User Reviews

Gandy Goose (credited in the TV print I saw as "A Silly Goose") is hitching a ride with Sour Puss when the jalopy's tires begin to blow out in this funny Terrytoon.

I can't tell from Googling when rationing of rubber began in the Second World War, but sources in Indonesia were cut off when the Japanese occupied the Islands in March. this was a timely cartoon with some good sequences, as various improbable characters and techniques for dealing with blow-outs are offered.

The Gandy Goose/Sourpuss pairing was a very good one for Paul Terry's studio. They had easily identifiable personalities and clashed well in their cartoons. Not only were their situations absurd; all decent cartoons of the era had that absurdity. There was a self-awareness of that silliness that them above the standards of Terrytoons.

Everybody is likely to have a reason for watching the Terrytoons cartoons. For me there were two reasons. One was completest sake, having been intrigued by them for a while after hearing about them from some IMDb friends, so have been watching as many of the available ones as possible. The other was my love of animation and my interest in seeing old(er) ones made on a reasonably low budget. It has been a very interesting but very variable experience doing so, with a mix of decent, average, mediocre and weak, up to this point nothing came over as great but utter stinkers were very few.

Regarding the 1942 Terrytoons (variable as with all the previous years), 'Tire Trouble' is one of the better ones of that year and fares reasonably well overall as far as their output goes. It, as part of the overall reasonably entertaining if not mind-blowing Gandy Goose and Sourpuss Cat series, is a decent cartoon with a fair share of good assets. Even if it is also not a great cartoon with some problems that happen actually to be the usual offenders.

There are two assets that come off particularly well in 'Tire Trouble'. One is the ever wonderful music, which for me has always been the most consistent asset in that it never disappointed. Have always loved how beautifully and cleverly it's orchestrated and arranged, furthermore it is great fun to listen to with so much lively energy, doing so well with adding to the action. The other best asset is the animation, from when Terrytoons first started up to this point this asset had advanced so much and was the asset that over-time improved the most. The ambitious, elaborate detail in the backgrounds is still great to see, as is the comparatively improved fluidity of drawing and movement. The synchronisation in movement and sound is neat.

Liked that there were a number of well timed and amusing moments, and the boundless energy and charm is completely natural and never forced. It is very absurdist in places, but this is a case of the absurdity actually being quite endearing. In his earlier solo outings Gandy for me wasn't very appealing and was pretty bland, but later on especially with Sourpuss he grew significantly on me, and became funnier, more interesting and more likeable. He is very well matched by Sourpuss, a more compelling and interesting character. Despite on paper their chemistry not making much sense it actually does in their cartoons, they do have a nice dynamic together and their personalities are well defined which was not always the case with regular Terrytoons characters.

Many Terrytoons cartoons are wanting in the story, 'Tire Trouble' is no exception, it is fairly familiar in terms of premise, both for Terrytoons and animation in general and it does lack freshness and surprises. There was a sense that the studio were recycling old ideas due to ideas running out, there is that sense here but there are far worse cases.

Not all the gags work, a few are on the predictable and tired side. Like with a fair few of the Gandy and Sourpuss wartime cartoons, there is a little too much of a heavy hand in places.

Overall though, pretty decent. 6/10 Bethany Cox