User Reviews

Terrytoons Studios' output is very hit and miss but when seeing it as a completest it is also quite fascinating. Most of it ranges between mediocre and pretty decent, though there are cartoons of theirs that are more and also less. The Mighty Mouse cartoons up to this point of his series were generally watchable if very formulaic (though that is not the case for all), though there was yet to be one that was above very good level and Mighty Mouse himself is a pleasant enough if limited character.

1948 was of a pretty decent standard as far as the previous cartoons in the batch go, with the only real disappointment being 'Mystery in the Moonlight' and with the Heckle and Jeckle cartoons faring best. 1948 was not a bad year for Mighty Mouse, still not consistent but unlike previous and succeeding years there aren't to me any misfires in the batch. 'The Witch's Cat' is no exception, a decent if unexceptional Mighty Mouse effort and high middling Terrytoons.

Shall start with the good. The best asset is the music, outstanding yet again and the component consistently good even in lesser outings such as this one. It is its usual lush and characterful self, not just adding to the action but enhancing it as well and also love how wild and at times haunting it is. The animation is equally great in quality, especially the backgrounds and landscapes which are wonderfully spooky and capture the Halloween spirit very well, the characters are well drawn and the colours are really beautiful on the eye.

For me, the witch and the cat made a bigger impression than Mighty Mouse and the mice. The witch is especially memorable, with a very creepy look that stayed with me, she is fun yet gives the creeps without ever being too scary or bumbling. The cat is good fun too. The cartoon has a lively energy, a real eye for spooky Halloween atmosphere and some very amusing gags once things get going.

Part of me did feel though that Mighty Mouse actually wasn't completely necessary and his appearance felt shoe-horned. For the titular character, he feels too much like an extended supporting character that appears late in the game in amusing enough if repetitive action. The story is very thin, evident early on, and the predictability gets excessive from following an over-exposed formula that only has the setting that's original.

Especially the somewhat too hastily and too neat ending. While the mice are rootable enough their personalities aren't anywhere near as interesting or as entertaining as those for the witch and the cat, pretty ordinary.

In summation, decent if unexceptional. 6/10.

Really, when you say "If you've seen one, you've seen 'em all" you're talking about Mighty Mouse. Paul Terry had been producing mostly mediocre cartoons for thirty years by this point and the kiddies liked MM, because it was small guys beating up big guys. His crews did a competent job each time, but how many changes could they ring on the story? Mice frolic, cat or things like cats come to eat them, MM shows up singing "Here I come to save the day!" Biff biff, bam bam and it's over. Usually it's small variations on beating-up gags and the occasional bit of Pearl Pureheart being strapped to the saw in the lumber mill. Worth a three or four out of ten for competent handling of the story for the umpteenth time, and if you're a MM fan and don't like my attitude, my apologies for your hurt feeling.

In this one, it's a cat looking to eat mice, accompanied by a witch on a broomstick for the Hallowe'en season. There's something about the simple line drawing of the witch's face that makes me think she's a caricature of some one. And then there's the color choices...

It may seem odd to call your attention to this, but it is worth noting that the whole thing takes place at night, and the choices made in terms of color and lighting are very nice -- the usual Terry competence applied to the same story. Notice how the backgrounding is very dark and the items are defined simply by color, chroma and brightness. Except for that witch's face.

It's not much to hang six minutes on, but it stops this cartoon from being an absolute yawn,