Ub Iwerks's Flip the Frog series of cartoons was short-lived, only lasting from 1930 to 1933. On the most part the Flip the Frog cartoons are not great or cartoon/animated masterpieces and it is sort of understandable as to why Flip didn't make it bigger. However they are far from terrible ones either and do hold some interest.
Despite not being historically significant like 'Fiddlesticks' was, 'Jail Birds' for me is among the best Flip the Frog cartoons alongside up to this point (so in correlation with the previous cartoons) 'Ragtime Romeo', 'The New Car' and particularly 'Cuckoo Murder Case'. It is a good cartoon, it is not perfect but there are things here that improve quite a bit and done much better than many other Flip the Frog cartoons.
A lot of good things in 'Jail Birds'. The animation is good, with beautifully detailed backgrounds, nice shading and characters that aren't drawn too crudely. The music makes even more of an impact, it is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, full of lively energy and not only adds brilliantly to the action it enhances it.
There are more sight gags than a lot of the previous Flip the Frog cartoons, and they are very funny, beautifully timed and at times suitably bizarre. This is easily one of the funniest cartoons in the series. There is a nice natural charm, a good deal of zest and it does a better job than most Flip the Frog cartoons in not falling into sentimentality or cutesiness. The convict is good fun, a good contrast to Flip and actually having a more colourful personality.
Flip is a bit bland personality-wise though and the story is very slight and doesn't always find it easy to sustain the cartoon's length.
Overall, one of Flip's best. 8/10 Bethany Cox
