Robin Hoodwinked

As was the case with most cartoon studios in the 1950's, Robin Hoodwinked shows obvious and dramatic cost cutting. If you notice in the credits, only Ken Muse is the animator from the glory days. Not to slam the other fellows, but when compared to the 1940's and early 50's shorts, this one falls down in terms of style, animation quality, and overall appearance. Its a good story though and its been done countless times both in animation and film. As would be the case with future HB efforts, this one has dialoge. Lots of it. This would be a hallmark of HB in the 60's onward as the animation quality was in a state of irretrievable decline. Keep in mind that a T&J cartoon from the 40's cost nearly 60K to produce! Obviously with the advent of television and the decline in movie attendance, MGM was not keen on shelling out big bucks to produce these cartoons. Thus, when Fred Quimby left in 1955, HB took over both direction and production. Faced with declining budgets, animation quality suffered. Still, this cartoon is entertaining. The faked English accent gets a bit unnerving and Jerry is reduced to a bit part role in this outing. Its quite a departure from the earlier cat vs. mouse conflict that served T&J so well. In later shorts such as Tot Watchers, we even see T&J buddy up as a team. Again, the formula would work if only we hadn't known T&J from a bygone era.

This cartoon features the little mouse who was initially named Nibbles, a name that was changed to Tuffy at some point (probably when he became an action hero or shortly thereafter) by the powers that be. Nibbles (excuse me, Tuffy) speaks a great deal here, in order to move the plot along, but, while the dialogue is often funny, after a while, you wish the part had gone to Marcel Marceau. Failing that, at least elocution lessons would seem to have been advisable. Cute cartoon along the lines of the Mouseketeer series, one which has a cautionary warning on the dangers of strong spirits, which may lead the consumer to break out in song at inopportune moments, as well as neglecting to be aware of their surroundings. Well worth watching. Most recommended.

Robin Hood has been captured and locked up in jail. Brave mice Jerry and Tuffy decide to break him out, but in order to do so they need to get past guard Tom first.

I like the idea of the setting for this cartoon—it's original, at the very least—but what the hell is going in with Tuffy's voice? The little mouse's English accent is worse than Dick Van Dyke's. Blooming this and blooming that! By the end of the cartoon, I was hoping that one of those arrows had hit the mouse rather than just snagging his nappy.

3/10. Blooming bad.

This is a Robin Hood story about Jerry and his pal Tuffy getting their famous pal (Robin Hood) out of a jam. The authorities had caught the famous bandit and were going to hang him, but the little mice are determined to save Robin.

Two things you see and hear grab your attention right off the bat: the beautiful, lush Sherwood Forest painted on the widescreen CinemaScope format and Tuffy speaking "the King's English." Expressions such as "blooming" as in "let's crash the blooming party, eh?" sound funny coming from Tuffy. By, the way Tuffy does all the talking; Jerry says nothing in the whole cartoon. Tuffy is a bit rough with all the "blooming" this and that (six times) along with a few other marginal exclamations. His dialog was funny at first, then got annoying.

That fine artwork, by the way, continues with some of the best I've ever seen in a Tom and Jerry cartoon, maybe even the best.

Most of the story is Jerry and Tuffy trying to break Robin Hood out of jail while Tom, the guard, does his best to thwart them. The main gag is Tuffy trying to get the key to the cell out of Tom's stomach.

Overall, this is decent. It certainly was different enough, regarding the normal Tom and Jerry cartoons, to be almost a curiosity piece. It wound up being the final one in the recently- released "Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume 3" DVD.

There are many classic Tom and Jerry cartoons. Robin Hoodwinked doesn't quite hold that distinction, but it has and is a lot of fun(though I do think Down Beat Bear is the last Tom and Jerry cartoon that I deem as truly great). Certainly far better than what was going to come later. Tuffy's voice and dialogue do get annoying after a while and the story is one of those you've seen a few times before that you're not all surprised by the outcome. I was surprised by the animation though, the colours are beautiful and there is some good detail(Sherwood Forest is particularly well done), easily one of their better-looking cartoons without Fred Quimby in charge. The music is catchy, lushly orchestrated and does really well enhancing the action, and the pacing is crisp and snappy. The main story point of Robin Hoodwinked is Tuffy trying to get the key from Tom's stomach, and that was fun to watch without feeling too overextended. Tuffy's drunken reaction to the booze that Tom swallows is priceless. Tom is a suitably dastardly foil and Jerry has some neat facial expressions. Tuffy is a character here that you'll either like or not, and while I think his voice and dialogue get too much he does have enough amusing moments that allow him some likability at least. All in all, a lot of fun if not among Tom and Jerry's classic masterpieces. 8/10 Bethany Cox