1949 was a fairly unimpressive year in my view for Terrytoons, with a few exceptions. It was namely made up of the theatrical series of Mighty Mouse, with the five cartoons of his from that year ranging between mediocre and pretty good, and of Heckle and Jeckle (most of which weren't as good generally as those from the previous years). 1949 had about six cartoons or so to not feature a recurring character and they weren't that inspiring to say the least.
'Mrs Jones' Rest Farm' is another one of the uninspired Terrytoons cartoons, not just from 1949 but also overall. It is not terrible by all means and it is not the worst of the non-regular theatrical series characters cartoons, there is just very little to it and as far as the 1949 batch goes it is one of the weaker ones. Didn't mind massively that the premise wasn't a novel one, one should never expect originality watching anything from Terrytoons, but the execution was just mundane and forgettable.
It does have good things and am going to talk about those first. The animation, as usual for Terrytoons during this period, is great. Of all the components of the cartoons from the studio, overtime this was the most improved, the drawing is smoother and more refined and the backgrounds more detailed complete with some vibrant colours that help make the fire visuals look as authentic as possible. The music as to be expected is outstanding, the characterful energy and sumptuousness of orchestration is evident throughout.
Didn't care for most of the characters, though the ghosts were fun and spooky. The ending is the best part, it did raise some amusement and the only part of the cartoon where any unsettlement is actually believable.
However, too much in 'Mrs Jones' Rest Farm' doesn't work and am saying this with a heavy heart. The material for the first third particularly is very stale and is not particularly amusing yet alone funny. Other than the ghosts, the rest of the characters are rather forgettable due to their personalities not being distinct enough and their material not being particularly interesting. That is including Looey, who is pretty much like a variation of most lead characters in similar situations. 'Mrs Jones' Rest Farm' is also rather lacking in energy, with it getting off to a rather dull start and it stays that way until the exciting climax (sad that the excitement comes too late in the game).
Moreover, the story is not really much of one at all and feels rather padded. The first third especially is merely a series of tried and tested sight gags strung together, done in a pretty mundane fashion that it is difficult to believe that anybody could be disturbed by what happens, only at the end does some kind of story kick in and it does feel too late and like a different cartoon.
Summing up, rather lacking in lustre sad to say. 4/10.