With the recent release of Cupheads Delicious Last Course DLC, players can once again enter the fray as Cuphead, Mugman, or newcomer Ms. Chalice to help Chef Saltbaker with his secret quest. Featuring a brand new cast of uncanny and powerful bosses, returning gamers can look forward to spending hours trying to beat these bosses to a pulp.
Most fans of the game will note Cuphead’s distinct visual design, modeled after the Rubber Hose animation style of the 1920s and 30s but many may not know the original cartoons that the game took inspiration from. Thus, fans of the game should take a trip down memory lane and watch some of these classic toons to get into the Cuphead spirit.
5 Popeye The Sailor Man
Most gamers will be familiar with this title and many might have caught an episode or 2 in their formative years. The original show was brought to the screens back in 1933 after having a successful cameo in Betty Boop. As brilliant as it was, 1936 saw a spinoff special called Popeye meets Sinbad the sailor which is considered to be amongst the 50 greatest cartoons of all time according to a book by animation historian Jerry Beck.
Gamers will recognize an uncanny similarity between Bluto (Sinbad) and Captain Brinybeard as well as Wally Warbles and the big menacing bird from the show. Other standalone specials like Popeye meets Ali Baba’s forty thieves and Aladdin and his wonderful lamp may have inspired certain boss segments including Djimmi the Great.Cuphead gamers should check out these seminal pieces that heavily inspired the various segments of the game, for entertainment and its historical significance.
4 Betty Boop
Now here’s a show that goes back even before Popeye.Betty Boop was created by a team of animators including Max Fleischer back in 1930. Whilst Betty maintains her image as a caricature of a Jazz Age flapper, she has undergone several transformations over the decade, some for the better and some for the worse. However, the designers have claimed to be heavily inspired by her character design, especially for one of the major bosses featured in the game - Cala Maria.
The designers likely modeled Cala Maria after the animation episode - Betty Boop’s Life Guard (1934) which depicts Betty Boop as a mermaid after being swept away by the sea.
3 Swing You Sinners!
Released back in 1930, Swing You Sinners! is an animated short created by the Fleischer Brothers. The cartoon is most notable for its surreal, abstract visuals, and dark tone, and is perhaps the single biggest influence as a show on Cuphead. The game’s art director, Chad Moldenhauer himself has admitted that Swing You Sinners! has had a huge influence on Cuphead’s style. The in-game achievement for defeating the game’s final boss is even called ‘Swing You Sinner’, what more can be said.
The cartoon follows Bimbo (a favorite recurring character amongst Cuphead’s directors) and his misadventures at a cemetery in which Bimbo eventually meets his demise (talk about family-friendly). Players will likely see a connection between several of the featured characters within the animation and some of Cuphead’s bosses. One such example is the Bearded Ghost and Cagney Carnation as both of them have the same signature movements. Another is the Strange, Crazy Frog at the end of the animation and the Ribbet Brothers. Regardless of the similarities, players should watch Swing You Sinners! for their surreal, viewing pleasure.
2 The Cookie Carnival
Making its way onto the screen back in 1935, the Cookie Carnival is a Cinderella story about a young cookie girl who wants to be queen at the cookie carnival. The show pays homage to the early pageants of the 20s and 30s (that will later become the Miss America pageants people know today).
Whilst not specifically mentioned by the creators, the Cookie Carnival does make a mark within the game. This is apparent with the boss segment featuring the Baroness Von Bon Bon who bears an uncanny resemblance to the Gingerbread Woman.
1 Hell’s Bells
Probably the earliest animation on this list, Hell’s Bells is a 1929 animation by Ub Iwerks that depicts Satan and life in Hell. The story focuses on Satan and a rebellious devil that eventually revolts against him, kicking poor Lucifer off a cliff into a fiery demise.
Players will easily see the connection between the devils depicted in the animation and The Devil featured in Cuphead. From the movements to the signature evil smile, the similarity is just too hard to miss. Moreover, the Devil’s transformation into a spider is indeed based on the spider that first appears at the beginning of Hell’s Bells.
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course is available now, for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.