Van Beuren cartoons are extremely variable, especially in the number of gags and whether the absurdist humour shines through enough (sometimes it does, other times it doesn't), but are strangely interesting. Although they are often poorly animated with barely existent stories and less than compelling lead characters, they are also often outstandingly scored, there can be some fun support characters and some are well-timed and amusing.
'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg' is most interesting for being a Felix the Cat cartoon that is in colour and has sound. As far as the Van Beuren "Rainbow Parade" cartoons go, all three Felix the Cat cartoons, of which 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg' is the first, are among the best of the "Rainbow Parade" series. Not great as such, being fairly bland compared to the earlier silent black and white Felix the Cat cartoons which had more vigour and humour of the surreal/absurdist kind. Also worth the while, despite how all of the above sounded.
A lot of strengths in 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg'. The best being the pretty great animation, one of the best looking of the "Rainbow Parade" series, having more refinement in the drawing than usually seen, and one of the best looking Felix the Cat cartoons. Compared to the animation in the Cubby the Bear, most of the (human) Tom and Jerry and other cartoons of Van Beuren, their production values came on a long way when switching to colour. The background detail is meticulous and even better are the ravishing colours that pop out at you.
Just as good is the music score, it is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action. The synchronisation is sharp and neat. Wasn't bored, while not completely excited, watching 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg', with the final battle being a lot of fun and Captain Kidd a suitably dastardly antagonist. There is a charm and it never gets overly sugary. The goose character is nice and the Great Depression element was intriguing and not laid on too thick.
However, the story is over-familiar, with not an awful lot new brought to the table. The ending can be seen from quite some distance away. Felix is likeable enough but there is a preference too for his original personality, one that was much stronger and one that set him apart from other silent animated characters from that era.
In the laughs department, 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg' is lacking. Not completely humourless, but there isn't enough and not much that sticks in the mind anyhow. For Felix the Cat, with the surreal/absurdist humour missing, this was pretty tame, how he caught up with the boat was an exception. The cartoon takes a little too long to get going, with the climactic moments being where things most come alive, and comes close to being on the sugary side.
On the whole, nice enough and passes the time more than decently but no classic. 6/10 Bethany Cox
