The Pups' Christmas

Two puppies explore the house in the aftermath of gift-giving on Christmas in this Harman-Ising cartoon.

I have a great deal of trouble with the MGM cartoons of these two animators. They're usually highly moral fables about how you should always listen to mama, and the cuteness factor is amped up so high, I can't take it. My taste is for jokes and a lot of sarcasm, so I greatly prefer Warner Brothers cartoons from about 1937 through 1960, pre-Code Fleischer cartons, and Tex Avery cartoons. Here it's all cuteness, and that doesn't entertain me much.

Nonetheless, there's no arguing with the technical excellence of this cartoon, with its fine background art, excellent color design. And Scott Brady's spot-on score, quoting amiably from well-known songs to make its point. If you're looking for cuteness, how can you do better than a couple of flop-eared puppies? So it certainly succeeds in doing what it sets out to, even if it makes me think I should see about getting a prescription for insulin.