The Terrytoons are oddly interesting, mainly for anybody wanting to see (generally) older cartoons made by lesser known and lower-budget studios. They are a mixed bag in quality, with some better than others, often with outstanding music and with some mild amusement and charm and variable in animation, characterisation and content.
1941, like all the other years for Terrytoons, saw a hit and miss batch though a little more consistent actually than the previous years. Of which 'The One Man Navy' is one of the better ones ranking it in correlation with the rest of the Terrytoons and one of the better 1941 cartoons. It is a decent cartoon if not much special at the end of the day while having a fair share of good assets. 'The One Man Navy' is also worth the look, completest sake is the main reason to see it but it's not the only reason.
Best asset is the music, which predictably is incredible. It is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and arranged, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action. The animation quality at this point has come on a long way since Terrytoons first started, the ambitious, elaborate detail in the backgrounds is still great to see, as is the comparatively improved fluidity of drawing and movement, and some synchronisation in movement and sound is neat.
A number of well timed and amusing moments and there is lots of zest and natural charm. Many parts of it and the basic set up are nicely done, the start is a little slow but it quickly picks up. The supporting characters are fun and Gandy has actually grown on me. In his earlier solo outings he wasn't very appealing and was pretty bland up to 'The Magic Pencil', but later on he became funnier, more interesting and more likeable, if more so in his pairing with Sourpass than on his own.
Outside of the backgrounds and more fluidity than seen previously however, a few of the transitions are not always polished.
A few of the gags later on are not as fresh or as well timed and parts becomes predictable and slightly heavy-handed. The start is a little on the slow side and Gandy's girlfriend is somewhat bland.
Summing up, decent. 6/10 Bethany Cox