. . . (a "Merrie Melodies" animated short released in 1945 by Warner Bros.) is devoted to the anthropomorphic by-play between two uncredited (and now long-dead) human comics (who apparently are being impersonated themselves!). But companies such as Turner Home Video insist upon throwing such anachronistic crumbs upon the still waters for the consumption of Millenials who no longer have a grandparent alive (or Alzheimer's-free) to explain the back story as to who this lampooned and forgotten comic team was. (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.) Apparently, no one who works for Turner Home Video has such a grandparent, either, or sufficient internet skills to corroborate an answer on IMDb or Wikipedia. Perhaps America needs to outlaw the digital preservation or distribution of anything created prior to the 21st Century. This not only would create some "elbow room" for new artists, but it would free our courts of the bogus copyright lawsuits with which they're now swamped. Plus, such a prohibition would make the production of explanatory notes about "film" from the 1900s a moot point. Explication of this type has become frustratingly hit-or-miss nowadays; A TALE OF TWO MICE is just one of a million possible illustrations. After all, TCM channel host Robert Osborne won't live forever!
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oscaralbert11 June 2015
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TheLittleSongbird23 January 2018Love 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.
Frank Tashlin to me was always a very solid director who had a lot of good to great cartoon under his belt. He is perhaps not as well known as Chuck Jones, Tex Avery and Bob Clampett, and perhaps just lacks slightly Jones' imaginatively witty visual characterisation, Avery's ahead of its time wildness and Clampett's outrageously anarchic style. His cartoons were always well made and rarely less than amusing, if a little more variable in the freshness of the material.
'Tale of Two Mice' is not him at his best, though there is not really much that is wrong. Anybody familiar with 'A Tale of Two Kitties', directed by Clampett, will not find much surprising or original in the story and not all the material is particularly inventive.
Mel Blanc and Tedd Pierce, as to be expected, really deliver when it comes to entertainment, enthusiasm, energy and versatility. Pierce is the more subtler of the two, Babbit being the playing it straight character of the duo. Blanc sounds like he's really enjoying himself, though at times overdoing it as Catstello. There is such great chemistry between them and it shows in the different personalities of the two characters.
Animation is excellent, it's fluid in movement, crisp in shading and very meticulous in detail. The story may be predictable, but it's beautifully paced with never a dull moment and strongly structured.
Carl Stalling's music is typically superb. It is as always lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.
It's a very funny cartoon too, with well-engineered gags, clever schemes (regardless of the obviousness of the outcomes), a lively energy and dialogue that raises a smile. 'Tale of Two Mice' is driven by the chemistry and conflict between Babbit and Catstello and it shines brightly as it should, helped by that the characters are great fun.
Overall, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox