemas. At approximately seven minutes, it reflects the compact, gag-centric format of early American animated shorts. --- Trivia: The American Film Institute catalogs the film under the alternate title “Mutt and Jeff: Flapjacks.” AFI credits Raoul Barre and Charles Bowers as co-directors, a team associated with multiple Mutt and Jeff entries from this period. Production is credited to the Bud Fisher Film Corporation with distribution by Fox Film Corporation. The running time is approximately seven minutes, typical of the series’ short-subject format. The cartoon’s central gag turns a flapjack into a phonograph “record,” a showcase for musical pantomime in a silent medium. --- Hashtags: #PublicDomain #SilentFilm #Animation #MuttAndJeff #1920s #ClassicCartoons