The Milky Way

Love 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.

'The Milky Way' is fairly typical of Rudolf Ising, leaning towards the cute kind of cartoon with a lot of sentiment in alternative to the laugh a minute and hilarious kind, the latter being the one that a lot seem to prefer (understandably, though am hardly biased against the former). This approach has varied with Ising. In some instances it has been very sweet and charming, in others it can be cloying and too cutesy. Generally 'The Milky Way' belongs in the former category, despite the danger of falling into the latter with the premise.

As to the debate as to whether it deserved to win the Oscar, which some don't agree with, personally do prefer 'Puss Gets the Boot' and 'The Wild Hare' but 'The Milky Way' has a lot to like and far from undeserving of a nomination.

Yes it gets a bit too saccharine in places, like with the lyrics of the narration, and it is best perhaps to not talk about the story because there really isn't much of one.

What 'The Milky Way' does so well however eclipses these problems. The animation is rich in detail for design and backgrounds, vibrant in colour and crisp. Composer for the prime-era 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons and regular Tex Avery composer Scott Bradley provides a lush and atmospheric music score.

It is hard not to fall in love with the irresistibly adorable kittens, and they have enough likeability and personality to not be dull. 'The Milky Way' is rich in natural sweet charm and some very imaginative ideas and visuals. There is not much hilarious and the cartoon's hardly laugh a minute, but a good deal of it does raise a smile. The pace avoids being draggy.

Overall, lovely cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox

THE MILKY WAY is a bit of a transitional film from the schmaltzy cartoons of the 1930s and the more enjoyable and irreverent films of the 40s and 50s. Younger viewers might not know that in the 30s, many (way too many) cartoons were filled with sappy music and cutesy images and in many ways THE MILKY WAY is one of the last of these dreadful films. Considering that it was made by Rudolf Ising (who made a career of this style film), it isn't at all surprising that I hated the film. There's just so much singing and saccharine that I found myself wanting to see it infused with some Tex Avery sensibilities.

On the positive side, the animation was exceptional and showed that even before good writers and directors came to MGM's cartoon division in subsequent years, the animation was already stellar. In many ways, you could see the roots of the upcoming and very successful Tom & Jerry cartoons in this film. If only this film had an edge--it might have been a lot better. As it is, it's only a very pretty bit of treacle with a few nice touches.

Amazingly, it somehow garnered the Oscar for Best Animated Short. Apparently, the Academy were saps for this sort of stuff.

OK, so I didn't love the squeaking singing as we meet the three little kittens who've lost their mittens - and it's freezing out there! Mama isn't impressed, so it's no milk and off to bed. These critters aren't happy that they've got no supper but are soon distracted by the Milky Way in the sky. How can they get there? There'll be loads of milk there, surely? Balloons might help, and a basket? There's the green cheese moon, the comet train, Martian shooting stars, and then they navigate the Dippers before arriving in a lactose Eutopia where there's loads of song-free fun to be had. Thing is, the moral of the story has yet to arrive! This is good fun with plenty of childish fun as the mice mess about in just about every milky substance know to man - or mice.

Three little kittens lose their mittens. Their mom punishes them to go to bed without any milk. They tie balloons to a basket and ride up to The Milky Way where milk is everywhere. This is adorable. This is directed by Rudolf Ising. It reminds me of when I was a kid, I didn't understand the phrase, "raining cats and dogs". So I wrote a story for school assignment. The teacher thought that I was imaginative when in reality, I was just dumb.

This cartoon was notable as the first not from the Disney studio to win the Academy Award. It depicts three kittens who are sent to bed without supper because they lost their mittens. One of them sees the Milky Way up in the stars and decides to go up there to get some milk with the other two coming along. I'll just now say this was quite charming and imaginative and if you were a child who loved cartoons, this one was probably one of the cutest shown on afternoon TV during the '70s when one came home from elementary school. Rudolf Ising was the producer/director of this one and it doesn't look that much different from what his former employer Walt Disney was still making along this time. So on that note, I recommend The Milky Way for any animation buff out there.