The first six or seven cartoons in the series are very good to great, however after Bell Hoppy the concept started getting tired, the material wasn't as inventive and while never terrible or worse (with the exception of the last cartoon Freudy Cat) the animation wasn't always as vivid or as wonderfully exaggerated. The Slap-Hoppy Mouse however is one of the better and funnier later cartoons in the series.
Its animation is a case of some of it being very good and some of it not quite so much. The characters are well drawn (though Hippety looks a little basic), Sylvester's expressions are still priceless and the colours are bright warm and colourful apart from the occasional flat ones. Some of the backgrounds are a little limited and not having the amount of detail they could have done, some colours are flat and there's not enough of the wonderfully big expressions and action and they're not quite as inspired as a result. Sylvester and Hippety's chemistry is enjoyable but lacks the same amount of energy and spark as the earlier cartoons, and there's not quite enough of it, Hippety is only mildly amusing plot-device material here too.
Carl Stalling's music is just great though and fits so much better than Bill Lava's very discordant re-scoring used in Freudy Cat, which used a clip from this cartoon. It's lively and dynamic music and it's beautifully orchestrated and some of the use of instruments is clever, fitting wonderfully and adding much to the action. The sound effects are similarly well-used. What Slap-Hoppy Mouse really has in its favour is that it is very funny, with hilarious dialogue between Sylvester and his son and a really well-written conflict between the two that's both hilarious and tense. The gags are every bit as funny, with a riot of an ending. The story is well-paced and, while predictable, really does try also to do something fresh with the rundown mouse infested house idea and makes the most out of it.
Sylvester is as ruthless as ever, and while his comic timing is spot on it's easy to root for him too. Sylvester Jnr. is sweet and very amusing. Mel Blanc's voice work is superb here, some of the best he did in the later cartoons of this particular series. Overall, lots of fun and definitely worth watching. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox
Its animation is a case of some of it being very good and some of it not quite so much. The characters are well drawn (though Hippety looks a little basic), Sylvester's expressions are still priceless and the colours are bright warm and colourful apart from the occasional flat ones. Some of the backgrounds are a little limited and not having the amount of detail they could have done, some colours are flat and there's not enough of the wonderfully big expressions and action and they're not quite as inspired as a result. Sylvester and Hippety's chemistry is enjoyable but lacks the same amount of energy and spark as the earlier cartoons, and there's not quite enough of it, Hippety is only mildly amusing plot-device material here too.
Carl Stalling's music is just great though and fits so much better than Bill Lava's very discordant re-scoring used in Freudy Cat, which used a clip from this cartoon. It's lively and dynamic music and it's beautifully orchestrated and some of the use of instruments is clever, fitting wonderfully and adding much to the action. The sound effects are similarly well-used. What Slap-Hoppy Mouse really has in its favour is that it is very funny, with hilarious dialogue between Sylvester and his son and a really well-written conflict between the two that's both hilarious and tense. The gags are every bit as funny, with a riot of an ending. The story is well-paced and, while predictable, really does try also to do something fresh with the rundown mouse infested house idea and makes the most out of it.
Sylvester is as ruthless as ever, and while his comic timing is spot on it's easy to root for him too. Sylvester Jnr. is sweet and very amusing. Mel Blanc's voice work is superb here, some of the best he did in the later cartoons of this particular series. Overall, lots of fun and definitely worth watching. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox