Love on the Range

An animated Western mock-opera about Horlicks? Bring it on!

When you see something billed as a “Silly Billy Romance”, how can you resist? George Pal produced five animated adverts for Horlicks in the late 1930s, and this last film might be the best. The mock-opera singing, the Western setting and the barn dance dénouement are a winning combination - even if you’re not a fan of malted milk. Pal’s ‘Puppetoon’ replacement animation technique brings expressive movement to the characters in perfect synchronisation with the music.