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Although not the first feature-length animated film, as is sometimes thought, it was the first cartoon to feature a character with an appealing personality. The appearance of a true character distinguished it from earlier animated "trick films", such as those of Blackton and Cohl, and makes it the predecessor to later popular cartoons such as those by Walt Disney. The film was also the first to be created using keyframe animation.
A young man promises his girl that he will get Spitball Sadie, a renowned female pitcher, for her all-girl baseball team. When he is unable to get Sadie to come, he dresses up as her and takes her place on the team.
Prohibition has just gone into effect, and Judge Rummy's wife eagerly throws away all of the Judge's liquor. She also plans to have a temperance lecturer use him as an example of the evils of drink. While waiting for the lecturer, Judge Rummy notices that Silk Hat Harry's Soda Fountain is remarkably popular, so he stops in to see what it's all about. He finds out that Harry has developed a substitute for alcoholic drinks, and that Harry's substitute can have quite an effect on those who drink it.
The film begins with an obese woman going to the shoe store and insisting she's a size 3 1/2--though she's obviously much larger. Then, out of the blue, a cat and a stick figure appear and make fun of the woman--making fat jokes and the like.
A Joy Ride is a 1922 animated short subject made by Bray Productions. It is among the many films starring Judge Rummy, the character from Tad Dorgan's comic strips.
