User Reviews

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.

Like with the Terrytoons from 1930 and 1931, the 1932 batch has been very mixed, the best being above average if not mindblowing and the worst being weak. 'Farmer Al Falfa's Bedtime Story' is one of the watchable ones but not one that would be watched over and over by me. As said a few times already in my previous reviews for the Terrytoons, the main reason for viewing is mainly for anybody striving to see every Terrytoons available like me.

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. Some of the backgrounds are detailed and ambitious enough and yes it's a little more elaborate looking than the previous 1932 cartoons.

There is a charm that is natural and never forced, the gags are mostly amusing and reasonably timed and there is not as big an issue with the pace as other Terrytoons.

However, the animation is still, outside of the backgrounds, primitive at best with a fair bit of crudeness, over-simplicity and choppiness.

Story is not much of time at all and doesn't really go anywhere, the premise is a fairly familiar one and 'Farmer Al Falfa's Bedtime Story' brings nothing new to the table. The characters generally are bland, for a titular character Farmer Al Falfa doesn't feature all that prominently, as is other parts of the material where it gets a bit saccharine, and it's all very predictable and unsurprising.

Overall, far from a must avoid but far from one at the same that had me jump out of my chair. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Farmer Al Falfa lets the cat out for the night, winds the clock and goes to bed. The mice take advantage of the situation to throw a party in this pleasantly amusing Terrytoon.

Although there is little to point to, the progress of events points to a real story punctuated by gags and music, rather than a series of gags connected by a plot and music. That is a key advance from the "synchronized music" cartoon that Terry's studio had been making through the end of 1931. The distinction is a subtle one, and may be difficult to analyze, but it is a matter of pacing. It also argues that Terry's musical director, Philip Scheib, had become more than a technician. He was a full creative partner and Terry's staff adapted to his presence to make a better cartoon.