Balloon Land
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''Balloon Land'', also known as ''The Pincushion Man'', is a 1935 animated short film produced by
Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert "Ub" Iwerks ( ; March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, Invention, inventor, and special effects technician, known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios in general, and f ...
as part of the
ComiColor Cartoons ''ComiColor Cartoons'' is a series of twenty-five animated short subjects produced by Ub Iwerks from 1933 to 1936. The series was the last produced by Iwerks Studio; after losing distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934, the Iwerks studio's senior ...
series. The cartoon is about a place called Balloon Land, whose residents (including caricatures of popular entertainment figures such as
Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...
and
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
) are made entirely out of balloons. The villain in the cartoon is the Pincushion Man, a character who walks around Balloon Land popping the inhabitants with pins.


Plot

The cartoon starts with a short tour of Balloon Land featuring an entire population of balloon people and animals. People are shown working in and around the town. A machine that inflates the human-shaped balloons that make up the populace is being operated by a balloon man. The man uses a hose to inflate a boy and girl. The man warns them of the Pincushion Man, a non-balloon creature who lives in the woods and pops balloons. The boy immediately dismisses the warning saying that he is not afraid of the Pincushion Man, and enters the woods. The girl is afraid, but follows the boy anyway. After leaving through the gate at the edge of town, they walk through the dark forest. While looking around, a large gray and red tree scares them. They run away and crash into a brown and green tree. With the boy faking that he is not scared at all, the tree comes to life and tries to grab the girl, but the boy swipes it and they escape. Meanwhile, the Pincushion Man hides behind a balloon rock before popping it. He describes himself as the "Terror of Balloon Land" while popping flowers, rocks, and trees. The two kids, unaware of his proximity, continued to walk through the forest. The boy describes the Pincushion Man as fake. The Pincushion Man then spots the oblivious kids. He hides behind a green and red tree and scares the kids. While the kids huddle in fear, he grabs one of the needles and tries to poke the kids with it but misses. The Pincushion Man then chases the kids but runs into a small colorful tree which sends him flying backward and allows the kids to escape through the town gate into Balloon Land. In frustration, he bangs on the gate wanting to come into Balloon Land. The kids immediately run off, but a civilian that was standing right next to the gate hears the Pincushion Man and talks to him through the gate. The Pincushion Man tricks the civilian, who at first refused him entry, into opening the gate. After gaining entry, the Pincushion Man pops the civilian, mocking him for believing the Pincushion Man's lie. Meanwhile, the kids already arrived downtown and witnessed the Pincushion Man's first kill. The kids immediately rush across the street to sound the alarm, which was a crib filled with four babies. As they were drinking milk, the kids pulled the bottles out of their mouths and started to cry, sounding the alarm. The feared balloon people began looking around for danger and began scrambling around to find shelter. As the Pincushion Man arrives downtown, the Pincushion Man immediately tries to take the kids again. The kids tried merging inside the house but ends up taking off their plugs to fit inside the house. After attempting to chase the kids, the Pincushion Man witnessed a man running across the street but gets popped by the Pincushion Man's needle, marking its second death. He threw needles one by one in the streets and immediately pops some of them including a mouse and a caterpillar. While the Pincushion Man attempts to pop more people, the two kids quickly snuck out of the house and rushed to the mayor's office. The little girl tried to escape the boy's arm but can't let go. Rushing inside which sends the guards spinning around, the shocked guards watched the kids from the entrance inside and the kids met the mayor in fear. After the boy immediately lets go of the girl's hand which sends her crashing into the desk, they told the mayor that they saw the Pincushion Man down the street. With the guard yapping "HOLY SMOKES!", an out-of-tune bugle was blown by one of the soldiers. This forced an entire army of Balloon Soldiers to be made and sent downtown. Meanwhile, the Pincushion Man threw some more needles after witnessing the army, popping a few soldiers. Preparing to launch gum bullets at the Pincushion Man, the leader ducks for cover, and the first few gum bullets and golf balls hit the perfect target at the Pincushion Man. War was declared on the Pincushion Man as he tries to take precautions seriously. Shortly after managing to get the gum off of his hands, he was hit with more gum and golf balls, sending him flying forwardly. After getting hit by more gum, he was covered in a big ball of gum, which sends him rolling out of town and into a tree. He managed to pop his last set of flowers while rolling. While trying to survive by holding onto grass, another big ball of gum with a perfect target hits the Pincushion Man and sends him falling out of Earth. With the day saved, Balloon Land was back to normal and the two kids were seen standing on a side of the street, kissing each other as the short ends.


Notable appearances

* Several scenes from "Balloon Land" are shown during the film '' The Devil's Gift'' which was later re-edited into another film '' Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders''. * A portion of it was shown on an episode of ''
Pee-Wee's Playhouse ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American comedy children's television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was develop ...
'', and was featured in the 1981
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
special ''The Pee-Wee Herman Show''. * The cartoon is also featured in the live revival of Pee-Wee's 2010 stage show at Los Angeles'
Club Nokia Club Nokia was a mobile internet digital distribution portal, operated by Nokia to provide special offers, paid-for ringtones, picture messages and game content directly to members. Following resistance from its mobile operator customers, Nokia pa ...
theater. It is introduced during the first act break by the
King of Cartoons ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American comedy children's television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed ...
. * Parts of "Balloon Land" are shown in the ''
Shining Time Station ''Shining Time Station'' is a children's television series jointly created by British television producer Britt Allcroft and American television producer Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by Quality Family Entertainment (the American bran ...
'' music videos: "What Am I Afraid Of?" from the episode "Scare Dares", and "Bad Guy" from the episode "Bully for Mr. Conductor". * Parts of the cartoon are also heard/seen throughout the 2022 film '' Skinamarink''.


Image gallery

Balloonland lobby card 1935.jpg, Lobby card


See also

*
ComiColor Cartoons ''ComiColor Cartoons'' is a series of twenty-five animated short subjects produced by Ub Iwerks from 1933 to 1936. The series was the last produced by Iwerks Studio; after losing distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934, the Iwerks studio's senior ...
*
Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert "Ub" Iwerks ( ; March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, Invention, inventor, and special effects technician, known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios in general, and f ...


References

* {{Ub Iwerks 1935 animated short films 1935 films 1930s color films Ub Iwerks Studio series and characters Films directed by Ub Iwerks Animated films set in fictional countries Films scored by Carl Stalling American animated short films ComiColor cartoons 1930s American films Articles containing video clips