The Milky Way

OK, so I didn't love the squeaking singing as we meet the three little kittens who've lost their mittens - and it's freezing out there! Mama isn't impressed, so it's no milk and off to bed. These critters aren't happy that they've got no supper but are soon distracted by the Milky Way in the sky. How can they get there? There'll be loads of milk there, surely? Balloons might help, and a basket? There's the green cheese moon, the comet train, Martian shooting stars, and then they navigate the Dippers before arriving in a lactose Eutopia where there's loads of song-free fun to be had. Thing is, the moral of the story has yet to arrive! This is good fun with plenty of childish fun as the mice mess about in just about every milky substance know to man - or mice.

This cartoon was notable as the first not from the Disney studio to win the Academy Award. It depicts three kittens who are sent to bed without supper because they lost their mittens. One of them sees the Milky Way up in the stars and decides to go up there to get some milk with the other two coming along. I'll just now say this was quite charming and imaginative and if you were a child who loved cartoons, this one was probably one of the cutest shown on afternoon TV during the '70s when one came home from elementary school. Rudolf Ising was the producer/director of this one and it doesn't look that much different from what his former employer Walt Disney was still making along this time. So on that note, I recommend The Milky Way for any animation buff out there.

Remember that "The Milky Way" was released in 1940, and that the likes of Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, and Bob Clampett were just beginning to develop a new style of cartoon that would catch on during the war years and basically bring an end to the cutesy genre that includes this film. Indeed, if a panel in 2010 had to pick the Oscar-winner from among this film, "A Wild Hare," and "Puss Gets the Boot," this one would definitely come in third. But the panel that awarded the Oscar to "The Milky Way" was doing so in 1940, so it's not fair to condemn them when that particular style of cartoon was still popular. Having said that, I will admit that parts of the film are a bit saccharine by today's standards, particularly the narration in song. But anyone who can look at those kittens and not find them appealing has a cold, cold heart in my opinion. In fact, anyone who says the artwork is Disneyesque is paying the film the highest compliment, given that Walt Disney is the gold standard of animation. Dreadful? Hardly. I'm as big a Bugs Bunny fan as they come, and I know that even edgier cartoons like "The Simpsons" and "South Park" have pushed the envelope even more. But I can take the eight minutes of "The Milky Way" and see it as a pleasant alternative to much of today's stuff.

This is dated, big-time, with most of the "narration" done is song and in the old-fashioned harmony of the '30s singers. It's a trip through space by three little kittens in a makeshift air balloon.

The three little kittens had lost their mittens, so it was no milk and an early bedtime for them. They gaze at the stars, see the Milky Way, and figure if they could get up there, they'd have all the milk they want. So, with the aid of a basket and three balloons, they head up into the heavens.

Where the film must have impressed Oscar voters was the depiction of the cheese-filled moon, comets, shooting stars from Mars, the big and small dippers, and all the variations of milk products in the Milky Way. All of those were portrayed fairly cleverly, but nothing exceptional. In fact, the whole thing looks pretty primitive and one wonders what kind of competition there was for the award that year. To have this win an Oscar is very puzzling. It's okay, but that's it.....just okay. I mean, it's a "cute" cartoon but not funny.

I saw this as part of a Marx Brothers DVD which a double-bill with "Go West" and "The Big Store."

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

'The Milky Way' is fairly typical of Rudolf Ising, leaning towards the cute kind of cartoon with a lot of sentiment in alternative to the laugh a minute and hilarious kind, the latter being the one that a lot seem to prefer (understandably, though am hardly biased against the former). This approach has varied with Ising. In some instances it has been very sweet and charming, in others it can be cloying and too cutesy. Generally 'The Milky Way' belongs in the former category, despite the danger of falling into the latter with the premise.

As to the debate as to whether it deserved to win the Oscar, which some don't agree with, personally do prefer 'Puss Gets the Boot' and 'The Wild Hare' but 'The Milky Way' has a lot to like and far from undeserving of a nomination.

Yes it gets a bit too saccharine in places, like with the lyrics of the narration, and it is best perhaps to not talk about the story because there really isn't much of one.

What 'The Milky Way' does so well however eclipses these problems. The animation is rich in detail for design and backgrounds, vibrant in colour and crisp. Composer for the prime-era 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons and regular Tex Avery composer Scott Bradley provides a lush and atmospheric music score.

It is hard not to fall in love with the irresistibly adorable kittens, and they have enough likeability and personality to not be dull. 'The Milky Way' is rich in natural sweet charm and some very imaginative ideas and visuals. There is not much hilarious and the cartoon's hardly laugh a minute, but a good deal of it does raise a smile. The pace avoids being draggy.

Overall, lovely cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox