Scary Bottles Cartoon

When I was a nipper, some time just before one Christmas, I watched the cartoon Bottles. Made by MGM in 1936, it’s one of those creations that’s made for children, but is truly terrifying. The kind of thing that couldn’t be made today for fear of putting the fear into kids. Fear that kids actually enjoy. It gave me the same frisson of terror that I got from, say, reading The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper, or listening to Stanley Holloway monologues.

It’s about a bearded old pharmacist who gets shrunk to the size of a ruler, and is terrorised by the bottles in his store that have come to life. The wibbly wobbly 1930s style only adds to the oddness. It’s on YouTube. Watch and enjoy.