Room and Wrath

. . . of ROOM AND WRATH that does NOT feature anvils and over-sized fireworks rockets, consider yourself lucky. There's a saying in Tinsel Town that some would-be show horses such as Trigger or Mr. Ed are "one trick ponies." Mr. A. may have had as many as three tricks up his sleeve, but each time he churned out 30 or 40 episodes for a movie studio, his severely limited repertoire felt pretty old, blase and stale, and he was released from doing any further repetition for the disappointed employer. Historians say that when he was toiling at the animated Mecca of Termite Terrace, he habitually waited too long to make a dash for the plumbing facilities, and bowled over many coworkers during each mad rush to the floor offering relief. Whether this was just another hackneyed gag on his part no one knows for sure.

Chilly Willy's best cartoons were perfect examples of how a potentially one-joke character and concept could end up actually being a perfect mix of the cute and the funny with a lot of colour and good comic timing to go with it.

The jewels in the crown of the Chilly Willy cartoons will always be those directed by Tex Avery, especially 'Legend of Rockabye Point', at least to me. 'Room and Wrath' is still cute and fun though. Apart from a pleasantly and surprisingly atypical ending and the snowtel setting, it is a predictable cartoon and there are funnier and more imaginative Chilly Willy cartoons (again especially Avery's efforts). There is a lot of what makes the best of Chilly Willy as worthwhile as they are though.

Animation quality is not always smooth and refined in the drawing, though both Chilly and Smedley are drawn well, but there are some lovely colours that have real atmosphere and simple but handsomely rendered backgrounds. The music is full of lively bounce and character, with luscious orchestration. It not only adds to the action and visuals but enhances them too.

'Room and Wrath's' timing is very good, if not as perfect as Avery's Chilly Willy cartoons, and the gags are plenty and are never less than amusing. The ending is a standout, a very rare case of Smedley being the one that gets the upper hand.

While Chilly is adorable without being too cutesy and has some enjoyable moments (he and Pingu contributed towards my lifelong love for penguins), he is upstaged though in the humour department by the much funnier Smedley, who is a little more interesting as a character and a great foil for the little penguin. Their rapport is terrific.

Overall, cute and fun, well worth catching. 8/10 Bethany Cox