Mighty Mouse's theatrical series consisted of 80 cartoons running from 1942 and 1961. They vary in quality. Some, as far as the previous cartoons in the series go, are quite good, such as 'The Mouse of Tomorrow', 'Mighty Mouse and the Wolf', 'Bad Bill Bunion' and 'The Wicked Wolf'. Others were quite weak, such as 'Eliza on the Ice', 'The Two Barbers', 'At the Circus' and 'My Old Kentucky Home'. The others are in between mediocre and slightly above average.
1946's 'The Electronic Mouse Trap' is not one of the best Mighty Mouse cartoons. It is also not one of the worst. It is not even one of the best or worst from that year. 'The Electronic Mouse Trap' is instead to me one of the somewhere in the middle ones on both of those counts, and belongs in the category of watchable, inoffensive and worth one viewing but little exceptional, pretty average and not having enough to it to be worthy of repeat viewings.
'The Electronic Mouse Trap' certainly has some great things in its favour. The best assets, as is the case for a vast majority of the series, being the animation and the music. The animation is colourful and neat and it is great that the backgrounds increasingly became more ambitious and more detailed. Even better is the music. Lush, full of energy and so infectious and cleverly constructed.
Of the characters, the best by far is the cat professor. Have noticed a pattern, or a commodity, in that the most interesting or best character always tends to be the villain. He poses an antagonistic threat, and is formidable without being too scary and amusing without being a buffoon. There are some amusing moments here and there and that mouse trap is really quite cool.
However, the story is very formulaic and it is something that has been seen so many times and with much more imagination and variation. Indicating a running out of ideas and recycling them feel, that was not an uncommon problem for the studio actually. To the extent that even those seeing it with an open mind will be guessing correctly what is going to happen next the entire time. The final third does feel repetitive. 'The Electronic Mouse Trap' is another case of being less good when Mighty Mouse appears, it becomes a different cartoon and an inferior one. Didn't even see the need for Mighty Mouse, merely a plot device here that could have been filled by any character really, who doesn't even feel like a lead character and as he is meant to be the star that is a bit of a problem.
Very little here generates many laughs and even when Mighty Mouse appears, when one thinks that ideally things should liven up as he's the hero, the pace remains quite limp. The mice are completely bland to the extent that one wonders what there is to them that is worth saving.
Altogether, definitely worth a try but not one to expect too much from. 5/10
1946's 'The Electronic Mouse Trap' is not one of the best Mighty Mouse cartoons. It is also not one of the worst. It is not even one of the best or worst from that year. 'The Electronic Mouse Trap' is instead to me one of the somewhere in the middle ones on both of those counts, and belongs in the category of watchable, inoffensive and worth one viewing but little exceptional, pretty average and not having enough to it to be worthy of repeat viewings.
'The Electronic Mouse Trap' certainly has some great things in its favour. The best assets, as is the case for a vast majority of the series, being the animation and the music. The animation is colourful and neat and it is great that the backgrounds increasingly became more ambitious and more detailed. Even better is the music. Lush, full of energy and so infectious and cleverly constructed.
Of the characters, the best by far is the cat professor. Have noticed a pattern, or a commodity, in that the most interesting or best character always tends to be the villain. He poses an antagonistic threat, and is formidable without being too scary and amusing without being a buffoon. There are some amusing moments here and there and that mouse trap is really quite cool.
However, the story is very formulaic and it is something that has been seen so many times and with much more imagination and variation. Indicating a running out of ideas and recycling them feel, that was not an uncommon problem for the studio actually. To the extent that even those seeing it with an open mind will be guessing correctly what is going to happen next the entire time. The final third does feel repetitive. 'The Electronic Mouse Trap' is another case of being less good when Mighty Mouse appears, it becomes a different cartoon and an inferior one. Didn't even see the need for Mighty Mouse, merely a plot device here that could have been filled by any character really, who doesn't even feel like a lead character and as he is meant to be the star that is a bit of a problem.
Very little here generates many laughs and even when Mighty Mouse appears, when one thinks that ideally things should liven up as he's the hero, the pace remains quite limp. The mice are completely bland to the extent that one wonders what there is to them that is worth saving.
Altogether, definitely worth a try but not one to expect too much from. 5/10
