AllMovie

One of a series of films based upon Winsor McCay's Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend comic strip, Bug Vaudeville opens on a lakeside setting. A hobo ambles on, having recently received a piece of cheesecake as a handout, and settles down under a tree for a nap. As he sleeps, he dreams that he is the sole audience member in a curious theater, the attraction of which is a vaudeville show performed entirely by giant insects. A grasshopper juggles an ant, a Granddaddy Long Legs performs an "eccentric" dance, Professor Cockroach performs tricks on a bicycle, tumble bugs create an acrobatic routine, potato bugs box, and a lovely butterfly rides a black beetle as if he were a horse. For the finale, the title cards announce "The Spider and the Fly." A giant spider appears on-stage, raising and lowering itself on its slender thread of web, then begins swinging back and forth out over the audience. At last it lands upon its "fly" -- the hobo in the audience -- and starts to devour him. The hobo awakens, puts his hat on his hand and walks offscreen.