User Reviews

A largely run-of-the-mill short that has one very notable point of significance-it essentially makes it possible to know which magpie is Heckle and which one is Jeckle. In order to explain this, spoilers are necessary, so be warned:

This is a fairly typical "friends become romantic rivals" cartoon with some enjoyable visual gags. But the most important aspect of this short is that there are a couple of scenes that provide fairly decisive indicators of which bird is which.

Though the two birds have distinctive voices and personalities, in most of the shorts, their names are not used in such a way that they identify the specific character. Physically, they look the same. Here, however, they are shown wearing different hats and one wears a monocle. On two different occasions, they are shown running into separate living quarters, each marked by name. The one who comes out of the quarters marked "Heckle" is the one who speaks with a New York, Bronx/Brooklyn accent and is wearing a white hat with upturned brim, while the one who exits from "Jeckle" is wearing a straw hat and a monocle and speaks with a British accent.

Heckle and Jeckle are probably the most effective characters developed by Terrytoons, certainly of those developed before Paul Terry sold his shorts and the studio. Mighty Mouse is really the only one who can rival them in terms of success. The Terrytoon shorts were, for the most part, pleasant filler. They weren't innovative-they were done to fulfill a contract to provide a certain number of theatrically released cartoons. Heckle and Jeckle were probably the most consistently entertaining series they did. This short is well worth watching. Recommended.

I never thought I'd spot an example of Walt Disney following Paul Terry's lead, but here we have a Terrytoon that anticipates a Disney toon. 'Rival Romeos' features Heckle and Jeckle in almost exactly the same premise that would show up a year later in the 1951 Disney epic 'Two Chips and a Miss' featuring Chip 'n' Dale competing for the favours of a female chipmunk.

Here we have the two magpies vying for the affections of a female bird: one of the very rare examples of a genuine female character (rather than a female impersonation) in a Heckle and Jeckle toon. Although this she-toon is clearly a bird, she's also some avian species radically different from the two magpies (is she a chicken? I can't tell), so what they're seeking here is some interspecies lovin'. Also, the female bird is drawn with a teeny-tiny little beak that's just barely visible.

Of all the U.S.-based animation studios, Terrytoons routinely had the worst in-betweeners: the characters in Paul Terry's cartoons have a tendency to shimmy distressingly from one frame to the next. In 'Rival Romeos', this doesn't happen ... but the female bird is so crudely animated that she seems to move like a male character rather than a female. This may be down to what I previously observed: the rarity of female characters in Heckle and Jeckle cartoons. Director Eddie Donnelly should have studied the Red Hot Riding Hood cartoons directed by Tex Avery, in order to learn how to animate a female character convincingly without rotoscoping. (Not likely Paul Terry would spend the money to buy a rotoscope!)

As the IMDb reviewer Robert Reynolds has already commented, this cartoon clearly establishes that Heckle is the magpie with the prole New York accent, whilst Jeckle is the one with the cod English accent. But I knew that already. What I found more surprising about 'Rival Romeos' is that in this toon the two magpies live in separate but adjacent quarters; several other cartoons in their series establish them as room-mates.

By the way, I hope someone can tell me the name for the distinctly American style of hat which Heckle wears in this cartoon. It's the same hat style worn by Mister Magoo's nephew Waldo; I've only ever seen it in photos (and movies) of American men from circa 1920 to 1950: usually college students, for some reason. It certainly never caught on in Britain nor Australia. (It resembles a porkpie hat, but it's very different from Buster Keaton's familiar porkpie.) Meanwhile, Jeckle sports a monocle here: I suppose this is meant to 'prove' that he really is from England.

'Romeo Rivals' ends with a gag that's rather obvious but still amusing, featuring a parody of the iris-out device. My rating for this one: 7 out of 10, and one of those points is for this toon's historic value in establishing which magpie is which. This cartoon is definitely funnier (with a better ending) than 'Two Chips and a Miss'.