The Mice Will Play

Tex Avery did a triptych of "cute little mouse" cartoons, but not to worry, gang, they have the Avery backspin, particularly this one. The three, Ain't We Got Fun, A Sunbonnet Blue and this one, were all quite recognizable as Avery shorts and the end gag on this one is prototypical Avery. This one has a fair amount of singing and is more cutesy than usual, but is definitely an Avery short, without a doubt! Well worth looking for. Recommended.

In the 1930s, many of Looney Tunes' shorts tended to be cute and filled with schmaltz. This is why I didn't particularly enjoy "The Mice Will Play". It's not a terrible cartoon but has musical numbers and schmaltz in spades!

A group of VERY cutesy mice invade a doctor's office after hours and they run amok. Eventually, one of them discovers a girl mouse in a cage in an adjoining room...and he helps her escape. Then, the singing and cutesiness goes into overdrive.

There aren't a whole lotta laughs in this one...just cute mice, singing and a hero mouse. It looks great, with excellent animation, but really left me flat.

'The Mice Will Play' is the third of the trilogy of the cute little mice cartoons animation genius Tex Avery made in the late 30s. The other two being 'Ain't We Got Fun' and 'A Sunbonet Blue', both good worthwhile cartoons while not among Avery's best and quite tame by his standards. Am a big fan of Avery and of animation in general (as one can tell from reading other reviews of mine) and even when he was not at his best his work was still watchable and better than the worst output of most.

When talking about the three cute little mice trilogy, all three are worth watching and about equal in quality for the same reasons. Neither of them see Avery at his best, and 'The Mice Will Play' like the previous two is quite tame in comparison to much of the master's other work. That tend to be more daring, livelier in pace and more imaginative in reactions and expressions. That is not saying that 'The Mice Will Play' is bad, it's not. Just slightly disappointing by overall Avery standards.

It is slightly on the bland side, with no surprises in the story, very slight plotting and the gags are more amusing than hilarious or inventive.

Pacing could have been tighter, as the usual wonderfully frantic pace is pretty subdued here and it does feel on the safe side whereas Avery at his best was pretty ahead of his time. Then again this is early Avery and before he hit his peak in the 40s.

However, there are a lot of great things despite how all that sounds. The animation ranges from good to excellent. It's fluid in movement, vibrant in colour and very meticulous in detail. Most of the pace is lively and the content is charming, amusing and well-timed if with not quite enough to go the extra mile.

Carl Stalling's music is typically superb. It is as always lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it. The characters are likeable and their personalities work well individually and together. The voice acting is without complaint, it doesn't get much better than Mel Blanc when it comes/came to voice acting and he doesn't disappoint. Bernice Hansen has the most characters to voice and she excels without sounding too cute.

Overall, decent if unexceptional. 7/10.