This is one of the shorts from the Mighty Mouse series produced by Terrytoons. There will be spoilers ahead:
Mighty Mouse cartoons are the definition of "formula cartoons". By the very nature of the concept, the entry of Mighty Mouse into the short makes the outcome inevitable, because Mighty Mouse is a superhero and is thus destined to win no matter who he goes up against. That they are predictable in no way means they cannot be entertaining, but the character of Mighty Mouse is basically rather limited and a little dull. He's not strong enough to carry a short himself.
The basic story arc is pretty much set. The cartoons are framed like the old melodramas, with a heroine in peril, a villain with no redeeming qualities and the stalwart hero. Every other character is a spear carrier. The theme of the cartoon is really the only major difference. Here, the conceit is that a father and his beautiful daughter live in a castle, but daddy is broke and the taxes are due. In comes the bad guy. The heroine is Pearl Pureheart, the bad guy is Oil Can Harry in black armor and some hero must win the jousting tournament to save the castle and spare our heroine from belonging to Harry.
Harry wipes out all the competition fairly easily. The plot is largely conveyed in an operetta singing style, so Pearl sings for some hero to save her. Mighty Mouse heeds the call and the battle is joined. This is even more one-sided than the earlier jousts, but the gags are better, generally revolving around Harry getting knocked out of his armor and having the pieces come down around him in another form. Mighty Mouse continually hands Harry his head until the final gag of the fight, the day is saved, Mighty Mouse gives the prize money to Pearl and then flies off.
There are two bits of comic relief which make this a bit more enjoyable. One is a short guy in armor who pops up with commentary throughout and the other is a sportscaster type announcing the jousting match.
This short is worth seeing.
Mighty Mouse cartoons are the definition of "formula cartoons". By the very nature of the concept, the entry of Mighty Mouse into the short makes the outcome inevitable, because Mighty Mouse is a superhero and is thus destined to win no matter who he goes up against. That they are predictable in no way means they cannot be entertaining, but the character of Mighty Mouse is basically rather limited and a little dull. He's not strong enough to carry a short himself.
The basic story arc is pretty much set. The cartoons are framed like the old melodramas, with a heroine in peril, a villain with no redeeming qualities and the stalwart hero. Every other character is a spear carrier. The theme of the cartoon is really the only major difference. Here, the conceit is that a father and his beautiful daughter live in a castle, but daddy is broke and the taxes are due. In comes the bad guy. The heroine is Pearl Pureheart, the bad guy is Oil Can Harry in black armor and some hero must win the jousting tournament to save the castle and spare our heroine from belonging to Harry.
Harry wipes out all the competition fairly easily. The plot is largely conveyed in an operetta singing style, so Pearl sings for some hero to save her. Mighty Mouse heeds the call and the battle is joined. This is even more one-sided than the earlier jousts, but the gags are better, generally revolving around Harry getting knocked out of his armor and having the pieces come down around him in another form. Mighty Mouse continually hands Harry his head until the final gag of the fight, the day is saved, Mighty Mouse gives the prize money to Pearl and then flies off.
There are two bits of comic relief which make this a bit more enjoyable. One is a short guy in armor who pops up with commentary throughout and the other is a sportscaster type announcing the jousting match.
This short is worth seeing.
