Bimbo's Initiation

[gatheringleaves]

wanna be a member wanna be a member wanna be a member?

[duranward]

pause at 3:12

[RosenKrantz666]

People back in 1931 KNEW before advent of the internet who the Skull & Bones were that they parodied it in form of a 'children's' cartoon, & yet Pavlov's dopes in latter part of 20th Century & even post-Google era early 21st Century, still cannot fathom that lunatic, psychotic, sociopathic murderous a-holes like these, are actually REAL...

[redhotchilisauce888]

this is about diney taking over animation... notice mickey mouse at 0:35

[top20fanatico]

Warning: Illuminati Cartoon!!!111!! :O

[Debachi]

@top20fanatico Seems Disney owns the illuminati!

[lbjoshbal]

by the mystic order of the boombubuhacha?! idk man thats too funny

[Banje4202]

what a trippy initiation! i would of been a member before any of that began

[RobDog65]

Whoa! Sounds like he says "Oh, shit!" at 2:20. :-)

[Blendwerk]

The Illuminati had brutal recruiting methods in the good ol` days...

[meowkie]

Wanna be a member? Wanna be a member?

[JordanAP96]

@meowkie NO!

[LauziieDauziie]

@meowkie Yes! :D

[BazookaBuhnull]

Typically, Bimbo is smaller than Betty. Here, it's almost the other way.

[alicedragon]

The the moral of the story is join a cult then?

[matieitofull]

and that's wrong with this video? I say it is at the bottom of mouse suicide

[RetroRabFan]

That's Billy Murray voicing Bimbo. Murray was a great singer. It's no wonder why Bimbo has such a good voice.

[ZERSTORER1806]

why all old cartoons were so creepy???

[TiCar85]

Bimbo's voice sound pretty good here. 

[tldragonking]

so... many... nightmares!

[GirlSoCrazy]

now thats some antique initiation right there.

[Zumirocks1]

I think the people who made this were on drugs!

[Worldmusicrevolution]

I have interpreted this as an allegory for life itself

[geniusrepairman1]

@Worldmusicrevolution I think it more closer to an allegory of male adolesence.

[Kirbyfan87827]

"Wanna be a member? Wanna be a member?" "NO."

[RusCan10]

I've watched this god knows how many times and still my reaction is 'Wut??'

[scarstrangledbanter]

If it counted the times I watched this when I was little, there would be at least 100,000 views.

[Reepz00]

2:21 "Oh shit, c'mon!"

[allequalsnone]

@Reepz00 I definitely hear it.

[Pageboy72]

Haha this was in the Twilight Zone movie

[geniusrepairman1]

Back in the early 30's Mickey Mouse was incredibly popular and clones of him would appear in many other studios cartoons, some more obvious than others. The mouse in this cartoon may have had the audience cheer like an audience does today when an unexpected cameo appears. Walt Disney soon put a stop to it, but its fun to see even now.

[Zumirocks1]

@geniusrepairman1 Never knew that!

[geniusrepairman1]

Probably the most famous of the Bimbo cartoons, and containing an early Betty Boop when she was a dog. It clearly shows that cartoons were intended for more an adult audience than for kids. Some of the animation is a bit stiff, because Fleisher Studios slipped a bit when talking film came in and it took a few years to get the quality up that we see in 1930's Popeye.

[Nouri8885]

we used to watch this crap as kids, it looks like some crazy LSD trip, and no wonder kids are messed up, also at the end it showed betty boop, and it means that women can lure men into anything coz men dont think with their brain

[stargate121]

Whoever owns the rights to Betty and Bimbo should do an Ultimate Bimbo's Initiation Wii game.

[vichoste]

suicide mouse reference? 0:25 - 0:37

[meowkie]

@vichoste doubtful, as suicide mouse was only created a few years ago ;)

[DarkkirbyKRPG]

@vichoste yes it is, this represents that the original video is locked up and that mickey is still "the same mouse" :3

[mywario]

@vichoste all the video is a reference

[TakoneAnaka]

@vichoste Yeah, totally what I was thinking too. But no, it was just a loop...

[KakiHat]

6:08 MINDFCKD.

[Quadroblitz]

1:30, Why the heck doesn't he just move to the side?!

[MoldyToastVideos]

@Quadroblitz it's a disney 1931 cartoon, just leave it off!

[Freddy6066]

Try watching this when your completly stoned - best experience in my life. :D I laughed for like two hourse straight.

[Pepsi27101]

o_o ok then, love betty boop cartoons but betty whats with the big smacking butt part?

[murrayftw]

Anti-Illuminati shit. nice.

[zimzum13]

FUCKIN MASON/ILLUMINATIS!!! 

[printthelegends]

What a pippin!

[noahluvssveggietales]

Hello bimbo. I want to play a game with you. You need to say yes to be a member and you can go. And if you don't. You will be in a chain and cut your leg apart. Let the game BEGIN

[ericberner]

I no longer remember 'The Lords Prayer' word for word, but I remember this-

[Kazishairslikesoradd]

lol at end

[cladinblak]

Wanna be a member?

[TheEdouchiha]

@cladinblak Yes

[Huneiyue]

2:22-23

Bimbo said "shit!" :o

[alexgernand]

I must say, I would consider this to be a very happy ending for Bimbo.

[Martinntoxx]

What if Bimbo said no at the end?

[Sneep29]

Don't tell me those are fleas on his behind coming out because of the fire. :]

[ericberner]

Old cartoons creep you out? That's why I came! Again and again.

[skatapoopy]

old (ancient) cartoons usually creep me out but I like this!

[Granitoons]

@skatapoopy They do tend to be be very unsettling!

[CDCB2]

2:23

Whoa. It's sounds like Bimbo used the "s" word.

[oldkoloa]

At 0:54, I think those thing need to put some pants on.

[varishnakov]

Mickey Mouse; what a bitch

[UberObsessed]

Ohhhh, this is one of the ones where Betty still has dog ears! This one must've been pretty early.

[raggiedoll2008]

and it's so cute the way bimbo's little ears flap from 5:55 - 6:01 :)

[raggiedoll2008]

about 2 years ago, this was the first betty boop cartoon I'd ever seen and I was like, WTF????

[captainsealed]

Hmm, so this is how masons recruit new members.

By the sewer. LOL

[shuttermouse]

2:19 or he could simply walk 2 feet to the left xP

[ek180]

Hello, May? I'VE GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU!

[DUBASEO]

what is the ku klux klan guy holding at 0:56? a bell?

[EnerG15]

I love this episode!

[ericberner]

I love 'Bimbo's Initiation'. It's got every gag in the book and a swell soundtrack to boot.

[Bobzeaux]

What is this, the Cult of Jigsaw? O_o

[theotherther1]

Those traps are really elaborate. It's like I Wanna Be The Guy was made into a Depression-era cartoon.

[Tailsgeek]

Wait a second.... THAT MOUSE WHO LOCKED HIM IN LOOKED AWFULLY FAMILIAR!

[sg8923]

mickey mouse lookalikes function as evil little elf-tricksters in the fleischer universe.

[zimzum13]

@Tailsgeek YEAH, and everybody knows that Walt Disney was a member of freemason.

[Zumirocks1]

@zimzum13 You are being sarcastic ,right?

[Zumirocks1]

@Tailsgeek MICKEY MOUSE DID WHAT

[invadercheeze]

This is quite possibly my favorite piece of vintage media ever. I'm actually getting a "WANNA BE A MEMBER?" tattoo on my wrist sometime next year.

[RossingtonMichael]

that sound incredibly gay.

oh, and on your wrist...how oriiiiginalllll

[invadercheeze]

OK, where should I get it? You seem like the almighty arbiter of originality for tattoo placement, so share your wisdom with me.

[ysbaddaden2003]

I'll be a member.

[JTHMBirdGuy777]

"Wanna be a member? Wanna be a member?" "NO!" This short still weirds me out. Max Fleischer is definitely one of the weirdest animators of all time, along with Ralph Bakshi and John Krickfalusi.

[Brundaty]

Max Fleischer. You are a genius.

[Snarlik]

What the hell max fleischer is fucked up.

[megabulk3000]

-_-___----_-__

[JCCyC]

Mickey! 0:36 -- blink and you'll miss it!

[Danielbdc]

So Nice !!! Psychedelic !!!

[Bobzeaux]

Best cult ever. *lol*

[ltgansta]

YAY! they're all hot women! who woulda thunk?

[rythmic122]

Just disturbing

[rb6elite]

COUp WAS HERE

[Wakeuptired]

AND THEN THEY ALL HAVE SEX.

[Clapnot]

Correct, giantcandy if it's Betty and all her multiples then I'll say YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. *or g*..... : ) lol

[giantcandy]

it all depends on who is asking.......devils advocate....

[Clapnot]

In response to CrazyRhi123's comment...

NOOOOOOOOO...

[christiwisti]

i watched this 9 times in a row lol BOOM BUBUCHACHA

[saintjimmy273]

Amazing. My friend Conedust just showed me this. Really great. I'll need to wait a while and see it again to see if it makes my top 100 films.

[CrazyRhi123]

Wanna be a member?

Wanna be a member?

[hOllyWOOdhOE99]

a member of what...? o.O

[stopjunkscience]

Sex is the lure within society that makes him conform to the way things are and not perhaps the way he would like things to be. At the end he has joined the circus/show.

Even the most rebellious teenager eventually wants sex and stuff! You usually have to conform to get a job and money to get stuff. You usually have to have a job and money and stuff to get the right sex partner... see how it works?

Just like today!

[stopjunkscience]

I suppose it begins with Mickey as a carefree and rebellious young man who undergoes violent coercian by societys rulers the weird cult following and ritualistic Masonic Brotherhoods who are all about fear and violence as a control mechnanism serving their illuminati rulers. But this alone would not work to make our rebellious teenager conform. At one point Mickey tries to commit suicide, somehow it doesnt happen.

[Jcolinsol]

I think you mean Bimbo. Can you see the fnords?

[JTHMBirdGuy777]

Wait, you do realize that the character is named Bimbo and not Mickey, right? But your statement is true.

[stopjunkscience]

Yeah I realised my mistake about his name...

[delyparker777]

@stopjunkscience, it's nice to see others know who the 33rd degree freemasons are and the Illuminati bloodlines. You can clearly see the symbolism all over the place. I have learned that the best way to expose these illuminati is to expose the Federal Reserve and banking system. The Money Masters and Money as Debt as well as the Creature From Jekyll Island does just that. Check it out on youtube.

[Zumirocks1]

@stopjunkscience What the heck...

[blindtommykiller]

i remember watching this as a kid. freaked me out! glad to find it online.

[KorparnasTid]

This is probably the greatest cartoon from this era. Fleischer studios and Grim Natwick were doing some fantastic work up until '34 when the Hays Code was introduced :[ It was really a blow to creative and original content. If you like cartoons like this you should look up "Swing You Sinners", "Minnie the Moocher", "Betty Boop in Snow White" (all starring Betty and Bimbo) as well as "Stratos Fear" and "Masquerade Holiday" (also animated by Natwick but this time working for Ub Iwerks).

[FireCamel]

This cartoon inspired the Squirrel Nut Zippers "Ghost of Stephen Foster". AWESOME video! Wanna be a member?

[yohannbiimu]

5:40 - Somehow Betty is cuter when she was portrayed as Bimbo's doggy girlfriend. When she was portrayed as a human, their "relationship" obviously had to be toned down considerably.

[Lolzzie123]

Yeh... plus the poodle ears are a lot sexier ; )

[yohannbiimu]

It was simple enough to simply morph the ears into earrings, but it was kind of weird that Max Fleischer did not make any rational decision with regard to how his cartoon universe was handled, in that for the most part it was inhabited with talking dogs and cats one hand, and on the other you had Betty who had been turned into a human living amongst them, almost like an alien. Popeye's advent helped in making the gradual change in Betty's universe, but THAT made her cartoons tame and lame, IMO.

[evergreenanimations]

i think the domestication of Betty was due to the Hays code starting to be enforced around 1934 or so - however even the Popeyes started getting tame and lame upon the Fleischers' move to Florida, ('38-ish). Superman (early '40's) went a long way towards redeeming the studio in my heart.

[Mattexmo]

Weird, yet very cool

[Arpeggiato]

Where is the music from 3:57 - 4:06 from? I recognise it from somewhere... it has to be some famous work or something.

It's actually really frustrating because I know this music but can't remember why.

[yohannbiimu]

It's from Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody #2.

[Arpeggiato]

That's it! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you! :D

[yohannbiimu]

Your welcome - welcome - welcome! : )

[Granitoons]

@Arpeggiato Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Speaking of which I'm sure I recognise the music at 5:00

[LFirstbasema]

It looks like Mickey Mouse who put the lock on.

[ericberner]

Bimbo's Initiation is the best cartoon of all time. Every gag, even a little 'Merry-Go-Round Broken Down'-

[andyjay729]

I didn't know Skull and Bones admitted women...

[FrankLJ]

What this cartoon is realy about:

It seems to be about joining a secret society, with all the initiation gags. But is actualy about a real life experience which has similar strange, unknown and frightening things happening.

The onset of puberty. Watch the whole thing with that in mind, especialy the end part when he finds what it's all about.

"We are the members of do-it-or die..."

Wanna be a member?

[littlebear92]

FANTASTIC ANIMATION

[calijes84]

why would they put this type of behavior in a kids cartoon, what is the concept of this cartoon, i think there's something behind all this, and i don't know what!!!!!

[GAVNO1]

WHY should every medium be sanitized and DUMBED DOWN so it's acceptable to the lowest common denominator?

[Sneep29]

@GAVNO1

Because that's how big franchise corporations make money. It's all about the money. Back in these days, it was all about quality, but money came second here in this age. Today, it's all about money when it comes to TV promotion. Due to this, and a very tight schedule to the very demanding and impatient public, there usually has to be a new episode churned out to the public. This leads to mediocrity, which you see nower days. Studios worked on cinema for months, and produced great stuff

[ducktwacy1]

@GAVNO1 That's a question that doesn't have an answer. In my top ten list of flawless cartoons.

[ducktwacy1]

@GAVNO1 That's a question that doesn't have an answer. In my top ten list of flawless cartoons

[NamineKa]

This wasn't meant to be a kid's cartoon in the first place. -_-'

[Chibusa]

Cartoons weren't designed for kids originally. Loony Tunes and the other stuff that showed at the cinema was more adult oriented.

[aanndd121]

i agree, get info about nazi freemason walt disney

[spoonido]

This is one of my favorite Betty Boop cartoons. Thanks for posting.

[aanndd121]

are you a member?

[spoonido]

but of course!

[IlluminatiOvIndiana]

Doop dot dada da da dop doo! Thank you!

[smoshandstuff]

wanna be a member

Watch my one and only video and comment and i promise i will subscribe to you

[MoriahConqueringWind]

This rules. Will never forget that one time at the OTO Women's Conference in Indiana years ago when HB showed this to us joking that it bes an "OTO Training Video". We all LOL'd. :D

[BCoriginal1]

This cartoon scared the living hell out of me when I was a kid. this cartoon has it all scary images,Masonic undertones,and drug references. Lol I highly doubt a Master Mason would ask people in the street ''wanna be a member? wanna be a member?'' lol.

[IchMagComputerSpiele]

wtf... is up with those candle dudes? what here they carryind?

[umRuss012787]

that was tight

[Welshy023]

i had a nightmare like that and the nightmare was in black and white which made it even scarier :|

[raggiedoll2008]

me too

[CoffinOfTurk]

See, a simpler cartoon would have had Bimbo waking up in a cold sweat at the end, signifying that the 'nightmare' was finally over.

...clearly the animators were going to have none of that XD

[spooneye]

WHY DOES HE KEEP PEDALING??? :(

[SplashyMusic007]

...maybe he started liking it? xD

[SilentHillAsylum]

I remember this was in Twilight Zone the movie.

Awsome cartoon!

[koigaara]

poor bimbo =[

[Kikyobellflower]

knife licking it's blade...? thats scary

[Hoopz4496]

HAHA  shark knife!!!!

[grumpytosnowwhite]

Sooooooooooo disturbing. I mean, geez, the KNIFE??????

[54spiritedwill54]

Fascinating. Thanks for uploading it.

[tigergogoradio]

what. a. PIPPIN!

[corwinorr]

That was disturbing.

[KoolKat675]

do some shrooms and get back to me.

[Raphaelus13]

Apparently from 1931

[poormona]

Okay... I guess I'm having nightmares tonight...

[rikiyamashi]

WOW!! everything bob clampett has never been

[Princessdiamond128]

Awesome!

[ToonTownTerrorist]

Does anybody know the name of the song that's sung at the very beginning?

Thanks.

- T3

[Princessdiamond128]

T3, i think a better question would be what were the words to that song at the beginning?

[KoolKat675]

i still this they were all on acid or shrooms or something lol :P

[djcub00]

Neither. Just the reefers that Cab Calloway always sung about, and he did many songs for Betty Boop toons.

[Invisib0]

That scene at 5:30 where Bimbo coughs up his heart while running down the hallway... I remember seeing Scratch do the exact same thing in an episode of the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon series. Dunno if it was theft of "tribute" though.

[cha5]

04:20 "Come inside big boy"

LOL I love these early Fleischers and their combination of surrealism and bizarre humor,

That ending with the multiple Betty Boops is mindblowing.

[claudiall]

This cartoon was awarded the 37th place in "The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals".

[monami436]

neat to see where the inspiration for alot of the scenes in "the ghost of steven foster" came from

[CorndogMaker]

okay, that gave me nightmares. brilliant animation though.

[ezpar]

Max smoked Opium. He references this in cartoons through double entendre. "Kicking the Gong Around".

[mobile513]

Not quite. For one, the Betty Boop writers didn't create the song, it was Cab Calloway's before it was featured in Betty Boop, and second, Max, nor Dave, actually wrote the cartoons in the first place, the true director/writers were in fact the lead animators.

So, were those guys high when they made this? Probably.

[threeprongnet]

high? i doubt that, it's hard enough to animate sober! fleischer writing was pretty loose, and no one really got credit for the cartoons except max and dave, so whenever an animator would get a scene they'd throw in whatever weird gag they could think of to make their scene stand out, and be funny...which usually just ended up making everything bizarre.