Sniffles Takes a Trip

Chuck Jones probably was a bit new to direction when directing these cartoons. Sniffles is this mouse that is trying to be cute as he is taking a retreat to the countryside to camp. He runs into a lot of mishaps. I personally did not find the scene with Sniffles in the dark funny. I am not too fond of Warner Brothers mouse characters (Speedy Gonzales was the only good one, IMHO), but Sniffles to me was unlikeable. I wanted to see him eaten by that angry duck which he set of a hammock in between his legs!

Thank heaves Chuck Jones improved!

Watched this for the first time on HBO Max, and they've done a great job restoring it. Fantastic colors and arresting nature scenes. The comedic timing is mostly off, however, and the main character is far too cloying. If Jones has played it straight, it could have been great. But the mouse would need to shut up. If you can see a pristine version in high definition, though, I recommend it.

Chuck Jones is widely considered one of animation's finest directors/animators and for very good reason. When he was at his best, his cartoons were masterpieces of animation, comic timing, characterisation and wit.

The Sniffles cartoon series were very early efforts for Jones, and, while they are interesting from a historical perspective, it is safe to say that from personal opinion they really don't see him at his best. There is somewhat of a still finding his feet feel here, with the humour once he became a regular director for the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons becoming much funnier, more constant and wittier and the characterisation far more interesting.

'Sniffles Takes a Trip' to me is one of the weaker Sniffles cartoons. Not bad at all. Just not great or particularly good. The premise is one that quite a lot of people will relate to, but is a very over-familiar one and 'Sniffles Takes a Trip' rarely does much fresh or new with it. A few of Sniffles' mishaps are mildly amusing but others are not so witty and imaginative and makes the storytelling feel somewhat repetitive.

Also felt that 'Sniffles Takes a Trip' fell into the trap of trying too hard to be cute to the point that it's cloying and too sickly sweet. Sniffles is cute and has a very likable sweetness but other cartoons of his show him with a more compelling personality and have funnier and more interesting supporting character to pit off against him (they're nice enough here, but unexceptional).

However, cannot bring myself to be too hard on the cartoon. The animation is very good. It is lush and vibrant in colour and meticulous and beautifully drawn in detail. The character designs are fluid, well drawn and distinctive Jones, if not the creative ones of his very best cartoons. Carl Stalling's music is lush and characterful, with clever orchestration and a mastery of not just adding to the action but enhancing it as well (Stalling was a near-unequalled master at this, though Scott Bradley gave him a run for his money).

There are sweet and amusing moments here, even if neither element is done flawlessly or consistently. As said, Sniffles does have his moments as do the supporting characters, the pace is lively in places, the setting is atmospheric and the voice acting is very good.

In summation, watchable but didn't wow me all that much. 5/10 Bethany Cox

By the late 1930s, Looney Tunes was one of the better cartoon studios. Their animation quality was excellent...probably only second to Disney. And, they developed a few decent recurring characters. It wasn't like this in the early to mid-1930s...where the studio was really struggling to find its way and they didn't really have any decent and memorable characters--just cute and forgettable ones. So, why when things had improved so much did Looney Tunes invest in a dozen cartoons starring Sniffles starting in 1939? While the animation was nice in all the Sniffles cartoons, the character itself was lousy...cute but saccharine sweet as well. All this while the studio ALSO was making Daffy Duck and Porky Pig shorts....fun ones at that.

In this one, Sniffles leaves home and wanders about the countryside. In the process, he sees a lot of things that scare him.

Dull, dull and dull. This cartoon is a huge step back for the studio and it took eight years before Sniffles took his last bow. Hard to watch despite the nice animation quality.

OK, pretty much all great artists have to start somewhere. Chuck Jones's first star was the cute-by-any-measure mouse Sniffles. I can see why Sniffles eventually disappeared to make way for other mice in the in Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons (namely the fastest one in Mexico). In "Sniffles Takes a Trip", the little guy tries to take a relaxing vacation but ends up in the middle of the forest where everything disturbs him; why do vacations always seem to end up like this? My favorite scene is the POV shot looking at the duck (well, was it a duck or goose or swan? I couldn't tell). But either way, this cartoon was more of a place holder between better ones (1940 also saw the release of "You Ought to Be in Pictures" and "A Wild Hare", featuring the first true Bugs Bunny). In the off chance that you want to watch it, you can find it on YouTube.