On first watch, this was one of the Screen Songs cartoons that didn't do anything for me. To me on first watch it was bland and repetitive, with not much that was funny and the stereotyping was a turn off. That was some time ago, so when the recent decision was made to rewatch all the Screen Songs cartoons (the ones available that is) this was one of the ones where there was the hope that it would fare better second time around.
While still not a particularly good cartoon, and somewhere around low-ish middle as far as the series goes, this actually did fare better on rewatch (which has not been the case with some other Screen Songs cartoons where the initial reaction was also negative and were still mediocre at best on rewatch). So giving it a second chance was a good move on my part and is not regretted. My reservations are still similar but found more to like too this time.
Shall begin with the good. The animation here is good on the most part. Especially the vibrant colours and equally loved the background detail where a lot of care went into it, the setting looks handsome yet has grit too. The incidental music is even better, very lushly orchestrated and full of character rhythmically. "My Pony Boy" is well incorporated and beautifully performed, had not heard of it prior to my first watch and liked the melody.
There are a few amusing moments here and there. It is one of the cartoons in the Screen Songs series where the singalong portion actually comes off better than the rest, with that section's one downside being some quite basic animation in the character designs namely. This was where the cartoon was at its liveliest and most fun and it made me smile and want to sing along.
Most of the time however, there could have been a good deal more gags and what there were generally could have been sharper and had more variety. Instead of being the heavy in groan-worthy corn and derivative ones here. Also felt the humour was quite stereotypical and not always in a tasteful way. The characters on the whole are pretty trite and the stereotypes were the kind that would have been out of date even at the time.
Admittedly the Screen Songs cartoons are not ever to be seen for their stories, and the story here is not much of one at all and structurally is both formulaic and repetitive. Other than in the singalong portion it's on the dull side as well.
Overall, better on rewatch but my feelings here are pretty mixed. 5/10.