Amigos, Amigos, Ratos à Parte

This short was nominated for an Oscar and deserved to be! There's not even a feather to be seen of a certain little yellow bird and the object of Sylvester's gastronomic desires is little more than a prop in this. The cartoon is stolen by Sam, another feline, who 1) is a "friend" of Sylvester's and 2) will not be a candidate under serious consideration for membership in MENSA in this lifetime. He's hilarious and makes the cartoon. Sylvester works best as a more or less secondary character, reacting rather than acting. This is his best outing without Tweety (although there are one or two with Porky that are close) and Cartoon Network runs this fairly frequently. Most recommended.

Friz Freleng's Oscar-nominated 'Mouse and Garden' is a nicely orchestrated piece of toing-and-froing which is constantly entertaining. While the Oscar-nomination may have been a bit of an overreaction, Freleng still shows himself to be an old master at timing gags. Sylvester and his supposed pal Sam (voiced by the legendary Daws Butler, doing an impersonation of Stan Freberg's Pete Puma voice) scavenge for food together while constantly attempting to screw the other out of whatever they find. When Sylvester finds a live mouse, the battle is upped to the next level. 'Mouse and Garden' is ultimately a film about friendship and deceit and the detrimental result when the two meet. After suffering the indignity of being paired with intolerable characters like Tweety and Speedy Gonzales for years, it's always good to see Sylvester in a cartoon without either of these twin drag factors. Here, the mouse is more a prop than a character, looking on in mute bewilderment as the two cats cheat themselves out of a meal. The limited animation is effective in evoking the atmosphere of a pier at night and, while Sam is hardly a memorable adversary, the whole cartoon is carried by the false niceties and growing paranoia that eventually defeats the two characters. It might not quite be a classic but 'Mouse and Garden' is a solid, always enjoyable cartoon that stands out from much of the 1960s Warner Bros. output.

Yeah, the Looney Tunes shorts from the '60s were a mixed bag that and finding one that is truly great is not easy to do. But this Oscar-nominated Sylvester short really wasn't that special, in my opinion. I do like it but it wouldn't make my top ten Sylvester shorts and might not even make my top ten Looney Tunes from the '60s. The premise is that Sylvester and his friend Sam both try to keep a mouse they find to themselves and not share it. There are some amusing gags and lines here. The Sam character is the best thing about it. Daws Butler provided the voice and he's just a hoot to listen to. Mel Blanc is great as Sylvester, as always. The animation is scratchy but colorful. I'm not sure why this was nominated for an Oscar but looking at the list of nominees that year, it appears there wasn't a particularly strong selection all around.

Saying that Mouse and Garden is one of the better 60s Looney Tunes cartoons is saying a fair bit actually. Some cartoons like this were good though not up the standards of the Looney Tunes cartoons of the 40-50s, some like the middling Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote efforts ranged from mediocre to relatively decent and it also saw some dreck like Pre-Hysterical Hare, Devil's Feud Cake and the worst of the Daffy-Speedy cartoons. The cartoon at times is a little rushed and some of the detail and character designs in the animation can lack finesse. The colours are nice to look at and the main setting is effective. The music is composed with beautiful orchestration and energetic character, Carl Stalling is a superior composer but Milt Franklin stands very well on his own indeed. The writing has freshness and wit, and the visual gags are well timed and never less than amusing. Sylvester is still his usual funny and charismatic self, but fellow cat Sam steals the show this time round, a hilarious character that makes you ask the question why you don't see him more. Mel Blanc and Daws Butler give superb vocal characterisations, no surprise as they are two of the greatest ever voice actors who added so much to everything they did. Overall, fun stuff indeed. 8/10 Bethany Cox

"Sylvester" and his bright orange pal "Sam" are raiding the waterside dustbins looking for their evening meal when they espy a mouse! This isn't the nimblest critter around and so is soon apprehended, but in the spirit of companionship they agree to savour this little snack for tomorrow's breakfast. Safely ensconced in a corked jar dangling beneath their cabin, the mouse is left whilst the two try to catch some sleep. Of course soon their tummies start to rumble and their imaginations run wild, and so what now ensues sees each of them trying to outwit the other so they don't have to share! It's quite good fun, this, featuring the usual calamity props. What it does miss, though, is more activity from their prey. Indeed, despite some lovely fed up expressions near the start, it doesn't really appear as the two cats try to find new uses for sticks of dynamite. Passes the time fine, but not so very memorably.