Some musicals are “forgotten” in the loosest sense of the word, not because they vanished entirely, but because we remember them for one thing and quietly overlook the rest. Animal Crackers is one such show. More often thought of as one of the Marx Brothers’ early screen comedies, it’s easy to forget that it began life as a Broadway musical comedy, one that helped to bookend their theatrical legacy.

With a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind and a score by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, Animal Crackers premiered on Broadway in 1928. Designed as a vehicle for Chico, Groucho, Harpo and Zeppo, it followed hot on the heels of I’ll Say She Is and The Cocoanuts, marking their third – and ultimately final – Broadway outing.

Like many musical comedies of the late 1920s, the plot of Animal Crackers exists largely to facilitate mayhem. Set at the estate of the wealthy Mrs Rittenhouse, the action unfolds during a society party held in honour of the celebrated African explorer Captain Spaulding. When a priceless sculpture goes missing, the evening descends into a series of misunderstandings, wordplay, disguises and gleeful non-sequiturs. Narrative coherence is very much secondary to comic momentum, which is, of course, precisely the point.

What distinguishes Animal Crackers from other musicals of the period is the unmistakable comic language of the Marx Brothers. Their humour is quick and crazy, and defiantly disrespectful of authority, sentiment and social decorum. It’s a style that comes across vividly in the film’s soundtrack, where dialogue and song blur into a single comedic assault. The Broadway production would have relied heavily on that same kinetic energy, demanding the Marx Brothers’ impeccable timing and instinct for controlled chaos.

Musically, one song from the score has enjoyed an afterlife independent of the show itself. “Hooray for Captain Spaulding” is undoubtedly the best-known number, later repurposed as the theme song for Groucho Marx’s television quiz show, You Bet Your Life, becoming his signature musical calling card. Structurally, it’s less a traditional musical theatre song than a series of escalating gags, building towards a raucous chorus that repeatedly drowns out Spaulding’s attempts to speak, a joke that wears its audience down through sheer persistence. When we last revisited the soundtrack, my patient husband begged me to skip to the next track after a couple of verses. I responded by playing the rest of the song at full volume. It almost demands it!

My own favourite song from Animal Crackers, however, wasn’t part of the original stage production at all. Written for the film version, “Why Am I So Romantic?” is a charming slice of period musical comedy. It’s irresistibly tuneful and captures the kind of effortless delight that the best musicals of the era delivered without strain or self-importance.

Animal Crackers has never truly disappeared and has resurfaced roughly once a decade in revivals since the 1980s, often augmented with interpolated songs, such as the always popular “I Wanna Be Loved by You.” Even so, its identity as a stage musical remains overshadowed by its cinematic incarnation. Seen through a contemporary lens, the show stands as a reminder of a Broadway era when musical comedy ruled the roost: when plots were optional, stars were paramount and laughs were the primary currency.

That said, recent developments invite a fresh look. The show’s songs entered the public domain in 2024, followed by the full script in 2025. For theatre-makers with imagination (and a tolerance for comic anarchy), the show is now open for reinvention. Perhaps this makes Animal Crackers overdue for reconsideration as a theatrical playground rather than a museum piece. And perhaps that’s the real invitation of this particular Forgotten Musicals Friday column: not simply to look back, but to ask what we might still do with shows like these now that they truly belong to everyone.