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Tom Morrison
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Featured review
The worthwhile jail break
Will admit to not being the mightiest of fans of Mighty Mouse, pleasant enough if limited and not always used very well. His cartoons, 80 between 1942 and 1961 (though he was first named Super Mouse for the first seven, until 'The Lion and the Mouse'), were quite mixed and followed a formula that tended to be on the repetitive side. Some were pretty good, others were very weak. Most of them were in between of those, mostly of the watchable but average distinction.
1946's Mighty Mouse batch was a good example of most of that. Few of the cartoons were weak, 'My Old Kentucky Home' being one of the exceptions, but there were mediocre ones. Enough though of the 1946 Mighty Mouse cartoons were above average and a few were pretty good and among the best of the series. 'The Jail Break' is one of them, and one of the best of Terrytoons' variable but more consistent actually than most of previous years' batches.
Sure, 'The Jail Break' isn't perfect. Other than Mighty Mouse, Bad Bill and the wonderfully kooky inmates, none of the characters after the promising opening are that memorable and their personalities aren't distinct enough to make them stand out properly. Story-wise it is not particularly surprising, having seen elements of what happens before a good deal, and the ending can be smelt from miles off being a typical sort of Mighty Mouse cartoon ending.
Mighty Mouse also could have featured earlier, as it did feel that Bad Bill Bunion was the lead character here and Mighty Mouse plot-device supporting when really it should have been the other way around in my view, at least he feels necessary though here. That was something that quite a fair few Mighty Mouse cartoons made the mistake of doing.
On the other viewpoint, there are many good things with 'The Jail Break'. Best asset as ever is the music, which is its usual lush and characterful self. Also excelling in enhancing everything going on between the cats and mice. The animation is equally great in quality, especially the backgrounds and landscapes, though the colours are also very attractive and never drab or garish. Mighty Mouse and Bad Bill work well together and it doesn't feel too much like a cartoon of two halves like some cartoons in the series do.
While nothing is completely hilarious, there are more than enough gags to satisfy and they are amusing and timed without flagging. Although the content in the last third is not an awful lot new, it has a good deal of energy and didn't find myself bored or annoyed by any of it. The conflict has tension, thanks to Bad Bill himself being a suitably formidable opponent though with good comic timing, and the first half generates some suspense. The opening is great.
Altogether, pretty good. 7/10
1946's Mighty Mouse batch was a good example of most of that. Few of the cartoons were weak, 'My Old Kentucky Home' being one of the exceptions, but there were mediocre ones. Enough though of the 1946 Mighty Mouse cartoons were above average and a few were pretty good and among the best of the series. 'The Jail Break' is one of them, and one of the best of Terrytoons' variable but more consistent actually than most of previous years' batches.
Sure, 'The Jail Break' isn't perfect. Other than Mighty Mouse, Bad Bill and the wonderfully kooky inmates, none of the characters after the promising opening are that memorable and their personalities aren't distinct enough to make them stand out properly. Story-wise it is not particularly surprising, having seen elements of what happens before a good deal, and the ending can be smelt from miles off being a typical sort of Mighty Mouse cartoon ending.
Mighty Mouse also could have featured earlier, as it did feel that Bad Bill Bunion was the lead character here and Mighty Mouse plot-device supporting when really it should have been the other way around in my view, at least he feels necessary though here. That was something that quite a fair few Mighty Mouse cartoons made the mistake of doing.
On the other viewpoint, there are many good things with 'The Jail Break'. Best asset as ever is the music, which is its usual lush and characterful self. Also excelling in enhancing everything going on between the cats and mice. The animation is equally great in quality, especially the backgrounds and landscapes, though the colours are also very attractive and never drab or garish. Mighty Mouse and Bad Bill work well together and it doesn't feel too much like a cartoon of two halves like some cartoons in the series do.
While nothing is completely hilarious, there are more than enough gags to satisfy and they are amusing and timed without flagging. Although the content in the last third is not an awful lot new, it has a good deal of energy and didn't find myself bored or annoyed by any of it. The conflict has tension, thanks to Bad Bill himself being a suitably formidable opponent though with good comic timing, and the first half generates some suspense. The opening is great.
Altogether, pretty good. 7/10
helpful•50
- TheLittleSongbird
- Oct 30, 2020
Details
- Runtime7 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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