People have their own/different reason, or even reasons, for watching any of the Terrytoons cartoons. In my case it was being a huge animation fan all my life and being oddly intrigued into seeing more of Terrytoons' output. After seeing one of the (very) early ones by chance, didn't care for it on the most part but something about it made me want to see more from the studio to see whether they evolved (which they certainly did), when finished watching the Van Bueren cartoons and looking for more low-budget animation to watch.
'Flying Cups and Saucers' is one of the small handful of the non-recurring theatrical series character 1949 Terrytoons cartoons. Despite it sounding like a standard cat vs mice conflict story, there was something about the premise that sounded very interesting (namely the idea of the cats being from the moon). 'Flying Cups and Saucers' is neither one of the best 1949 Terrytoons cartoons (best being 'Dancing Shoes') or one of the worst, it's more a watchable if average effort that is rather formulaic and doesn't really do enough with its setting.
There are good things. Music is fantastic and as ever with Terrytoons the best thing about 'Flying Cups and Saucers'. It is beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and arranged, is terrific fun to listen to and the lively energy is present throughout, doing so well with adding to the action. Close behind was the animation, as said more than once this component has come on considerably since the Terrytoons Studio first started. Overall, it is nicely detailed, lively and colourful, with nice attention to detail and vibrant colours that don't look garish.
As is often the case with Terrytoons, the villains (in this case the moon cats) are a lot more interesting than the heroes. The moon cats do have menace but also good comic timing. There are a few mildly amusing moments and the climax is fun and energetic.
Sadly, the mice are nowhere near as interesting as characters. Mice characters are often bland with Terrytoons, and this is a studio that used them frequently, and the mice are here and not much different from similar mice characters in other Terrytoons cartoons. The conflict did lack tension and excitement generally and this is primarily because it is very predictable, everything is obvious before it happens and there is no doubt who wins or loses. Basically it's the standard mice vs cat formula with a few small variations, variations that are not done much with with the invasion aspect not being that imaginatively done on the whole.
Generally, the story is very thin and predictable with the second half being much better than the too long to get going first. It does affect the pacing, which is dull on the whole before coming to life in the climax. The gags are too few and those that are here are not that amusing and feel tried and tested.
On the whole, watchable but average. 5/10.