User Reviews

A cat swallows a cuckoo bird, which insists on offering its clock-like call until a team of veterinary surgeons is called on in this bizarre Terrytoon.

Elmer Perkins has about five credits on the IMDb and nothing shows up on Google on quick search -- the computer keeps trying to redirect me to the Perkins Elmer corporation. They mostly seem cuckoo related, so perhaps he was called in for the matter and didn't turn out to be what the industry had hoped for.

Certainly this cartoon seems to be a bit of a hodge-podge, with realistically drawn switchboard operators and a of extreme point of view shots tossed into the usual mix of straight-on camera positioning to show off the gags. There are three credited directors on this one, so perhaps it is hardly surprising there is no sense of unity. It's a pity, because some of the gags are very strong and could have benefited from someone who cared about their context.

The Terrytoons are oddly interesting, mainly for anybody wanting to see (generally) older cartoons made by lesser known and lower-budget studios. They are a mixed bag in quality, with some better than others, often with outstanding music and with some mild amusement and charm and variable in animation, characterisation and content.

1939, like all the other years for Terrytoons, saw a hit and miss batch, more so than the other years even. Of which 'The Cuckoo Bird' is one of the low middle ones ranking it in correlation with the rest of the Terrytoons and one of the lesser 1939 cartoons. It is an unexceptional, nothing exactly special cartoon and has both big strengths and big flaws, namely the latter. 'The Cuckoo Bird' is still reasonably watchable, completest sake is the main reason to see it but it's not the only reason.

Best asset is the music, which predictably is incredible. It is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and arranged, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action. The ambitious, elaborate detail in the backgrounds is still great to see, as is the comparatively improved fluidity of drawing and movement, and some synchronisation in movement and sound is neat.

A few amusing moments, there is some zest and natural charm and parts of it and the basic set up are nicely done.

Outside of the backgrounds and more fluidity than seen previously however, a few of the transitions are not always polished.

Likewise, the story is paper thin and agreed like a hodge-podge that doesn't connect together as an overall whole, with not an awful lot to it (like the cartoon in general) and doing little with a premise that's hardly new. Gags aren't enough, they are not always very organised (fairly scattershot), and there is not much especially memorable about some and some don't serve much point. The cartoon tends to veer towards being too cute and a lot of it is pretty predictable from being a familiar premise for Terrytoons. Some choppiness too and the cartoon feels very old fashioned and basic, on top of being disjointed and uncomfortably bizarre. The characters are not the most appealing either.

On the whole, didn't do much for me but not a waste. 4/10 Bethany Cox