The Country Cousin

This Walt Disney Silly Symphony cartoon won the Academy Award for 1936. Adopted from an Aesop Fables tale, The Country Cousin has the title character-a mouse-visiting his city counterpart at his 66 1/2 address. Then they go to a big buffet table where the country mouse gets in lots of his hunger and thirst in quick succession...Quite amusing if not hilarious though I did heartily laugh quite a bit. In other words, nothing too slapsticky but plenty of gently visual gags that made this quite entertaining in the usual Disney manner. It's probably a little rushed at the end but overall, The Country Cousin is still worth a look for anyone who loves all things animation and Disney.

For those wondering why this would win an Academy Award, consider the year and the level of action animation. The dinner table scene is excellent, with all the possibilities. The mice are really excellent personalities, each with their own beings. Yes, the plot is simple. It's one of those portrayals of the grass always being greener. It's the classic Aesop's Fable of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse.

In this rather dull 9-minute cartoon a hick mouse visits his well-to-do cousin in the big city where they get up to all the usual mousy hi-jinks. Although this predates the first Tom and Jerry short by a number of years the set-up and scenes will seem overly familiar to you.

Based on Aesop's fable "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse", there's nothing particularly memorable about this cartoon. The mice peak out of holes, scurry across tables, help themselves to food, agitating the house cat etc. It's fairly standard stuff, ending in the hick mouse being frightened out of town and dashing back to the country along the railroad tracks. It's amazing that this managed to win an Academy Award, I can't imagine how dull the other nominees were that year.

This film is the Oscar winner for Best Animated Short for 1937 and when seen today you might be tempted, like me, to marvel at it being the pick. It's not that this is a bad cartoon--it isn't. It's just that the story is awfully familiar and the animation style is more akin to a non-Disney production than a film by the greatest animation studio of the day. As for me, I'd much rather see a cartoon featuring the OTHER Disney mouse instead of this one.

The story is from Aesop and has been done a bazillion times before by various cartoon studios--probably because they didn't have to pay royalties and because the story has already written itself! A bumpkin mouse from 'Podunk' comes to visit his supposedly sophisticated cousin in the city. At first, the bumpkin in impressed by all the marvels of big city life. However, by the end of the film he comes to realize that cities suck and he's better off being happy with his lot in life.

The animation quality is good but not exactly inspired or a thing of great beauty. When I think about several other Silly Symphony cartoons from Disney (such as THE FLOWERS AND THE TREES or FERDINAND THE BULL), it comes up very short. In other words, it's awfully ordinary yet took the Oscar. While I am not a huge fan of Popeye, I have seen POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS SINBAD THE SAILOR (also nominated this same year) and it was significantly prettier and better animated--with finer line drawings and an amazing 3-D sort of look to it. The other nominee was OLD MILL POND by Harmon-Ising but I just can't bring myself to watch any more of these ultra-cutesy cartoons, though I can just about guarantee it was insipid and that THE COUNTRY COUSIN was better!

In all honesty, I have seen better cartoons. The execution of the story while nicely paced is a little bland and occasionally goofy even and the climax has a chaotic and tacked on nature about it. However, while most of the gags are more amusing than hilarious, the sliced bread and Duck Soup-like mirror gags are very effective indeed. The animation is beautiful and fluid, with the character designs especially good, the music is energetic and action-enhancing as is typical of a lot of cartoons around that time and the characters are sweet and likable.

All in all, The Country Cousin is not an outstanding cartoon, but regardless it is still a nice watch. 7/10 Bethany Cox