It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The first must-see film of the year.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

"The Flying House" is a 1921 11-minute short film that has its 95th anniversary this year. it was made by American animation pioneer Winsor McCay back then and it is of course a black-and-white silent film. The story is similar like in the man's other "Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend" entries, at least early on. Somebody eats a rarebit and has a very bizarre dream as a consequence. This time, it is a woman who dreams (because of high mortgages) that her husband flies away with her. But not in a balloon or airplane, he uses their house. And they don't fly just to the next beach, they fly to the moon and meet somebody there who is not so happy about his new guests. The moon really was used quite a bit in these very old films as target destination. I personally must say that this is not my favorite film from the Rarebit trilogy, but for 1921, it wasn't bad of course and I wonder how much this one here inspired the makers of "Up" perhaps. All in all, I recommend the watch only to the most hardcore animation lovers.

Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: The Flying House (1921) ** 1/2 (out of 4)The third "Rarebit" film that Winsor McCay would make in 1921, this one here has a wife eating rarebit and of course having a bad dream that night. In the dream her husband gets tired of their high mortgage and land taxes so he decides to make their house fly so that they can save money. For the rest of the film we see the two flying around in their house trying to find a cheap and safe place to live. I think the idea behind this film was much better than the actual execution. There's no doubt that the animation is top-notch as McCay never had a problem getting interesting visuals on the screen. There are many great ones here including the entire bit where the house takes off and begins to fly over various locations so that the husband can find one he likes. There's also some very good stuff in outer space that looks terrific. With that said, the majority of what we see just doesn't have any sort of emotion behind it. There's really no laughs, no drama or anything else. Everything is pretty much flat in regards to any type of entertainment coming from the actual story. McCay fans will probably still want to watch it but there's no question that it doesn't rank among his best films.

Watching The Flying House, I couldn't help but think that many of the sequences of the house spinning around up and down was just Mr. McCay showing off as I believe if the couple's home was really doing that they would've been really dizzy! This must've been the first time there was an animated depiction of space with the earth and moon moving side-by-side. Also love the detail of the gas engines with all the wheels pulling all the pulley gadgets constantly and the final sequence where we see a rocket about to explode on the moon instead destroying the house leaving the couple spinning around before they start to fall hastening the woman to wake up...Fascinating if less known of Winsor McCay's animated shorts, this Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend entry certainly keeps on its toes in movement and, through written balloons, dialogue. Highly essential viewing for any animation history buff.

This is one of the coolest early animations I have seen and probably the most enjoyable here in the 21st century of all the McCay films. Unlike his early LITTLE NEMO and GERTIE cartoons, this one is 100% animated and have marvelous animation and exquisite backgrounds. Sure, it's black and white and is a silent film, but for its time it was a terrific film--one that is about as good as you can find at that time.Like the other "Rarebit" films from McCay Studios, this film just goes to show you that the recent commercial about cheese IS correct--"Behold the power of cheese"! All feature people eating cheese and then having bizarre dreams. This flying house one is just amazing and a lot of fun. The lady who partook of the cheese dreams that her husband uses his genius to make their house fly!! And, after buzzing around the Earth for a while, the house leaves orbit and heads out to space--being highly reminiscent of the Georges Méliès film LE VOYAGE DANS LE LUNE. A wonderful and timeless piece of history--not to be missed.