This Terrifying Cartoon from 1933 - Cab Calloway sings "St James Infirmary"

This cartoon tends to make the rounds in GIF form each halloween but it can be appreciated all year around for the amazing artistry of the animation, and the fantastic vocal performance of Cab Calloway.

St James Infirmary is a song which can trace its origins to 18th century Europe but this familiar songbook version was written by Iriving Mills some time around 1928. The song depicts a gambling man who goes to St James Infirmary to find that his love has died of a venereal disease and he sings about the realisation that he is about to die.

Due to the dark nature of the song, it requires a lot of bare emotion and fragility in its performance and Calloway's howling vocals are enough to send chills.

The movement of the clown in this video is so eerily human-like it seems to fall into the uncanny valley, and as the evil queen chases him his appearance becomes even more unsettling. The cartoon also really requires a few repeat viewings to notice a lot of the intricacies of the animation and designs in the background. You almost don't notice the faces sneering from the cave walls or the gouls flying around the clown as he dances his tortured dance.