The Milky Way (1940)

Director:

Rudolf Ising

Release Date:

22 June 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Animation | Fantasy | Short | Musical

Plot:

The three little kittens have lost their mittens and are sent to bed without dinner. From their room...

Plot Keywords:

Milk | Balloon | Kitten | Outer Space | Geyser

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Cast

Bernice Hansen

...

Mama Cat - Three Little Kittens (voice) (uncredited)

Runtime:

8 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Erroneously listed as a Tom & Jerry cartoon in several sources, including a 1980's Tom & Jerry publicity handout, possibly because of a similarly titled cartoon in the series, "The Milky Waif".

While a decent cartoon, it probably shouldn't have won the Oscar.

This cartoon is done reasonably well, is enjoyable enough and worth seeing, but, although I can understand why it won (monumentally cute with well-drawn backgrounds and the closest thing to a Disney style short that was nominated), I don't think it should have. It's competition included the very first Tom and Jerry and a Bugs Bunny directed by Tex Avery. The Tom and Jerry should have won hands down. The Milky Way has some nice touches, but the other two were more interesting and more novel for the time. Oh, well. The Academy has got more right than wrong in Animated Short over the years. This one shows on The Cartoon Network from time to time.