Have always had high appreciation for Bob Clampett. He had a wonderfully wacky and imaginative, at times bold, visual style. Not as much as Tex Avery, but those qualities were there with him. His cartoons more often than not are very humorous and even hilarious, he didn't play it safe and his takes on some of animation's most iconic characters when they were starting out or evolving (Bugs Bunny being a prime example) were historically significant for the medium.
'Farm Frolics' is not one of his best. It is very well made and surprisingly more entertaining than one would think looking at the premise, which did sound very cute but not much else. If you like cartoons with narration that entertains and teaches, there will be a lot to be impressed by. For Clampett though, 'Farm Frolics' is fairly tame, lacking his usual bold approach or having enough that was bold or inspired. It is certainly not cutesy, but not enough of Clampett and the lack of a compelling enough lead character brings it down a little.
It is very slight narratively. Not much story at all in fact, was expecting that in a way as there are many cartoons out there where the stories are nothing special but are fine elsewhere, but all it is a series of spot gags. What there is is not very distinct or fresh.
A more compelling lead character in a cartoon where there isn't really one may have helped as would some consistently livelier pacing.
There is still a lot to like in 'Farm Frolics' though, just wanted to say that just in case people were starting to think that to me that it was a bad cartoon. Which it isn't, but it won't be for all tastes. The animation is great, the rural background art is very richly detailed and eye catching. The colour is very vibrant and beautifully varied. Every bit as good is the music, Carl Stalling was an amazing composer whose scores added so much to every cartoon he scored for and 'Farm Frolics' is no exception, the perfect sense of mood, the clever and lush instrumentation and energetic character are all here.
Whether one likes 'Farm Frolics' is whether you like narration-form cartoons and spot gag ones. Have never had any problem with either and this does nothing to change my mind. The narration is sonorously delivered by Robert C Bruce, the best of this type of narration in cartoons at the time, and the kind that entertains and educates. Reminding me fondly of the Goofy How to series, which will be great if that series does anything for you (have always been fond of it). The gags are plenty and while not hilarious or inventive they amuse at least and don't get repetitive. The voice acting is on point.
To conclude, good fun if not great. 7/10
