Introduction
Mr. Bug goes to Town, also known as Hoppity Goes to Town and Bugville, is the second and last animated feature film made by Fleischer Studios.
Synopsis
The movie starts off with showing outer space while the credits are shown. As the credits are shown, the space scene pans to show the edge of the Earth, then it zooms into show a city. It then pans down to show a house, which has a lawn and a brick fence around it. Beyond that, there is another part of a lawn, which has a broken fence with it. The scene then fades to show the broken fence area, which is being walked across quite often. There is a sign that reads, "No Trespassing", but no one seems to care. A man uses the sign to light a cigarette. He then tosses the match. It lands next to a box. It then pans to show houes that are made out of objects that human throw away. The panning then stops at a place called, "Honey Shop".
Here, three bugs, one of which is a snail, are show drinking something. It then pans to show other people in the store. It ends with showing a bee carrying a cake, past a lady bug, who has two children. The bee goes behind the counter and says, "There, you go, Mrs. Ladybug." He sets down the cake. He somewhat suggestively asks Mrs. Ladybug if there will be anything else. Mrs. Ladybug says that the cake will be all. She asks Mr. Bumble where Honey is. Mr. Bumble calls for Honey. She yells back, "Yes, dad?" Mr. Bumble tells Honey to come out and show Mrs. Ladybug her new dress. It pans to show a doorway. Honey enters the scene. Mrs. Ladybug compliments Honey. Mr. Bumble says that Hoppity is coming back soon. Mrs. Ladybug is surprised. She says that Honey has changed quite a bit since Hoppity last saw her. Mr. Bumble says that Hoppity will find other things that have changed with the place because the humans have walked all over the bugs' home. A bee, who is in a scouts uniform, comes into the Honey Shop and tells Mrs. Ladybug that her house is on fire. The bugs all rush out to see the fire. There, the snail, named, "Mr. Creeper", says that there is nothing they can do and that it is the fault of the broken fence. Mr. Bumble agrees and is afraid that something will happen to his shop. Above, two bugs are listening in on a leaf. One of them suggests that they tell their boss about the situation. The other agrees. They fly to a pole on a brick wall. They knock on a door and the boss says, "Yes, who is it?" The two bugs say, "It's us, boss!" The one who suggested telling the boss says, "Swat the fly" and the one that agreed says, "and Smack the Mosquito." The boss opens the door and tells them to be quiet because he doesn't want anyone to know that the two are there. He then tells them to go away and then closes the door. Smack says, "Yeah, but Mr. Beatle, you told us to wise up when there was trouble at the lowlands..." Swat continues, "...and concerning Mr. Bumble and Honey." Mr. Beatle opens the door. He says, "Trouble? Uh, what sort of trouble?" Swat explains that there was a fire at Mrs. Ladybug's house caused by a human. Mr. Beatle puts on his hat and leaves with the other two while they continue to relay the situation. Mr. Beatle walks away and Smack tells Swat that it was smart of Mr. Beatle to get a lot of property up where he lives while the other bugs live in the lowlands.
Later, the three find themselves in the lowlands. They see a house that has been crushed by a shoe. Mr. Beatle then sees bugs coming by and pushes Smack and Swat into some grass. He then greets the bugs, one of which is Mrs. Ladybug. He explains that he came down to wish her his condolences. Mrs. Ladybug, who is crying, thanks Mr. Beatle. Mr. Bumble walks by and Mr. Beatle stops him. Mr. Beatle tells Mr. Bumble that it is fortunate that it was not the Honey Shop that was burned down. He says that this kind of thing could not happen in his estate. He adds that no human ever intrudes there. Mr. Bumble says that he believes that most of the bugs would like to feel safe and secure. Mr. Beatle agrees and says that Mr. Bumble should reconsider the offer of having Honey marry Mr. Beatle for Honey and Mr. Bumble to stay up in his house. Mr. Bumble declines the offer because he believes that Honey should follow her own heart and it doesn't tell her to go for Mr. Beatle. Mr. Bumble tells Mr. Beatle that Hoppity is coming back and then walks away. Mr. Beatle makes it clear that he does not like Hoppity. He then tells Mr. Bumble that he is walking right into trouble. He then walks into a blade of grass and falls over. He calls for Swat and Smack and they help him up. Mr. Beatle tells them that Hoppity is coming back and then leaves.
Meanwhile, on food cart nearby, in a lamp, a grasshopper wakes up from a nap. He then grabs his bag and jumps off. He then jumps to the lowlands, avoiding being crushed by humans. Once he is there, he says that the humans never stepped in there before. He sees all the destruction and is confused. He goes to the Honey Shop and the bugs greet him, revealing that he is Hoppity. He looks over to see Honey. He then walks over to her. Honey greets him and he greets her. He then greets Buzz, who was the bee scout from earlier. Buzz says that he is a Bee Scout now, so that he will grow up to be as brave as Hoppity is. Hoppity then salutes Buzz and Buzz salutes Hoppity back.
Meanwhile, with Mr. Beatle and his henchbugs, he is angry that Hoppity is coming back. A man enters the lowlands and drops a cigar. It nearly misses Mr. Beatle. It rolls down a small bump and stops just a little ways away from the Honey Shop. Mr. Beatle gets an idea. He blows on the cigar to make it light up more and then pushes it towards the Honey Shop.
Inside, Hoppity says that as far as he is concerned, there is still no place like home. The cigar is heard, hitting the Honey Shop. Hoppity smells smoke. The bugs start to panic and run outside. They see that the cigar has hit the side of the Honey Shop. One of the bugs calls the firebugs and they start hitting part of the Honey Shop that has nothing to do with the cigar. Mr. Bumble stops them and makes them go away. He hits the cigar and it releases smoke. Meanwhile, Hoppity is trying to get ride of the cigar, using a stick. However, his stick soon burns. Mr. Beatle appears telling Mr. Bumble that it is most unfortunate what happened. Hoppity sees a fire hydrant in the distance. He hops down to try to find something to carry the water in, but everything he finds has a hole in it. He notices Mr. Beatle's hat and takes it. Mr. Beatle thinks that he has been robbed. Hoppity runs and hops towards the fire hydrant, trying to not be run over by cars. Buzz notices the situation and uses his stinger to hurt the traffic officer, which causes an accident to occur. Gas starts to leak out of one of the cars. Hoppity thinks it is water, so he fills the hat with it and returns to the cigar. He uses the gas on the cigar and it blows up, somehow not harming the Honey Shop. Hoppity lands in the top of the Honey Shop, gets up, then tumbles down towards the crowd of bugs. He then is helped by Mr. Bumble because he is tangled up. Mr. Beatle says, "Hoppity and puts on his hat, not realizing it has a hole in it, which makes his head go through the hat.
Due to technical difficulties, I am unable to finish the synopsis.
Later, the three find themselves in the lowlands. They see a house that has been crushed by a shoe. Mr. Beatle then sees bugs coming by and pushes Smack and Swat into some grass. He then greets the bugs, one of which is Mrs. Ladybug. He explains that he came down to wish her his condolences. Mrs. Ladybug, who is crying, thanks Mr. Beatle. Mr. Bumble walks by and Mr. Beatle stops him. Mr. Beatle tells Mr. Bumble that it is fortunate that it was not the Honey Shop that was burned down. He says that this kind of thing could not happen in his estate. He adds that no human ever intrudes there. Mr. Bumble says that he believes that most of the bugs would like to feel safe and secure. Mr. Beatle agrees and says that Mr. Bumble should reconsider the offer of having Honey marry Mr. Beatle for Honey and Mr. Bumble to stay up in his house. Mr. Bumble declines the offer because he believes that Honey should follow her own heart and it doesn't tell her to go for Mr. Beatle. Mr. Bumble tells Mr. Beatle that Hoppity is coming back and then walks away. Mr. Beatle makes it clear that he does not like Hoppity. He then tells Mr. Bumble that he is walking right into trouble. He then walks into a blade of grass and falls over. He calls for Swat and Smack and they help him up. Mr. Beatle tells them that Hoppity is coming back and then leaves.
Meanwhile, on food cart nearby, in a lamp, a grasshopper wakes up from a nap. He then grabs his bag and jumps off. He then jumps to the lowlands, avoiding being crushed by humans. Once he is there, he says that the humans never stepped in there before. He sees all the destruction and is confused. He goes to the Honey Shop and the bugs greet him, revealing that he is Hoppity. He looks over to see Honey. He then walks over to her. Honey greets him and he greets her. He then greets Buzz, who was the bee scout from earlier. Buzz says that he is a Bee Scout now, so that he will grow up to be as brave as Hoppity is. Hoppity then salutes Buzz and Buzz salutes Hoppity back.
Meanwhile, with Mr. Beatle and his henchbugs, he is angry that Hoppity is coming back. A man enters the lowlands and drops a cigar. It nearly misses Mr. Beatle. It rolls down a small bump and stops just a little ways away from the Honey Shop. Mr. Beatle gets an idea. He blows on the cigar to make it light up more and then pushes it towards the Honey Shop.
Inside, Hoppity says that as far as he is concerned, there is still no place like home. The cigar is heard, hitting the Honey Shop. Hoppity smells smoke. The bugs start to panic and run outside. They see that the cigar has hit the side of the Honey Shop. One of the bugs calls the firebugs and they start hitting part of the Honey Shop that has nothing to do with the cigar. Mr. Bumble stops them and makes them go away. He hits the cigar and it releases smoke. Meanwhile, Hoppity is trying to get ride of the cigar, using a stick. However, his stick soon burns. Mr. Beatle appears telling Mr. Bumble that it is most unfortunate what happened. Hoppity sees a fire hydrant in the distance. He hops down to try to find something to carry the water in, but everything he finds has a hole in it. He notices Mr. Beatle's hat and takes it. Mr. Beatle thinks that he has been robbed. Hoppity runs and hops towards the fire hydrant, trying to not be run over by cars. Buzz notices the situation and uses his stinger to hurt the traffic officer, which causes an accident to occur. Gas starts to leak out of one of the cars. Hoppity thinks it is water, so he fills the hat with it and returns to the cigar. He uses the gas on the cigar and it blows up, somehow not harming the Honey Shop. Hoppity lands in the top of the Honey Shop, gets up, then tumbles down towards the crowd of bugs. He then is helped by Mr. Bumble because he is tangled up. Mr. Beatle says, "Hoppity and puts on his hat, not realizing it has a hole in it, which makes his head go through the hat.
Due to technical difficulties, I am unable to finish the synopsis.
Character
Hoppity
Hoppity is a protagonist that has a well-defined character. He likes helping, but can be misguided and overly optimistic. However, he can see when people are doing bad things.
C. Bagley Beatle
Mr. Beatle is a rich, businessman type antagonist, which I think was done well.
Swat and Smack
They are basically stereotypically bad henchmen. While they occasionally suceed in their goal, they more than often do not.
Honey Bumble
She is a character that is only there as a goal for Mr. Beatle and a driver for Mr. Hopper.
Mr. Bumble
Much like Honey, he exists as a goal and not much as a character.
Animation
The animation in this film is very similar to the last two. However, this time, it makes a bit more sense becuase there really isn't inconsistancy between the same species. It is only the bugs that look cartoony, while the humans look like cartoon versions of real people.
Music
I enjoyed the music quite a bit. However, I will probably not go out of my way to find the songs featured in this film.
Similarities
Due to technical difficulties, I am unable to do this section, but I do know that this film had some similarities. I suppose the big one would be A Bug's Life and Antz.
Conclusion
I would only recommed this movie for those who want to watch this for its historical value. I would not say this is the best film, especially considering the racism. While it is few and far between, they are there. They make reference to many races.
