The Herman and Katnip series as an overall series is not consistent; a number of them are entertaining and solidly made, with some very good and even great, while others are watchable but unexceptional and too formulaic and repetitive. Rail Rodents is one of the solid ones without being one of the best of their cartoons, sharing a few of the same faults that most Herman and Katnip have but also with enough to enjoy.
In Rail Rodents, the animation is very good and quite inventive in the gags(i.e Katnip's eyes filling with water). It's smooth and detailed, with nice bright(but never overly so) colours, crisp drawings, natural character designs that show little roughness and lively background art. Winston Sharples' music is even better; in fact the music is outstanding and makes the cartoon on numerous occasions. Not just the lush orchestration, the amount of energy and character there is rhythmically and the rousing suspense that the conflict parts have, but also the very catchy theme song. Rail Rodents is largely dialogue free, apart from one amusing if slightly unnecessary quip from Katnip, and it was a good move, because the dialogue is often very forgettable and repetitive in the Herman and Katnip cartoons.
Rail Rodents is never hilarious but a good number of the gags do range from amusing to funny(the diamond ring one was inventive), and the sharp timing helps(sometimes the timing can be a bit slow in their cartoons, but not here). The story is not exceptional, but is well-paced and doesn't feel tired, while Herman and Katnip's conflict is convincing, being entertaining and tense. Herman and Katnip are a well-matched duo, with Herman cunning, resourceful and sometimes amusing(though his actions are not all that original) and Katnip antagonistic and dim-witted.
The cousin mice characters in Rail Rodents however are literally incidental to the story, and felt pointless over than being a reason for why Herman takes on Katnip. The story is very standard Herman and Katnip and with not an awful lot of originality or imagination, and while the gags are funny a lot of them are also very brutal and mean in spirit(the final gag) which makes classic Tom and Jerry tame in comparison(thankfully however not falling into stomach-churningly sadistic territory that Gene Deitch's T&J cartoons did though).
All in all, well-made, entertaining and worth watching if nothing mind-blowing, and somewhere around the middle in ranking Herman and Katnip's cartoons. 7/10 Bethany Cox
In Rail Rodents, the animation is very good and quite inventive in the gags(i.e Katnip's eyes filling with water). It's smooth and detailed, with nice bright(but never overly so) colours, crisp drawings, natural character designs that show little roughness and lively background art. Winston Sharples' music is even better; in fact the music is outstanding and makes the cartoon on numerous occasions. Not just the lush orchestration, the amount of energy and character there is rhythmically and the rousing suspense that the conflict parts have, but also the very catchy theme song. Rail Rodents is largely dialogue free, apart from one amusing if slightly unnecessary quip from Katnip, and it was a good move, because the dialogue is often very forgettable and repetitive in the Herman and Katnip cartoons.
Rail Rodents is never hilarious but a good number of the gags do range from amusing to funny(the diamond ring one was inventive), and the sharp timing helps(sometimes the timing can be a bit slow in their cartoons, but not here). The story is not exceptional, but is well-paced and doesn't feel tired, while Herman and Katnip's conflict is convincing, being entertaining and tense. Herman and Katnip are a well-matched duo, with Herman cunning, resourceful and sometimes amusing(though his actions are not all that original) and Katnip antagonistic and dim-witted.
The cousin mice characters in Rail Rodents however are literally incidental to the story, and felt pointless over than being a reason for why Herman takes on Katnip. The story is very standard Herman and Katnip and with not an awful lot of originality or imagination, and while the gags are funny a lot of them are also very brutal and mean in spirit(the final gag) which makes classic Tom and Jerry tame in comparison(thankfully however not falling into stomach-churningly sadistic territory that Gene Deitch's T&J cartoons did though).
All in all, well-made, entertaining and worth watching if nothing mind-blowing, and somewhere around the middle in ranking Herman and Katnip's cartoons. 7/10 Bethany Cox
