the pit. When the villains return, Beans squirts grease from a grease gun between the room's entrance and the pit. The villains slide on the grease mess and fall into the hole, except for the goblin, who attempts to escape from the hole, but is punched by the angry animator into it. To vanquish them for good, the animator removes the hole with an eraser. Beans and the animator shake hands for a work well done. It turns out that what the animator went through was merely a dream, as he is awaken by the custodian. To his relief, he finds the drawing on his desk unchanged. Not wanting to recall his experience, the animator erases the goblin and the steel barricade, leaving only Beans in the picture. As a compliment to his little friend, he draws a platter with gelatin on top for Beans to eat. Analysis According to animation historian Michael Samerdyke, some classic Hollywood cartoons from the 1930s are "too scary for children" and A Cartoonist's Nightmare is one of them. He finds it to be a "very inventive" and interesting cartoon. Samerdyke notes that Beans the Cat had previously appeared in I Haven't Got a Hat (1935) as a tough little kitten. A Cartoonist's Nightmare casts Beans into the role of a hero. This gives "a nice heroic moment" for a character with a rather brief film career. Beans would not stay for long within the cast of characters of Warner Bros. Cartoons. To Samerdyke, the main villain of the short (described as the goblin above) more closely resembles a gorilla. The rest of the villains seem to reside in the Villain Department of the studio. They sing their own villainous song: "The tables are turned and now you are in our clutches". It is sung to the tune of "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" (1907). The villains plan to dispose of the anonymous cartoonist, while Beans comes to the rescue. Beans is in effect rescuing his own creator. The cartoonist rewards him by drawing some ice cream and allowing the cat to enjoy it. The film's setting is an animated cartoon studio. Samerdyke notes that the building is depicted in a state of severe disrepair. It somewhat resembles a prison. Samerdyke speculates that these elements of the film could reflect the actual working conditions of the animators employed by Leon Schlesinger. The film features interactions between